Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

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    LEADERSHIP FOR STAFF RETENTION IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN GAUTENG.
    (2011-11-14) SITHOLE, PHUMZILE
    Social development is essentially a people centered approach to development that promotes citizen participation and strengthens the voice of poor people in decision making. The meeting of human needs is a national collective responsibility, a collaborative partnership, amongst the civil society, government and private sector. The state plays a leading role in implementing development programmes, and these programmes require adequate and skilled service professionals, which are social workers. Social workers are enthusiastic proponents of the social development approach. There is however a serious mismatch between the overwhelming demands for services and the numbers of social service professionals to deliver on these demands. This has adversely affected the organisation’s programmes as projects are abruptly stopped or shelved due to lack of manpower. The National Minister for Public Service and Administration recognized the scarcity of social workers as early as 2003 and declared it a scarce skill. Social work has been declared a scarce skill in terms of the skill framework issued by the Department of Public Service Administration. The primary aim of the study therefore was to explore and describe the role that leadership can assume in the crisis of skills shortage of social workers in the Gauteng province. Qualitative description methods were used in the study, with a purposive sampling of eight respondents, four production officials and four managers from the metro (Johannesburg) region of Gauteng province with different number of years of experience. The results of the study show that the respondents are not content; the non managers have lost confidence in the present leadership and the retention strategy. The present leadership agrees that they are not operating the way they should as some are not capacitated to do so, while others complain about being excluded in decision making, giving political appointees more power to rule and oppress them. This study maintains that leaders do not possess the qualities that their followers most value; they feel left out, not represented and not taken care of. The results of the study are discussed and recommendations are offered for the organization to deploy the necessary leadership theory to address job turnover and keep it to a minimum or even halt completely
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    IQMS IMPLEMENTATION: A MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN KLEIN LETABA CIRCUIT
    (2011-11-14) Thomas, Makhuvele Sevha
    In South Africa, there has been a lack of a proper tool to evaluate the performance of educators attached to public schools and this has compromised the provision of quality public education to all citizens of the country. The evaluation systems that existed were perceived as negatively-focused, backward-looking, judgemental, subjective and unreliable. The introduction of Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) signalled a new approach to the evaluation of the performance of both educators and schools. This new approach, therefore, represents an opportunity for the Department of Education to change from the negatively conceived system to a positive one that will transform the education system. The introduction of the IQMS in South African public schools has however added a new task that has to be executed by school principals. Principals are expected to manage the implementation of IQMS as well as to play a leading role in the process. The idea behind the introduction of IQMS was to evaluate the performance of both the schools and educators in order to come with ways that will improve the provision of quality education in public schools. Before the outcomes of the new system could be realised, it became apparent that principals of public primary schools have been faced with challenges that makes it difficult for them to effectively implement the system. The purpose of this research is to identify and investigate management and leadership challenges facing primary school principals in the implementation of IQMS and to recommend how principals can be assisted in order to effectively deal with these challenges.
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    The perceived benefits of executive coaching to aspirant South African leaders
    (2011-11-14) Murugan, Sadhasivan Anandamurthee
    This qualitative study explores the impact of executive coaching interventions. The study focuses on aspirant South African business leaders attending executive coaching programs and the perceived benefits that they have experienced. The research methodology used to gather the data is one of qualitative semistructured interviews. The key findings were that the benefits of executive clustered around improvements in the emotional and social competencies of leaders, such as improved interpersonal skills, improved self awareness and improved relations
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    LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES IN
    (2011-06-24) YENDE, FELLENG ANACLETA
    South Africa can be said to be experiencing rapid changes in the new political dispensation. At the birth of non-racialised democracy in 1994, a number of laws aimed at transforming the government’s administrative structures were formulated. Local government was one such organ of government that was the focus of the new transformative laws. In an effort to implement these new laws and government’s development policies at community level, new structures such as ward councils were established. Ward councillors are the leading representatives of ward councils. Community members elect ward councillors. They represent their respective communities in policy- and decision-making bodies or forums, by articulating their communities’ development needs and policies in line with government’s overall community development mandate and strategies. With the view to addressing the socioeconomic inequalities from the apartheid regime, councillors are strategically positioned to operate as mediators between government and communities. They are mandated to ensure policy implementation so that the communities they lead and represent change for the better if not transform in line with the government’s transformation agenda. This research investigates the leadership development challenges with specific reference to the two wards, namely, Ward 33 and Ward 34 in Soweto. We explore and examine these challenges from the transformational leadership perspective of South Africa’s community development agenda. Our research methodology is qualitative research. We used semi-structured questionnaires were designed and in depth interviews undertaken. The guideline for conducting transformational leadership development challenges or gap analysis was guided by the qualities or competencies of leadership, which include good leadership qualities, function or role, ethics, development challenges. Our research shows that the councillors as leaders have development challenges. Community development needs to have a specific, relevant context. We recommend a leadership development model or a generic leadership development programme in order to enhance leadership qualities of ward councillors. Specifically, we recommend individual leadership development programmes for each councillor
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    THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS WITHIN
    (2011-06-15) Sito, Paul Pule
    The interplay between management and leadership significantly affects the successful implementation of public policies. Public managers sometimes overmanage their institutions, while under-leading them. A consequence of traditional authoritarian management can be demoralised and unmotivated personnel bent only on job-retention and unconcerned about service delivery. This study focused on how school managers in Tshwane West interacted with their environment to deliver quality education. The practices in well-performing schools in the township were observed and compared with those in less successful schools. Many principals were found to be confused about the difference between the concepts of leadership and management. They extensively relied on outdated management principles. Schools were mostly not using their avowed visions for the future as their focal point. But they were nevertheless anxious to produce good annual matriculation results. It was found that school leadership would benefits from empowering its employees. Some basic management principles are required to ensure accountability, especially with how budget is spent. But to render quality service, employees need to experience ownership of their environment. Largely informal, but far-reaching and sustainable leadership practices can facilitate this state of affairs
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    Spiritual Leadership in South African
    (2011-06-15) Sirkissoon, Elisha
    The research problem that this research addresses is to explore and identify the key components of spiritual leadership, within the context of the general concept of leadership, as well as the dynamics between the identified components of spiritual leadership. There is a sense of urgency for humanity to expand their consciousness in order to deal with the challenges arising in organisations and on this planet (Biberman et al, 1999). This includes a need for more holistic leadership that integrates the four aspects of human existence, i.e. the body, mind, heart and spirit (Smith and Rayment, 2007; Moxley, 2000). It is argued that successful corporate leaders of the 21st century will be spiritual leaders, comfortable with their own spirituality and with the knowledge of how to nurture spiritual development in others Cacioppe (2000). The research paradigm adopted in the research was qualitative in nature and takes the form of descriptive study. Fourteen in-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview questionnaire. The research results show that what underpins the definition of spiritual leadership is the general concept of awareness. The specific results indicate that the components of spiritual leadership include, understanding that one’s position has meaning and purpose; cultivating, embedding and acting with positive spiritual values such as sustainability and cooperation; dissolution of ego; detachment from results; management of stress; growth towards higher states of consciousness; and engaging in reflective practices. The spiritual leader’s responsibility is to constantly strive to refine his/her awareness and that of his/her followers. Engaging in reflective practices, assist in refining and purifying ones consciousness so that this level of awareness can be achieved. The research results did not deviate from literature on spiritual leadership. Much of the literature was reinforced by the results of this research. The implications for this research are manifold; however it is recommended that further empirical studies are conducted, specifically with regards to the business benefits of spirituality in the workplace and factors that constrain the application of spirituality in the workplace.
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    A MODEL FOR MIGRATION FROM ENTREPRENEUR
    (2011-06-07) PASSMORE, JEROME
    Every big business starts small, usually initiated by an entrepreneur who is successful in bringing the business into being, nurturing its early growth and innovatively forging its course as a start-up enterprise. However, not all entrepreneurs who are successful in creating new enterprises possess the characteristics, skills, behaviors and habits required to lead their organisations into the next developmental stage of the business life cycle; to scale their business. As the entrepreneurial enterprise grows and establishes itself in the market, the need for a professional manager or business leader emerges, but not all entrepreneurs are able to make the transition to professional manager. The cliché “founders flounder” motivates this research topic. A juncture in the life cycle of any business exists where the complexity of the venture diverges beyond the capability of the entrepreneur. In-depth interviews at a single case site – Investec Bank, have been conducted to explore the phenomenon of a situation where a pair of entrepreneurs, Stephen Koseff and Bernard Kantor have been successful in transforming a start-up bank into an international banking organisation
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    LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN CREATING A CUSTOMER-FOCUSED
    (2011-05-31) Fatyi, Mzimkulu Stanley
    The changing demands of customers require organisations to be customeroriented. This change urges organisations to move from their present status quo to a new, desired, configuration to better match the current business environment. Many theorists from the different disciplines in marketing, business process reengineering, total quality management, and efficient management advocate this customer orientation. Developments in theory suggest a number of business processes through which this customer orientation can be achieved and the role the leadership of the organisation must play in achieving this customer orientation. Against this background, the objective of this study is to explore the challenges facing the leadership of Spoornet, a railway division of Transnet, in achieving customer orientation and to describe the role the leaders must play in influencing the development of this customer orientation. The research is based on quantitative and qualitative data from questionnaires sent to 150 employees that were randomly selected across all levels of the company, and also from secondary data available in the company. Analysis of the case of Spoornet reveals a number of issues that the leadership of Spoornet faces in developing in this organisation a customer-oriented focus. Participants in this study were very vocal about their feelings, especially in criticism of the leadership. Findings suggest that key customer-oriented factors such as management attitudes and behaviours, employee and executive skills, departmental co-operation, and reward systems must be developed with leadership playing a pivotal role in achieving the desired customer orientation objective.
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    Project leadership challenges in World Vision Lesotho
    (2011-05-19) Monethi, Manthethe Moipone
    World Vision International (WVI) is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that facilitates community development initiatives worldwide. The Lesotho contingent of WVI, World Visio Lesotho (WVLSO) aims to build the capacity of and to empower communities in lesotho through development projects. leadership challenges often hamper these community development initiatives of WVLSO. Community development initiatives are usually a multi-stakeholder responsibility. This makes development projects complex. Both project implementers and beneficiaries i.e. the people, are important. Ultimately, leadership is about people, and hence the importance of leadership in the project environment. The success or failure of development projects depends on leadership. This study investigates leadership challenges that prevent World Vision Lesotho from achieving the gol of empowering the community to own and benefit from development projects in a sustained way.
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    Emotional intelligence and effective leadership in knowledge-driven organisations in South Africa
    (2011-05-17) Mazibuko, Boikanyo Johanna
    The 21st century is characterised by the knowledge economy which has highlighted the role of effective leadership in dealing with complexity, change and mobility of knowledge workers. This study examines emotional intelligence as a construct of leadership character and how this relates to effective leadership in knowledge-drive organisations in South Africa. The Mayer Salovey Caruso emotional intelligence test (MSCEIT) was self-administered on-line by leaders within various organisations. Leaders’ effectiveness was assessed by means of the Leadership 360 multi-rater detailing questions relating to how leaders function in their roles. The overall results of the data analysis indicate that a leader’s emotional intelligence may indeed be a key determinant of effective leadership (r = 0.441). The implication of this research is that knowledge-driven organisations as well as academic institution need to consider the integration of emotional intelligence in leaders training and development programmes