Includes bibliographical references. / The textile industry in South Africa is presently experiencing a severe recession. For a textile company to survive in the competitive market prevailing will require increased performance in the competitive variables. Puma Jersey is typically such a company and has realized the necessity of improving lead time and delivery performance to regain market share. To attain long term sustainability of performance requires the systemic compatibility of approaches used to reduce lead times and late deliveries. Systems thinking methodology was used to evaluate the appropriateness and compatibility of the approaches used. Systems thinking as also used to develop and practical implement the suggested approaches. Increased performance in lead time and delivery performance was attained by implementing appropriate performance measurements and then communicating these measurements with a technique called CEDAC. Synchronous manufacturing philosophy was implemented to reduce lead times. Systems dynamics was used as a complementary tool to assist the synchronous manufacturing principals. Systems dynamics was also used to determine the effectiveness of proposed systems to increase lead time and delivery performance. A considerable improvement in lead times and delivery performance was attained at Puma Jersey by implementing these four systemically compatible approaches.

Bibliography: pages 89-92. / The scheduling of production in job shops is generally accomplished in four stages; aggregate planning, machine loading, sequencing and detailed scheduling. In industrial job shops, the number of jobs and machines makes detailed scheduling a particularly complicated and unwieldy task. When faced with this situation, a typical response of managements is to simply ignore the problem and apply some remedial action by adapting existing company operation procedures. The first objective of this dissertation is to indicate the dangers and inefficiencies which result when the problem of detailed scheduling is ignored. This is done in terms of a case study analysis in which the problems which currently exist in the machine shop at Atlantis Aluminium, a jobbing foundry, are illustrated. The second objective is to develop a systematic approach for the solution of detailed scheduling in job shops. Major steps in this approach are: i) a classification of shop scheduling problems ii) a survey of relevant scheduling literature in order to determine existing detailed scheduling techniques iii) the design of the scheduling system This approach is illustrated by applying it to the machine shop at Atlantis Aluminium.

With the growth of the internet and the proliferation of mobile devices, network operators are constantly building and upgrading mobile network technologies. To provide quality voice and data services for increasing customer bases, and to cope with the growing demand for data, network operators embark on capital-intensive base station roll-out projects. The success of these technology projects is critical to the success and sustainability of network operators. These projects involve diverse project teams, vendors and contractors who contribute to the success of the project. The project teams consist of different departments within the organisation, each having their own perceptions of the factors required to complete projects successfully. The lack of agreed upon project success factors from these different stakeholders has resulted in project delays. Therefore this study set out to answer the questions of: 1. What are the success factors that are required to ensure successful project completion in telecommunications Company X in South Africa? 2. How can these factors be managed systemically to improve project success? The approach adopted in this study was first, an integrative review of literature on project success and critical success factors to identify the most important success factors that contribute to the success of projects. A context was given to the literature study by focusing on success factors in developing countries. A total of 71 success factors were identified and condensed into nine literature success factors. Thereafter, a survey was conducted to elicit the perceptions of project team members on success factors. A total of 65 success factors were obtained which were condensed into 10 empirical success factor categories. Both sets of data was analysed using qualitative techniques including content analysis and comparing and contrasting. The literature and empirical success factors were synthesised into nine success factor categories. The nine success factor categories developed from the synthesis process were: managing project constraints; aligning projects with strategy; managing external factors; management support; strong leadership; project team competency; continuous learning; implementing project management bodies of knowledge and stakeholder management. To address the second research question relating to the systemic management of the success factors, systems ideas were drawn upon in the form of a causal loop diagram to develop a project success model. Systems theory was used to determine the relationships between individual success factors and their overall effect on the system in focus. The system behaviour of the project success model initially predicts project success, but as the limiting conditions in the balancing loop take effect in the system, the overall success of the system is negatively affected. The system behaviour of the project success model matched the pattern of behaviour of the “limits to growth” systems archetype. The high leverage system intervention for the “limits to growth” systems archetype is at the limiting conditions of the system. Thus, the proposed system intervention targeted the system limiting conditions which were the “Managing project constraints” and “Managing external factors” variables. Through the implementation of the synthesised success factors and the effective management of project constraints and external factors, the project success model contributes to the success of projects in the context of the telecommunications industry of South Africa. The study concluded by finding that the research questions and concerns were addressed. Recommendations were made for the implementation of the synthesised success factors. Lastly, it was proposed that future studies use multiple case studies and examine the various systems archetypes in the project context.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-114). / Individuals need to keep learning to stay employable and compete in today’s job market, and organisations need to keep learning in order to maintain a competitive advantage in the economy. The workplace is thus being recognised as a legitimate environment for learning new skills and knowledge, through participation in everyday work activities. This recognition has led to numerous studies that connect learning and the workplace, giving rise concepts such as ‘the learning organisation’, ‘organisational learning’, ‘workplace learning’ and ‘informal learning’. All of which have created confusion, uncertainty and complexity in understanding how learning takes place. In order to understand how individuals learn in the workplace, and thus understand how organisations can enhance such learning, this study investigates individuals’ perceptions of their workplace as a learning environment and their experiences of learning through participation in work activities.

Bibliography: leaves 46-48. / The background of my project was a promotion within the same company that necessitated relocation from one city to another, and also a change in job focus. Whilst both jobs remained in the technical domain, the first was rooted in quality management and improvement at a plant level, whereas the second involved specialized technical consulting across the whole organization. My notion was that a study of this change could improve my personal situation as well as my understanding and management of personal change. My notion was also that I would be able to experientially learn how to improve my practice of managing change in general.

Includes bibliographical references. / Labour intensive construction, generally defined by authors as the economically efficient use of labour to produce the quality of product as demanded by the specification (and allowed by the funding available), ensures that significantly more labour is used per unit of expenditure than in conventional construction. Labour intensive municipal infrastructure projects have been implemented in South Africa since 1985, but it is only in recent years that large township development projects in the Cape Metropolitan Area were undertaken with a purposeful exchange of machines for people. This thesis aims to assess the viability of labour intensive construction methods when applied in township development in the Cape Metropolitan Area. Case study methodology was used to design the study and gather and analyse data to reach meaningful conclusions. Six cases where labour intensive construction methods are used to provide municipal services, were investigated. After analysis, the findings were synthesised and recommendations presented. The objectives of the thesis were to investigate the factors; cost, time and quality when labour intensive construction methods are used. Contractual arrangements, possible social benefits and communication were also identified as areas to be investigated. The findings were compared with the industry's norms for conventional construction methods in order to evaluate the viability of labour intensive construction.

Includes bibliographical references. / The manufacturing industry in South Africa is presently experiencing severe competition from cheap imports from the east. Furthermore, the present high interest rate and newly legislated business and labour laws have created unfavourable conditions for small manufacturing businesses. For small manufacturing businesses to survive in this competitive market and under unfavourable conditions, they require increased performance in lead times, product innovation, product and service quality, manufacturing flexibility and responsiveness and, reduced manufacturing costs. To attain sustainable improvements requires a comprehensive understanding of problematic situations present in small business manufacturing systems. The aim of this project was to identify the major problems present in small business manufacturing systems, to highlight the difference between, and show the causality relationships between, "symptoms" of problems and their root causes, and to propose ways of eliminating the problems.

Bibliography: leaves 58-61. / This dissertation describes the findings of a study that was carried out on the use and application of information technologies (IT) in construction management processes. This study, which was in the form of a survey, was conducted in October and November 2001 covering forty-five (45) architectural, engineering and construction companies operating in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The objectives of the study were: to investigate the extent of use and application of information technologies in construction companies operating in the Western Cape, and to determine the factors influencing IT investments in the construction industry. The survey results reveal that 96% of respondents have invested in IT during the last two years, and some of the companies are planning to make further IT investments. Although an overwhelming number of companies have invested in IT during the last two years, only 71% of the respondents have IT strategies. From this 71% of the respondents, 34% have their IT strategies in written form and 37% have it in oral form. These construction companies are planning to make further IT investments in computer-aided design, document handling and accounting systems. Only a few companies showed interest in investing in electronic trading, computer product modelling, virtual reality and property information. The survey has also established that many business processes like bookkeeping, invoicing, scheduling, resource-planning, costing, budgeting and tendering are highly computerised. Despite these large IT investments and high computerisation of the business processes, the outcomes have been mixed. The introduction of IT in the construction industry has resulted in some desirable changes since it has improved the efficiency of doing work, thereby reducing the cost of doing work. Furthermore, IT has increased productivity in general administration, project management, design, and site management. However, the introduction of IT has brought little or no improvement in reducing the mistakes in documents, the number of construction errors, the complexity of work, the administration needs and the proportion of new work. Continual demand for upgrading hardware and software, and high investment costs are seen as prohibitive to the greater adoption of IT in the construction industry.

The argument of this dissertation is that some of the dilemmas faced by enterprises today are a consequence of the 'authoritarian mode'1 in which enterprises are organized. The 'authoritarian mode' of organization has the assumptions of the mechanistic world view (paradigm) as its basis. These assumptions are however not relevant in fast changing and complex environments such as that which enterprises must deal with today. It is argued that an alternative paradigm is required to resolve the dilemmas faced by enterprises organized in the 'authoritarian mode'. The dissertation presents an 'empowerment and alignment' 2 mode of organization which has the social systems paradigm as its basis. The social systems paradigm has a significantly different set of assumptions about the nature of reality compared to the mechanistic paradigm. It is proposed that this more appropriate set of assumptions will resolve the current dilemmas which mechanistically organized enterprises are experiencing. A real world organization (namely Telkom Network Build) is used to practically demonstrate the above mentioned ideas. It is argued that Telkom Network Build is operating in the 'authoritarian mode' and that this is the underlying cause of a number of dilemmas of organization. A proposed conceptual design for the organization of Telkom Network Build division in the 'alignment and empowerment' mode is presented. The proposed design has the assumptions of the social systems view of reality as its basis.

Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis demonstrates the differences between the traditional reductionist approach and the systemic approach to problem solving, and is based on a case study in the manufacturing field. It explains how each approach interprets real life problem situations differently, and emphasises the superiority of systemic approach.