Digital skills development at a global assurance, tax and advisory consulting firm in South Africa
| dc.contributor.author | Saley, Azhar | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Gobind, J. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-08-27T12:05:45Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-08-27T12:05:45Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.description | A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Digital Business to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Digital technology continues to evolve, and the way employees work is constantly changing. To keep up with the rapid technological developments and compete in the digital economy, organisations need a digitally skilled workforce with the skills and capabilities required to drive digital transformation. However, a qualification audit conducted by the Consultancy X HR team in February 2022 indicated that the qualifications and certifications of employees do not equip them with the skills required to support the consultancy's digital transformation journey. The purpose of this study was to investigate the low uptake in digital skills development for employees at a global assurance, tax and advisory consulting firm in South Africa. This study followed a qualitative research design, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews, which involved the researcher conducting 60-minute virtual interviews with 9 participants to collect in-depth insights and data from participants on their perceptions of digital transformation and the digital skills uptake at Consultancy X, the impact of the emerging technologies on their roles and the effectiveness of the organisation's current digital skills development approach. The thematic analysis technique was used to analyse the themes and patterns in the feedback from participants. The study found that the low uptake in digital skills development at Consultancy X was primarily due to time constraints resulting in digital skills development not being prioritised, lack of exposure to digital technologies/skills and resistance to change from employees. The findings also revealed that the organisation’s current digital skills development approach is ineffective due to limited resources being available to support digital skills development and leadership not actively driving digital skills development. However, employees are willing to learn and adopt emerging technologies if they have clarity on the objectives/benefits of the technology; the technology is user-friendly and saves them time. Recommendations were made that may assist the leadership team at Consultancy X in increasing the uptake in digital skills development | |
| dc.description.submitter | MM2024 | |
| dc.faculty | Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Saley, Azhar. (2023). Digital skills development at a global assurance, tax and advisory consulting firm in South Africa [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40345 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40345 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg | |
| dc.rights | © 2023 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. | |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg | |
| dc.school | WITS Business School | |
| dc.subject | Accounting | |
| dc.subject | Digital Skills Development | |
| dc.subject | Digital Transformation | |
| dc.subject | Digital Economy | |
| dc.subject.other | SDG-8: Decent work and economic growth | |
| dc.title | Digital skills development at a global assurance, tax and advisory consulting firm in South Africa | |
| dc.type | Dissertation |