Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/3922

For information on accessing Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management content please contact your Faculty Librarian

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Public sector

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Bureaucratic Perceptions of Fraud and Corruption in the Public Sector in KwaZulu-Natal
    (2012-01-20) Xulu, S’busiso Babo
    There is consensus among academic experts and researchers on corruption that large scale construction and development programmes provide an excellent avenue for corruption in corrupt regimes. The past ten years or so have witnessed a deluge of media, especially print media, reporting on corruption in the South African state. South Africa is a developmental state, and by definition government is heavily involved in large scale acquisition of goods and services as well as in infrastructure development programmes. This research was conducted within this context and sought to explore perceptions of and attitudes to fraud and corruption in the public sector. The research was carried out in the province of KwaZulu-Natal with a sample of 75 public sector bureaucrats in three government departments engaged in large scale procurement of goods and services. Results indicate that procurement constitutes a weak link in the quality chain of risk management and therefore in fraud and corruption prevention strategies. Further, the data shows dissatisfaction among officials with the way officialdom handles malfeasance and profligacy in the public sector and particularly the failure in the government system to enforce accountability. Tentative recommendations include further research into the value system of government officials, reducing the motivations for corruption in government spending through training programmes in ethics and good corporate governance, enforcing punitive measures, as well as establishing mechanisms for policing and early warning signals
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Realising Value with Information Technology Governance in the South African Public Sector
    (2011-06-24) Williams, Zunaid
    The role of Information Technology within organisations has changed materially over time. Information technology has become pervasive in almost all organisational processes and is the key component of most services that are provided by an organisation. The management and control of information technology has also had to adapt in order to ensure that Information Technology is able to continuously provide value to the organisation. Within the public sector Information Technology has also evolved and is a key component of government planning and an operation as well as being a medium through which government is able to engage with the public. In order to ensure that the public sector is able to continuously generate value from Information Technology services and process, organisations will need to put in place an appropriate management and control system. In order to gain an understanding of these methodologies semi-structured interviews were conducted with public sector representatives who elaborated on the specific structures, process and controls adopted by the organisations to ensure that Information Technology was able to deliver value. The main finding of this research was that the most of the organisations had a general awareness of the impact of Information Technology on their operations, and had developed specific processes to ensure that there was alignment between the business and Information Technology plans. Furthermore the measurement and identification of the value generation capabilities of Information Technology were ascertained. The research also identified specific practices related to risk and performance management practices for Information Technology and there integration into the overall business frameworks.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    PROJECT MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
    (2011-06-06) NXUMALO, CONSTANCE GLERAH
    The aspirations of millions of South Africans for a “better life” will remain a dream if government’s intent, contained in a myriad of policies developed since 1994, is not translated into tangible employment and socio-economic development. For years to come, South Africa will continue to operate on the basis of the principles of a welfarist state as well as those of a market economy. Inevitably, cries will go up that government is not delivering on its promises. It is against this backdrop that the policy formulation process will be reviewed with a view to recommending a project management approach as a means of fast-tracking delivery. The study is conducted within the context of a transforming South Africa whose fledgling democracy still needs considerable nurturing. Many challenges are faced by government in terms of policy delivery and nation building. The grave shortage of skills in areas such as project management and management generally to some extent offsets the gains made in the democratisation process. The public service is faced with the challenge of concretising the vision contained in the various policies that seek to ensure “a better life for all”. Since a public organisation’s brief is to add value for the public through strategies and programmes, the various tools and techniques offered by project management will be discussed in a public and development management context. Attention will also be given to the linkages between programme and project management. This research report comprises a theoretical assessment relating to project management, implementation approaches, and programme and project management. Selected theoretical frameworks will be applied to the case of the Mpumalanga Department of Social Services, Population and Development (DSSPD). Finally, key findings and recommendations will be presented
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Public officials’ perception of Information and Communications Technology Usefulness in South African Social Security Agency
    (2011-04-19) Ramaboea, Reginald Matumpula
    This research report explores factors that affect Information and Communications Technology User Satisfaction in the Public Sector in South Africa. With the help of the literature cited in this report, the researcher arrives at an empirical conclusion that there are six factors that affects user satisfaction in the public sector in South Africa. These are Leadership Support, Knowledge, Skills, Technology and Innovation, Communication and Quality Service Systems. Through the study of 151 respondents from different levels of South African Social Security Agency offices in Gauteng, the researcher concluded that there is certainly a link or similarity between the above listed factors and government policy on customer orientation guide lines commonly known as Batho Pele principles This study contributes towards encouraging Information and Communications Technology management and practitioners in the public sector to acknowledge factors that affect user satisfaction in their respective government departments. In applying/implementing Batho Pele principles, it is expected that the factors that affect user satisfaction will be positively influenced in the interests of improved service delivery to the citizens of the country
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Planning consultant led organisational change
    (2011-04-05) Dohmen, Tammy
    The contracting of consultancies to lead the implementation of many organisational change projects in the South African public sector has not always led to the successful implementation of these projects. Seeing as the planning process plays a critical role in determining project success, the research was aimed at establishing ways of improving the planning of consultant led organisational change projects in the South African public sector. From a public sector client perspective the key research findings amount to the need for the pro-active management of the consulting relationship and deliverables by the client. From a consultant’s perspective the key research findings amount to the development of a project solution and implementation plan that meets the client’s requirements and can deliver on what it promises. In terms of overall project planning approaches and methodologies, it was found that improvement opportunities do not lie in the implementation of radical new approaches in project management, but rather the disciplined implementation of basic project management principles, processes and methodologies, particularly focusing on the following six main areas; a) obtaining an understanding of the client’s unique environment; b) clarifying and agreeing relevant and realistic project outcomes; c) the formulation of relevant and realistic project plans; d) the establishment of an optimal project team and support structures for the team; e) planning for sustainability; and f) the establishment of project governance frameworks
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Knowledge Management As A Reform Mechanism In Public Sector Administration
    (2011-03-22) Browne, Rachel
    The purpose of this research is to explore Knowledge Management (KM) as a reformist strategy for public service administration. KM as a conceptual approach to reforming organisational practice has been widely researched and discussed in a private sector context, with little attention paid to its implications for the public sector. With the comments made by the Public Service Commission in its state of the public service report, 2002 – ‘One of the major challenges of democratisation has been to change the nature of our state and its public service to become developmental and service oriented ’ – setting the stage, the report will investigate how a KM approach to reform might contribute towards changing the modus operandi of the public service to meet this critical goal. The qualitative research focuses on the human or social component in public service organisation and will work from the premise that reformist management approaches must be located within a wider transformation agenda in the public sector. Within this wider agenda, therefore, the research develops a perspective on reform based on a knowledge-driven organisational strategy using the Treasury as a medium of study. Key findings of the research indicate that although knowledge management approaches are beginning to be identified at the National Treasury, they are in the main isolated and not integrated into a wider knowledge-driven strategic approach that is conceptualised at the leadership level and uniformly implemented by means of ‘knowledge champions’ across the departmental divisions.