This study was concerned with the journey that an organisation will need to embark on from being a product centric organisation to becoming a customer centric organisation. The change that is required to become customer centric is about the culture of the organisation that must change, and not the vision and mission statements as published by the senior executive of the company. Customer centricity is the concept where the customer is truly seen to be the most important part of the organisation. The focus of everyone in the organisation is to satisfy the customer in such a way that there will be a mutual beneficial relationship for both parties. Literature research was done to understand what customer centricity means and it was amazing to see the various definitions and information that was available on this topic. Most of the researchers alluded to corporate culture and the readiness and ability to change the culture throughout the whole of an organisation. Afrox identified the need identified to become more customer centric and wanted to know why the delivery of the service offers were not happening. The senior management of Afrox was used in a survey to get their perception of how far the company has moved on the journey to becoming customer centric, and what they would recommend the company should do to becoming customer centric. It was interesting to note that not a single senior manager said that the company was customer centric, although they all agreed that the company was well on the way to becoming customer centric. Since the whole concept of becoming customer centric is now taken up in the strategic plan, business plan, vision and mission statements of Afrox, the study looks at what Afrox can put in place as a result of the research to enable the changes in culture of the employees and culture of the company that will result in a customer centric organisation. It is very clear that this is a long term journey, and that the company may never get to the true text book definition of customer centricity, but the journey is critical for the company to remain competitive. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

Change is a process that affects everyone and businesses differently and it is constantly happening, whether it be planned or unplanned. The planned change of Mission Directed Work Teams (MDWT) at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) was implemented from 01 July 2005, and its continuous improvement and mission orientation effect on employees and the performance of the company were vital to improved business success and growth. The effect of change on organisations can be assessed by people's attitudes and outlooks. In the global world of business, companies that cannot adapt to change or implement planned change successfully will be heading for disaster and failure. The ability to react to change and implement change timeously and effectively will determine the difference between success and failure. Change management therefore plays a crucial role in today's fast-paced world of business, and is a vital skill for any manager that wants to succeed beyond expectations. This dissertation describes and evaluates the process of change at RBM during the implementation of MDWT and the change management approach that was adopted. Kurt Lewin's Force Field Analysis (Misselhorn, 2005), semi-structured interviews and statistical analyses showed that MDWT impacted positively on employee attitudes and short-term financial performance, but the management of the change process was short-circuited in a few critical areas and needs to be addressed, especially with regards to involvement of the relevant stakeholders, training requirements and change reinforcement. Although organisations need to adapt to their environment, they tend to feel comfortable operating within the structure, policies and procedures which have been formulated to deal with a range of possible situations. To ensure operational effectiveness, organisations often set up defences against change and prefer to concentrate on the routine things they perform well. It is important, therefore, for management to understand the reasons for, and the nature of, resistance to change and to adopt a clearly defined strategy for the initiation of change. Change management requires maintaining the balance of the socio-technical system that influences the behaviour and attitudes of individuals and groups, and thereby the level of performance and effectiveness within organisations. Successfully managing change is therefore clearly essential for continued economic performance and competitiveness in the tough world of business. It is therefore important that change be managed, because if the pressure to change is ignored, it will eventually become a destructive force that will put the survival of the business in jeopardy. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu Natal, 2006.

This study is an evaluation of how to improve organisational performance by transforming an organisation into a learning one - in particular the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL). A qualitative method was used where an exploratory study was conducted through the use of a survey and interviews with selected participants. This was done in order to establish their feelings and perceptions concerning a need for change in our organisations, especially by managers or leaders. In enabling the researcher to follow a more focussed study, nine questions were prepared and one interview question. Most of the questions revolved around the need for change, factors affecting change (whether negative or positive), benefits, and ultimately how organisational performance could be enhanced. An in-depth literature review was then undertaken by the researcher on the nature of a learning organisation and other related principles in order for the researcher to build capacity and empower himself. The current state of implementing change and transformation in SANRAL and other organisations was compared with that suggested by the literature. Twenty-five questionnaires were administered to SANRAL and other stakeholders’ employees, the responses were analysed, and the results were compared with what is suggested by the literature. Most of the respondents agree that there is a need for paradigm shift in organisations, particularly SANRAL. Learning organisations’ principles featured prominently in the participants’ responses. It was also thought that the challenge is how to manage and lead in these rapidly changing times. Issues like communication, participative management and so on were found to be key factors when leading change in an organisation, and vital for organisational performance. The literature review revealed that management needs to be more proactive in their approach when leading under these uncertain conditions. Finally, the dissertation highlighted the shortfalls and critical issues that organisations need to focus on in order to survive in changing environments, while the literature review provided some of the guidelines in addressing these challenges. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

The purpose of this research was to develop and evaluate a 5-week readiness for change precursor to group cognitive-behavioral therapy for individuals with eating disorders. Group content was based on the theories of the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Motivational Interviewing, and also included an experiential pretraining component. Forty-six medically stable individuals with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) were recruited from the Adult Eating Disorders Program at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, Canada. Participants completed measures of readiness for change, eating disorder symptomatology, and treatment outcome at three time points: pre- and post-readiness precursor, and post-cognitive-behavioral group. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance, regression analysis, and Cochran’s Q analysis were used to investigate hypotheses. Results revealed that participants’ readiness for change increased significantly following the readiness group. However, despite changes in readiness, stage of change awareness and cognitive-behavioral treatment drop-out rates were not significantly improved. In was concluded that motivational interventions appear to be an effective way to increase readiness for change in the eating disorders, however more research is needed to determine whether increases in readiness have a significant impact on treatment outcome.

The release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels for energy is thought to be one of the main contributors to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. This increase is reported to be causing irreversible changes to the earth’s climate, giving rise to temperature increases and other consequent alterations in weather patterns. Amid growing concern about climate change and its impact on the world, targets have been set through agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and via European Union and government legislation to force countries to work towards decreasing their greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing the contribution that renewable sources make to energy production is a major part of most countries’ strategies to meet these targets. The UK has arguably the greatest potential for wind power generation in Europe and the government is seeking to build upon this strength by exploiting the resource further. The liberalised electricity market infers a requirement for private investment in order to develop the wind portfolio and this in turn requires financial and economic feasibility. Given the changes in weather patterns that are projected to occur over the course of the coming century, the possibility that this could change the UK’s wind resource, and hence the financial viability of wind power developments, must be addressed. Other aspects of how changes in the wind resource could impact on the operation of the fragmented electricity system ought also to be considered in this context. This thesis attempts to understand how the current generation of climate models project surface wind climate to change, and seeks to make the model information relevant at a site level by using statistical and physical modelling techniques. The projected changes indicated by the models are small, and it has been assessed that potential impacts on the electricity system, from project feasibility to the potential for inclusion of wind in the generation mix, will be limited.

This thesis examines the relationship between young children's emerging political attitudes towards climate change and the possible effect that the political project of neoliberalism could have on these attitudes. The research asks, in what ways and to what extent do neoliberal attitudes and beliefs influence young New Zealand children's views on climate change mitigation? Drawing from five focus group interviews with Christchurch children aged between 9 and 11, I compare and contrast the results in order to gauge their opinions, thoughts and beliefs about climate change. In doing this I ask how neoliberalism formed in New Zealand and if the neoliberal project has become so dominant in the macro and micro level policy contexts as to influence the attitudes of our youngest citizens. What the thesis argues is that neoliberal discourse appears to have influenced how the participants view climate change, most specifically in their willingness to select individualized mitigation techniques to respond to climate change as opposed to collective actions. These findings are tentative, they require a robust larger sample, beyond the scope of a masters, and may be influenced by other factors such as the developmental stage of the children, however, the emphasis all children placed on voluntary action by individuals was striking. My findings also suggest that those who selected these individual mitigation techniques were more likely to have higher efficacy than those who were critical of such practices. The thesis argues that individualized techniques to combat climate change are by themselves not effective to bring about significant change in order to alleviate further damage being caused to the climate system. In order to reach Helen Clark's goal of being "the world's first truly sustainable nation," collective, as well as individual mitigation must occur.

The study concerns the effects on the course of agricultural land-use change of the local domination of land occupancy by sub-full-time farms; in particular the effect of non-agricultural occupations on the land-use of individual farm operators is central. Land-use <i>changes</i> in the West Highlands of Scotland (1947-79) were charted for 66 Parishes, which were subjected to a hierarchical fusion of 'similar experience' of change. Resultant clusters were compared in terms of structural attributes. Differentiation was found at two levels: between areas of high viz low percentages of part-time holdings and within the sub-full-time fractions, related to relative proportions of holdings of 40-135, and 135-270 Standard Man Days. 'Insignificant' holdings (<40 SMDs) were found not to be of a characteristic land-use 'type' but instead operated enterprises of similar form to larger units. In three areas of crofting townships land-use and enterprise characteristics were found not to be a sole function of size of holdings or labour availability, (estimated from household demographic and employment criteria). Non-farm occupational characteristics (full-time; part-time; seasonal etc) related to the scale of enterprise but less so to the type of enterprise. Occupants with off-farm work did not specialise <i>per se</i> in low-labour demanding activities. Linear programming was used to estimate optimal land-use intensity from land capability and labour data. Occupational factors related to sub-optimal land-use intensity as did occupants' age. A method derived from Point Score Analysis of decision-making factors showed that certain factors serve as 'constraints' on choices of specific groups of individuals. Off-farm work was found to be the most important such constraint.

<p> This dissertation describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a gender-inclusive information system linking rural women in Agni Hiya, Morocco and water project managers from the Association Dar Si-Hmad. This research was motivated by an interest in exploring the linkages between information and communication technologies (ICT), climate change, natural resource management and women's participation in community development in the drought-ridden A&iuml;t Baamrane region of southwest Morocco. The research investigates the potential for mobile phones to help address communication constraints that rural Berber women face, including culture, religion, and lack of digital literacy. These issues are relevant to the study and design of a gender-inclusive information system (the "Fog Phone") intended to help manage a fogwater distribution system that will deliver water from the Anti-Atlas Mountains to Berber villages. </p><p> The research investigates two similar groups of low-literate, marginalized rural Berber women from the same geographic community who have mobile phones. Technology-focused ethnographic research methods were used to first investigate the social, cultural and technical factors involved in mobile phone use by women employed in an Argan oil Cooperative. Findings from the Argan oil Cooperative study were then applied and expanded in a study of Berber women involved in the operation of the fogwater system. By virtue of their responsibilities as principal water gatherers and water users in the community, Berber women are key stakeholders in the fogwater system. Their continued involvement in water management was extended to the participatory design and development of the prototype Fog Phone. </p><p> Cultural conditions restricting communication between unrelated men and women led to an information system design that supported cultural, social, economic and technical constraints. The Fog Phone enabled women to report on the water system using a series of symbols that communicate water system status without violating cultural norms. In addition to an exploration of the relationship between gender and technology, this research explores related themes of climate change and environmental vulnerability as they pertain to women's lives and livelihoods, as well as the ability of rural Berber women to manage the environmental assets on which their livelihoods depend. </p><p> The contributions of this research include a prototype information system for the fogwater project; a better understanding of the mobile phone utility gap and its impact on the use of ICT by marginalized women in polyglot and oral-language dependent communities; and advances in the emerging practice of ICTs, Climate Change and Development (ICCD) by providing a case study of the linkages between mobile phones, water resources that are affected by climate change and women in rural communities involved in an environmentally sustainable development project in the Middle East and North Africa&mdash;a region that is largely missing from ICCD and overall ICT for Development research. </p>

Due to the relatively complex land cover configuration and a series of significant ecological implications, the issue of land cover changes in the Big Creek area are of critical value to environmental conservation groups, policy makers, and relevant stakeholders. In consultation with the Carolinian Canada Coalition (CCC), the potential of IKONOS imagery as a high spatial resolution remote sensing product is assessed for significant habitat mapping, and a change detection methodology is developed and implemented for the Big Creek area that will be of value to decision makers and policy analysts. In order to take advantage of the synergistic strengths of multiple change detection techniques, a hybrid approach is adopted in this study, aiming to detect and stratify land cover changes over the time span from 2004 to 2012. On the basis of an assessment of the capability of differentiating changed from unchanged areas, the image differencing method based on Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was found to be the most accurate among the three change detection techniques employed in this study. As an attempt to incorporate local spatial autocorrelation information into the change detection analysis, the Getis statistic was used as a spatial filter in conjunction with the image differencing technique, and it showed great promise for improving the change/no change maps both qualitatively and quantitatively. In particular, the extreme Getis statistic proposed in this study demonstrated strong potential for automatically determining the optimal scale for spatial smoothing, which could greatly improve the efficiency and accuracy of change detection practices. In addition, the performance of the post-classification comparison approach was found to be highly dependent on the intrinsic characteristics of the individual classified maps, rather than simply the accuracy scores of the classifications subject to the comparison. Therefore, it is recommended that a benchmark approach be taken to compensate for this uncertainty of the post-classification comparison method, such that the negative impact of the misclassification errors in the individual classified maps could be reduced to an acceptable level. The findings of this research will contribute to a better understanding of the usefulness of some widely used change detection techniques in a relatively complex physical environment with abundant vegetation cover. In addition, the application of the Getis statistic as a spatial filter is proven useful for suppressing potential "salt and pepper" effects in the context of change detection analysis, especially if high spatial resolution imagery is employed. With minor modifications, the workflow proposed in this study is likely to reliably fulfill the purpose of monitoring land cover dynamics in other environments as well. However, it should be noted that clear awareness of the characteristics of the study area and needs of information is a premise to the successful application of any change detection approach in different environments.

Ecotourism is a development strategy for many local communities in and around protected areas. Its ability to improve tourism opportunities, conservation and livelihoods is supported by many ecotourism studies. Such communities often employ diverse livelihood strategies to reduce risk and survive. As such, ecotourism becomes an integral part of a portfolio of livelihoods and assist with livelihood diversification. However, in some locales climate change is making livelihoods, including ecotourism vulnerable, due to its impacts on protected areas and their associated biodiversity. Climate change creates vulnerability as well as opportunities for adaptation. Climate change adaptation has become important in ensuring tourism sustainability, as it is critical in reducing the vulnerability of tourism. However, the literature supplies only limited knowledge on such adaptation at the local level. This may undermine ecotourism???s prospects in improving local livelihoods and conservation. There is a need to understand the lived and embodied everyday experiences of local communities who are experiencing tourism within the context of climate change. In particular, this research needs to capture local knowledge and understanding of climate change, and local efforts at adaptation. In understanding adaptation at the local level, it is important to understand how households construct their livelihoods, including the role of ecotourism. This study examined local perceptions and lived experience in sustainable ecotourism development as a livelihood adaptation to climate change in a case study site in Ghana. This examination and subsequent understanding provided a process for integrating local knowledge into livelihood adaptation as communities become more vulnerable to future climate change that will adversely affect traditional patterns of livelihoods. The study used the vulnerability-based approach which assessed vulnerability of households??? livelihoods to climate change and adaptations. Mognori Eco-Village in Ghana was used a case because of its geographic location in the savannah and experience of climate change as well as households` involvement in ecotourism activities. In focusing on lived experience, the study was guided by the philosophical ideas of Gadamer, as it lends itself particularly well for exploring the complexities and understanding of households??? lived experience with climate change. It also informed the recruitment of 22 households, use of conversation interviews and a focus group as well as data interpretation. The study found four main underlying essences that explain households??? lived experience with climate change: 1) adopting different livelihood strategies; 2) experiencing the impacts of ecotourism on assets and activities; 3) experiencing current vulnerability conditions and developing adaptation strategies; and, 4) sustaining ecotourism by building future adaptation strategies. The first essence suggests strategies such as intensification/extensification, livelihood diversification and migration as broad adaptations for survival. The second essence supports the use of ecotourism as a form of livelihood diversification that complements other non-ecotourism activities. The third essence describes the vulnerability to climate change the local adaptations use to reduce vulnerability. The last essence suggests local agency in overcoming adaptation constraints to improve adaptive capacity to sustain ecotourism as an adaptation strategy to climate change. The study found that local adaptive capacity exists to support ecotourism. However, the capability of the local community is limited and recommendations are made for government and other stakeholders to further support the local adaptation that is underway.