3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The performance of preferential procurement at the SABC(2017) Kaseke, Trevor FarayiThis study primarily sought to establish how a state owned entity, as an expected enthusiastic proponent of the State’s black economic empowerment efforts, had performed in terms of preferential procurement from majority black-owned vendors. It also sought to find out to what extent, if any, the fortunes of majority black-owned vendors had extended beyond the typical categories of catering services, cleaning services and security services. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. The basis of the quantitative analysis was procurementrelated documents, while the basis of the qualitative analysis was interviews conducted with personnel selected either for their involvement in the supply chain management process, or were the users of services or products procured by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) SOC Ltd. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. While the full population of transactions and vendors used during the period of analysis (2010 – 2015) was available, gaps in required information, as well as some withheld information, presented a limitation in terms of the data that could be used to answer the research questions. As a result of this limitation, the results of this study are indicative and not definitive. In terms of the primary research question the study found the bulk of procurement having been placed through vendors within B-BBEE levels 1 to 4. There were also significant increases in the proportion of procurement spend going to EMEs and QSEs over the analysis period. In terms of making use of majority black-owned vendors, there was a marked increase over the analysis period, with marked increases in the use of majority black-owned EMEs and QSEs. In terms of the sub-question, the study found a high proportion of spend, or increasing proportions of spend, that went to vendors offering services and products within the SABC’s core business areas such as Content Production. The qualitative interviews conducted revealed that this performance by the SABC has largely been ‘accidental’. The SABC has no strategy for black economic empowerment in general, and for preferential procurement or enterprise development in particular. All that the SABC appears to have done is implement a supply chain management policy that is aligned with the government’s black economic empowerment legislation and regulations. This particular finding appears to demonstrate how the State’s policies and related pieces of regulation are intended to work. At the barest minimum, just implementing internal policies aligned to the legislation and regulations should go some way in achieving the national imperative of broadbased black economic empowerment. The report concludes with recommendations on how the analysis from this study could be built on, as well as steps the SABC could take to improve its performance in terms of preferential procurement and enterprise development.Item Affirmative action in South African sport : a moral game for all(2017) Johnson, Craig VirgilThe following paper examines the moral justification for affirmative action within South African sport, more specifically the forms pertaining to “preferential treatment” and “reverse discrimination”. The paper begins with an articulation of the nature of our sport as well as that of affirmative action, which in turn lays the foundation for my moral justification. South African sport, it seems, must share centre stage in our country’s reconciliation and nation-building process if we are to faster realise a substantively equal and non-racial society. I argue that by appropriately bringing about the right kind of integration in South African sport we can create a better country for all by reducing, inter alia, our racial and class disparities, racial prejudices and racism. That said, there appears to be a greater moral significance that comes from using “preferential treatment” and “reverse discrimination” in South African sport, as opposed to their complete absence.Item Comparative performance of BEE and non-BEE mergers and acquisitions in South Africa(2016) Mwelase, NkanyeziThe study revisits the topic of post-acquisition performance of M&A in South Africa. Unlike preceding studies the emphasis was on target firms rather than acquiring firm and on operating performance rather than on share price reaction to M&A announcements. The study explores how operating performance is affected by BEE related M&A and non-BEE related M&A transactions. Operating performance is measured using EVA®. Economic Value Added (EVA®) reveals that target firms experienced a decline in post deal operating performance following an M&A transaction regardless of whether the M&A deal was motivated by BEE or not. The study also found that the decline in operating performance was larger for conventional (non-BEE) M&A transactions relative to BEE linked M&A transactions, though the decline was not statistically significant. Accounting based corporate performance measurement methods used to supplement the EVA® exhibit a marginal and insignificant increased in performance when the average five year post-acquisition returns are compared to the average five year pre-acquisition returns. Overall, the economic performance of target firms declined suggesting that target firms do not benefit significantly from the M&A.Item Identifying risk in small and medium enterprises: the case of black-owned SMEs In South Africa(2017) Lokolo Lothin, Ghislaine JessicaThe increasing number of BB-BEE policies and strategies aimed at supporting SMEs in South Africa is evidence that Black-owned SMEs are important for development of the country. Between 2007 and 2010, the number of SMEs grew by almost 60%, contributing approximately 61% of the country's GDP. In spite of the widespread financial support put in place by government agencies to support them, findings reported that SMEs in South Africa score a relatively high failure rate. Moreover, little is known about the causes of these high failure rates. This thesis aimed at filling the gap in the literature by identifying the risks that South African Black-owned SMEs face. In doing so, Black-owned SME owners/managers were interviewed across various industry sectors. This revealed that although these owners/managers were well educated and skilled, they did not believe that their staff were trained enough. The findings revealed financial risks were still the most prominent risks these SMEs face, which seemingly gave rise to other risk factors such as the lack of access to technological improvements or skilled labour, and their inability to set up or run effective marketing strategic plans. The gap between the supply of and the demand for financial support for Black-owned SMEs could be attributed to a number of factors, including red tape, bureaucracy, corruption, politics and an unstable economy. A number of implications followed from this. For the financial support to reach its target effectively, independent and transparent micro-finance institutions have to be in place. This needs to be coupled with the establishment of a platform for Blackowned SMEs that could be used to market Black-owned SME products and services. Another solution could be the design of SME-aligned skills transfer incubation programmes. Applying the results from this research, one should be careful to consider its limitations because of the small sample size and selection criteria, which imply that these results cannot be generalised beyond the scope of this study.Item The perceptual impact of enterprise development on mining communities in South Africa(2017) Mthabini, OwenThe Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment’s (BBBEE’s) enterprise development practice is one of the tools employed by the South African government in an attempt to redress the country’s past economic injustices that are a result of apartheid’s discriminatory economic segregationist policies. This research undertook to study the perceptual impact of BBBEE’s enterprise development in mining communities, by focusing on black entrepreneurs and the support they receive from mining companies – or lack thereof – according to the BBBEE’s codes of good conduct. The support that mining companies provide to mining community entrepreneurs could have come in the form of, inter alia,business funding, business incubation, granting guarantees for business loans and business coaching. The study took apositivist approach with data collected using aquestionnaire. The research findings indicate that mining community entrepreneurs do not feel that mining companies provide business support, therefore leading to the conclusion that BBBEE’s enterprise development does not fulfil its objective of redressing South Africa’s past economic injustices by supporting black entrepreneurs. The research took a positivist paradigm in that data collection was quantitative. A positivist approach is viewed as a scientific, rational and empirical way of gathering data that is in turn used in knowledge construction (Ryan, 2006). The research design was cross-sectional because the researcher intended to study the perceptual impact of enterprise development on mining communities over a long time without having to make observations over many years. A cross-sectional study is the observation of subjects at one stage of an external intervention process to determine the impact of, for example, intervention by a third party or exposure to a third party. The population involved in this study was made up of black male and female entrepreneurs 18 years old or older, from three mining towns situated in following three provinces: Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the North West province. The research instrument was research questionnaire in the form of a five-point Likert scale. The limitation in this study was the limited population sample of 127 respondents from only three provinces, as they can’t be representative of the entire South African mining communities’ population.Item How South African businesses design and execute transformation initiatives: implications for coaching(2017) Prinsloo, HeatherThe body of knowledge on transformation is growing and previous researchers have set a foundation by focusing on different aspects of B-BBEE and legislative redress. Scientific research on coaching as a tool to facilitate legislative redress is emerging. The objective of the research was to add to the emerging body of knowledge and uncover how South African businesses approach transformation, what processes and resources they use and what best practices are applied and if opportunities existed to introduce new concepts and frameworks, such as Coaching. The study used qualitative research methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two employees in four different organisations, four technical signatories in two verification agencies and four B-BBEE consultants. The organisations who participated in the research qualified as level, one, two and three contributors to B-BBEE. It was assumed that the B-BBEE level would indicate the extent of transformation in the organisations. Transformation in South Africa remains a contentious issue for business and employee responses to redress range from positive to negative. Organisations have been slow to respond to the people aspects of transformation. From the research, it was evident that organisations, verification agencies and consultants interchanged B-BBEE and transformation, implying that in South Africa, the concepts were similar, if not the same. Organisations’ responses to B-BBEE were still very reactive and at the time of the interviews, the respondents all expressed varying levels of concern to the gazetting of the amended B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice. The view held, was that the amended codes would require organisations to take a more strategic view of transformation. Only one of the four organisations interviewed confirmed that they had a transformation strategy. As for the other organisations, the strategies could be described as emerging Best practice is beginning to emerge and on some elements of the scorecard, improvements can be seen as organisations adapt approaches to yield a return on investment. Coaching as a resource to facilitate transformation was approached with caution even though the respondents recognised that third party interventions were necessary. The research builds a case for coaching as a tool to embed learning and development as organisations shift from a tactical response to B-BBEE to a more progressive or authentic goal.Item The impact and related costs of implementing changes in the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) codes of good practice on companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)(2016) Dongwana, Neo PhakamaBlack Economic Empowerment (BEE) or Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) is an important means by which the South African government aims to address the social injustices of the past as well as eliminating inequalities between white capital and the black majority (Fauconnier and Mathur-Helm, 2008). The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been tasked with overall responsibility for instituting and monitoring the laws that govern BEE. Since the introduction of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act no. 53 of 2003 (Ferreira and Villiers, 2011) and the codes of good practice of 2007, a number of amendments were made in response to deficiencies identified, the most material being the Amended Codes of Good Practice of 2013, which were effective from 1 May 2015. This research paper sought to investigate the impact and cost implications of the 2013 amendments to the BBBEE Codes of Good Practice (new codes) on companies within the industrial goods and services sector of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). This was done relative to the 2007 BEE Codes of Good Practice (old codes). The main purpose of the study was to explore the impact and related costs of implementing the changes in the BBBEE codes on a sample of JSE listed companies obtained from the Empowerdex Top 100 2015 survey. The sample selected was those companies in the industrial goods and services sector. The methodology used was an exploratory study using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the executives responsible for BBBEE or transformation, as it sometimes called, in each company. While an interview questionnaire was used, the questions asked were fairly open-ended which allowed the subject to be explored fully in each setting. This enabled the researcher to also understand the practicalities of implementing the BBBEE codes within each company and each industry. The results of the study indicated that most companies found it difficult to maintain their BBBEE ratings, with indicative ratings showing a likely overall average drop of three levels. In addition, further discounting in the rating may result from not meeting the sub-minimum levels of the three priority elements. These elements are; ownership, skills development as well as enterprise and supplier development (ESD). Overall, in terms of the impact and challenges in implementing the new codes, companies found that the new codes were onerous, complex in some instances, vague in others, with a potential for misinterpretation and possible manipulation. ESD was found to be the most challenging of the new elements to implement and likely to have the most impact on companies, whereas skills development, which has been doubled from 3% to 6% of the payroll leviable amount, had the biggest impact in terms of cost as assessed on the new codes. Notwithstanding the perceived challenges, companies acknowledged that BBBEE was not only a moral imperative (Fauconnier and Mathur-Helm, 2008), but also a business imperative (Arya and Bassi, 2009) and a licence to trade in South Africa. The study had four main limitations. Firstly, that companies investigated were selected from the Empowerdex Top 100 most empowered companies 2015 survey, completed in May 2015. Within those, only the ones in the industrial and services sector were included in the study. Secondly, that all companies interviewed, regardless of sector, responded to the questions with respect to the generic scorecard, as no sector charters were enacted at the date of writing the research report. Thirdly, the ability to secure the appropriate number of interviews was key, which may affect the quality of the responses and conclusions reached. Finally, because the new codes were implemented on 1 May 2015, which is less than a year from the date of this research report, there is a limitation that limited information is available on the new codes. The effective implementation date of the new codes, means that very little research is likely to have been conducted on the new codes; or the likely impact they could have on companies; or the critical changes between the old codes (2007) and new codes (2013). The researcher hopes this study will enable greater understanding of the codes and assist listed and other companies in strategic decision-making (Horwitz and Jain, 2011) and implementation of transformation initiatives. Furthermore, issues raised as contentious, confusing or due for improvement can be further researched and possibly used by policy-makers as input to future changes in the codes. Further research can also be conducted three to five years from now when the amended codes have been in place for a period that allows implementation by companies. This can either be conducted using a case study that tracks the BBBEE strategies, initiatives and ratings over that period within one company. Alternatively, the researcher can select any one of the five elements and investigate how it has been implemented in different companies over a specific period.Item Factors influencing the formulation and implementation of human resource policy(1994) Cameron-Dow, George XavierThe purpose of this study was to identify the factorS involved in the process of Human Resource policy formulation and implementation as well as to determine who the stakeholders are and to what extent they are consulted in the process. A further objective of this exploratory research was to gather empirical date that would serve as the basis for the development of a generic human resource policy formUlation and implementation model. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version]Item An affirmative action control model for local government(1994) Cain, Charley FredCurrent political changes in local government will necessitate the implementation of affirmative action programmes. Successful implementation is vital to ensure peace and stability at local government level. The main purpose of this study was to examine control options for affirmative action in local government. The research was conducted by means of two research methods, namely documentary study on eight policy documents and survey questionnaires from 152 people involved in local government. It is interesting to note that the results of these methods were highly complementary. The documentary study and survey questionnaire results revealed a high degree of consensus on union involvement in the development of affirmative action policies and programmes. Furthermore, the enforcement of affirmative action by means of agreement between management and the trade unions was well received by all occupation groups in the study. Councillors and officials in particular, had no difficulty with shop steward involvement in the implementation of affirmative action, The study revealed that council officials and councillors are not in favour of government involvement in enforcing affirmative action policies and programmes .. At best, negotiated guidelines on affirmative action are fairly acceptable. The use of quotas and/or fines was unacceptable to the various parties. The nature of the research was exploratory and took the form of theory building as opposed to theory testing. For the first time in South Africa, an attempt was made to assess how best control systems for affirmative action policies and programmes could be implemented in local government. The input from key stakeholders in local government made it possible to develop a model that could he used to control affirmative action policies and programmes.Item Exploring the motivation, goals and contradictions faced by employment equity and transformation practitioners in the South African corporate environment(2016) Oakley-Smith, John LucienThis study explored the personal goals and motivation behind employment equity implementers working within this field and one or more of three broad areas namely: 1) Transformation, 2) Empowerment, and 3) Diversity. The study aimed to explore what it is (ultimately) that these individuals are working for and towards in their day to day lives and professional roles. Were they working towards bigger goals than just compliance with the Employment Equity Act and if so- what were these? Further, the study looked to explore the results of operating in an environment where there are very often competing goals and visions of success, with a final view to understanding what personal tactics and methods implementers deploy to cope and succeed in this context- should an environment of conflicting, competing or contradictory goals exist. The research methodology was a content analysis of in depth semi structured individual interviews. The analysis highlighted the varied views, end goals and conceptual understandings on part of implementers. In every case however a sense of duty or calling emerged which seemed to serve as the key motivator and source of resilience in trying and complex situations. The role constructions that participants undertook also varied and seemed to be linked to the initiatives they busied themselves with as well as their personal motivations in terms of their work. All interviewees experienced some degree of dissonance and or tension between their ultimate goals and views of the subject area from the organisations in which they worked, with different personal responses manifesting