Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

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    Dimensions of culture in relation to teamwork for South Africans living abroad
    (2011-06-15) Singh, Ashika
    South Africa has experienced changing times. It is a country that has undergone many political changes that involved various ethnic groups. Managing diversity brings benefits but requires skills and training. Organisations therefore need to manage diversity effectively. Organisations need to understand culture in order to mould it into a high performance culture. Teamwork exists in various areas such as the sporting world and the corporate world, and there are many challenges that teams need to overcome in order to perform optimally. Organisations need to address virtual and geographical team issues and support these teams. Companies must select the correct expatriates and support them according to their individual needs. The aim of this study was to test the findings of the study conducted by Weimer (2006) with the added dimension of investigating the self-identified diversity characteristic of South Africans living both locally and abroad, in relation to the teamwork profiles described by Hofstede (2001). The questionnaires as used by the Weimer (2006) study were distributed to respondents based in three countries namely South Africa, United Kingdom and the Middle East (Qatar and Dubai). Seventy-five completed questionnaires were returned. The profile obtained by Weimer (2006) noted that South African ethnic groups have a distinct profile with no major variations between groups, transcending race, religion and ethnicity. This study confirmed the results obtained by Weimer (2006). It was found that employees‟ values held with regard to teamwork, do not differ based on the country where they are located.
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    The Role of Supervisors in a South African Team-based
    (2011-04-04) Deysel, Jacob Johannes
    The importance of teamwork in facilitating workplace change and increasing productivity is widely recognised. While the benefits of teamwork are often overpromoted, the difficulties of implementation are likewise often underestimated. The supervisor is a key driver and enabler of the development of learning within an organisation; however, the importance of the role of the supervisor in teamwork implementation has tended, in the past, to be overlooked, so that only limited research has so far been undertaken in this regard. This study aims to identify both barriers encountered by, and presented by, supervisors to the successful implementation of teamwork and to promote a better understanding of the role of supervisors in teamwork implementation. The research methodology applied in this study, which forms part of the interpretive paradigm of the social sciences, employs the case study methodology. The qualitative case study investigated the implementation of a workplace organisation initiative consisting of teamwork at Consolidated Minerals Limited (CML), a large South African mining operation. The researcher utilised participative observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary investigation to construct a rich database in order to provide a holistic view of the barriers to teamwork implementation both as encountered by, and presented by, supervisors. Three key themes, consisting of institutional culture, the motives of senior management and the changing role of the supervisor, emerged during the analysis of the research findings. Institutional culture was seen to impact significantly on teamwork, since such culture plays a key role in establishing the foundation on which teamwork initiatives are rolled out. The institutional culture was further recognised as impacting on the preparation of the organisation for the successful adoption of a teamwork culture, as well as influencing the ability of the organisation to learn from its mistakes. The reason for the implementation of iii teamwork by senior management emerged as a second theme for the study. The underlying motivation behind its implementation needs to be clearly communicated to, and understood by, both management and employees and must result in benefits for both parties. The research indicates that, where the reason for the implementation of teamwork is questionable, its implementation will continuously encounter resistance from the workforce. The changing role of the supervisor is a third issue that had a significant impact on the ability of supervisors to adapt their managerial style to teamwork requirements. By considering these underlying themes during the implementation process, the research should assist companies to focus their attention on the importance of institutional culture, as well as allowing management to rethink why they want to implement teamwork. Companies should also be encouraged to take another look at job descriptions, compensation schemes, career pathing and the performance evaluation of supervisors. In so doing, management should more easily be able to stimulate active involvement from a key player, the supervisor, in the teamwork implementation process.
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    THE EFFECT OF TEAM BEHAVIOUR ON THE PERFORMANCE OF AN ENGINEERING JOINT VENTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA
    (2011-03-24) Capuzzimati, Giulio
    The 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.