Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 1986. / Some digitised pages may appear illegible due to the condition of the original microfiche copy. / No abstract available

Thesis (MCom)–Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Leadership is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable commodities in business. It is no secret that organisations depend greatly on leaders for their success, and that the effectiveness of the organisation is related to the effectiveness of its leaders. Organisations worldwide are continuously searching for the finest leaders to organise and lead their organisation to optimal performance. However, leadership is much more complex than initially meets the eye. A great many researchers have conducted decades of research on the topic and have not yielded irrefutable evidence on leadership. Although research has succeeded in defining different types of leadership and leader influencing, and power tactics, the characteristics, behaviour and situational factors of effective leadership are still under contention. The phenomenal complexity and elusive character of the leadership construct should be considered as a problem whose resolution would greatly enrich our knowledge. For social and organisational psychologists, understanding leadership, its behaviours and processes, forms a fundamental, if not chief element of group and organisational processes. These processes can arguably lead to group, and thus organisational effectiveness. In this study, leadership is explored from the basis of social learning theory and focused specifically on South Africa’s emerging economy. Bandura, the founder of social learning theory, advocates that people learn their behaviour by observing those who are superior and desirable to them, and then imitate their behaviour. According to this theory, leaders have a very direct effect on the behaviour of their subordinates, which enables them to mould employee behaviour by being a good role model. In addition, literature on leadership has corroborated that role modelling is one of the most effective influencers on employee behaviour. This study attempts to uncover which leadership behaviours is conducive to organisational effectiveness. This information can be useful to all other potential or current leaders in the South African economy, and the insights gained from the study can be used as a valuable framework from which they can lead their organisations through their own behaviour. The objective of this research project is thus to come to a deeper understanding of what the critical leadership behaviour in the emerging South African economy looks like. Through acknowledging the complexity of human behaviour and the leadership construct we want to comprehend what behaviour it is that makes leaders successful. Individual, in-depth interviews with a number of South Africa’s most successful business leaders is seemingly the best method of uncovering what these ‘effective leader behaviours’ are. These interviews create an understanding of how successful leaders view leadership and what behaviour they (as the experts on leadership behaviour) deem important. The repertory grid interview technique is utilised in this qualitative study, to uncover how these leaders perceive leadership. This is an attempt at coming closer to understanding what the cunning logic of nature’s design looks like, in terms of effective leader behaviour. This study focuses on South Africa in the current emerging economy, and aims at providing insights into the specific leader behaviour that is conducive to organisational effectiveness. These insights can be used as a starting point from which leaders can cultivate their own behaviour to mould a desired organisational culture, and reach organisational objectives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Leierskap is ongetwyfeld een van die sakewêreld se waardevolste kommoditeite. Dit is algemene kennis dat organisasies baie afhanklik van goeie leierskap vir organisatoriese sukses is. Daar kan ongetwyfeld aangevoer word dat die effektiwiteit van organisasies direk aan die effektiwiteit van sy leiers gekoppel is. Organisasies wêreldwyd is voortdurend op soek na die beste leiers om hul besighede te organiseer, te inspireer en tot optimale prestasie te lei. Leierskap is egter baie meer kompleks as wat dit aanvanklik voorkom. Dekades se navorsing oor leierskap kon tot op hede nog nie onweerlegbare bewyse rakende leierskap lewer nie. Alhoewel navorsing al der duisende verskillende definisies van leierskap, leierskapstipes, beïnvloedingstaktieke en magstaktieke opgelewer het, kon navorsing oor leierskap nog nie daarin slaag om definitiewe leierskapsgedrag, leiereienskappe of situasionele faktore wat aan effektiewe leierskap gekoppel is, te bepaal nie. Die enorme kompleksiteit en ontwykende aard van die leierskapskonstruk behoort vir die besigheidswêreld ‘n probleem te wees waarvan die oplossing baie waardevol sal wees. Bedryfsielkundiges sal veral baie baat vind by die volledige begrip van leierskap en die gedrag en prosesse wat daarmee gepaard gaan, aangesien leierskapsgedrag as ‘n fundamentele, indien nie ‘n kerndeel van groep- en organisatoriese prossesse se sukses, gesien kan word. Deur leierskap beter te verstaan sal organisasies in ‘n beter posisie wees om groep- en organisatoriese effektiwiteit te verbeter. In die studie onder oë is leierskap ondersoek vanuit die raamwerk van sosiale leerteorie soos geproklameer deur Albert Bandura, met ‘n spesifieke fokus op die huidige en ontluikende Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie. Bandura voer aan dat as mense, leer ons gedrag aan deur na ander in hoër en geloofwaardige posisies te kyk, en dan hulle gedrag na te boots. Leiers, volgens hierdie teorie, het ‘n baie direkte en wesenlike invloed op hulle volgelinge, en kan daarom werknemergedrag vorm en beïnvloed deur hulle eie gedrag, deur ‘n goeie rolmodel te wees. Hierbenewens bestaan daar ook ‘n magdom literatuur oor leierskap wat aanvoer dat rolmodellering een van die mees effektiewe beïnvloeders van werknemergedrag is. Hierdie studie het gepoog om spesieke leiergedrag wat gunstig vir organisatoriese effektiwiteit is, te verken. Hierdie kennis kan baie nuttig wees vir enige huidige of potensiële sakeleier in Suid-Afrika, aangesien dit hulle sal voorsien van ‘n waardevolle raamwerk waarvolgens hulle, hul werkspanne en organisasies kan lei deur aandag aan hulle eie gedrag te skenk. Die doelstelling van hierdie studie is dus om ‘n dieper begrip van kritieke leierskapsgedrag in ons ontluikende Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie, te bekom. Deur die kompleksiteit van menslike gedrag en leierskapsgedrag te aanvaar en te waardeer, het die studie probeer verstaan watter gedrag leiers suksesvol maak. Deur individuele in-diepte onderhoude met 12 van Suid-Afrika se mees suksesvolle en bekende leiers te voer, blyk die beste manier te wees om te verstaan wat presies dit is wat hierdie leiers, en ander soortgelyke leiers suksesvol maak. Deur beter te verstaan hoe hierdie suksesvolle leiers leierskap sien, en watter gedrag hulle as bevorderlik beskou, kan ons hopelik nader aan die waarheid kom oor watter gedrag tot organisatoriese effektiwiteit bydra. In hierdie kwalitatiewe studie is daar van die repertoirerooster tegniek (‘repertory grid technique’) gebruik gemaak om agter te kom hoe hierdie leiers leierskap beskou in ‘n poging om nader aan ‘n volle begrip van die ingewikkelde logika van die natuur se ontwerp in terme van leierskapsgedrag te kom. Die studie het gefokus op Suid-Afrika se ontluikende ekonomie, en het gepoog om waardevolle insig te lewer rakende watter leiersgedrag tot organisatoriese effektiwiteit kan bydra. Hierdie insig kan dan gebruik word as ‘n beginpunt en verwysingsraamwerk waarvandaan leiers hulle eie gedrag kan vorm en ontwikkel ten einde ‘n gewensde organisasiekultuur te kweek waarin alle werkemers gunstige en gewensde gedrag kan toon ten einde organisasiedoeltwitte te bereik.

Competitive advantage is crucial for a business to be sustainable, yet many small- and medium-sized enterprises are not engaging in supplier development in order to achieve a competitive advantage. This empirical study was conducted on a sample of 64 small- and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry in Kempton Park, Gauteng. The factors that influence engagement in supplier development were analysed to assess whether supplier development can lead to competitive advantage and other benefits. The findings indicate that supplier development can create and improve competitive advantage, as well as lead to other benefits. Four factors were found to have a relationship with supplier development, and therefore could influence the decision to take part in supplier development. Small- and medium-sized enterprises can use tools such as supplier development in order to be competitive and have an advantage over their competitors. The awareness of operational performance measures, competitive advantage, judgment of the absence or existence of trust, and a buyer’s relative power can all influence participation in supplier development.

The purpose of this study was to record the development of athletics in South Africa from 1814 to 1914. This period was chosen because sport and athletics originated and developed a social institution during that time and the First World brought progress to a temporary halt, after which there were many new developments. The Cape Colony became British in 1814, and it was British influence that played such a dominant role in the social history of the period.

The analysis undertaken, firstly aims to identify the extent to which equities, their indexes and their derivatives priced in accordance with their fair value. Secondly, presuming that the traded values of the instruments do not in all instances equate to the fair value, the research aims to develop an effective means to identify and manage profitable opportunities arising from the mispricing. General concepts relating to profitability, trade identification, risk and continuous improvement of the processes are addressed. This includes recommendations on the management of the risks through a structured reporting process. The research looks at arbitrage trading in the South African market from the perspective of an empirical review into the market's participation in equity and equity derivative arbitrage. In addition to this empirical analysis, a time series analysis into various arbitrage strategies is conducted with the view to determining their relative profitability. The first component of the empirical research focuses on the arbitrage trading strategies adopted by a sample of 80 institutions. Where the institutions trade arbitrage strategies, the research undertook to establish what methods are used to identify, trade and manage the index arbitrage, single stock futures arbitrage, risk arbitrage, statistical arbitrage and volatility arbitrage trading opportunities that present themselves within the South African Market. Information gathered did not only focus on the actual trading strategies but also determined the relative cost structures, profitability and risk management processes that are employed to support these trading initiatives. The time series analysis focused on index futures, single stock futures, risk, dual listed and statistical arbitrage methods, and reflects the results before and after transaction costs. These arbitrage strategies were applied to the ALSI Top 40 index or its associated shares and generally spanned a period of about four years. Finally the research presents an arbitrage business model that is aimed at providing a blue print for arbitrage trading which covers: new arbitrage strategy, implementation, market risk, execution, profit, traders, cost Finally, the research provides a multiple regression method for application in identifying further arbitrage trading opportunities within the South African environment. / School of Business Leadaership / DBL

Extract from The 1957 Conference Report of “Park Administration", in which the then Director of the National Botanical Gardens of South Africa, Professor H B Rycroft, appeals to the inclusion of South African indigenous plants in public parks and gardens.

Nationalisation involves putting any section of the economy under the control and ownership of a government. Nationalisation is not new to South Africa. The governments of the past and especially the Nationalist Party have nationalised a number of industries in the South African economy. Today almost 54% of the productive assets in the country are in the hands of the government. Transport, electricity, post office, are a few examples. Nationalisation in the past has been used to benefit only the whites, by providing them with jobs and services.

[Introduction] Much of the information available on the prices of vegetables marketed through the fresh produce markets is of limited use to producers. This information contains the actual prices for individual years. This can obviously be taken as a guide to future prices but it does not necessarily mean that those prices are a true reflection of the general pattern. In this study an attempt will be made, firstly, to establish whether a general pattern exists in the prices of selected vegetables on the East London municipal market. This will be attempted by studying the prices obtained over the 1964-1979 period. Information of this nature can be used as a basis for the planning of future crops. Secondly, to determine the months which obtain the "best" prices for the selected vegetables taking into account the quantities supplied to the market.

Sustaining competitiveness requires organisations to continuously reinvent themselves, consider both external influences as well as internal risk that may affect the company as a market leader. Organisations that have acknowledged that a relationship between engaged employees and business success exists, would seek ways to foster and facilitate the engagement of their workers through their leadership. The primary objective of the study was to determine whether a relationship exists between values-based leadership and employee engagement. The aim was to contribute to the quality of leadership values, behaviour and influence at Coca-Cola Beverages South Arica by gaining a deeper understanding of leadership and employee engagement. The theoretical study explored the definitions, key concepts, benefits and outcomes of both values based leadership and employee engagement. It provided a detailed literature review of the role of leadership in creating a values based organisation, what values-based leadership encompasses and its relationship with employee engagement. The theoretical overview highlighted that leadership is an influential factor in employee engagement and the extent to which employees feel valued and connected to the organisation’s goals. The theoretical overview further confirmed that leadership values, behaviour and influence are interrelated and exert an influence on employee engagement, thereby strengthening the fact that there is a relationship between values-based leadership and employee engagement. A structured web-based survey, with a questionnaire, was used to corroborate the theoretical findings and to assess employees’ perceptions of the prevalence of values–based leadership and employee engagement. A sample of 269 respondents was selected to participate in the empirical study and 167 responded to the survey, which yielded a 62% per cent response rate. The key findings of the study indicate that strong correlations exist between leadership values, behaviours and influence and that these concepts were interrelated. Furthermore, the study confirmed that values–based leadership was an important factor in employee engagement and specifically in terms of the physical, emotional and social components of engagement and less so in terms of the cognitive component. Values-based leadership and engagement were identified as critical factors in ensuring that organisations are well equipped to deal with the current volatile economic environment and to consider ways to maintain and accelerate their profitability and competitiveness in order to remain a sustainable business. It is strong values that underpin the performance of highly successful and sustainable organisations; coupled with effective leadership as a key driving force.

Phylogeographic patterns of coastal organisms with different life histories and breeding strategies may reveal patterns not consistent with the current delineation of the biogeographic provinces around South Africa. The subdivision of the South African coastline into these three main climatological or biogeographic regions: namely the cool temperate west coast, the warm temperate south coast and the subtropical east coast, is based on average seawater temperatures and hydrological conditions. Genealogies of two estuarine fish species Atherina breviceps, a marine breeder, and Gilchristella aestuaria, an estuarine spawner, were reconstructed using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences. The study comprised two components, an assessment of a small dataset of both fish species to compare their population structure along the South African coastline and a more comprehensive investigation of the phylogeography of G. aestuaria collected from 21 estuaries around the coast. The comparative study of A. breviceps and G. aestuaria indicate different population distribution patterns along the South African coastline. Results of the A. breviceps analysis demonstrate substantial gene flow due to the random mixing of alleles, while the comparative G. aestuaria dataset indicates a more structured population and considerably less gene flow. The G. aestuaria population demonstrates geographic separation into four groups, namely the west coast (Great Berg), Bot (south coast), Seekoei (south coast) and east coast (Bushmans, Kasouga and Cefane). Results from the larger G. aestuaria dataset indicate that the phylogeographic patterns observed during this study do not conform to existing biogeographic boundaries along the southern African coastline. The delineation identified during this study between the warm temperate and subtropical regions is further south than originally perceived and this southward extension can be ascribed to the prevailing hydrology. The life history patterns and ecology of these two estuarine fish species appears key to understanding their population structure. These factors interact with environmental characteristics such as physical oceanography and the distribution of estuaries (along the coastline) to explain the observed distribution patterns and population structure of A. breviceps and G. aestuaria.