Thesis (Ph. D.)--Loughborough University of Technology, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-235).

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

For the past four decades, researchers have been discussing and arguing over the implementation of strategy within the public sector. There is an emerging literature on pluralism, and the interdependence of strategizing and organizing which is especially relevant to public service organizations. The research undertaken and reported in this thesis set out to identify how strategizing was implemented within one large local government authority, from the perspective of middle management. The study sought to ascertain which, if any, of the many implementation theories were applied in practice, and the implications of the tensions between strategizing and organizing. Methodologically, there is a recognised paucity of participatory action learning and research in the strategizing field. Equally, gaps were found in the extant literature on strategizing from the middle management perspective. This research addressed both of these research gaps. The case study herein reported used participatory action research methods. Participatory action research teams followed an action research framework of six questions to identify the gaps between espoused theory and theory in practice. The findings were that the local government authority was not designed for the external strategizing pluralism or the internal organizing pluralism. The organization was designed for regulation and control and so not best suited for the delivery of other types of service. The strategizing process lacked the specific policy input from the various marginalised communities who required the services most. It also specifically avoided any input from the front-line professional staff that held the relevant knowledge, experience and skills. The pluralistic nature of the society served and the lack of commitment on the frontline led to another phenomenon – street-level bureaucrats and the politicization of the community. These frontline service deliverers, ‘street-level bureaucrats’, not only interpreted the strategy to fit the specific, unique context of each neighbourhood but also educated the citizens to appreciate their own power through their politicization. The staff also restated their plans to fit the format of the current top-down strategy by rephrasing them using the current political language of the day.

M.Ed. / In dynamic times, a world of rapidly changing technology, with social and educational structures in transition, strategic management in school context implies the utilisation of all external and internal forces combined, to guide the institution towards improving its effectiveness. It can be defined as an alternative method of management in times of change and modernisation. Since these social and educational changes are making ever increasing demands on school management and the principal, schools have come under pressure to move towards modernisation and are at present actually facing a major challenge for survival. It is therefore imperative that any school system be continually evaluated and that it should adapt to changing circumstances, in order to ensure its consistent relevance to any new developments. The role of the principal has gradually changed from the traditional headmaster to an expert on management - to such an extent that the success of his school at present depends largely on his expertise as manager. However, defects in present-day school management pose serious obstacles in the path of dedicated principals who strive to improve their schools. This investigation confirms the need for in-service management training for both the principal and his management team. The principal inevitably forms. part of the teaching team, for, acting under constraint of set standards, regulations, policies and strategies, he has a direct influence on the teaching of pupils in his school. Seeing that the school is expected to not only meet the need of the child, but also of the community, strategic management which will lead to managerial development and ultimately result in efficient management - is imperative. Sound strategic management can assist any undertaking in improving its effectiveness by identifying and capitalising. On the potential of the institution, the people and their immediate surroundings. Therefore, in order to determine the views and opinions of both staff and pupils concerning the managerial aspects in the school, diagnostic questionnaires should be drafted. This could be the first step in instigating the necessary adaptations. Furthermore, the SWOT approach should be implemented as the basis or core of the strategic management process. It is one of the most effective methods firstly to assess the strengths and weaknesses of an institution like the school, and then counterbalance them against the opportunities and threats of the external surroundings. However, in order to formulate and implement such a strategy, it is important to be acquainted with the environment and link it to the organisational structure. This can be achieved. through exploring and monitoring the environment, whereby external and internal influences can be identified and their impact on the school be evaluated. strategies and programmes can then be developed and budgets prepared for implementation in schools. As strategic management dominates decision-making at all levels, and affects the entire functioning of the school, any change in strategy should be communicated to the staff directly, in order for them to co-ordinate all activities and planning accordingly. Communication, co-operation, creativity and leadership are all key-concepts of the strategic management process. After attaining the SWOT analysis by identifying the SWOT factors, the managerial team will be able to formulate possible strategies, develop attainableobjectives and eventually achieve the expected results. Lastly, strategic management in school context concerns itself with the formulation and implementation of goals and the achieving of objectives, which result in effective functioning and the ultimate success of the school in its entirety. It deals with change, and calls for principals who will boldly face the future and focus their attention, as well as their acquired managerial skills, on effective school management as their modest personal contribution towards creating a New South Africa.

M.Inf. / Enterprises are becoming more dependent on people than ever before and in the twenty first century, an enterprise's survival and success will highly depend on the ability to manage knowledge as a source for competitive advantage. This study is concerned with the establishment of a knowledge management program that will ensure sustainable competitive advantage within the enterprise. The main problem under investigation is to assess the importance of knowledge management within an enterprise and to ascertain how knowledge management can ensure sustained competitive advantage in an enterprise. In the first three chapters of the study a literature survey is done to get a better understanding of what knowledge management is, the importance of corporate culture when implementing a knowledge management program and how knowledge management can be a source for sustainable competitive advantage or business edge. The advancement in information technology has allowed enterprises to leverage people's knowledge onto higher competitive level by improving competencies and processes, reducing mistakes, etc. and the optimal application of knowledge in a knowledge-based environment is playing an ever-increasing role in enterprise success. The second part of the study was an empirical study where a qualitative research was conducted in the Eskom Transmission Group. The aim of the research was to investigate understanding of the knowledge management concept amongst business leaders, determine enablers and barriers to implementing a knowledge management, and to also determine whether knowledge is seen as a source for competitive advantage. Structured interviews were conducted with ten business leaders in the Eskom Transmission Group. The data obtained from the interviews were analysed and interpreted according to the grounded theory. It was found that although knowledge management is old but as a formalised concept in the business environment in South Africa it is new and there is no common definition or understanding of the concept. It is however evident that the need to manage knowledge is understood and its importance to the sustainability of the business. The majority of the respondents agree that people issues are critical to the success of knowledge management in an enterprise, as people own knowledge. It is suggested that enterprises should adopt a holistic and integrated approach when establishing a knowledge management program. The holistic approach together with the framework and guidelines as given in chapter six would afford enterprises the ability to manage and harness their knowledge for sustainable competitive advantage. Broad recommendations for establishing a knowledge management program that will be a source of sustainable competitive advantage are proposed.

M.Phil. (Engineering Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

In the higher education sector, a number of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are playing a leading role in promoting sustainable initiatives. Effectively managing these initiatives however can be a complex task and requires data and information from multiple aspects of operations. In an HEI, operating sustainably means ensuring financial sustainability, social sustainability, environmental sustainability and educational sustainability. In order to manage sustainability effectively, HEIs require an integrated tool that can provide information on all areas of sustainability. HEIs face a number of challenges in effectively managing sustainability information, such as siloed data and information, and poor sharing and communication of information. Business Intelligence (BI) can assist in overcoming many of the challenges faced by organisations in effectively managing strategic sustainability information. This study investigates both the constraints to effective sustainability information management and the challenges of BI. A BI framework to support effective strategic sustainability information management is proposed. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) is one such HEI, which is affected by the challenges of managing strategic sustainability information. NMMU is therefore used as a case study in this research. A BI solution, Sustainable BI, was developed based on the proposed framework. The main goal of sustainable BI is to provide strategic management at NMMU with a tool that can provide integrated sustainability information that can assist in overcoming the challenges in effectively managing strategic sustainability information. Sustainable BI was evaluated by strategic management at NMMU who are responsible for managing sustainability at NMMU. The evaluation took place through a usability study. The study revealed to what extent Sustainable BI could effectively manage strategic sustainability information at NMMU. The BI framework was iteratively improved on based on the results of the evaluations. The contributions from this study are a model for sustainability management, a BI Framework to support strategic sustainability information management and a BI solution, Sustainable BI.

All around the world, SMEs are perceived as the engine room of economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation, due to their flexibility and quick adaptability to change. It is believed that, for developing countries to address their social and economic challenges, it would be beneficial if they leverage the potential that the SME sector potentially possess. However, despite the government focus on supporting and encouraging the establishment of SMEs through the small business development programmes in order to address these social challenges, SME sector has experienced a high degree of business mortality, which impacts negatively on the ability to create sustainable employment opportunities in the long term. This view is supported by the work of (Ligthelm and Cant 2003). According to the global economic monitor (GEM), the small business mortality in South Africa is among the highest in the world. It is said that that most newly established SMEs will not survive beyond 48 months Von Broembsen, as cited in Olawale and Garwe (2010: 730). One of the reasons that lead to the high failure rate of SMEs is the lack of strategic planning and the poor allocation of resources. The literature review suggests that SMEs that embark on strategic planning are the ones that are most likely to experience sales growth, personnel growth and asset value growth, as opposed those that do not do any strategic planning at all. The primary objective of this research was to establish how a strategic planning process can be used as an investment decision-making tool for manufacturing SMEs in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. In order to address this research problem, the following sub-problems had to be solved: What strategic planning processes do current SME managers use?; What strategic performance measurement systems do SME owner-managers currently use?; What capital budgeting techniques are currently being used by SME’s in the region?; How do SME owner-managers evaluate the risk of the projects at hand?. The research design was methodological triangulation in nature, that is, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, though a quantitative paradigm was more dominant that the qualitative paradigm. A questionnaire was designed as a primary source of data collection from a selected sample group. The empirical study revealed that there is some level of strategic planning amongst SMEs, however, it is mostly informal and unstructured. It also emerged that strategic planning can be used as more than just a performance measurement tool, it can contribute more effectively to strategic alignment, organisational learning and diffusion of knowledge throughout the organisation. The empirical study also suggests that SMEs understand that capital budgeting is critical for the success of the organisations. However, very few SMEs have a formal capital budgeting process. It also became evident that most SMEs are still relying on the traditional capital budgeting techniques; that is, ‘gut feel’ and the payback methods of evaluating projects. The empirical study suggests that the largest group of SMEs rely on break-even analysis and scenario planning as the major indicators of the impact the projects will or may have on the organisation. The recommendations have thus been made to address the challenges facing SMEs with regard to strategic planning, strategic performance measurement, capital budgeting and project risk evaluation.

SMEs fulfil an important role in the long-term growth and development of the economy of the country. The development and growth of construction SMEs are important for all countries, as a strong SME base has the capacity to produce a high-quality infrastructure for the country. Construction SMEs also stimulate economic activity in other sectors of the economy. Research has, however, shown that the failure rate of small businesses within the first five years is high in South Africa. Reseatch has also indicated that the lack of long-term planning and the lack of strategic thinking are major contributing factors to the business failure of SMEs. SMEs operating in the construction industry are faced with the same challenges as their counterparts in other sectors of the economy, but in addition to those difficulties, construction SMEs also have to deal with the unique characteristics of the industry that have adverse implications for them. The construction industry has experienced considerable growth and success, in the past decade, particularly as a result of the government's considerable infrastructural spending, especially in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The growth in the construction industry has, however, not resulted in similar results for Construction SMEs; and research has shown that most of them have not developed into more established entities. In fact, in the Eastern Cape, 91 per cent of all registered contractors fall within the lowest level of the Construction Industry Development Board's classification system. Many construction SMEs perform poorly, but among them there are those that have the potential to grow and develop into larger more established entities. Research has shown that contractor development programmes aimed at assisting the growth and development of construction companies have been successful in increasing participation in the industry, but not in ensuring that small enterprises grow into self-sustainable established enterprises. In contrast, the research has shown that SMEs that practice strategic management perform better, and that there are many advantages for SMEs in applying strategic management principles. This study, therefore, investigates how strategic management can be applied to address the problems faced by construction SMEs, and to exploire techniques and tools of strategic management that can make a significant contribution to their growth and development.

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