Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

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    Constraints to employment growth within the South African Automotive Industry
    (2013-10-10) Burger, Elsje Emerentia
    The research study set out to understand the factors constraining employment growth in the South African Automotive industry. This was particularly relevant in the context of the South African government’s renewed focus on growing employment, which has been shown to be the single best way to reduce poverty and increase economic participation by all classes in the South African economy (Briscoe 2000). As a key manufacturing sector, the South African Automotive Industry has the potential to drive employment growth, create sustainable, decent employment opportunities and aid in critical skills transfer and development. Identifying and classifying the impact of constraints on the industry would provide valuable guidance to government institutions mandated with growing employment by supporting this key sector. The information derived from the study would enable these institutions to prioritise projects and allocate limited resources and funding to the greatest effect. The research design was based on collecting in-depth, qualitative data through semi- structured interviews with selected key decision makers and experts in the industry. This allowed the researcher the ability to identify any additional constraints not highlighted in the original literature review, as well as to explore perceptions and reasoning behind responses provided during the interview. The study found the impact of key identified factors to be perceived differently for OEMs and component manufacturers, and the classification of constraints therefore had to distinguish between these sectors. For OEMs, raw material, as well as the cost of infrastructure was identified as significant constraints, while funding, labour skills and regulation were perceived as low constraints due to the OEM’s ability to leverage assistance from government and its global production network to mitigate these factors. Government policies and regulation was highlighted as a supporting factor in creating and sustaining employment. While raw material and infrastructure cost were also highlighted as significant constraints for the component manufacturing industry, the industry highlighted other factors, including export capability and labour skills as additional high impact ii constraints to the component industry. Contrary to OEMs, manufacturers viewed government policy as a constraining factor to employment, especially following changes made to policies under the MIDP and APDP. It is clear from the study that the majority of these bottlenecks often constitute structural constraints that could be addressed through relevant support and policies. This leaves substantial scope for translating correctly aligned policies and support into actual employment stability and growth. Identifying and prioritising these constraints will enable better coordination among government institutions and better application of limited funding and resources to achieve the greatest impact on the South African economy.
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    Retention factors influencing South African IT professionals in the financial services sector
    (2013-10-04) Shepperson, Glenda Lyn
    The current Information Technology (IT) skills shortage in South Africa is critical, resulting in a war for talent, which organisations cannot afford to lose if they are to remain competitive. In order to secure their scarce resources they need to focus on the retention of their IT professional workforce. The primary aim and purpose of this research study was to identify the most important retention factors that IT professionals in the South African financial services sector perceived to influence their decision on whether to stay with an organisation or not. Data was collected by means of an online questionnaire from 259 IT professionals in the South African financial services sector. The data was analysed in conjunction with data from other similar studies in order to draw appropriate comparisons. This research has indicated that in the quest to retain their IT professionals, organisations needs to consider the tangible, as well as intangible aspects important to their employees. These include most importantly, the provision of work-life balance programmes and practices. The statistical analysis conducted as part of this study in order to determine which variables influencing the IT professionals‘ decisions to remain with an organisation could be grouped meaningfully into themes, resulted in the identification of the following six themes, listed in order of importance: Traditional employment provisions; Inspiring, supportive, learning culture; Constructive teamwork; Liberating, enabling and rewarding personal work experience; Freedom to determine personal and organisational destiny; and Adequate provision to enable optimal performance.
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    Influence on the level of Employee Engagement in a South African pharmaceutical organisation
    (2011-11-11) Koma, Thato
    The primary aim of this research is to identify the factors influencing employee engagement at a pharmaceutical organisation in South Africa. Employee engagement is deemed in this research to be the overall commitment of an employee to the psychological, social and cultural identity of an organisation. Face-to-face interviews were conducted at the case site with a number of managers to ascertain the company‟s engagement drivers. A questionnaire survey was also conducted with all Lundbeck SA staff to capture their views on engagement drivers within the company. Secondary data was collected from the company‟s official website and other available company documents. Responses from all these sources were analysed qualitatively to discern comparisons and contrasts in viewpoints on engagement. Responses were also discussed within the context of extant conceptual and empirical literature on employee engagement. Finally, recommendations are made to enhance engagement based on the outcome of this research. The study noted that Lundbeck SA devotes enormous time and resources to creating an enabling environment for employee engagement. Lundbeck SA is a unique case with a „best practice‟ engagement strategy and engagement practices that are culturally relevant, thus applicable in most South African organisations. The study also contends that the intent and purpose of Lundbeck SA‟s strategy are underscored in the literature, thus universally justifiable. However, the aptitude for South African organisations to adopt similar practices is uncertain, due to the evidently foreign cultural foundations that underlie Lundbeck SA‟s management practices which defy the cultural rules of accepted management behaviour in the South African cultural context.
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    AN EVALUATION OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED HUMAN RESOURCE TRANSFORMATION IN A RETAIL BANK
    (2011-07-14) Meyburgh, Marcelle
    The objective of this research was to investigate the IT-assisted HR transformation at a Retail Bank. The research firstly sought to determine the strategic imperatives driving the need to change and reposition the HR function in the Bank. Secondly, the research aimed to understand what form the HR function would assume in light of this change as well as in response to new HR administration and transaction processes and structures as a result of the SAP HR IT system implementation and the set up of the new HR shared services centre. The approach taken by the Bank to implement this change in the HR function was compared to that proposed by David Ulrich. The data for analysis were collected via a qualitative method using a personal interview questionnaire as well as a quantitative method, using a survey designed and tested by David Ulrich and Jill Connor. Following the interpretation of results, the researcher made recommendations to management general regarding the approach for implementing this change
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    DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION
    (2011-05-19) Moodliar, Desigan
    Human Resources (HR) practioners embark on numerous initiatives in order to make the workplace more effective and to help employees become more productive and satisfied. However there is some doubt as to whether these initiatives are as effective as they could be. The objective of this study was to identify and rank the factors that impact job satisfaction in South Africa and to establish whether employee preferences of these factors differed significantly across the demographics of gender, generation, race and organisational level. Twenty-two job satisfaction variables were identified and investigated. The main findings of this research are that employees desire to be passionate about the work that they do and they want to be remunerated well. In addition employees desire acknowledgement for their contribution, the opportunity to grow and develop around a leader that they can look up to and colleagues with whom they can have good relations. A total of 18 significant differences across the demographics of gender, generation, race and organisational level were identified
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    Dominant influences on Human Resource practitioners’ perceptions of methods of attraction in South Africa
    (2011-04-19) Ruthven, Donovan Alan
    Companies in South Africa are continually confronted with vacancies which need to be filled. A number of methods of attraction, for example, word of mouth, recruitment agencies or internet recruitment, could be utilised in the process of filling these vacancies, and Human Resources practitioners have to make decisions on which method to adopt. Using a statistical technique called Correspondence Analysis, this research intended to explore the criteria that inform the decision of which method to adopt. The purpose of this was to determine if there is an overriding set of dominant influences on Human Resources practitioners‟ perceptions of methods of attraction, which could ultimately guide Human Resources practitioners in their decision processes. Furthermore, the research served to determine whether there were any material differences in perceptions of performances of the methods of attraction on any identified criteria and dominant influences. Utilising a sample of 35 Human Resources practitioners, from a variety of industries, it was possible to illustrate that there are two dominant influences on Human Resources practitioners‟ perceptions of methods of attraction. The results also highlight that perceptions of methods of attraction do differ significantly according to Human Resource practitioners on their effectiveness relative to these two influences, and demonstrate which methods of attraction perform best or worst on the criteria included in the research
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    FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO EMPLOYEE
    (2011-04-06) Cawe, Mawethu
    Employee engagement is a critical business issue for South Africa if we are to take this country to the next competitive landscape. South African business has been mired by negative perception of underperformance and uncompetitiveness from the international community for years in the past, with an over-reliance on the mining sector. From 1994, this perception has progressively improved and going forward more urgency from business is required in order to progress even further. Whilst employee engagement represents only one factor amongst a number of macro and micro issues, it is central to this country’s economy, business productivity and sustainability. In attempting to assist business in this regard, a study of factors that promote employee engagement has been investigated. The research was qualitative and quantitative in nature. A number of respondents from across the length and breath of South Africa participated in the study. Analysis was done on the results and correlation done to the propositions and the literature. The findings identified employee engagement strategy, the culture of engagement, leadership and management, talent mindset, communication and knowledge sharing, and organisations’ reputation and branding as prominent factors in business in South Africa. Resulting from the research, an employee engagement model is proposed which attempts to integrate key lessons for business.