Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management
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Item FACTORS IN CHOOSING A BLACK ECONOMIC PARTNER(2011-04-12) Gouws, JohanThis report investigates the factors that are of importance in choosing a Black Economic Partner to maximise the vested interest of all stakeholders involved in the joint venture. The research report is broad and lays the groundwork for further in-depth research. The research reported was exploratory and explanatory. A quantitative research methodology was chosen, consequent to the limited number of possible respondents in a cross-section of companies in Gauteng. The Delphi technique was used as research method. Data were gathered through documented questionnaires using open–ended questions in Round 1 of the research, while documented questionnaires using scaling methods were used in Round 2 of the research. In-depth interviews with experts in the field of Black Economic Empowerment were used in the final round of the research. The factors involved in the choice of a Black Economic Partner include having a clear documented reason for the joint venture and should not include “being compliant”. It was found that companies that choose a Black Economic Partner just to be compliant run a bigger risk of choosing the wrong partner, resulting in the failure of the joint venture. For most companies it is a business imperative that they go into a Black Economic Empowerment joint venture. The most important factor when choosing a Black Economic Partner is that the partner should have financial risk in the joint venture. This financial risk, though, must be carefully defined, as many Black Economic Partners do not have financial capital to invest in a joint venture, but instruments are available to assist. Another factor of importance is the Black Economic Partner’s influence in the business world and ability of the partner to fit in with the company’s culture and values. This research found that it is better to choose a Black Economic Partner that does not have many investments over a wide spectrum of industries, as the partner must actively contribute to and focus on one industry. This research also found that management generally ii is committed to Black Economic Empowerment but that managers are not efficiently skilled to implement Black Economic Empowerment. This research should serve as a pilot study that aims to explore new territory. From this explorative research, more extensive research of the contributing factors should be conducted in a cross-section more representative of the economy of South Africa and not only Gauteng. No research could be found that addresses the choice a company makes with regard to a Black Economic Partner in a joint venture. The researcher hopes that this research will make companies more sensitive in considering the factors involved when choosing a Black Economic Partner for a joint venture.Item THE EFFECT OF TEAM BEHAVIOUR ON THE PERFORMANCE OF AN ENGINEERING JOINT VENTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA(2011-03-24) Capuzzimati, GiulioThe increasing tend towards, and importance of, inter-organisational collaborative agreements, such as joint ventures, is widely recognised. While the benefits of joint ventures have been extensively promoted, many such ventures continue to fail. Research into joint ventures has been described as either focusing on an in-depth analysis of a selected narrow issue or sweeping generalisations of a more general magnitude, with emphasis on joint venture formation motives, joint venture structuring and partner selection and characteristics. More recently, a growing volume of literature strongly supports the notion that joint venture performance might be more fully understood by the examination of the behavioural characteristics of the joint venture team. This study aims to establish how the behaviours of an engineering joint venture team influence the venture’s performance. The methodology applied in this study is qualitative, interpretive research using the case study method. The qualitative case study investigated the implementation of an international engineering joint venture between Hatch Africa, Mott Macdonald and Goba engineering companies for the delivery of the Transnet mega projects programme in South Africa. The researcher utilised semi-structured interviews and documentary investigation to construct a rich database in order to provide a holistic view of how behavioural characteristics of the joint venture team influences joint venture performance. Seven key behavioural groupings, consisting of commitment, trust, cooperation/coordination/interdependence/reciprocity, communication, conflict resolution, role of management/management style and learning were analysed. Four key themes emerged namely: organisational hierarchy; the effect of time; organisational set up and design; and the current market conditions. Organisational and individual learning, communication and the role of management/management style emerged as the behavioural groupings which had the greatest affect, either positively or negatively, on joint venture performance. Commitment, cooperation and coordination also emerged as having a significant impact on joint venture performance while trust was found to have an indirect influence on joint venture performance. Interdependence, conflict resolution and reciprocity were found to have less of an impact on joint venture performance. ii By considering the results of this research, managers of joint venture partner firms and joint venture management teams themselves can focus their attention, both at the commencement and set up stage of the joint venture as well as during the joint venture development, on the behaviours which have the biggest impact on the joint venture performance, thereby improving the probability of success in the joint venture.