M. Comm. / The aim of this study is to present a practical solution to companies for creating a mechanism whereby the conversion of organisational goals to concrete action items becomes reality. "Over the years we have seen many senior executives that believe that they have a well-developed well-understood and articulated vision that most employees buy into, but without understanding or providing an adequate mechanism with which to actually accomplish the goals" (Best, 1998: 5-9). The references made to the concepts of quality and productivity will refer to the following two definitions respectively: Quality of Organisation "As is the case so often in South Africa, it is quite possible to produce a quality product with a very ineffective and inefficient business process: the penalty that customers pay is getting a quality product which is totally overpriced in order to subsidise the inefficiencies of the business process" (Scholtz, 1998: 33-39). Productivity "The orientation of any new measures will be less concerned with the volume of output (such as the number of orders processed) and more concerned with the value-adding content of work (whether orders are processed correctly the first time and without delay)" (Hope and Hope, 1997: 191-192). Tom Peters supports the view taken on these two definitions in his book Thriving on Chaos (1987:23). Tom Peters is of the opinion that adding value will result from superior quality of products and in exceptional service and responsiveness to customers. Through experience gained in the banking, education, retail and chemical sectors, the problem of dealing with inefficient processes and not having a single accurate, timely and comprehensive source of reference information for decision-making, has been encountered on numerous occasions.

Information and communication technology is rapidly transforming the world of business. It in particular has played a significant role in globalisation, the ramifications of which South Africa can ill afford to ignore. A key facet of emerging innovative technologies and globalisation is the environmental uncertainty, complexity and turbulence it has engendered. Traditional strategic management paradigms and practice are largely founded on the assumption of environmental predictability, a reality that is rapidly being eroded. This thesis attempts to determine to what degree strategic management theory still correlates with contemporary strategic management practice. Various levels of environmental uncertainty are defined in order to gain clarity as to strategic management processes that are best suited for dealing therewith. Three key determinants are identified as having a significant impact on the strategic realignment of business institutions within a global business environment, namely information and communication technology, business systems, and change management. A central tenet that emerges from the study is the need for a framework to integrate the first two mentioned determinants at strategic and operational levels, while taking due cognisance of the human resources implications involved. Human emotions, feelings, relationships, fears, values, beliefs and aspirations collectively assume relevance as dimensions that can either inhibit or facilitate the strategic realignment process. These dimensions are analysed with reference to the concepts “emotional intelligence” and “organisational culture” in order to gain a greater understanding of the role they play in strategy formulation and implementation. Leadership is also identified as being business critical in managing strategic realignment. The findings of this study serve as a source of reference for researchers and practitioners who are attempting to formulate and implement strategy within contexts that are best described as being uncertain, complex and subject to discontinuous change. / Prof. N. Lessing

D.Com. / Public relations is an organisational function in transition, but for that matter the whole management function is currently experiencing a period of change. Had public relations already been an established field of study at the beginning of this transition period, the necessary adjustments to existing practices and the adaptation to external environmental changes would have proceeded with less difficulty.

A thesis submitted to Faculty of Commerce, Law & Management The University of the Witwatersrand In fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2015 / The present study explores the entrepreneurial processes of high growth firms in Zimbabwe using causation and effectual processes as the underlying logics. Causation is a process that takes a business objective as given and focuses on selecting between means in order to achieve the objective. Effectuation, on the other hand, takes resources as given and focuses on exploiting possible options generated from the available resources. Thus, causation relies on formal planning and predictions while effectuation is a non-predictive logic. The study was motivated by the need to understand how high growth firms identify business opportunities, mobilise resources and sustain growth under dynamic conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s environment has been characterised by shallow credit markets, depressed economic activities and high cost of doing business. A multiple case study of six high growth firms drawn from the agricultural, construction, manufacturing, services as well as Information Communications Technology (ICT) and stationery sectors was undertaken. Data were collected using interviews, documentary sources and observations. Thirty interviews were conducted with the founders, and senior executives from finance, business development, marketing or equivalent positions as well as the firm’s bankers. Data were inductively analysed using ATLAS.ti Version 7 package. The study evidence shows that there is no complete transition from effectuation to causation process. The major study conclusions are that; first, entrepreneurs relied on the social networks as sources of business and capital. Second, the ability to socially innovate is influenced by trust. Third, firms are wary of using external finance because of business uncertainty and cost. Fourth, the firms do not engage in direct competition with incumbents, but collaborate with industry peers. Fifth, the participating firms relied on incremental innovation and local business. Sixth, the firms showed high levels of serial and portfolio entrepreneurship. Finally, contextual factors had an influence on business success, and therefore the ability to adapt to the environmental changes is vital for business growth. The main contribution of this study is the development of a theoretical framework that extends the effectuation logic. The additional dimensions that emerged from the evidence are social innovation, portfolio diversification, incremental innovation, portfolio diversification, trust, business systems and contextual factors. The study also makes important methodological, empirical and practical contributions. Further research is recommended to move the Extended Effectuation framework towards the development of normative theory. / MT2016

In fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters of Management by Research degree Wits Graduate School of Business Faculty of Commerce, law and Management University of the Witwatersrand / The pressure on the current mining sector in South Africa has forced South African explosives companies to expand their activities into Sub-Saharan countries in order to sustain and grow their sales and profits. The purpose of the research was to assess the efficiency of the existing strategic frameworks presented by the literature and deployed by the explosives companies expanding operations in Sub-Sahara and to understand if and how they need to be adapted to suit the explosives market. The research was thus guided by the following research questions: How effective are actual strategic frameworks for the development of an African strategy for South African explosives companies willing to expand operations in Africa? Why aspects of current strategic frameworks do not apply to the commercial explosives business in Africa? Why would it be necessary to include other key variables in existing strategic frameworks to develop an effective strategy for the explosives business? How do other non-manageable variables such as politics, legal, cultural and administrative barriers impact on the shaping of the final strategy for South African explosives companies willing to expand their operations into Africa? The research method followed was a single case study research approach leading to the conclusion that, despite developing different strategies by existing explosives suppliers, they performed well and showed growth in sales and profits. Notwithstanding their success, the investigation revealed that some challenges and specific aspects of the explosives market were not addressed by either the explosives companies’ strategies or the main strategic frameworks described in the literature. Furthermore, the analysis identified external factors, such as commodity prices, which contributed more to the success of explosives companies than the strategies they implemented. The results of the analysis described above led to the development of a strategic framework which included the elements of strategies used by explosives companies, relevant model elements from existing strategic frameworks, external factors (rival explanation) such as commodity prices and variables which take into account the challenges encountered by explosives companies in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as specific aspects of the explosives market. It is believed that the strategic framework developed in the last section of the present research takes into account the particular aspects of the explosives market and empowers South African explosives companies with a framework which addresses the specific aspects of the explosives markets to develop successful businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Non-for-profit organizations’ presence has increased worldwide during the last decades. This type of organizations develop their activities in a complex and dynamic environment. Furthermore, for non-for-profit organizations (NPO) the fit between strategy and environment is a key determinant of success. For NPOs, strategy practices and models need adaptation due to its key differences with for-profit organizations. Aim: Bring an understanding on what are the unique aspects of strategic planning in an NPO. Methodology: This paper involves a qualitative case study of a non-for-profit organization, LHC Ungdom, which is an ice-hockey club for the youth in the city of Linköping, Sweden. The study involved 10 semi-structured interviews with the organization’s full-time employees (management and administration) and volunteers (coaches and team managers). The interviews explored areas such as strategy, planning, mission, results measurement, communication and success. Findings: This study identifies the main and unique aspects of strategic planning in NPOs. Furthermore, by the addition of new lenses to strategic planning, such as the Stakeholder theory and the Agency Theory, it has led to develop a conceptual framework, which reflects the connections between the unique main aspects of strategic planning on NPOs, but also, highlights in which areas different stakeholders are relevant and how different relationship conflicts arise. Concepts: -Non-for-profit organization: Organizations having a distinct mandate to be good stewards of the resources they receive towards the pursuit of their mission. -Strategy: A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim. -Strategic Planning: A systematic process of envisioning a desired future and translating this vision into broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them.

The purpose of the current manuscript was to examine acquirer and market behavior surrounding a sample of international mergers and acquisitions. The first essay examined the existence of a private company discount and its connections to liquidity. It found that unlisted targets sell for less than their public counterparts, confirming earlier findings. The examination of a connection between the discount and liquidity mostly contradicted earlier studies (Officer 2007), depending on which subsample was selected. The second essay examined the existence of a target price runup preceding acquisitions announcements, existence of a substitution effect between runup and premium, and whether investor protection influenced the two. It confirmed the earlier findings of a significant runup preceding acquisition announcements, with the runup being more pronounced in those targets from weaker investor protection countries. Contrary to Schwert (1996), the study found a significant substitution effect between runup and premium, with the effect stronger if the acquirers are from countries with weak investor protection. The third essay examined acquirer stock price reaction to the three different components of the offer price: target's stand-alone valuation, pre-announcement runup and the offer premium. Each component was found to have an overall insignificant effect on the acquirer stock price in the overall sample. When the targets were from the countries with the weakest investor protection, the study found that the reaction to both the runup and stand-alone target valuation depend on both target and acquirer country investor protection. The study also found that when the targets were from the countries with the weakest investor protection, and only from those countries, acquirer stock price reacted negatively to any individual component of the offer price being higher. / Overall, the three studies confirm that behavior of both acquirer management and their stock markets i affected by the variance in investor protection among countries. / by Jurica Susnjara. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Este trabalho realiza um exercício de planejamento estratégico de transportes com foco na infraestrutura de escoamento da produção agrícola da região Centro-Oeste do Brasil. O trabalho parte da compreensão dos fundamentos do planejamento estratégico da infraestrutura de transportes, avalia o pretenso planejamento brasileiro e compreende porque ele não é de fato um planejamento estratégico. A compreensão da multidisciplinaridade dos objetivos do planejamento orienta um tratamento multicritério. A partir da definição de objetivos o autor aplica o método Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) e elenca, através de indicadores, uma ordem de prioridades na execução de um conjunto de obras na região. A partir do exercício simplificado orienta um trabalho de maior envergadura em termos de escopo e metodologia que deveria ser feito para um efetivo planejamento estratégico de infraestrutura de transportes para Brasil. / This study develops an exercise of strategic planning of a transport system for the handling of agricultural products of Brazil\'s Midwest. The work begins by exploring the concepts underlying the strategic planning of a transport infrastructure. Thereafter, it assesses the document presented by the Brazilian government as the national transport system strategic planning, and argues that this document does not fulfill the characteristics of a typical strategic planning. The consideration of the diverse objectives of the strategic planning requires a multi- criteria approach. The author lists several general objectives to guide the transport system strategic planning and employs the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to define the priority ones. The most relevant objective is then used to rank the main infrastructure works in the region. The exercise developed in this study suggests that to develop an effective strategic planning of the Brazils transport system, a broader and deeper work in terms of scope and methodology must be undertaken.

Many factors contribute to the outcome of an acquisition; these factors arise from both the objective of the target and acquirer. This dissertation focuses on how the bidding strategy, acquirer and target characteristics impact the transaction. The first essay examines how the timing and size of the acquirer's bid for a U.S. target firm impacts their return. I find that successful first and low bid acquirers experience significantly larger returns than successful secondary and non-low bid acquirers. The cross-sectional analysis determines that higher levels of target institutional ownership and acquisitions completed prior to the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley result in reduced returns to the acquirer. In addition, the likelihood of a successful first bid acquirer increases with a revised bid and when the acquirer is both the first and low bid acquirer simultaneously. The likelihood of a successful first bid acquirer decreases as the number of bidders increases and as the bidding process lengthens. I also find that the likelihood of a successful low bid acquirer increases the longer the bidding process. The second essay examines how the timing and size of the acquirer's bid for an international target impacts their return. I find that successful first and low bid acquirers experience insignificant abnormal returns following the acquisition announcement. In addition, the likelihood of a successful first bid acquirer increases when the acquirer and target have similar cultures, with higher levels of target government corruption and when the acquirer is both the first and low bid acquirer simultaneously. The likelihood of a successful low bid acquirer decreases with higher levels of target government corruption. I also examine what factors affect the target premium and find that larger transactions and successful first bid acquirers increase the target premium. / Conversely, similar cultures and higher levels of government corruption, rule of law, bureaucracy, expropriation and ethnic tension decrease the premium to the target. Lastly, successful first and low bid acquirers experience statistically larger long run abnormal returns than successful secondary and non-low bid acquirers. The third essay examines how a stake accumulation by a conflicted blockholder influences the target's return. I find that targets experience positive cumulative abnormal returns upon the announcement of the Family, ESOP, Management and High Profile Investor stake accumulation. The cross-sectional analysis determines that privately negotiated transactions reduce the return to the target and that higher levels of stake accumulation are positively related to the target's return. Finally, targets experience negative abnormal long run returns following all four types of stake accumulation. / by Mina C. Glambosky. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The purpose of this mixed method study was to understand how demographic fit, organizational fit, and group fit influenced secondary school assistant principal (AP) selection and assimilation for candidates who completed the Paradise School District (pseudonym) leadership training program during the 2004-2005 to 2008-2009 school years. However, the results indicated that Hispanic candidates were selected at a higher rate than other groups of candidates. The results also indicated that Black candidates were selected at the same rate as the average for all candidates ; however these results may be misleading because Black candidates were disproportionally over-represented in the study sample. Regarding organizational fit, the study results suggested that candidates who indicated one of three specific Myers-Briggs personality types (ESTJ, ENTJ, or ENFP) were selected at higher rates than candidates of the other 13 personality types. The suggested personality traits for secondary school APs found in this study included (a) Extroversion (E), (b) Feeling (F), and (c) Judging (J). Candidates who referenced more than one hiring administrator, at or above the level of principal, were selected at higher rates than candidates who referenced only one principal. The inverviews suggested balancing the demographics of a school's administrative staff, using gender and race/ethnicity, to the the community the school serves was related to selection. The interviews also disclosed that Black, Hispanic, and candidates with expertise in operations and curricula might be suggested over other candidates. The interviews also suggested that networking, sponsorship, interview impressions, and references were related to the selection processes. / by Scott Vaughn Smith. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.