This study examined the lobbying of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) by South African companies. The aim of this study was to establish the timing and methods of lobbying of the IASB by South African companies. Central to this study was the seminal work of Sutton (1984), predicting when and how companies lobby an accounting standard-setter. The research hypotheses for this study were formulated on the basis of Sutton’s (1984) predictions. The online questionnaire in this study was distributed to the top 100 JSE primary listed companies in order to collect primary data to test the four hypotheses regarding the timing, methods and perceived effectiveness of lobbying by South African companies. The findings of the empirical investigation indicated that most South African companies lobby later in the due process of the IASB and prefer using their auditors to support their views at the IASB. The findings are subject to certain limitations that are addressed in the study. Lastly, the researcher provided recommendations for future research in accounting standard-setting in South Africa. / Financial Accounting / M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

Anyone desiring to qualify as an accountant or auditor is required to pass an examination as approved by the Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board to establish whether candidates have attained the required standard of academic knowledge in terms of the syllabi laid down by the Board, as well as whether they are able to apply that knowledge in practice (P AAB, 1995). However each year many students fail this very important examination. The reasons for this are not clear and the purpose of this research is to determine whether: personality; vocational interests; intelligence; matriculation Mathematics and home language (English/ Afrikaans) results, predict success in the QE, by comparing a group of successful and unsuccessful QE candidates. The logistic regression, discriminant analysis and t-test statistical procedures, indicated that: warmth (A), liveliness (F), rule-consciousness (G), social boldness (H), apprehension (0), self-reliance (Q2), perfectionism (Q3), tension (Q4), computational interest, social services interest, mechanical interest, Mental Alertness and matriculation home language, are significant factors to consider when identifying candidates likely to be successful in the QE. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / MCOM (Industrial Psychology)

Abstracts in English, Afrikaans and Sepedi / Approximately half of the people in the world is female and yet women hold just more than one in every five senior management positions. This underrepresentation is a worldwide phenomenon that is also evident in the audit profession where there are few women at audit partner level. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women audit managers – to gain an understanding of the reasons why they resign from audit firms before they are promoted to audit partner level. It was anticipated that this understanding could enable audit firms to develop and implement effective retention strategies to retain women in audit partner positions and to overcome the potential barriers to the equal representation of men and women in senior management positions in audit firms. An exploratory qualitative research approach and an interpretative phenomenological analysis design were used to explore and interpret the lived experiences of the women audit managers to understand the reasons why they resign from audit firms. The study found that unclear progression paths due to uncertain timelines, as well as the black economic empowerment pressures experienced by the audit firms, explained some of the women’s resignations from the audit firms. Unhealthy supervisor relationships, discrimination, no female role models and the “old boys club” as part of the audit firms’ leadership and organisational culture also played a prominent role in the women audit managers’ experiences. Moreover, unsatisfactory compensation together with no work-life balance were found to have influenced the majority of the women’s decisions to resign from the audit firms. Finally, the study also found that some of the participants’ aspirations to become audit partners were not distinct and that other matters were more important to them than their careers. / Alhoewel ongeveer die helfte van die wêreldbevolking vrouens is, is net een uit elke vyf senior bestuurders 'n vrou. Hierdie onderverteenwoordiging is 'n wêreldwye fenomeen, ook in die ouditberoep waar daar net 'n paar vrouens op ouditvennootvlak is. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die ervarings van vroulike ouditbestuurders te verken – om 'n begrip te kry van die redes waarom hulle bedank uit ouditfirmas voordat hulle tot ouditvennootvlak bevorder word. Die verwagting is dat hierdie begrip ouditfirmas in staat kan stel om effektiewe behoudstrategieë te ontwikkel en te implementeer om vrouens in ouditvennootposisies te behou en om die potensiële struikelblokke tot die gelyke verteenwoordiging van mans en vrouens in seniorbestuursposisies in ouditfirmas te bowe te kom. 'n Eksploratiewe, kwalitatiewe navorsingbenadering en 'n interpretatiewe, fenomenologiese ontledingsontwerp is gebruik om die geleefde ervarings van die vroulike ouditbestuurders te verken en te interpreteer om te kan verstaan waarom hulle uit ouditfirmas bedank. Die studie het bevind dat onduidelike progressiebane as gevolg van vae tydlyne, asook die druk van swart ekonomiese bemagtiging wat oudifirmas ervaar, kan verduidelik waarom sommige van die vrouens uit die ouditfirmas bedank. Ongesonde toesighouerverhoudings, diskriminasie, geen vroulike rolmodelle en die stelsel van baantjies vir boeties as deel van die ouditfirmas se leierskap- en organisasiekultuur speel ook 'n prominente rol in die vroulike ouditbestuurders se ervarings. Boonop is bevind dat onbevredigende vergoeding asook geen werk-lewebalans die meerderheid van die vrouens se besluite beïnvloed om uit die ouditfirmas te bedank. Die studie het ten slotte bevind dat dit nie sommige van die deelnemers se kennelike ambisie is om ouditvennote te word nie, en dat ander aangeleenthede van groter belang vir hulle is as hulle loopbane. / Tekanyetšo ya seripa sa batho mo lefaseng ke basadi efela basadi ke fela o tee godimo ga maemo a mahlano a bolaodi bja godimo. Kemedi ye ye nnyane ke setlwaedi sa motlalanaga seo se bonagalago ka go mošomo wa tlhakišo fao go nago le basadi ba bannyane maemong a bolekane bja tlhakišo. Mohola wa phatišišo ye e be e le go nyakolla maitemogelo a basadi ba balaodi ba batlhakiši – go kwešiša mabaka a go re ke ka lebaka la eng ba tlogela mešomo difemeng tša tlhakišo pele ba ka hlatlošetšwa maemong a bolekane bja tlhakišo. Go be go lebeletšwe gore kwešišo ye e ka kgontšha difeme tša tlhakišo go tlhabolla le go phethagatša maanotšhomo a maleba a go dula le bona sebaka mo go maemo a molekane wa tlhakišo le go fediša tšeo e ka bago mapheko go kemedi ya go lekana ga banna le basadi maemong a taolo ya godimo ka go difeme tša tlhakišo. Mokgwa wa diphatišišo tša boleng bja go nyakolla le tlhamo ya kahlaahlo ya ditiragalo tšeo di hlaloswago di be di šomišwa go nyakolla le go hlatholla maitemogelo ao balaodi ba tlhakišo ba basadi go kwešiša mabaka a go re ke ka lebaka la eng ba tlogela mošomo mo difemeng tša tlhakišo. Thuto ye e hweditše gore ditsela tša go se bonale tša kgatelopele ka lebaka la ditatelano tšeo di se nago bohlatse, go tee le matlafatšo ya ikonomi ya bathobaso tšeo di itemogetšwego ke difeme tša tlhakišo, e tlhalositše tše dingwe tša ditlogelo tša mošomo ka basadi go difeme tša tlhakišo. Dikamano tšeo di sa lokago le balebeledi, kgethollo, basadi ba go se tšewe bjalo ka mehlala le “old boys club” bjalo ka karolo ya boetapele bja difeme tša tlhakišo le setšo sa sehlongwa le tšona di ralokile karolo ya bohlokwa go boitemogelo bja balaodi ba basadi ba difeme tša tlhakišo. Go feta fao, tefelo yeo e sa kgotsofatšego go tee le tekanyetšo ya bophelo bja mošomo di hwetšagetše di na le khuetšo go bontši bja diphetho tša basadi tša go tlogela mošomo go tšwa go difeme tša tlhakišo. Mafelelong, phatišišo e hweditše go re ditumo tša batšeakarolo ba bangwe tša go ba balekane ba tlhakišo di be di sa bonale le go re merero ye mengwe e be e le bohlokwa kudu go bona go feta mešomo ya bona. / College of Accounting Sciences / M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

Abstracts in English, Afrikaans and Sepedi / Approximately half of the people in the world is female and yet women hold just more than one in every five senior management positions. This underrepresentation is a worldwide phenomenon that is also evident in the audit profession where there are few women at audit partner level. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women audit managers – to gain an understanding of the reasons why they resign from audit firms before they are promoted to audit partner level. It was anticipated that this understanding could enable audit firms to develop and implement effective retention strategies to retain women in audit partner positions and to overcome the potential barriers to the equal representation of men and women in senior management positions in audit firms. An exploratory qualitative research approach and an interpretative phenomenological analysis design were used to explore and interpret the lived experiences of the women audit managers to understand the reasons why they resign from audit firms. The study found that unclear progression paths due to uncertain timelines, as well as the black economic empowerment pressures experienced by the audit firms, explained some of the women’s resignations from the audit firms. Unhealthy supervisor relationships, discrimination, no female role models and the “old boys club” as part of the audit firms’ leadership and organisational culture also played a prominent role in the women audit managers’ experiences. Moreover, unsatisfactory compensation together with no work-life balance were found to have influenced the majority of the women’s decisions to resign from the audit firms. Finally, the study also found that some of the participants’ aspirations to become audit partners were not distinct and that other matters were more important to them than their careers. / Alhoewel ongeveer die helfte van die wêreldbevolking vrouens is, is net een uit elke vyf senior bestuurders 'n vrou. Hierdie onderverteenwoordiging is 'n wêreldwye fenomeen, ook in die ouditberoep waar daar net 'n paar vrouens op ouditvennootvlak is. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die ervarings van vroulike ouditbestuurders te verken – om 'n begrip te kry van die redes waarom hulle bedank uit ouditfirmas voordat hulle tot ouditvennootvlak bevorder word. Die verwagting is dat hierdie begrip ouditfirmas in staat kan stel om effektiewe behoudstrategieë te ontwikkel en te implementeer om vrouens in ouditvennootposisies te behou en om die potensiële struikelblokke tot die gelyke verteenwoordiging van mans en vrouens in seniorbestuursposisies in ouditfirmas te bowe te kom. 'n Eksploratiewe, kwalitatiewe navorsingbenadering en 'n interpretatiewe, fenomenologiese ontledingsontwerp is gebruik om die geleefde ervarings van die vroulike ouditbestuurders te verken en te interpreteer om te kan verstaan waarom hulle uit ouditfirmas bedank. Die studie het bevind dat onduidelike progressiebane as gevolg van vae tydlyne, asook die druk van swart ekonomiese bemagtiging wat oudifirmas ervaar, kan verduidelik waarom sommige van die vrouens uit die ouditfirmas bedank. Ongesonde toesighouerverhoudings, diskriminasie, geen vroulike rolmodelle en die stelsel van baantjies vir boeties as deel van die ouditfirmas se leierskap- en organisasiekultuur speel ook 'n prominente rol in die vroulike ouditbestuurders se ervarings. Boonop is bevind dat onbevredigende vergoeding asook geen werk-lewebalans die meerderheid van die vrouens se besluite beïnvloed om uit die ouditfirmas te bedank. Die studie het ten slotte bevind dat dit nie sommige van die deelnemers se kennelike ambisie is om ouditvennote te word nie, en dat ander aangeleenthede van groter belang vir hulle is as hulle loopbane. / Tekanyetšo ya seripa sa batho mo lefaseng ke basadi efela basadi ke fela o tee godimo ga maemo a mahlano a bolaodi bja godimo. Kemedi ye ye nnyane ke setlwaedi sa motlalanaga seo se bonagalago ka go mošomo wa tlhakišo fao go nago le basadi ba bannyane maemong a bolekane bja tlhakišo. Mohola wa phatišišo ye e be e le go nyakolla maitemogelo a basadi ba balaodi ba batlhakiši – go kwešiša mabaka a go re ke ka lebaka la eng ba tlogela mešomo difemeng tša tlhakišo pele ba ka hlatlošetšwa maemong a bolekane bja tlhakišo. Go be go lebeletšwe gore kwešišo ye e ka kgontšha difeme tša tlhakišo go tlhabolla le go phethagatša maanotšhomo a maleba a go dula le bona sebaka mo go maemo a molekane wa tlhakišo le go fediša tšeo e ka bago mapheko go kemedi ya go lekana ga banna le basadi maemong a taolo ya godimo ka go difeme tša tlhakišo. Mokgwa wa diphatišišo tša boleng bja go nyakolla le tlhamo ya kahlaahlo ya ditiragalo tšeo di hlaloswago di be di šomišwa go nyakolla le go hlatholla maitemogelo ao balaodi ba tlhakišo ba basadi go kwešiša mabaka a go re ke ka lebaka la eng ba tlogela mošomo mo difemeng tša tlhakišo. Thuto ye e hweditše gore ditsela tša go se bonale tša kgatelopele ka lebaka la ditatelano tšeo di se nago bohlatse, go tee le matlafatšo ya ikonomi ya bathobaso tšeo di itemogetšwego ke difeme tša tlhakišo, e tlhalositše tše dingwe tša ditlogelo tša mošomo ka basadi go difeme tša tlhakišo. Dikamano tšeo di sa lokago le balebeledi, kgethollo, basadi ba go se tšewe bjalo ka mehlala le “old boys club” bjalo ka karolo ya boetapele bja difeme tša tlhakišo le setšo sa sehlongwa le tšona di ralokile karolo ya bohlokwa go boitemogelo bja balaodi ba basadi ba difeme tša tlhakišo. Go feta fao, tefelo yeo e sa kgotsofatšego go tee le tekanyetšo ya bophelo bja mošomo di hwetšagetše di na le khuetšo go bontši bja diphetho tša basadi tša go tlogela mošomo go tšwa go difeme tša tlhakišo. Mafelelong, phatišišo e hweditše go re ditumo tša batšeakarolo ba bangwe tša go ba balekane ba tlhakišo di be di sa bonale le go re merero ye mengwe e be e le bohlokwa kudu go bona go feta mešomo ya bona. / Auditing / M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

Face à la complexité du monde de l’entreprise, le recours à l’expertise s’avère être indispensable afin de permettre au comité d’entreprise d’exercer pleinement ses attributions, et, in fine, de contribuer à l’application du principe de participation des travailleurs. Une approche plus réaliste de l’expertise permet d’établir que le comité d’entreprise a à sa disposition deux types d’experts : les experts institutionnels (l’expert-comptable, l’expert technique, l’expert libre et l’expert économique) et les experts non institutionnels (certaines commissions du comité d’entreprise et le comité d’hygiène, de sécurité et des conditions de travail). Les liens que le comité d’entreprise et les experts entretiennent oscillent entre vision traditionnelle et vision renouvelée. De façon tout à fait traditionnelle, ces deux types d’experts accomplissent, de façon inégale, une mission d’éclaireur pour le comité d’entreprise en lui apportant de l’information mais également en la traitant lorsque cela est nécessaire. De façon plus singulière, il apparaît que les experts interviennent également dans le processus de décision, mais également dans le processus de concertation. Au-delà du rôle que les experts peuvent jouer auprès du comité d’entreprise, les liens qu’ils entretiennent avec le comité révèlent l’existence de deux sortes de dynamique sous-jacentes : une dynamique relationnelle entre les différentes parties prenantes à l’expertise, marquée par un subtil équilibre entre dépendance et indépendance des uns envers les autres, et une dynamique collective qui témoigne de l’existence d’une expertise collective constituant un système d’intelligence collective nécessaire à l’effectivité du principe de participation des travailleurs. / Given the complexity of the business environment, resorting to expertise proves to be essential for the works council to fully exercise its powers and ultimately for the council to contribute to the application of the employee involvement principle. A more realistic approach to expertise enables us to establish that the works council has two types of experts at its disposal: institutional experts (chartered accountants, technical experts, expert consultants and economic experts) and non-institutional experts (some of the works council commissions and the Health, Safety and Working Conditions Committee (CHSCT)). The relations between the works council and experts oscillate between a traditional perspective and an updated perspective. In a very traditional fashion, these two types of experts unevenly act as pathfinders for the works council. They provide the council with information but also process this information when it is necessary. More strangely, however, experts also appear to be involved in the decision-making process as well as in the process of consultation. Beyond the tasks that experts can perform for the works council, two kinds of underlying dynamic can be evidenced by the relations between the experts and the council: a relational dynamic between the various players involved in the expertise that is characterised by a subtle balance between dependence on and independence from one other, and a collective dynamic that indicates the existence of a collective expertise. This collective expertise consists in a system of collective intelligence that is necessary to the effectiveness of the employee involvement principle.

Cette thèse explore les formes d’engagement et apporte une réponse à la question : Que devient aujourd’hui le contrat normatif de profession des comptables libéraux dans un contexte de mutation de leur profession ? Nous avons croisé deux champs théoriques : celui du comportement organisationnel avec la théorie du contrat psychologique et la sociologie des professions avec le modèle intégré de De Rozario (2006). Nous avons conduit 20 entretiens qualitatifs auprès de comptables libéraux et mobilisé une grille d’analyse construite à partir de la théorie du contrat psychologique qui prend en compte les actants humains et non humains. Les résultats nous permettent de dire que malgré les violations contractuelles actuelles et les transitions, la profession de comptables libéraux continue de faire engagement par son contrat normatif. Il est composé de trois contrats psychologiques individuels qui sont : transactionnel, transitionnel et relationnel. Les mutations actuelles incitent à des contrats psychologiques transactionnels plus denses avec des réseaux d’experts et un contrat psychologique relationnel avec les outils de gestion surtout digitaux pour répondre aux conjonctures problématiques. Finalement, le contrat relationnel avec la profession réduit aujourd’hui à sa composante diplôme, mute vers des contrats relationnels de réseaux experts de proximité. / This thesis explores the forms of commitment and provides an answer to the question: What is becoming of the normative contract of chartered accountants in a context of change of their profession? We crossed two theoretical fields: that of the organizational behavior with the theory of the psychological contract and the sociology of the professions with the integrated model of De Rozario (2006). We conducted 20 qualitative interviews with chartered accountants and mobilized an analysis grid based on the psychological contract theory that takes into account human and non-human contract makers. The results allow us to say that despite the current contractual violations and transitions, the profession of liberal accountants continues to lead to a commitment through its normative contract. The latter comprises three individual psychological contracts which are transactional, transitional and relational contracts. Current changes are leading to increasingly complex transactional psychological contracts with networks of experts and a relational psychological contract with management tools, especially digital devices, to respond to the crisis they face. Finally, the relational contract with the profession reduces today to its diploma component, moving towards relational contracts of expert networks of proximity.

Le Groupe de Recherche en Appareillage Médical de Sherbrooke (GRAMS) travaille actuellement sur un programme de recherche portant sur des photodiodes à avalanche monophotoniques (PAMP) opérées en mode Geiger en vue d'une application à la tomographie d’émission par positrons (TEP). Pour opérer dans ce mode, la PAMP, ou SPAD selon l’acronyme anglais (Single Photon Avalanche Diode), requiert un circuit d'étouffement (CE) pour, d’une part, arrêter l’avalanche pouvant causer sa destruction et, d’autre part, la réinitialiser en mode d’attente d’un nouveau photon. Le rôle de ce CE comprend également une électronique de communication vers les étages de traitement avancé de signaux. La performance temporelle optimale du CE est réalisée lorsqu’il est juxtaposé à la PAMP. Cependant, cela entraîne une réduction de la surface photosensible ; un élément crucial en imagerie. L’intégration 3D, à base d'interconnexions verticales, offr une solution élégante et performante à cette problématique par l’empilement de circuits intégrés possédant différentes fonctions (PAMP, CE et traitement avancé de signaux). Dans l’approche proposée, des circuits d’étouffement de 50 [mu]m x 50 [mu]m réalisés sur une technologie CMOS 130 nm 3D Tezzaron, contenant chacun 112 transistors, sont matricés afin de correspondre à une matrice de PAMP localisée sur une couche électronique supérieure. Chaque circuit d'étouffement possède une gigue temporelle de 7,47 ps RMS selon des simulations faites avec le logiciel Cadence. Le CE a la flexibilité d'ajuster les temps d'étouffement et de recharge pour la PAMP tout en présentant une faible consommation de puissance ( ~ 0,33 mW à 33 Mcps). La conception du PAMP nécessite de supporter des tensions supérieures aux 3,3 V de la technologie. Pour répondre à ce problème, des transistors à drain étendu (DEMOS) ont été réalisés. En raison de retards de production par les fabricants, les circuits n’ont pu être testés physiquement par des mesures. Les résultats de ce mémoire sont par conséquent basés sur des résultats de simulations avec le logiciel Cadence.

Anyone desiring to qualify as an accountant or auditor is required to pass an examination as approved by the Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board to establish whether candidates have attained the required standard of academic knowledge in terms of the syllabi laid down by the Board, as well as whether they are able to apply that knowledge in practice (P AAB, 1995). However each year many students fail this very important examination. The reasons for this are not clear and the purpose of this research is to determine whether: personality; vocational interests; intelligence; matriculation Mathematics and home language (English/ Afrikaans) results, predict success in the QE, by comparing a group of successful and unsuccessful QE candidates. The logistic regression, discriminant analysis and t-test statistical procedures, indicated that: warmth (A), liveliness (F), rule-consciousness (G), social boldness (H), apprehension (0), self-reliance (Q2), perfectionism (Q3), tension (Q4), computational interest, social services interest, mechanical interest, Mental Alertness and matriculation home language, are significant factors to consider when identifying candidates likely to be successful in the QE. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / MCOM (Industrial Psychology)

This -study identifies how language usage and culture affect international PR practitioners in three Western cultures-- America, England and Australia. Likewise, this study examined how language usage and culture affect three major PR organizations-- PRSA in America, CIPR in England and PRIA in Australia. Content analysis and in-depth interviews were conducted with PR practitioners and members of all three PR organizations to address the following three research questions: (1) What is the impact of language usage on the ethics and professional practice of professional public relations? (2) What is the impact of culture on the ethics and professional practice of professional public relations? and (3) How does language usage and culture effect the professional practice of international organizations?

The profession of chartered accountancy (CA) is critical to the economic, social and cultural development of South Africa. It has the potential to play a broader leadership role in the development of the financial skills the country needs so desperately. Extensive research has shown that South Africa has far too few CAs to satisfy the needs of the economy. The profession itself is, however, facing numerous challenges especially given the high expectations of employers of newly qualified CAs and the image of the profession in South Africa in regard to transforming professional demographics, a vestige of the apartheid regime. Many commentators agree that the fundamental flaw in accounting education is that it has remained static while the profession has changed. There is growing consensus among accounting professionals that recent accounting graduates do not adequately meet the standards set by potential employers in the modern, globalised business environment. One university that offers an accredited CA programme is the North-West University (NWU) which is perfectly placed to draw students from rural and urban areas alike; it has the potential to make a significant contribution to the accountancy skills shortage of the country and, hence, contribute to the economy and broader society. However, being newly formed as a result of government‟s merger of various historic institutions, the NWU faces some tough challenges in its endeavours to contribute to the delivery of CAs. The NWU must identify and break down the barriers, limitations and weaknesses that prohibit its students from achieving optimal results, especially the barriers that can, at least partly, be controlled or influenced by the university. The various studies reported on in this thesis are all built around this pivotal theme, i.e. they all endeavour to reveal the hurdles the institution needs to overcome or the areas that require improvement to ensure that the NWU successfully delivers as many as possible CA graduates of the highest quality and to the optimal benefit of employers and broader society. Ultimately, this study wishes to provide the NWU with the information it needs to reform its CA programme in line with this goal. In broad terms, this study, therefore, aims to establish the extent of the barriers to success of the CA programme at the NWU and to make recommendations on appropriate interventions to address such issues. To address the broad aim of this thesis, it is divided into five subordinate research projects, each designed to identify areas in the NWU‟s CA programme that necessitate amelioration. The first project has the primary objective of comparing and critically analysing differences in curriculum, teaching and learning methods, and assessment between the NWU CA programme and the professional accountancy department of a comparable university in the United Kingdom (UK) (so as to identify possible interventions for the NWU programme). It would be imprudent for any organisation not to look first towards international best practice in search of interventions, and a comparable UK institution is an obvious choice given the similarities in degree structures, the South African higher education framework having originally developed from the UK framework. The method employed is a case study involving the comparison of the qualification frameworks of the two countries involved and of two specific accounting degrees in regard to curriculum, teaching and learning, and assessment, including the inspection of institutional documentation and an analysis of focus group transcripts involving academic staff from either institution. The remainder of the projects delve into more specific internal concerns regarding the NWU‟s CA programme. The second project has the objective of identifying and gauging the strength of possible barriers to student achievement (as identified in the literature) in the NWU‟s CA programme and, with a view to gaining insight into transformation constraints, the third project aims to assess whether there are differences in the perceptions of the NWU‟s CA students from different campuses and different ethnic backgrounds regarding the efficacy of various students achievement drivers. Both these projects involve a written survey on student perceptions on achievement barriers affecting the NWU. The participants to these projects were 790 CA students and the results are analysed statistically. The strength of achievement barriers and transformation constraints indicated in the accounting education literature might not reveal the complete picture of the reasons why students fail, especially at the first-year level where failure and dropout are often of great concern. To, therefore, determine the full range of barriers, the fourth research project has the objective of diagnosing any possible reasons for student failure (that are not necessarily addressed in the literature) and, more specifically, failure to complete the first year of CA studies at the NWU successfully. This project is approached in a wholly qualitative manner through a discursive analysis of four separate focus group interview transcripts involving a total of 29 randomly selected failed CA students. The first four research objectives reveal a number of weaknesses in the NWU‟s CA programme in need of amelioration, and various recommendations are made in this regard. A major theme arising is the lack of skills development and assessment opportunities afforded to students in the NWU CA programme. The thesis then explores the use of integrated case studies and business simulation assignments as educational tools to address this problem. Faithful to the fifth research objective of developing and evaluating a prototype of the most needed tool recommended as an educational intervention, an actual inter-disciplinary integrated case study and business simulation assignment is developed to enhance students‟ professional skills. The success of the assignment is evaluated by having 56 third-year CA students actually complete the assignment and then testing their experiences thereof utilising an adapted questionnaire designed for this purpose, followed by statistical analysis of the data. The contributions of this thesis are manifold including, but not limited to, the identification of a variety of areas for amelioration in accounting education practices, being one of very few comprehensive studies that investigates many achievement barriers holistically. This thesis sheds new light on some themes that have not yet been sufficiently researched in prior literature, including the value of career-oriented communication, transformation in accounting education, student failure in South African accounting education and the usage of inter-disciplinary integrated case studies or simulations in accounting. It further contributes a new empirical questionnaire, the reliability of which has been confirmed, making further research possible in various other settings. It benchmarks South African accounting education to that of at least one developed country; such international comparisons are scarce in the accounting education field, especially involving Africa. Moreover, it offers explanations for the drivers of pedagogical approaches in accounting education with reference to various forces rooted in institutional theory and education theory. The author, however, believes that the most practical contribution of this thesis is the actual inter-disciplinary case study and business simulation assignment which can be used or adapted by accounting educators to develop and assess professional skills and which provide some evidence of students‟ experiences of such an assignment that can inform the development of future assignments. Inter-disciplinary integrated tools are scarce in this field. The thesis is of managerial value for the NWU, but its findings are not confined to the domain of this institution, as they should provide useful insight for other institutions and accounting educators, as well as government(s) and professional bodies as the guardians of the profession. Delivering a higher quantity of better qualified CAs, especially from the designated population groups, are to the benefit of the whole country. Most of all, this thesis provides evidence of efforts to make a difference in the continuous quest to ameliorate accounting education one step at a time. / PhD (Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014