This study assessed the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS), from a governance perspective, in addressing service delivery challenges in local government, with specific reference to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM). The research study comprises six chapters. The research is based on the assumption that one of the biggest challenges facing most municipalities in South Africa is lack of universal access to water and electricity, sanitation, refuse removal systems and local economic development. As a result of these challenges, the NMBM has implemented the NMBM Turnaround Strategy so that it can fulfill its constitutional developmental mandate conferred on it by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. The research study provided a brief historical background on the development and transformation of local government in South Africa. This research adopted both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The purpose of the research study was to describe and explore the 2009 Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) with specific reference to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM). The evaluation of the LGTAS of the NMBM will therefore be fundamentally descriptive, but highly exploratory in nature. The empirical survey was employed for purposes of the study and the interpretation of the research findings were analysed and described. As a metropolitan municipality, the NMBM has been entrenched with a responsibility to promote developmental progression within its locality (Integrated Development Plan: 2007). This research also identified the strengths and the weaknesses of the LGTAS as it is regarded as critical in successful service delivery. It is envisaged that this research will assist the NMBM, and other municipalities’ country-wide, to identify challenges that they are faced with and deal with it accordingly in terms of the objectives identified in the LGTAS. Furthermore, this research study envisages promoting sustainable development within the NMBM as well as improving the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery that will ensure communities of their well-being and dignity. Various recommendations are presented, based on the findings primarily from the literature review and empirical survey, on how the existing status quo of the NMBM can be changed to enhance service delivery and be aligned to the Batho Pele principles. If these recommendations are adopted, the NMBM will be able to deal more effectively and efficiently with the developmental obstacles it currently faces.

The primary objective of the study is to assess whether organisations are using their budgeting, forecasting and financial planning information as a strategic tool in the decision-making process. The research aims to investigate the various factors that hinder the success of the finance department in delivering a quality financial plan, budget or forecast to top management and the rest of the organisation.

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / This study explores the factors that limit the long-term survival and development of micro and survivalist enterprises of a selected informal sector in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Micro and survivalist enterprises play an important role in the South African economy, but despite their significance, several studies have shown that these enterprises fail within their first five years. The high failure rate is partially attributed to lack of support from external sources of support as well as the enterprises’ own internal weaknesses. The study was descriptive, exploratory and quantitative in nature. Questionnaires were used to gather data. The questionnaires were personally distributed at the business sites of the respondents. The respondents consisted of 108 micro and survivalist enterprises of a selected informal sector in Durban, who were selected by means of a non-probability sampling method. The results obtained identified a number of limiting factors for the selected informal enterprises’ long-term survival and development. The limiting factors, that are internal to the businesses, included: poor planning, lack of networking, insufficient business experience, poor pricing knowledge, managerial and business knowledge incompetence and lack of literacy, education and training. Those that are external to the businesses comprised of inadequate knowledge in terms of the institutional and supportive environment. Few respondents knew about financial and non-financial services and access to training and development programmes provided by government, semi-government and other institutions. As a result, recommendations to increase awareness of the different incentives available to micro and survivalist enterprises have been set.

This study set out to explore the strategising practices of middle managers and thereby expand the body of knowledge in terms of middle management practices in strategising in general, and makes an original contribution at the frontiers of middle management practices in a university context in South Africa. Although some research has been done on middle managers and strategy, a knowledge gap still exists, especially regarding strategising in emerging economies, such as South Africa. More specifically, the actions of middle managers at universities are open for exploration. Universities are increasingly exposed to new challenges in a competitive environment due to declining state funding, changing student demographics, new technological developments and increased market pressures. The sustainability of universities is also threatened by changes inside the universities, such as the drive for corporatisation and a changing internal focus. The way universities respond to and pre-empt dealing with these challenges will influence the sustainability and competitiveness of the university and subsequently the nations it serves. However, very little is known about the university managers who are powerful in terms of the administrative systems and decision processes. In order to understand strategy work viii and to know what enables or constrains it, it is necessary to look at middle managers at universities. This research puts forward three main arguments: firstly, strategy is dispersed throughout the entire organisation and includes middle managers’ strategising activities. Secondly, a need exists for practically relevant research founded in the organisational realities. Thirdly, universities present a relevant context within which to study strategising practices. An exploratory qualitative case study was followed to answer the research questions. Findings indicate that university middle managers, who operate within a machine bureaucracy, create systems within systems in order to cope with the organisational demands. Middle managers are mostly responsible for strategy implementation and the support role of university managers is prominent. Findings also indicate that the strategy loses its meaning and in an environment where the strategy textual artefacts and talk are abundant. In such an environment compliance takes precedence over buy-in. Finally, this study identified the enablers of and constraints on the strategy work of university middle managers. This research confirmed that strategy and strategising are human actions and confirmed that knowledge of what people do in relation to the strategies of organisations is required. / Economics / D. Com. (Business Management)

This study set out to explore how Official Development Assistance was practised in South Africa. An exploratory narrative design was followed to uncover the ‘strategy in the skin’ of strategy practitioners in the unit of analysis and to respond, therefore, to the research questions. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge in that it has brought together an alternative confluence of three theoretical perspectives of strategy as practice; complex adaptive systems and organisational hypocrisy and has explored the impact of the practice lens on these standpoints. While there has been extensive research on each of the theoretical perspectives, there has not yet been a study that has drawn together the three perspectives in relation to an empirical unit of analysis such as Official Development Assistance practices and practitioners. The study responded to a knowledge gap in relation to how public sector organisations, such as government units and the strategy practitioners of such units, practice strategy beyond the reified, formalised conceptions of strategy and in relation to their inhabiting complex, political organisational systems. The study arrived at two central theoretical findings. Firstly, that strategising represents a calibration of strategic practices towards strategic outcomes through the activities of complex adaptive practitioners v within the more politically inclined organisation. Secondly, that beyond the text of strategy, there is sub-text that is equally part of the micro strategy towards strategic outcomes.The skilful and sometimes delicate balancing act, that strategists perform to legitimise the calibrated combinations of action and politics in organisational strategy, equally needs nuanced, subtle and more complex forms of organisational communication. The study, therefore, makes the claim that complex adaptive systems and the characteristics of political organisations (as not being geared to action) are inherently broadened through the multiple dimensions of the practice turn and strategy as sub-text. The research confirmed that strategy as practice is a useful lens to understand strategy beyond the formally documented scripts and espoused pronouncements of strategy within organisational studies / Business Management / D.B.L.

The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of the interventions used by the South African Breweries (SAB) KickStart Programme to establish and grow entrepreneurial small businesses among young South Africans. South Africa has an extremely high unemployment rate, low economic growth and a dismal Total (early-stage) Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA). With regard to established businesses (older than three-and-a-half years), the GEM report of 2005 ranked South Africa the lowest of all the countries surveyed. The SAB KickStart Programme comprises five phases: an awareness campaign, recruitment and training, a business plan competition for grants, success enhancement and national awards. The following interventions form part of the programme: the General Enterprising Tendency (GET) test; two-week live-in business management training; funding and mentoring; and a national competition for prize money. At every stage, adjudication is based on business plans and presentations. The evaluation of the effectiveness of an existing entrepreneurship programme, the SAB KickStart Programme, has several advantages, in so far as it determines whether the programme does indeed attain its objectives, and could help to improve the structuring of such programmes for future use by other corporations in South Africa. The population for the study comprised all the participants of the SAB KickStart Programme, from 2001 to 2006. A questionnaire was developed and a response rate of 28.5% was realised. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to the turnover and percentage profit figures of respondents to investigate the significance of the type of SAB KickStart support afforded. The results were confirmed by the Bonferroni multiple comparison of means test. The deduction is that funding and mentoring, after training, adds value to the programme. Eighty per cent of the SAB KickStarters were still operating their initial businesses, which they owned when they started on the programme, while a further six per cent had started another business, hence a "failure" rate of only 14 per cent. Many other meaningful findings emerged. In conclusion, it can be said that the SAB KickStart Programme adds value and advances entrepreneurship, and could possibly be applied by other large institutions in South Africa In conclusion, it can be said that the SAB KickStart programme adds value and advances entrepreneurship, and can be elevated to other large institutions in South Africa. / Business Management / D.Comm. (Business Management)

The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of the interventions used by the South African Breweries (SAB) KickStart Programme to establish and grow entrepreneurial small businesses among young South Africans. South Africa has an extremely high unemployment rate, low economic growth and a dismal Total (early-stage) Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA). With regard to established businesses (older than three-and-a-half years), the GEM report of 2005 ranked South Africa the lowest of all the countries surveyed. The SAB KickStart Programme comprises five phases: an awareness campaign, recruitment and training, a business plan competition for grants, success enhancement and national awards. The following interventions form part of the programme: the General Enterprising Tendency (GET) test; two-week live-in business management training; funding and mentoring; and a national competition for prize money. At every stage, adjudication is based on business plans and presentations. The evaluation of the effectiveness of an existing entrepreneurship programme, the SAB KickStart Programme, has several advantages, in so far as it determines whether the programme does indeed attain its objectives, and could help to improve the structuring of such programmes for future use by other corporations in South Africa. The population for the study comprised all the participants of the SAB KickStart Programme, from 2001 to 2006. A questionnaire was developed and a response rate of 28.5% was realised. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to the turnover and percentage profit figures of respondents to investigate the significance of the type of SAB KickStart support afforded. The results were confirmed by the Bonferroni multiple comparison of means test. The deduction is that funding and mentoring, after training, adds value to the programme. Eighty per cent of the SAB KickStarters were still operating their initial businesses, which they owned when they started on the programme, while a further six per cent had started another business, hence a "failure" rate of only 14 per cent. Many other meaningful findings emerged. In conclusion, it can be said that the SAB KickStart Programme adds value and advances entrepreneurship, and could possibly be applied by other large institutions in South Africa In conclusion, it can be said that the SAB KickStart programme adds value and advances entrepreneurship, and can be elevated to other large institutions in South Africa. / Business Management / D.Comm. (Business Management)

The purpose of this study was to explore how the middle manager implements strategy at a South African government department. This study was conducted in response to the call for more research to be done using the strategy-as-practice perspective to explore the involvement of middle managers in a South African government context with regard to strategy. The current study sought to identify the roles that the middle manager undertakes with regard to strategy implementation, inclusive of the barriers that they face on a daily basis. The study aimed at providing feedback on how the middle managers implement strategy, overcome the barriers they face and some changes that participating middle managers proposed to the current practices in strategy implementation in a government context. A single case study, utilising an exploratory qualitative research design, was undertaken at a government department in South Africa. The data was gathered using semi-structured interviews. The researcher used the interviews to provide rich, detailed descriptions of how strategy is implemented by middle managers. The study portrayed the participating middle managers as playing an integral role as interpreters, communicators and implementers of the strategy within the government context. Findings confirmed that most of the middle managers were not involved in the crafting of the high level strategy of the government department. The participating middle manager fulfilled eight key roles in the implementation of the strategy: leadership role, management role, implementation role, monitoring role, reporting role, supporting role, communication role and information-sharing role. The participating middle managers dealt with many barriers with regard to strategy implementation on a daily basis, such as lack of understanding of government work, monitoring, support, skilled personnel, skill development, funding and information. The participating middle managers were found to be innovative and creative in utilising strategy tools to overcome the barriers they faced. Although these results cannot be generalised but may be transferrable to similar contexts. / Business Management / M. Com (Business Management)

The purpose of this study was to explore the practices and processes executed by middle managers as practitioners during the implementation of strategy. In order to do that, this study investigated the problem of strategy implementation, analysed existing literature, identified the gaps, and explored the roles of middle managers in terms of strategy practices and processes, specifically in the South African Defence Evaluation and Research Institutes (DERI) context. Resources, time and effort are applied to formulating strategy but less of these to the execution of the strategy which includes the emotions, motivations and actions that are intangible during the implementation of strategy. The study therefore attempts to answer the following research question: What practices and processes are employed in strategy implementation in DERIs in South Africa? The literature study was undertaken with the objective of mapping the research problem and to highlight, through critical discussion, the latest work done on the subject of this study. The gap in relation to research work was identified and the contribution is clear that not much work has been done in this environment. Research is a systematic process where information on a specific topic is gathered in order to increase understanding of that phenomenon. A qualitative study was performed and data was obtained from several institutes through interviews, documents and questionnaires in order to build a rich database that could be analysed for the required output. Engagement with the first level of management as well as the next level management teams ensured that a representative population group was used during this study. The data was organised, categorised, interpreted, identified, synthesised and generalised. The quotations identified from the text were coded through inductive coding and grouped into categories until a logical theme, category and concept was formed. The objective of this research was to investigate, identify and understand what the strategy practices and processes are that make highly technical and scientific institutes execute strategies successfully. The study provided insight into and clarity on the complexity of the strategy implementation process as executed by middle managers, particularly in the South African context. The link was explored between formulation and implementation as applied by middle managers as practitioners and the practices and processes in use were identified. It was demonstrated that the outcome of this research is applicable to the research problem and also provides an understanding of the phenomenon, namely strategy practices and processes in use at the Defence Evaluation and Research Institutes. It can therefore be concluded that the research objective was achieved. / Business Management / D.B.L.

Abstracts in English and Southern Ndebele / “We tend to think of the mind of an organisation residing in the … top management …but… [strategic] intelligence is not organised in a centralised structure but much more like a beehive of small simple components… ” Kevin Kelly, (1994: 166283). From the quote above, it is implied that the strategising practices of, among others, top managers, are the ‘small simple components’ that build towards the overall strategy of an organisation. The overall strategy of any organisation directly influences the performance thereof. As strategists, top managers use their thinking styles to influence the new strategic practices they endorse and those that are discarded, thereby impacting the competitive strategy employed by the organisation and ultimately organisational performance. This study investigated the rapport between the strategising practices used by top managers and their thinking styles. Based on a single illustrative case, this study utilised mixed data obtained from of 33 interviews and 79 questionnaires to describe the possible relationship between thinking styles and strategising practises. The results show that at the case organisation, thinking styles of top managers differ depending on the situation in which they find themselves. A possible relationship between thinking styles and strategising practises, at the case organisation, is further implied. / “Se taele go nagana ge monagano we mokhadlo lo o hlala e tulu, mara lehlelo le go hlaganepha le ga bekwa ge Ndlela le ngore esekhathi, mara kgulu go fana ne lekhaya le tenosi le le le gase bodese le lengane.” Kevin Kelly, (1994:166283). Go leso setsopolwe e tulu, era gore tedlela te go hlela, go leto te khona, baphathi ba se tulu, geto tedo te tengane leto te gase bodese le to te akha lehlelo gemoga le mokhadlo. Lehlelo gemoga le mokhadlo o monye na o monye le dlolela e go etene ge tedo. Jene ge bahleli, baphathi ba setulu ba beregesa tedlela tabo te go nagana, go tshwaetja tedlela te tetsha leto ba te vumelago na leto ba te kganago. Ge go eta jalo te thella lehlelo lelo le phalesanago lelo lele beregeswe mokhadlo, e maphellweni na leso mokhadlo o se yetago. Go bala lokhu, go ete gore go be ne go vesesana e khathe ge tedlela te go hlela leto te beregeswa mbaphathi ba setulu ne Ndlela leyo ba nagana gayo. Go beka nnye ye tedlela leto ba te beregeselego, go beregeswe tedaba leto te phoma go 33 ye bado labo be ba butiswa go kereya leso be ba fona go seva ne mebotiso e 79 leyo e hlalosa nkgonagalo ye go talana e khathe ge mehuda ye go nagana ne ndlela leyo go hlelwa gayo. Mephomela e bonesa gore lapho e mekhadlweni, Ndlela ye go nagana ge baphathi ba setulu e ya phabana go ya ge gore ba te kereya ba se sejamweni se se jane. Nkgonagalo ye bodlelwano e khathe ge Ndlela ye go nagana ne lenaneo le le le ladelwago e tedweni te nhlagano, te beregeselwe. Mave e bohlogwa: Bophathi ba setulu, bakgoni be go hlela, baberegi be go hlela, tedlela leto go hlelwa gato, Ndlela leyo go naganwa gayo; go khetha, mekgwa ye go nagana ge botalo, tedlela te go suga endabeni ennye goya go ennye. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)