Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / E-astuteness and e-social astuteness are relatively new concepts. As a result, there is little to no extended knowledge on how each of these concepts can be fully adopted and implemented in South Africa. This research extends on the literature on these two concepts. The research looks at what Information System (IS) students' perceptions reveal or suggest about the effective ways of adopting these concepts. The information gathered for this study can be considered as a starting point for further exploring how e-astuteness and e-social astuteness can be acquired in the South African. For studying perceptions, a qualitative research design was followed and i an interview guide was used. The study findings were summarised into sections, themes and sub-themes that conveyed a common point of reference. The findings of this study suggest that teaching and learning should focus on the individuals being taught, hence the proposed adoption model that centers on the individual's capabilities. None of the students interviewed had an understanding of e-astuteness and e-social astuteness. The findings also revealed that fewer students have an understanding about e-skilling concepts in general. However, after the concepts were explained to the students, the findings suggested that they had a clear understanding of the importance of e-astuteness and e-social astuteness in South Africa. As a result it is empirical to first educate about e-skilling concepts before teaching the actual skills. The proposed adoption model was accepted by students as the ideal model of adoption for e–astuteness and e-social astuteness. However, based on the themes and subthemes that emerged from the student's responses, the model was improved in order to reflect their perceptions. This research suggests that the South African government in the efforts to address the e-skills issue in the country needs to continue funding ICT and ICT education. With hope that through having ICT competent individuals, this will ultimately in turn curb the pressing issues that the country experiences, such as high level of unemployment and poverty.

Nurses have a professional, ethical, and social responsibility to advocate for optimal healthcare and an optimal professional environment. However, nurses often default on that responsibility. Leadership at a national nursing organization's state affiliate (SNO) perceived a need to optimize its members' policy advocacy. To meet that need, the Policy Advocacy Toolkit for Nurses (PATN) was developed for this doctoral project. The evidence-based PATN relied on established theories and frameworks, notably Knowles' adult education theory and Kingdon's multiple streams approach; research specific to this project; evidence from other researchers, healthcare organizations, and government websites; and input from a statistician, nursing education experts, and SNO personnel. The PATN's creation had 2 research questions. The first research question asked what SNO members' motivators and barriers to advocacy were. Chi square tests of survey results addressing this issue found significant relationships between advocacy levels and perceived speaking skills (χ2[4, N = 176] = 30.435, p = .000), understanding of SNO's daily advocacy activities (χ2[4, N = 176] = 17.814, p=.001), and understanding of policy creation (χ2[4, N = 176] = 33.830, p = .000). The second research question asked if the PATN's design was significantly improved after incorporating SNO design-stakeholders' input. A paired sample t test revealed no significant difference (p>.05) in the PATN with the stakeholders' input added. Details for evaluating the PATN's sustained effect on political astuteness, as offered in this doctoral project, were provided to the SNO. The PATN, evidence-based and built on the perceived needs of its intended users, should promote positive social change by promoting nurse advocacy.

Abstract The early years as a project manager are full of dangers and there is high risk of getting scars that follow you throughout your career and life. This thesis is a first step to study political astuteness in the project management context. Experienced project managers have been interviewed and shared their perceptions of political astuteness in their role as project manager. The results are presented in four main themes; “The Character of Political Astuteness in Project Management Context”, “The Dirty Tricks”, “The Politically Astute Project Manager”, “The Street Smart Project Manager: Use the Force-The Sensing”. The first main finding is that the results of this study are aligned with previous research around political astuteness in public service manager context, and existing frameworks could be applied in future research. The second is that results show similarities with the phenomenon street smart and further research could make contributions when developing future individual baselines in professional project management organisations. The third is the findings around intuition and sensing which is not explored and can have great value for future development of project management if investigated further. The fourth is that diverse, complex, and multicultural context is perceived as the main source for development of political astuteness for project managers. Keywords: Project Management, Political Astuteness, Political Skill, Street Smart / Sammandrag De tidiga åren som projektledare är fulla av faror och det är stor risk att få ärr som följer dig genom hela din karriär och ditt liv. Detta examensarbete är ett första steg för att studera politisk skicklighet i projektledningssammanhang. Erfarna projektledare har intervjuats och delat med sig av sina uppfattningar om politisk skicklighet i rollen som projektledare. Resultaten presenteras i fyra huvudteman; "Karaktären av Politisk Skicklighet I Projektledningskontext”, "De Fula Tricken", "Den Politiskt Skickliga Projektledaren", "Den Street Smarta Projektledaren: Använd kraften - Kännandet". Det första huvudsakliga fyndet är att resultaten av denna studie är i linje med tidigare forskning kring politisk skicklighet i offentlig förvaltningskontext, och befintliga ramverk skulle kunna tillämpas i framtida forskning. Den andra är att resultaten visar likheter med fenomenet street smart och ytterligare forskning kan ge bidrag när man utvecklar framtida individuella baslinjer i professionella projektledningsorganisationer. Det tredje är fyndet kring intuition och känsla som inte är utforskat och kan ha stort värde för framtida utveckling av projektledning om det undersöks vidare. Den fjärde är att mångsidiga, komplexa och mångkulturella sammanhang uppfattas som den främsta källan till utveckling av politisk skicklighet för projektledare. Nyckelord: Projektledning, Politisk skicklighet, Politiska färdigheter, Street smart