Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is responsible for the provision of education to nearly a million learners in 2007/08 from grade R to grade 12. To fulfil its primary function, it employs thousands of educators and officials. Like any organisation, the WCED should be managed effectively to ensure that this main educational mission is carried out. Communication forms an integral part of this management process. This research report focuses on communication processes between two groups within the WCED, namely, officials at Head Office and officials working directly in the Educational Management and Development Centres (EMDCs). The aim was to determine the perceptions that the officials have about communication in the WCED and to make recommendations to the WCED to improve the situation, should such recommendations be needed. Chapter 1 gives a background of the organisation where the research was conducted. Chapter 2 focuses on the literature and gives a review of the different communication theories while applying these to the organisation being researched. Chapter 3 provides an explanation of the method of research and refers to the two groups that are compared, the questionnaire that was developed and administered as well as an explanation of how the statements were analysed. Chapter 4 categorises the responses of the two groups and each statement is analysed based on whether the groups agree or disagree with each other. Summaries of the findings, in four groupings, are presented. Chapter 5 places the focus on the conclusions that have been drawn from the analyses and makes recommendations to the WCED regarding how to improve communication. Several findings were made. There are a number of aspects that officials from both groups agree with, but also many issues that they disagree on. The main finding of the research is that both groups perceive the management of the WCED to be autocratic and that this seems to be one main root of problems related to communication in the department. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Wes-Kaap Onderwysdepartement is verantwoordelik vir die voorsiening van opvoeding vir duisende leerders vanaf graad R to graad 12. Terwyl dit die primere funksie van die onderwysdepartment is, moet dit ook in gedagte gehou word dat dit duisende onderwysers en amptenare in diens het. Die Wes-Kaap Onderwysdepartement moet effektief bestuur word om te verseker dat die hoofdoel bereik word. Kommunikasie vorm 'n integrale deel van die bestuursproses. Die navorsingsverslag fokus op die kommunikasieprosesse tussen twee groepe binne die Wes-Kaap Onderwysdepartement, naamlik Hoofkantoor- en Distriksamptenare. Die doel was om die persepsies wat hierdie amptenare oor kommunikasie het, te bepaal, en om aanbevelings te maak aan die onderwysdepartment om die situasie wat bestaan, te verbeter. Hoofstuk 1 gee 'n agtergrond van die organisasie waar die navorsing gedoen was. Hoofstuk 2 fokus op die literatuur en gee 'n oorsig van die verskillende kommunikasieteoriee, terwyl hierdie toegepas word op die organisasie wat nagevors word. Hoofstuk 3 voorsien 'n verduideliking van die metodiek van navorsing en verwys na die twee groepe wat vergelyk word, die vraelys wat ontwikkel en geadministeer was, sowel as 'n verduideliking van hoe die stellings geanaliseer sal word. Hoofstuk 4 kategoriseer die terugvoering van die twee groepe en elke stelling word geanaliseer, gebaseer op of die groepe met mekaar saamstem of nie. Hoofstuk 5 plaas die fokus op die gevolgtrekkings wat gemaak word van die analise, terwyl daar ook aanbevelings aan die Wes-Kaap Onderwysdepartement gemaak word oor hoe om kommunikasie te verbeter. In die analise van die terugvoering van die amptenare wat op die vraelys gereageer het, word 'n aantal bevindinge gemaak. Daar is 'n aantal aspekte waaroor amptenare van beide groepe saamstem, maar ook aspekte waaroor hulle nie met mekaar saamstem nie. Die hoof bevinding van hierdie navorsing is dat amptenare die persepsie het dat die bestuur van die WKOD outokraties is en dat dit die oorsaak is van die probleme wat verband hou met kommunikasie in die departement.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public and Development Management 6 April 2017 / Since the inception of the democratic era in South Africa, citizen engagement has been a contentious issue for the local government sphere. In hardly a decade of democracy, cracks began to manifest on the newly-ushered system of public participation in the country, which saw communities embarking on various acts of protests around the country. Sadly, the ugly actions of dissatisfaction by the citizenry have been the order of the day since the early days of democracy, and some have been labelled it ‘a cry for attention by the disgruntled citizens’. As evidence of the disconnection in the local discourse, the aforesaid factor was regarded as a starting point in this research. As such, numbers of, and various reasons for the violent protests were examined thoroughly to establish the truth behind same. Public conversations and discussions, albeit informal, were held wherever possible, and all these pointed to the crisis of democracy in the local government. The research explored the notion of meaningful citizen engagement as a panacea for alleviating service delivery backlogs in the local government. To avoid challenges of the cause-effect scenario in analysing the processes, measurements of meaningful citizen engagement in the local government, named ‘condition’, were developed in this research. Focusing on five different categories of municipalities, fifteen officials and ten councillors were interviewed using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Further to that, two focus group discussions were held with ten community members and eight ward committee members each, using unstructured interview questions as focal themes. Apart from the interviews, four non-participant observations (IDP/Budget meetings) were conducted in order to get a sense of the current engagement processes. Furthermore, various public documents, both internal and external of the organisations, were analysed and utilised as part of the literature review. Data from the above sets of sources were explored and analysed using the basic interpretive qualitative design and phenomenological methods to make meaning of same. The research findings suggested that current mechanisms of engagement lacked depth, and are limited in terms of opening meaningful engagement spaces for the citizens. These findings pointed to the dire need to move away from the normal, passive public participation towards the engaging, deliberative notions wherein the citizens would have opportunities to influence the final outcomes of planning and budgeting. / MT2017

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / Refer to the document

This study addresses a major theoretical issue posed in the literature: can alienation in modern urban society be conceptualized in terms of the communicative competence of speakers taking part in social interaction. Specifically, this study explores the relationship between communicative competence and two observable indications of success in land use hearings: 1) ability to influence the final decision of the Variance Committee and 2) expression of feelings of dissatisfaction with the hearings process, as expressed by the participants. On a broader scale, the study tests Jurgen Habermas's classification of speech acts and the notion that public hearings are a free and open process for integrating public opinion into land use decisions. Twenty-five hearings before the Variance Committee of the City of Portland were observed in order to record the types of speech acts used by four different groups in the hearings - the protestors, the applicants, the planning staff and the committee members. Following the hearings the applicant and a protestor were interviewed to ask information about their perceptions of the hearings process. In addition, all the Variance Committee members (15) and twenty-five professional planning staff were interviewed. Altogether 98 interviews were conducted. Analysis of Variance demonstrates that there is a significant difference in the use of the four types of speech acts by the four groups. Tabular analysis shows that the applicants are more comfortable with the hearings process than the protestors. However, both groups are relatively well satisfied with the hearings process, even after controlling for the final decision. Multiple linear regression demonstrates that the decision of the hearing is strongly associated with the speech acts received by the applicants and protestors. Furthermore, a large portion of those acts and their direction can be attributed to the committee Chairman. Based on these two findings (direction of the committee's attention and the Chairman's influence), a case analysis of 14 (out of twenty-five) crucial cases were examined to determine the interactive process used in reaching the final decision. Crucial case analysis revealed that the committee follows an identical ritual review process, led by the Chairman, in all those cases where the final decision corresponds to the staff recommendation. In those cases where the staff recommendation is reversed, the ritual review process is interrupted by one of three types of unexpected errors, committed by the testifiers, which shift the communicative attention of the committee to the opposing testifiers. These findings suggest the hearing process does not provide free and open access to opportunities to influence the decision in Variance hearings. Although some feelings of placation occur on the part of applicants and protestors, the final decisions are heavily predisposed by the professional staff recommendation. This predisposition is not overcome by compelling rational discourse, but only if a "fatal error" is committee by one group of testifiers.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed October 9, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 449-472).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Syracuse University, 2007. / "Publication number: AAT 3281715."

Thesis--Columbia University. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 317-323).

M. Tech. Business Administration / The City of Tshwane initiated and implemented a structural and infrastructural change process in recent years, by merging with Metsweding District, Cullinan and Bronkhorstspruit. One of the critical tools that influences the success or failure of a change process is communication. This study investigates how communication during the implementation phase was utilised and it impacted on the attitudes and behaviours of employees of City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

Os projetos globais de desenvolvimento de produtos passam pelas áreas de conhecimento da gestão tradicional de projetos e, adicionalmente, demandam maior atenção de diversos aspectos inerentes ao ambiente global, tais como: coordenação e controle; construção de confiança e cooperação entre as equipes dispersas geograficamente. Outro tema especialmente importante nesse contexto é o processo de comunicação que se torna bastante crítico à medida que os recursos tradicionais de comunicação em projetos (reuniões face-a-face, comunicação não-verbal, visualização do trabalho in loco, entre outros) passam a ser limitados e/ ou substituídos por outros baseados em meios eletrônicos (videoconferência, emails, mensagens instantâneas, entre outros). O objetivo desta pesquisa foi o de mapear as práticas de comunicação aplicadas aos projetos globais e analisar se essas práticas variam de acordo com o tipo e com algumas características do modelo de gestão dos projetos. A unidade de análise escolhida foram os projetos globais de desenvolvimento de produtos de empresas multinacionais brasileiras e o método de pesquisa, o estudo de casos múltiplos. Os resultados permitiram verificar que a freqüência da comunicação nos projetos globais diminui com a distância, o que dificulta o controle e a coordenação das equipes. Mas a distância por si só, apesar de impor desafios adicionais, não causa necessariamente problemas de comunicação, pois pode ser contornada pelo apoio das ferramentas eletrônicas de comunicação que formam as bases para os projetos acontecerem de forma dispersa. O estudo permitiu concluir que o uso das práticas de comunicação, bem como a importância dada a elas variam em função do tipo de projeto e de algumas características de gestão deles. Apesar de ter sido possível identificar tais variações, verificou-se que as práticas não ocorrem de forma padronizada nos projetos; ao contrário, são desenvolvidas de forma improvisada e circunstancial e não contam com um planejamento específico no início do projeto. / Global new product development projects go through the traditional knowledge areas of project management, and additionally they demand more attention related to the global environment aspects, such as coordination and control, and trust building and cooperation between geographically dispersed teams. Another important theme in this context is that the communication process becomes critical, as traditional communication resources employed in projects (face-to-face meeting, nonverbal communication, in locus work visualization, among others) undergo constraints or are replaced by those based upon electronic means (video conference, email, instant message). This research aimed to identify the communication practices applied to global projects and analyze whether these practices vary across some project characteristics and its management model. The unit of analysis adopted was the global new product development projects undertaken by Brazilian multinational companies, and the research method employed was the case study. The findings showed that the communication frequency in global projects diminishes as the physical distance increases. Athough it represents additional challenges, the distance itself does not cause communication problems. This is due to the support of electronic communication tools that create the basis over which projects are dispersedly held. This study allowed me to conclude that the use of communication practices along with the importance paid to them, vary according to the project type and some characteristics of its management. In spite of the variations, it has been also identified that communication practices are not used in projects in a standard way. On the contrary, these practices are employed in an improvised and contingent manner, and they are not planned since the beginning of the project.

Os projetos globais de desenvolvimento de produtos passam pelas áreas de conhecimento da gestão tradicional de projetos e, adicionalmente, demandam maior atenção de diversos aspectos inerentes ao ambiente global, tais como: coordenação e controle; construção de confiança e cooperação entre as equipes dispersas geograficamente. Outro tema especialmente importante nesse contexto é o processo de comunicação que se torna bastante crítico à medida que os recursos tradicionais de comunicação em projetos (reuniões face-a-face, comunicação não-verbal, visualização do trabalho in loco, entre outros) passam a ser limitados e/ ou substituídos por outros baseados em meios eletrônicos (videoconferência, emails, mensagens instantâneas, entre outros). O objetivo desta pesquisa foi o de mapear as práticas de comunicação aplicadas aos projetos globais e analisar se essas práticas variam de acordo com o tipo e com algumas características do modelo de gestão dos projetos. A unidade de análise escolhida foram os projetos globais de desenvolvimento de produtos de empresas multinacionais brasileiras e o método de pesquisa, o estudo de casos múltiplos. Os resultados permitiram verificar que a freqüência da comunicação nos projetos globais diminui com a distância, o que dificulta o controle e a coordenação das equipes. Mas a distância por si só, apesar de impor desafios adicionais, não causa necessariamente problemas de comunicação, pois pode ser contornada pelo apoio das ferramentas eletrônicas de comunicação que formam as bases para os projetos acontecerem de forma dispersa. O estudo permitiu concluir que o uso das práticas de comunicação, bem como a importância dada a elas variam em função do tipo de projeto e de algumas características de gestão deles. Apesar de ter sido possível identificar tais variações, verificou-se que as práticas não ocorrem de forma padronizada nos projetos; ao contrário, são desenvolvidas de forma improvisada e circunstancial e não contam com um planejamento específico no início do projeto. / Global new product development projects go through the traditional knowledge areas of project management, and additionally they demand more attention related to the global environment aspects, such as coordination and control, and trust building and cooperation between geographically dispersed teams. Another important theme in this context is that the communication process becomes critical, as traditional communication resources employed in projects (face-to-face meeting, nonverbal communication, in locus work visualization, among others) undergo constraints or are replaced by those based upon electronic means (video conference, email, instant message). This research aimed to identify the communication practices applied to global projects and analyze whether these practices vary across some project characteristics and its management model. The unit of analysis adopted was the global new product development projects undertaken by Brazilian multinational companies, and the research method employed was the case study. The findings showed that the communication frequency in global projects diminishes as the physical distance increases. Athough it represents additional challenges, the distance itself does not cause communication problems. This is due to the support of electronic communication tools that create the basis over which projects are dispersedly held. This study allowed me to conclude that the use of communication practices along with the importance paid to them, vary according to the project type and some characteristics of its management. In spite of the variations, it has been also identified that communication practices are not used in projects in a standard way. On the contrary, these practices are employed in an improvised and contingent manner, and they are not planned since the beginning of the project.