MBA & MM Theses

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Women in leadership

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    Strategic qualities of women in top management positions within the financial services sector in a post democratic South Africa.
    (2014-01-21) Makatsa, Disebo
    This research investigates the strategic qualities of women in top management positions within the financial services sector in a post democratic South Africa. Not only does the study fill a gap in the theories that suggest that women are limited in advancing to becoming leaders in their organisations, but it also addresses the fact that women have made strikingly little progress in advancing to the boardrooms and the executive suites in some sectors of the economy, including the financial services sector. The literature provided contains sections of themes of relevance that are predominant to the study. These emanated from a framework developed by Wilson, Lenssen and Hind (2006) to identify the strategic qualities that are needed for leaders in an organisational setting, the aim of which was to explore in greater depth the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to implement into management practice. This formed the basis of the study. Information was gathered using a possessed qualitative methodology in order to address the appropriate data to answer the research questions. The theory was based on Creswell’s (2007) Qualitative Research Designs, Selection and Implementation. The research design for this study was in the form of semistructured in-depth interviews, as these were the most efficient means of collecting emotional as well as factual information. Data obtained from the research instrument was later analysed using a data management system used by Miles and Huberman (1999), which is linked to sub processes of data reduction, data display and finally a conclusion drawing or verification. According to Miles and Huberman (1999), data reduction requires one to take recordings and notes from recorded interviews and convert them to data summaries for analysis. Key themes and terms present across all interviews were identified and marked appropriately. Both the themes from the analysis and the framework were closely correlated. Respondents shared the views of Wilson, Lenssen and Hind (2006). The overall ` iii study showed that the following qualities (before and after the application of the framework respectively) are essential for women wanting to rise the upper echelons of top management within the financial services sector: integrity (staying true to yourself), open mindedness (innovation and keeping up with the internal and external environment), long term perspective (forward looking), ethical behaviour (remaining moral and ethical in business), care for people (people skills), responsible management (networking), empowerment (support and mentoring young women as career professionals), teamwork (people skills), and communication (connecting with team members). This research therefore adds a new dimension to the body of literature that will help scholars, researchers and professionals to identify the strategic qualities of women in top management positions. As this research takes place in the South African context, it will contribute to further findings relating to the study of women in management positions.
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    THE BARRIERS FACING BLACK WOMEN ACADEMICS AT UNISA POST 2006
    (2014-01-09) Dube, Gwendolene Thobela
    Black women academics at the University of South Africa (UNISA) are faced with the same challenges as other women in leadership positions in academic institutions have to contend with. At UNISA there are institutional and individual barriers, namely, criteria for promotion, lack of support, limited networks and inadequate mentoring programmes, to mention but a few. These barriers militate against their professional development; so there is paucity of Black women leaders in top management at UNISA. Women leadership has always been a contested terrain. The literature on women in higher education attest to the fact that there are few women in leadership positions and this is a trend worldwide. Women leadership is always associated with empowerment, access to equal opportunity for advancement of employment equity. In addition women academics felt that they are in spaces that were not created for them and that is why they have to prove themselves that they are equally capable to becoming scholars of note like their peers. There have been some changes at UNISA which may improve the situation for women leaders, like formal development programmes are established in order to redress the legacy of the past. There is a need to change the mindset of the both academics and administrators so that UNISA is a home for all.
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    Challenges facing woment leaders in local government: a case study of the City of Johannesburg
    (2011-05-11) Letlape, Lulama
    There are many key issues arising from the debates around the transformation of South Africa. One of these has to do with gender and women's issues. Since the onset of the democratic dispensation in South Africa, issues about women and gender have assumed greater prominence than ever before. The result of this development has been the appointmnet of many women in leadership positions in business and politics.Local governemnt is important in the development of South Africa. The implementation of government's economic and socail policies happens at this level. Therefore, communities that are supposed to be served are adversely affected by poor performance in service delivery by local government. Leadership and management at local government level are therefore crucial as they determine the progress of local communities and the development of the country as a whole. Local government employees have to meet these high expectations and enormous demands, especially those in leadership positions.... The researcher discovered that there is a need for a further study into the perceptions of women (concerning) the 50/50 women represnetation campaign in local government. This is as a result of the reluctance of women leaders to see themselves as beneficiaries of this campaign. Most of the women leaders did not want to acknowledge the fact they are in leadership positions because of the gender quota but preferred to see themselves equally as qualified as men to hold the positions they are holding. This means therefore that women avoid seeking special support or acknowledging existing support. It can be deducted from the study that women in local government do face leadership challenges yet they do not openly acknowledge these challenges as they want to see them as generic leadership challenges that can be faced by men as well.