The major concern of investment decision-makers is to find the appropriate capital budgeting techniques to apply. Many factors cause change within an organisation. Strategic investment management takes a close look at these changing factors. To this end, a literature study of popular capital budgeting procedures, investment strategic theory, and a selected method for linking the two was undertaken. A sample of manufacturers in the Gauteng region of South Africa was chosen to indicate whether there is a correlation between financial theory and practice. The results of this survey indicated that financial evaluation was widely practised. Whereas, strategic analysis was used less often. The need for an in-depth study of other economic sectors and the financial theory and practice used by the investment decision-makers in those sectors is identified as a possible future study. The value inherent in the evaluation of relative performances of manufacturing firms, which have applied similar strategies, is also identified. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Ethics For Professionals, July 2017 / Health and, by extension, healthcare is accepted to be a valuable and important social good that is both a good in and of itself, as well as necessary to achieve life’s goals. Its fair distribution is therefore properly the subject of ethical concern and in the era of modern medicine where costs and potentially limitless treatments exceed available resources, rationing healthcare has become an unavoidable necessity. Since such rationing implies that not everyone’s needs or preferences can be met, a fair and just way of rationing healthcare is a widely debated and controversial topic that, to date, remains unresolved. Where third-party private funding organisations are tasked with these rationing responsibilities, the ethical complexities are compounded by perceived conflicts between the ethical frameworks that govern corporate organisations versus those that govern healthcare. Given the apparent inability of normative theories to resolve the problem of how to ration healthcare fairly, there has been a shift in thinking to considerations of procedural justice and a dominant model, Accountability for Reasonableness (AFR), has emerged as the favoured procedure for healthcare decision-making. The report shows why health is an important social value and examines the key models and principles that dominate the rationing debate as well as why the conflict between healthcare ethics and organisational ethics create additional complexities that must be considered when making these funding decisions. Furthermore it explores the rationales for resorting to procedural accounts with specific emphasis on the parameters and validity of AFR. The report concludes that even though the AFR framework may be a legitimate and just process that can effectively frame decision-making and provide a platform to drive transparency and consistency, like most procedural accounts, it does not guarantee that the outcomes it produces are necessarily fair or just. Therefore a straightforward application of AFR cannot resolve the healthcare rationing debate which should, given its ethical complexity, continue to appeal to the important ethical principles that currently govern the field. / XL2018

Thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Monitoring and Evaluation) to the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management, University of the Witwatersrand December 2016 / The evaluation information has a critical role in informing decision making relating to implementation of the development interventions. This study is underpinned by the fact that the worth of evaluation information is determined by the extent of its influence on decision making. It is premised from the fact that there is limited utilisation of the evaluation information for decision making in the Gauteng Department of Health. Thus, the study is aimed at establishing the underlying institutional features and evaluation characteristics that serve as facilitators and/or barriers for the use of evaluation information. Past studies are reviewed to identify the knowledge gap and develop a conceptual framework to inform the research enquiry. Based on the purpose of the study and the conceptual framework, a qualitative research strategy with interpretive case study design and a purposive sample are applied to obtain in-depth description of the factors pertaining to the use of evaluation information. In addition, three research theories are employed simultaneously to understand the subject phenomenon and inform interpretation of the research findings, based on their unique concepts. The triangulation method is applied in data collection and analysis to ensure reliability and validity of the research results, with one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted through an interview guide. The findings reveal that there are no systematic processes and procedures for identification of the users and uses of the evaluation information prior to implementation of the evaluation process. The emphasis on alignment of the evaluations to the institutional context is minimalistic in its orientation since there is little focus on the broader development agenda. There is no demonstration of facilitating inculcation of information use during the evaluation process. In general, the evaluation systems are fragmented, with no formal reward system for encouraging effective utility. The adoption and use of the evaluation findings hinges on the type of recommendations versus the institutional development agenda and capacity. There are no formal information dissemination strategies and procedures for confirming implementation of the adopted evaluation recommendations. The role of the evaluation champions is limited and thus manifested by low awareness and application of the evaluation policy framework and limited institutionalisation of the evaluation function. Last, the findings highlight key institutional features and evaluation characteristics that influence use and/or non-use of the evaluation information, which should be considered in-line with the proposed recommendations. / MT2017

This thesis probes the extent and consequences of the new local government reforms in four municipalities, namely, Msunduzi, (Pietermaritzburg) Buffalo City, (East London) eThekwini (Durban) and Nelson Mandela (Port Elizabeth). These reforms call for a shift from a representative type of local government to a participative form of local governance and require municipalities to conduct their activities in a more democratic way than they did before. Of particular concern to this thesis is the effect of these democratic requirements on the efficiency of the decision-making process. The research has yielded sufficient evidence to support the claim that greater democracy in the decision-making structures and processes will result in a cost to efficiency. This, therefore, confirms the tension between democracy and efficiency in municipal decision-making. A distinction is made between efficiency and efficacy, in that whereas efficiency is measured in terms of "minimum effort", efficacy includes normative evaluation as to whether the decision-making outcomes really address the needs and preferences they are intended to. This thesis examines the impact of these new democratic requirements on the municipal decision-making process in terms of both theories of democracy and systems theory. Through applying Robert Dahl to the new democratic requirements the thesis identifies four criteria in terms of which democratic operation of municipal decision-making is measured: inclusivity, transparency, accountability and participation. Through reviewing systems theory, the thesis identifies the importance of reviewing the structural, organizational culture and development aspects of the decision-making process to develop the fullest picture of what is going on. The thesis then proceeds on the basis of a qualitative evaluation of the case studies to yield several significant sub-findings including that there are no efficiency reasons for preferring the executive mayoral system over the executive committee system, and good democracy reasons to prefer the latter over the former. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The major concern of investment decision-makers is to find the appropriate capital budgeting techniques to apply. Many factors cause change within an organisation. Strategic investment management takes a close look at these changing factors. To this end, a literature study of popular capital budgeting procedures, investment strategic theory, and a selected method for linking the two was undertaken. A sample of manufacturers in the Gauteng region of South Africa was chosen to indicate whether there is a correlation between financial theory and practice. The results of this survey indicated that financial evaluation was widely practised. Whereas, strategic analysis was used less often. The need for an in-depth study of other economic sectors and the financial theory and practice used by the investment decision-makers in those sectors is identified as a possible future study. The value inherent in the evaluation of relative performances of manufacturing firms, which have applied similar strategies, is also identified. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's Degree in Information and Communication Technology, Durban, University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / This dissertation reports on the development of an algorithm based on an existing matchmaking method to solve diverse decision problems in a multi-person environment. The capacity to effectively achieve a lucrative and accurate decision making is a critical aspect of resource management. But the accuracy of a decision making process can be highly compromised because of the high subjectivity and multiple conflicting attributes that are present in human judgement. multi-person decision making is an effective approach for achieving a lucrative and accurate decision making process. The multi-person decision process has proven to be tedious mainly because the existing multi-person decision making methods are extensions of single decision making methods. This imposes additional computational resources, especially for a large number of decision makers because they aggregate the preferences of several decision makers into a unified format.This work therefore seeks to improve the multi-person decision making process using a matchmaking approach. In doing so, the Hunt ForTune matchmaking algorithm was investigated and improved for this purpose. Thus, the preferences of decision makers for each attribute are collected as an attribute description vector. The attribute, its description vector, flexibility and priority vector are compactly represented as a 4-tuple profile. The improved Hunt ForTune matchmaking algorithm is applied to different sets of multi-person decision problems and offered as an effective way of enhancing decision accuracy. The improved matchmaking decision algorithm is compared with a novel mathematical technique of Hausdorff distance. Results generally show that multi-person matchmaking algorithm is suitable and efficient for diverse decision making in the presence of multiple decision makers. The practical implication of the proposed multi-person matchmaking algorithm for decision making is that it provides a less complicated way to capture and represent the preferences of multiple decision makers irrespective of decision domain. The originality of the work reported in this dissertation is built on a matchmaking algorithm by introducing effective profile representation using vector analysis approach to capture the preferences of multiple decision makers and similarity metrics to provide an efficient and robust way to accurately perform a multi-person decision process. / M

M.Comm. / Political changes and many other factors have forced South Africans from different backgrounds and cultures to work together and live together. These changes do not influence only the community life but also the organisations in South-Africa. As affirmative action is enforced and implemented by government and the business sector, people from African cultures are thrown in at the deep end in business life and people from the western cultures are not at ease working with African people because of a lack of understanding of the African culture. An important part of the African culture is called ubuntu. PURPOSE The purposes of this study are to identify and explain the different values of ubuntu, to illustrate how it can be applied in South African business and to identify the differences between western management practices and ubuntu management practices. METHOD OF STUDY A study was made of the relevant literature. FINDINGS The heritage that comes through traditional African roots is ubuntu: morality, humaness, compassion, care, understanding and empathy. It is one of sharing and hospitality, of honesty and humanity. Simply put, it is the ethic and interaction that occurs in the extended family. In Africa, it draws in all of the people. In this 'family' there is a community of shared values. Ubuntu is best described through the expression: a human is a human through other people. The ubuntu values described in this study are solidarity, the role of stories in ubuntu, compassion, respect and dignity, conformity and interconnectedness. Each of these attributes can be applied in South African businesses. The differences between western management and ubuntu management are discussed by looking at the differences in leadership, decision making, communication and corporate culture. Certain ubuntu values can be used in South-African business, such as group solidarity, respect and dignity, stories and the way the ubuntu culture deals with nature. Certain values cannot be used, such as the way Africans experiences time, because it would lead to low productivity. It seems as if ubuntu values have been lost with urbanisation, but there are still ubuntu values practised in townships, such as group solidarity that exists between tribe members, although the definition of a tribe has changed.

Thesis (M.A. (Health Sociology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2016. / This study examines use of different energy sources by a poor community of the Ramaphosa Informal Settlement in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons behind continued use of biomass fuel (plant or animal material, wood, charcoal) for cooking and space heating by poor residents. The research questions are: What informs the informal settlement residents’ use of certain energy sources for cooking and heating over other types? Where residents possess knowledge of the harmful effects of continued use of an energy source, yet continue to use it, what are the reasons for this? Whose responsibility does it become to collect a chosen energy source, and how is it collected? The consequences of indoor air pollution vary from short-term – eye and throat irritation – to long-term effects – respiratory disease and cancer. Exposure to high levels of some pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, can even result in immediate death. An exploratory empirical research was performed using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods using data on time-activity patterns collected from eleven households by means of semi-structured interviews, observations, focus group discussions and expert interviews. The results show that the respondents in the researched areas of Reserve and Extension two in Ramaphosa Informal Settlement use a total of thirteen different energy sources to meet their fuel needs. Although possessing the necessary knowledge on negative effects of indoor air pollution, the respondents lack sufficient resources to make decisions that would help improve their conditions regarding effects of air pollution. In thirty of the fifty respondents women and girls collect fuel and only in the remaining twenty wherein electricity, paraffin and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) are used, do men and boys become responsible for fuel collection. In the absence of electricity, respondents reported preferences for LPG, however, the prohibitive costs of the capital outlay of the latter energy source makes it unaffordable to more than half of the respondents. The major finding in this report is that whilst some of the respondents think that electricity remains a key barrier to improving their socio-economic development and well-being, twenty of the fifty respondents who exclusively rely on government grants do not think so. Electricity, although an absolute necessity in the researched areas, is not a sufficient condition for avoidance of effects of indoor air pollution for the poor communities. This was demonstrated by the five respondents who have electricity but alternate its use with coal and firewood. The high cost of electricity means that poorer communities will continue to rely on the less expensive bio-mass fuel – risking their lives in the process – even when electricity is available. Respondents reported difficult conditions under which they live which are shaped by broader sets of unresolved structural aspects in the form of economics, social policies, and politics. / GR 2017

Change in today’s business environment may be seen as inevitable however in the absence of a generic and endemic Change Framework for Managing and Leading Change; South African businesses face a difficult task of surviving into the future unless they are able to find an Organisational Change Management Approach that will assist them in navigating the Organisational Change Landscape for the 21st Century. This study provides an exploratory approach to understanding the nature of Organisational Change Management in South Africa, by exploring the following key concepts: (1) An understanding of the nature of Organisational Change Management in South Africa (2) The Critical Success Factors needed for Organisational Change Management to succeed in South Africa (3) The provision of a practical Organisational Change Management Framework and Scorecard for the measurement of Organisational Change Management processes and initiatives (4) Recommendations towards a Organisational Change Management Scorecard The study which is largely qualitative in nature makes use of a multiple case study design methodology for the collection of empirical evidence as well as quantitative research data from a survey questionnaire to support the underlying constructs and research questions posed within the study. The use of data and methodological triangulation, namely research interviews, survey data, company and archival documentation as well as focus group discussion points has provided the research study with the necessary validity and reliability to support research results, findings and recommendations.This information should be utilized by Change Practitioners practicing organisational change within a rapidly transforming environment, where Mergers and Acquisitions are major force for change as it would help to provide the necessary change framework and change scorecard for the management and measurement of organisational change interventions. This study also highlights the Critical Success Factors for change by focusing on the Emotional side (Low impact) and Change Imperatives / Prerequisites (High impact) for the management of organisational change. In addition, the study also provides a first view of some change performance measures in the form of a Change Scorecard, which can be used to assess the overall impact of the current change intervention being implemented. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / DBL

Change in today’s business environment may be seen as inevitable however in the absence of a generic and endemic Change Framework for Managing and Leading Change; South African businesses face a difficult task of surviving into the future unless they are able to find an Organisational Change Management Approach that will assist them in navigating the Organisational Change Landscape for the 21st Century. This study provides an exploratory approach to understanding the nature of Organisational Change Management in South Africa, by exploring the following key concepts: (1) An understanding of the nature of Organisational Change Management in South Africa (2) The Critical Success Factors needed for Organisational Change Management to succeed in South Africa (3) The provision of a practical Organisational Change Management Framework and Scorecard for the measurement of Organisational Change Management processes and initiatives (4) Recommendations towards a Organisational Change Management Scorecard The study which is largely qualitative in nature makes use of a multiple case study design methodology for the collection of empirical evidence as well as quantitative research data from a survey questionnaire to support the underlying constructs and research questions posed within the study. The use of data and methodological triangulation, namely research interviews, survey data, company and archival documentation as well as focus group discussion points has provided the research study with the necessary validity and reliability to support research results, findings and recommendations.This information should be utilized by Change Practitioners practicing organisational change within a rapidly transforming environment, where Mergers and Acquisitions are major force for change as it would help to provide the necessary change framework and change scorecard for the management and measurement of organisational change interventions. This study also highlights the Critical Success Factors for change by focusing on the Emotional side (Low impact) and Change Imperatives / Prerequisites (High impact) for the management of organisational change. In addition, the study also provides a first view of some change performance measures in the form of a Change Scorecard, which can be used to assess the overall impact of the current change intervention being implemented. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / DBL