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The impact that organizations have on the environment is a growing concern for organisations, governments and ordinary citizens alike. The Global focus on environmental protection programmes has led to initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol, and Conference of the Parties (COP) which attempt to develop policies and rules for practical and effective implementation of environmental protection programmes for countries and organisations alike. Deloitte is no exception to this as their commitment towards the environment in the Deloitte policy statement reflects a commitment to responsible behavior towards the environment. The concern, however, is the consistency of the implementation of the policy throughout the organization. The aim of this study was to understand the behavior and practices of staff in relation to the green office policies at the Woodlands and the Durban offices of Deloitte. An empirical study using a quantitative data collection approach was conducted. A random sample was used and 489 staff members participated in the study. In terms of sample size 6 tables, these results can be generalized to all non-management employees of Deloitte. Data was collected using an online questionnaire. The salient results showed that the Durban respondents were more au fait with the green policies of the company than the Woodlands respondents. It was evident that the younger staff had very little time to read the greening reports and as such were not entirely aware of the practices within the company. It was recommended that in order to ensure the awareness and participation of all employees in greening efforts that Deloitte should re-induct existing employees emphasizing the green policies. The policies and reports should be communicated in a format and media which appeals to younger employees. Competitions, incentives and rewards should be introduced in order to spread the awareness and change in green behaviour. Whilst the study was limited to two offices only, the recommendations of this study could be implemented in all the South African offices of Deloitte. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The South African consulting engineering industry faces a challenge of relevance, particularly in the wake of government infrastructure investment through the planned National Development Plan and other current infrastructure plans. This challenge is even more so for small consulting engineering businesses within the industry who experienced a decline in earnings by ten percent in the first six months of 2013 as compared to the last six months of 2012 (Consulting Engineers South Africa, 2013:38). Government, as a job creator, has a duty to ensure that the conditions that these businesses operate in are favourable to them in order for the businesses to remain sustainable. Factors that contribute to the sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses need to be identified. Amathole District Municipality (ADM) situated in the Eastern Cape Province and which is the second largest province in South Africa but the second poorest (Eastern Cape Socio Economic Council (ECSECC), 2011:15 cited in Mtshibe, 2013:1) is one of those job creators. According to the Amathole District Municipality (ADM) (2013:38), the district, which comprises of seven local municipalities, is the 3rd largest economy in the province after the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality and Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, contributing twelve percent to the provincial economy. Figures published in the Division of Revenue Bill, 2014 (RSA, 2014:236) indicate infrastructure development allocations totalling R1.34 billion budgeted to the ADM for the next three years. This translates to job opportunities for the consulting engineering industry of this region. However, the latest ADM SMME procurement data reveals that in the past five years, only a small percentage of tenders awarded were to small consulting engineering businesses with a majority going to medium to large well-established enterprises (ADM, 2014). These results pose a serious challenge for policy makers who have a duty to ensure that work opportunities do not disadvantage emerging small businesses. The main objective of this study was to gain an understanding of the antecedents that impact on the sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses within the Amathole District Municipality. This was done by identifying antecedents to sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses through a detailed literature review. This literature review identified the competitive environment, regulatory environment and policy environment (independent variables) as being antecedents to sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses (dependant variable). In testing the above research objective, the researcher used statistical analysis methods to reach a conclusion with regard to these antecedents. The positivistic research paradigm (quantitative method) was selected in testing this research objective through the use of hypothesis testing. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires distributed to 100 small consulting engineering businesses using the databases of both the Amathole District Municipality and Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA). Out of the selected sample of 100 small consulting engineering businesses, only 81 responses were received, thus representing an eighty-one percent response rate which is considered adequate. The collected data was then analysed using inferential and confirmatory statistical analysis methods. The analysis was presented in the form of graphs and tables. The results of the empirical survey identified rival competitor influence, the competitive environment and policy environment as being antecedents to sustainability of small consulting engineering businesses within the Amathole District Municipality. Based on these findings, recommendations were made to the management of the Amathole District Municipality in an endeavour to make the environment within which small consulting engineering businesses operate more favourable for the businesses to be sustainable. Suggestions for future research were also made as a way to help in addressing some of the challenges that are faced by the engineering industry.

Striking the balance between managing a successful organisation and paying attention to environmental sustainability requires excellent leadership. There are several benefits associated with being an environmentally sustainable organisation such as improved image (reputation and brand), increased customer loyalty, improved bottom line, attracting skilled experienced staff and improving the relationships with local communities. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the change leadership qualities needed to drive environmental sustainability in the South African landscape to reduce global warming reduction. The qualitative paradigm was utilised to investigate the change leadership qualities needed to affect create environmental sustainability, with focus on global warming reduction actions in the workplace. A literature review was conducted on environmental sustainability, change leadership, and leadership qualities necessary to effect change. A survey was conducted among 13 participants using an interview schedule in the Gauteng, Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa in both private and public organisations in various business sectors. Data was collected in 2013 over a four–month period by conducting face-to-face, telephonic and email interviews. The returned questionnaires were subjected to constant comparative, content and grounded theory analysis. Biographical profiles of the respondents and participating organisations were presented as case studies. Trustworthiness of the data was ascertained using data triangulation. Data was analysed in terms of the issues of environmental sustainability and change leadership. In-depth analyses were also conducted by means of provincial, business and employment sector comparisons. It was found that environmental sustainability was being addressed by the selected organisations, specifically relating to GHG emissions, energy and water saving actions. Change leaders should implement specific environmental sustainability strategies to assist in the reduction of global warming, create awareness, focus on employee involvement, report on their sustainability results and put and incentives in place to encourage environmental sustainability. In order to effect such changes, change leaders need to set targets to measure their sustainability progress. Green campaigns should be conducted internally to educate employees on the effects of global warming, and externally to inform the public about their commitment to environmental sustainability and to advise the public on courses of actions to assist in the quest to reduce global warming. It would be advisable for organisations to appoint a specific environmental sustainability team to drive these efforts. It was found that in order to bring about such changes, certain qualities were needed by change leaders to enable them to act as a change agents. Associated change leadership styles were also addressed. Change leaders should be knowledgeable in order to effectively communicate the importance of environmental sustainability. They should adopt a blend of leadership styles to drive environmental sustainability depending on the extent of change actions planned. Organisations should identify, appoint and mentor female leaders as they have the nurturing qualities that could successfully drive environmental sustainability actions. Change leaders should also preferably be personally involved in environmental sustainability as their personal values together with their job role at top leadership level could contribute towards successful implementation of environmental sustainability actions in the workplace. The study has provided general guidelines on the environmental sustainability issues necessary to address global warming reduction as well as guidelines on the change leaders qualities necessary to drive environmental sustainability actions in the workplace.

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A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Environmental Science). Johannesburg, 2017. / South Africa’s SDFIs have potential to play a critical role in fostering environmental compliance in the mining industry. Their role is particularly important in the small-scale and junior mining sector which is usually shunned by private finance institutions because of high environmental credit risk. Equipped with knowledge and experience of working with clients across different sectors and their potential leadership role in technology transfer, SDFIs can leverage their position in acting as trusted third party environmental regulation enforcers. Financial institutions have long been criticised for showing little interest in environmental impacts of their clients while concentrating on profit maximisation. This study sought to investigate the response by financial institutions to this criticism through evaluating the role of SDFIs in fostering environmental compliance by small-scale and junior mining companies which are generally viewed as having a poor environmental compliance record. Through the twin qualitative research methods of interviews and document analysis, the role of three state-owned development finance institutions in fostering environmental regulation compliance by small-scale mining enterprises in South Africa was evaluated. The study revealed that SDFIs explicitly and implicitly provide a wide range of products and services which help small-scale and junior miners in complying with environmental regulations. The study also found that, while SDFIs are beginning to adopt market-based mechanisms to encourage environmental compliance, they still heavily rely on command and control mechanisms as a way of mitigating environmentally related risks arising from financing mining companies. / LG2018

Thesis (Ph.D. (Marketing))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic & Business Sciences, 2017 / The purpose of this research was to study the relationship between firm‟s commitment to green, green marketing capability, green relationship learning, green human resource investments and firm performance for electronics manufacturers in South Africa. Despite the increased focus on on green marketing, there has been little focus on research relating corporate commitment to green and how it relates to green marketing capabilities and firm performance. This study fills this research gap by proposing and testing hypotheses relating firm commitment to green, green marketing capability, green relationship learning, green human capital investment and a firm‟s performance. To answer the research questions, primary data for n=212 respondents covering a range in firm size, gender, race, and age for electronics manufacturers in South Africa was used to test the hypothesis relating corporate commitment to green, green marketing capability, and a firm‟sperformance. The structural equation modeling approach was used to test the model fit and hypothesis testing. The software SPSS 24 was used to analyse the descriptive statistics and AMOS 24 was used to test the research model. The results showed that firm commitment to green was a predictor of firm performance and green marketing capability, green relationship learning, and green human capital investments was found to be mediators in the relationship between firm commitment to green and firm performance. Indeed, the hypotheses stated in this study were found to be true. The main contribution of this study is showing how corporate governance commitment to green can enable firm performance (both marketing and financial) through mediating variables of green marketing capability, green relationship learning and green human capital investment. The study further shows that corporate commitment to green influences green corporate social investment positively. Key words: corporate commitment to green, green marketing capability, green relationship learning, green Human Capital Investment, Green CSI, firm performance / GR2018

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Accounting: Taxation, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / The study was to explore the awareness of owners of small medium enterprises with regards to green tax incentives; to identify their attitudes towards such green tax incentives and the possible impact it will have on small medium manufacturing enterprises going green.This study used a quantitative research design, specifically a descriptive survey approach. A census sample was drawn through a list provided by the Durban Chamber of Commerce. A survey questionnaire was the primary data collection tool used. At total of 152 questionnaires were distributed and a 104 were received yielding a response rate of 68 %. The data showed that small medium enterprises were concerned about the environment, and acknowledged that their business activities have a negative impact on the environment. The study also established that small medium enterprise owners are concerned with the impact that climate change will have on their business operations. A majority of the sample considered green taxation to be an important driver that would allow businesses to become eco-friendly. Owners were found to support the utilization of green taxation incentives and were considering using green taxation as part of future business decision making, thus ensuring that meet corporate social responsibility. It was concluded that there was a need for the government to put more focus into creating awareness of global warming and climate change. There was also a need to find more innovative ways of promoting eco-consciousness and green sustainable practices and the need to draft and identify new green taxation legislature that caters for public and small medium enterprises. / M

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.