Wits Business School (ETDs)

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    Navigating Governance Processes in IT Startups: A Case Study within an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Rantho, Malekgene; Sylvester, Horvey
    This qualitative study explores the intricate aspects of governance procedures within agile software development teams in IT startups in Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) environment in South Africa. The research aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of how elements such as leadership styles, organizational culture, decision-making processes, team climate, and emotional aspects of leadership influence the navigation and effectiveness of governance in agile agile software development teams. A case study of an IT startup within an OEM was used to explore the research question. To answer this question, an investigation was conducted through interviews of a qualitative nature with 20 members of agile teams in the organization selected for the case study seeking to: (i) To examine the current governance practices employed by agile teams of software development organizations within an OEM environment in South Africa; (ii) To identify the key challenges and opportunities faced by software development organizations in implementing effective governance practices; and (iii) To recommend best practices and strategies for enhancing governance practices in software development organizations, based on the findings of the case studies and an analysis of industry trends and standards. The results indicate the necessity of adaptive leadership that balances transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire styles to effectively manage governance of agile software development teams; the importance of aligning governance frameworks with organizational cultures, fostering continuous improvement, and promoting effective communication; the challenges in role clarity and the impacts of missing team members on workload, job satisfaction, and project outcomes; and that culturally sensitive governance practices, supported by regular knowledge-sharing sessions and a culture of measured risk-taking, enhance team performance and innovation. Thus the recommendations include implementing adaptive leadership training, fostering a culture of continuous feedback, and enhancing risk management practices to ensure project stability and quality. This study contributes to understanding how governance processes can be tailored to support agile methodologies in complex organizational settings.
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    The role of leadership in cybersecurity culture within the South African financial services
    (2020) Mataruse, Robert Tutsirayi
    The purpose of this study is to explore the role of leadership in cybersecurity culture within the South African financial services sector. The study is based on a qualitative case study on one of South Africa’s major financial services institution. The organisation in this study processes large volumes of transactional data containing personally identifiable information daily and is currently undergoing a massive organisational transformation aligned to its new strategy. Face to face semi-structured interviews conducted with senior managers in the organisation served as the primary source of data collection. The interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Publicly available documents and observations of the context provided secondary data sources. The findings of the study show that awareness education is critical in the communication and creation of a common and shared understanding of the cybersecurity risks and expected behaviour and attitudes. The development of a shared understanding within an organisation is critical to the development of desired behaviours and norms and in turn, culture. The leadership reinforces the awareness message for desired behaviour by being exemplary and authentically living out the values through their leadership style. The leaders’ leadership styles vary on the transactional-transformational leadership continuum. The organisation has a well-formed compliance culture for risk mitigation. Cybersecurity is an emerging risk type making the development of cybersecurity culture complementary to the existing compliance culture. Due to the qualitative nature of this single case study, the results are not representative of all organisations in the sector; however, they can be used to evaluate how other organisations are developing cybersecurity culture both within and without the sector.