No description available.

Dissertation submitted in full compliance with the requirements of the degree of Master of Technology: Dental Technology, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / This study examined the perceptions of South African dental laboratory owners, dental technicians and dentists so as to understand their opinions and experiences regarding the outsourcing of dental prostheses in the industry. The study explored the legislative position of the South African Dental Technicians Council (SADTC). In addition, the study sought the Dental Technicians Association of South Africa (DENTASA) opinion regarding legislation and outsourcing practices in the dental laboratory industry. This is a post-positivist qualitative study conducted in the interpretive paradigm. The study was conducted in Gauteng as this province has the greatest concentration of technicians and dentists. Simple random sampling was used to select participants for individual semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted with three different groups of participants – laboratory owners, technicians and dentists. In addition, a representative of the SADTC and DENTASA, respectively, was interviewed. The data collected from interviews was analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings generated from the study revealed that where dental laboratory services are outsourced, no formal contractual relationship exists between parties. Contracts are verbal. The study concluded that the dental technology industry does not operate within clearly defined legal frameworks when outsourcing. It was established that offshore outsourcing occurs infrequently, therefore having minimal impact on the industry and labour market. Technicians interviewed failed to see the potential negative influence that enhanced outsourcing volumes could have on the labour market. The study established that domestic outsourcing is widely practised and dental laboratories receive significant quantities of imported work. The study briefly considered medical device legislation as the South African dental technician industry is reported to be required to comply with the International Standard of Operation (ISO 13485) which will legislate medical device legislation. Dentists stated, confirming a widely held dental technology industry belief that they did not believe that they were sufficiently qualified to carry out laboratory procedures. The study revealed that technicians regularly consult with patients with the consent of dentists. This is, currently, an illegal practice. Disclosure of who is doing the laboratory work does not always occur. It was established that economic consideration was not a driver when respondents considered outsourcing offshore. Quality was considered a more important factor than price. The study found that that no legislation exists in South Africa that regulates the dental laboratory materials used. Therefore, the possibility of inferior material filtering the South African market is real and the need for a regulatory body is indicated. Technicians felt that there is no need to regulate outsourcing in South Africa. Dentists, on the other hand, were ambivalent. In conclusion, it is postulated that dental technology industry is in a developmental stage and there is a need for the industry to understand itself better. This research showed that the dental technology industry has an inexperienced understanding of business practices. A greater emphasis on producing a well rounded dental technician with the knowledge and understanding of general business concepts and practices which include legislation, regulations and ethics related to the industry is indicated.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-17T15:26:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-06-02. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-09-17T15:45:29Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000846646_20160713.pdf: 69048 bytes, checksum: a0341213d9f77e77119dca93632a14d6 (MD5) Bitstreams deleted on 2016-07-25T13:17:33Z: 000846646_20160713.pdf,. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2016-07-25T13:18:42Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000846646.pdf: 1269487 bytes, checksum: 6f6f53637b3ffaa86ef86d763c8f3d58 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / As transformações no universo do trabalho vêm afetando de modo intenso às sociedades industriais de todo o mundo, de modo que o processo de reestruturação das atividades produtivas inclui inovações tecnológicas e novas formas de gestão da força de trabalho, o que resulta num aumento significativo nos índices de produtividade, profundas alterações no relacionamento entre as empresas e nas formas de organização da produção, interferindo nas relações de trabalho e no processo de negociação com as instituições de defesa dos trabalhadores. Este trabalho analisa a flexibilização das relações de trabalho, consubstanciado no processo de terceirização da mão de obra no segmento econômico da construção civil em Araraquara/SP. Para tanto, propomos uma análise inicial sobre as técnicas de produção fordista/taylorista, para compreendermos o processo de flexibilização das relações de trabalho tal como se apresenta atualmente. Neste contexto, a terceirização assume especial relevância por retratar uma das formas que melhor demonstra o mundo do trabalho flexível, com todas as implicações que lhes são inerentes, sobretudo o enfraquecimento dos direitos dos trabalhadores. Escolhemos o segmento da construção civil para realizarmos o nosso estudo, por tratar-se de um setor fortemente marcado pela terceirização de mão de obra, além de trazer consigo complexidades inerentes à própria atividade. A partir da pesquisa empírica realizada em canteiros de obras de duas construtoras de Araraquara/SP, constatamos várias faces da terceirização, o que torna ainda mais complexo o tema em questão e fomenta pesquisas nesta área / The transformations in work in the universe are affecting intensely to industrial societies around the world, so that the restructuring of productive activities, including technological innovations and new management of the workforce resulting in a significant increase in rates productivity, profound changes in the relationship between companies and ways of organizing production, interfering in labor relations and negotiations with the institutions that protect workers. This research aims to analyze the flexibility of labor relations, embodied in labor outsourcing process in the economic segment construction in Araraquara / SP. Therefore, we propose an initial analysis of the Fordist / Taylorist production techniques, to understand the process of flexibility of labor relations as currently at present. In this context, outsourcing is particularly important for portraying one of the ways that best portrays the world of flexible working, with all the implications inherent to them, especially the weakening of workers' rights. To do this we chose the construction segment to accomplish our study, because it is a strongly marked by sector manpower outsourcing, and bring complexities inherent in the activity. From the empirical research conducted on construction sites of two construction of Araraquara / SP, we see many faces of outsourcing, which makes it even more complex the topic at hand and encourages research in this area

Thesis (MTech (Human Resources Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Change management is inevitable in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in South Africa, where organisations have to be constantly vigilant when tackling the interwoven relationship between change implementation, organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and job satisfaction. The objective of this Master’s thesis study was to examine the nature of change implementation in the BPO industry, to determine the effects of change implementation on OCB and job satisfaction and to examine the relationship between change implementation, OCB and job satisfaction.

Magister Legum - LLM / This research paper investigated whether there are any limitations or restraints in the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, which possible keeps an employer from outsourcing functions or parts of a business to a third party. / South Africa

The study sought to investigate the impact outsourcing had on behaviours and attitudes of remaining employees after outsourcing. It was important to investigate this problem as there was a growing perception that outsourcing could reduce organisational commitment, employee engagement, job performance and threatens career factors in the company. The objective of the study was to contribute towards the understanding of outsourcing as a business strategy in order for managers to implement it and manage it accordingly. The sample consisted of a 100 junior to senior staff members from different companies in South Africa that have recently gone through outsourcing. There were one hundred and five (105) questionnaires issued, but only hundred (100) usable questionnaires were returned (95.2 percent response rate).The empirical results showed that there was a significantly positive correlation between outsourcing (the independent variable) and organisational commitment, employee engagement, job performance and career factors (the dependent variables). The descriptive statistics showed that most employees did not have a positive experience of outsourcing. Males and females did not differ with regard to their perceptions about their experiences of outsourcing. Furthermore, the experience of outsourcing and its outcomes were also not significantly differently experienced across other demographic categories such as age, tenure, job experience and education.

Outsourcing has become a popular trend in the last two decades and has been applied in both non-essential and critical business functions. It has been viewed as a vital source of competitive advantage and is expected to remain an important component in future business strategies. Over the past few years, the outsourcing of logistics functions in particular has shown strong growth. Thus, an abundance of research on the outsourcing of logistics is available. However, there has been little research on the outsourcing of material handling activities as a sub-component of logistics, nor its effect on a company’s operational performance. The purpose of this treatise is to determine the effects of outsourcing a South African automotive company’s material handling activities on its operational performance. It further aims to compare the company’s expected outcomes for outsourcing with actual outcomes. In addition, the factors which contributed positively and negatively to the operation of the outsourced material handling activities at the company, are established. The automotive company in this study is situated in Port Elizabeth, but due to confidentiality reasons the name of the company is not mentioned in the study. The study consists of a literature review on the background of outsourcing, outsourcing theories, outsourcing trends, important outsourcing considerations and gaps in outsourcing research. Primary data, collected through the use of a questionnaire to determine the effects outsourcing has on the company’s operational performance, is collected, reported and analysed in the study. The performance criteria used to determine these effects are: cost; delivery speed and reliability; flexibility; quality; the outsourcing relationship and the management of the outsourcing relationship. The study results reveal that the operational performance of the company remained the same after outsourcing.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Its seems that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Outsourcing is now a major business for Information Technology Outsourcing Providers (ITOPs) and all their focus is on client retention and new business acquisition. Variables like Employee Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty, and Financial Performance and how they relate to Customer Satisfaction seem to have received ample research attention. The way the client perceives and rates the service, can be influenced by a couple of factors and Service Level Rating (SLR) is one of the factors under study. The main aim of the research was to investigate the relationship between Service Level Rating and Customer Satisfaction Rating (CSR) in Information and Communication Technology Outsourcing. Other variables like competency of the engineer, size of company and type of industry were also used to see if this relationship between SLR and CSR depends on these variables. A quantitative research approach is followed. Secondary data is used in the study as it is considered the most suitable given the variables under investigation. The main variables are Service Level Rating (SLR) and Customer Satisfaction Rating (CSR). Pre-testing was done to ensure reliability which solidifies the foundation for the analysis and results. The research showed that there is a strong negative relationship between Service Level Rating (SLR) and Customer Satisfaction Rating (CSR). However the results showed that client rates do not depend on the level of competency of the engineer providing the service. During SLA negotiations, managers need to be able to balance the effect of Customer Satisfaction and at the same time save the client on cost of delivery at a high Service Level after careful considerations of the factors that influence Customer Satisfaction. Although it is important to maintain customer satisfaction ratings, managers must understand the implications of the human elements of customer satisfaction. The results may not be generalised but are limited to the organisation under study. This research can open further areas of research in future across the ICT sector. More avenues need to be researched on the relationship between the two variables. In future the research could further investigate if the relationship between SLR and CSR is affected by level of the client within the organisation. The research could be extended across the ICT industries in South Africa, the developing and developed economies.

This research examined the outsourcing decision for the logistics function of motor carrier transportation. A full factorial design was executed on a simulated transportation network to investigate how the efficiency of motor carrier transportation was affected by how it was structured (private/leased fleet versus contract carrier transportation) and the characteristics of the transportation activities. Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) offered a useful theoretical framework for consideration of this make or buy decision by suggesting the independent variables of asset specificity, uncertainty, and frequency/volume. Seven two-part research hypotheses examined the relationships among the independent variables to gain a greater understanding of the factors which drive the make versus buy decision for motor carrier transportation. The major conclusions of this research are: 1) For the system modelled here, structure (private/leased versus contract carriers) and volume had the largest effects on transportation efficiency (mean shipment cost). 2) The results of this study indicated that there may be important factors within the nature of the “supplying” industry that impact the make or buy decision. This research provided strong support for TCA predictions and clearly demonstrated that TCA is a useful framework for understanding firms’ make or buy decisions. Because of the nature of the transportation industry (the high level of competition and the lack of a small numbers bargaining situation), the hypotheses in this research clearly indicated that a "buy" rather than a "make" decision was the most efficient alternative; this result is exactly consistent with TCA predictions. 3) For the system modelled here, higher fixed and per mile equipment leasing expenses (incurred in the operation of refrigerated trailers) caused refrigerated shipments to be more expensive than standard dry trailer shipments. That is, asset specificity (in this case, requirements for refrigerated trailer equipment) had a significant effect on shipment efficiency. / Ph. D.

Public school districts in Virginia face increasing calls for academic and fiscal accountability due to societal and governmental concerns. School districts are being pressed by community and governmental agencies to offer more services to meet the unique demands of each locality. As demands on time, on service provision, and for instructional accountability rise, financial assistance is not increasing at a rate to offset the service costs. Historically public school districts have accepted the responsibility for management, supervision, and provision of services such as transportation, custodial services, and instruction. As stresses mount on the administrators of public schools in Virginia, districts must become creative in the provision of services. Privatization is an alternative management strategy that school districts are using to provide educational services. The purpose of this study was to present, through description and analysis, the current status of the privatization of educational services by contractual agreement in the public school districts in Virginia. The study provided information indicating the current status of privatization and factors associated with contracting out such as the perceived effectiveness of contracted services, the annual budget allocation, the contractual arrangement, and the future status of privatization. This research will benefit the professionals responsible for the financial and service delivery processes in the public schools. The research instrument was mailed to the superintendents of the 132 public school districts in Virginia. The superintendents were to complete the survey or to forward it to their designees. Effective responses were received from 85 school districts; this represents a 64.39% return rate. An analysis of the data revealed that the public school districts in Virginia privatized 44 instructional and non-instructional services. The services most often provided by the private sector are school audits (64.7%), physical therapy (62.4%), legal services (58.8%), occupational therapy (56.5%), and HVAC maintenance (24.7%). The most privatized services require specialized skill and training. For school districts in Virginia, school audits are required by law to be performed by an outside agency or contractor. This indicates the data might not be a complete representation of the services privatized in the public schools. Public school districts in Virginia contract with the private sector to increase service effectiveness, to reduce service costs, to acquire expert personnel, and to eliminate capital outlay. Of the respondents, 88.2% indicated that the school districts received at least the same or better services from the private sector. The respondents also reported an anticipated increase of 31.8% for contracted services in the future. The majority of school districts do not expect to change the mode of service provision. / Ed. D.