The purpose of this treatise is to ascertain the impact of economic downturn on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Banks. This has been sparked by the huge speculations in the market as to what will happen to BEE and how will the banks cope in general with the impact of this scourge. It is imperative to understand the influence of the 2008+ economic downturn on socio-economic reconstruction and development in South Africa and the black economic empowerment and its funding mechanisms. The treatise has two phases the, namely the theoretical phase and a bit of narrative phase. In the theoretical phase the research study interrogates what the literature review reveals about the economic downturn, BEE as well as performances of different banks across the world. This shows the economic impact that the banks have had to endure during the economic downturn. This resulted in stock markets losing their value. The dividend earners were significantly affected including a sizeable number of BEE companies. The BEE companies are perceived to be too reliant on debt on to finance their deals and this treatise will look at various options of financing a BEE deal and what is deem to the most suited financing structure. The narrative phase involves semi-structured interviews that were conducted in order to ascertain the real impact that South African were faced with and how they have managed to steer clear of the turbulent waters. This also looked at how the BEE consultant views the current occurrences in the market.

Customer service excellence (CSE) is the common thread that binds all businesses; as without customers no trade can take place. The South African retail sector is one of the drivers of the economy and it is important that CSE is continuously monitored to ensure that standards of excellence are maintained. What remains unknown and unmeasured is the impact of the employees and the organisation on CSE. The retail sector is dependent on its customer facing employees to be the face and character of the store. Investment in advertising and other media exposure must ultimately be tested when a consumer visits a store and experiences the CSE on the ground and in real time. The investment for the retailer becomes worthwhile if the real face of the company reflects the promises made in the media; and that is in the hands of the men and women who work in the stores. This study sought to find out the impact of employees and organisations in the Centurion mall based retail stores on CSE. Literature was reviewed and quantitative and qualitative research methods was undertaken by means of questionnaires that were distributed to the staff and management of national branded stores in the malls around Centurion. The results obtained were then discussed in terms of each variable tested. The study found that organisational commitment, employee education and employee training have a strong relationship to customer service excellence.

No description available.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / Apartheid systematically and purposefully restricted the majority of South Africans from meaningful participation in the economy of the country. The society was characterised by entrenched gender inequality, and defined by wealth disparities and general economic exclusion of certain groups of society such as blacks, women and youth, as well as people living with disabilities. The period since 1994 has seen the South African economy undergoing restructuring. One of the major milestones in this regard was the introduction of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment policy. The principal aim was to undo the legacy of dispossession and disempowerment that characterised economic development until 1994. This study was undertaken to investigate the implementation of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Policy (B-BBEE) in the Limpopo Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs. (CoGHSTA). It is also the aim of the study to investigate the processes and systems that ensure that the B-BBEE policy is fairly and equitably implemented. The study further aims at investigating the challenges in the implementation of the B-BBEE policy and suggests appropriate recommendations. The research methodology followed in this study is qualitative in nature. Semi-structured questionnaires were distributed to respondents for the collection of primary data. The main finding of the study is that, although the main aim behind the introduction of the policy is to undo the legacy of dispossession and disempowerment of the majority of South Africans, only a few politically “well connected elites” are actual beneficiaries of the empowerment deals in real terms. One of the striking findings is that officials are often not well trained on the imperatives of the policy. As such it is recommended by the study that rolling out training programmes for staff members, especially those closely working with bids in Supply Chain Management, be considered.

This study's objective was to examine the affect that migration and employment have on immigrant women's negotiating position within the household. Depth interviews were conducted with nine women who migrated to Portland, Oregon from Ethiopia or Eritrea. Women were encouraged to share a narrative history of their migration and employment experience. These interviews were analyzed to answer three primary questions: Who are immigrant women supporting through their participation in the paid labor market? How do women utilize gain access to employment opportunities and what strategies do women use once employed to meet competing demands on them at work and in the household? And finally, to what extent do women maintain control over their income and influence household decisions? This study found that women, particularly women who migrate prior to marriage, support natal households more than women who migrate after marriage. Women use social networks to find information about jobs, and once employed use an array of strategies to meet domestic demands. These strategies include joining households with other women to share household labor, finding employment opportunities that allow them to care for children while working, and having their mothers come to care for small children. Women who have recently married and have lived in the United States a short amount of time are most likely to express desire to maintain control over their income, while women who have lived in the United States for a longer time are more likely to pool their income with their husbands. Many women felt that they had an equal influence in household decisions as their husbands, but little evidence was provided that this was the case. Instead this study concludes that working outside of the home increases the perceived contribution that women make to the household leads to their empowerment and improves their negotiating position.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the level of job satisfaction among financial inspectors in order to measure the level of job satisfaction, to identify the reasons for the level of job satisfaction, to present findings, and to make recommendations to the Inspectorate Division that would improve the feeling of empowerment of financial inspectors. This mini-dissertation entails a literature review and empirical study. The data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire based on the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). The outcome of the research indicates that there is lower level of job satisfaction among financial inspectors with regard to the manner in which inspection reports are sent to inspected departments and their feedback; the training programme of financial inspectors; payments based on the Performance Management System (PMS); job insecurity and the transfer of financial inspectors to other sections or departments; communication channels within the Inspectorate Division and Office of the Premier with regard to the control of inspectors; provision of cell phones to financial inspectors and their supervision by their managers; working conditions and involvement of financial inspectors in decisions that affect them at work. The main finding is that financial inspectors indeed experience a lower level of job satisfaction with regard to almost all the factors investigated under the problem statement and thus, the practice of empowerment is recommended as a solution to address the Inspectorate problems. / Business Management / M.Tech.

South Africa has embarked on a journey of transformation since 1994. The ruling ANC has introduced many policies aimed at achieving equality, known as "black empowerment". The `empowerment' of black women professionals is especially critical in the transformation era. Empowerment is defined as a process, which "involves individuals gaining control of their lives and fulfilling their needs, …as a result of developing the competencies, skills, and abilities necessary to effectively participate in their social and political worlds" (Kreisberg, 1992:19). From this perspective, empowerment is the essential expression of individualism and self-determination since it embodies the belief that the individual has the ability to effect changes and improve their lives. This individually oriented definition presupposes the importance of constructing one's `self' as unitary and independent. The `unitary self' is a support of the logic of the `Same', which entails the exclusion of otherness and difference. In contrast to this approach, the postmodern theory of Julia Kristeva, with its inherent suspicion of doctrines of pure origins and essences, is corrosive of discourses such as `empowerment' that are developed according to the logic of the Same. Kristeva proposes a subject which is always already `in process'. Identity is a constructed process, rather than a fundamental essence. The Oedipal model, extracted from the Kristevan theory of subjectivity, shows how the nine professional women who partook in this study constructed their selves by placing equality and difference in an antithetical relationship. However, a deconstruction of the Oedipal model opens the construct up to its blind spots and, these subjects are shown to base their identities on the splitting off of their feminine capabilities. Instead of being `unitary self', the subjects are subjects-in-process, and they operate both across and within the competing discourses of traditional femininity and masculinity. As a possible alternative to the positivist paradigm of `empowerment', a Kristevan `herethics' is considered. In South Africa, this is exemplified by the `ubuntu' principle, which entails the recognition of our interdependence. Finally, in order to assist these professional women to embrace the alterity within, whilst competing in a constantly changing and intellectually challenging world, life skills coaching which focuses on the often repressed, emotional aspects, is recommended. / Psychology / D.Litt et Phil. (Psychology)

The aim of this study was to develop an empowerment model that could be used to enhance nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development. The study explored the extent of nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development; built consensus on: essential leadership attributes and facilitators and barriers to nurse leaders participation in health policy development. A Delphi survey was applied which included the following criteria: expert panelists, iterative rounds, statistical analysis, and consensus building. The expert panelists were purposively selected and included national nurse leaders in leadership positions at the nursing professional associations, nursing regulatory bodies, ministries of health and universities in East Africa. The study was conducted in three iterative rounds. There were 78 expert panelists invited to participate in the study, the response rate was 47% for the first round, 65% for the second round and 100% for the third round. The data collection was done with the use of semi structured (first round) and structured questionnaires (second and third rounds). Data analysis for the first round was done by examining the data for the most commonly occurring categories. The second and third rounds were quantitative and descriptive statistics were used. The consensus accepted for the second round was 90%, and for the third round consensus was 70%. The findings of the study indicate that nurse leaders participate in health policy development though participation is limited and not consistent across all the stages of health policy development. The study revealed consensus on essential leadership attributes required for nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development, including transformational attributes, political skills, interpersonal and communication skills. The facilitators to nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development pertain to: knowledge and skills, involvement, image of nursing, support, structures and processes. Whereas, the barriers relate to: involvement, image of nursing, structures and processes. An empowerment model for nurse leaders participation in health policy development was developed. Implementation of the model may lead to enhance nurse leaders participation in health policy development. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

Text in Afrikaans, abstract in Afrikaans and English / Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om te bepaal of betekenisvolle verskille bestaan tussen werknemerdoeltreffendheid en persepsies van gehalte van werklewe van bemagtigde en niebemagtigde skofwerkers in die Suid-Afrikaanse petrochemiese bedryf. Skofwerknavorsing het gedurende die afgelope dekade internasionaal toegeneem. Hiermee gepaardgaande het verskeie intervensies ontstaan om die doeltreffendheid van skofwerkers en hulle gehalte van werklewe te bevorder. Deur gebruik te maak van 'n gekombineerde vraelys ("Standard Shiftwork Index") en werklike data ten opsigte van afwesigheid en prestasiebeoordelings, is 'n steekproef van 102 gevalle geanaliseer. 'n 90 persent betroubaarheidinterval is gebruik om waardes ten opsigte van elke veranderlike te bepaal. Daar is bevind dat werknemerbemagtiging weinig invloed het op skofwerkers se werkbywoning. Daar is ook gevind dat werknemerbemagtiging nie lei tot 'n meer positiewe persepsie, by toesighouers, van skofwerkwerkers se algemene werkprestasie nie. Daar is egter bevind dat skofwerkers se persepsies van hulle gehalte van werklewe, ten opsigte van werkdissatisfaksie, chroniese vermoeidheid en tevredenheid met sosiale omstandighede, wel positiefbelnvloed word deur werknemerbemagtiging. Aanbevelings is gemaak ten opsigte van die aanwending van werknemerbemagtiging, as intervensie in skofwerkomgewings, asook vir verdere skofwerknavorsing in Suid-Afrika. / The purpose of this research was to determine if significant differences exist between employee effectiveness and perceptions of quality of working life of empowered and non-empowered shiftworkers in the South-African petrochemical industry. By using the Standard Shiftwork Index and real absenteeism and appraisal data, a sample of 102 cases was analysed. A 90 percent confidence interval was used to determine t-values for variables. It was found that empowerment has little influence on the work attendance of shiftworkers and that empowerment does not lead to more positive perceptions of general work performance of shiftworkers, among their supervisors. It was, however, found that shiftworkers' perceptions of their quality of working life are improved by empowerment in respect of work dissatisfaction, chronic fatigue and satisfaction with social circumstances. Suggestions were made concerning the use of empowerment, as an intervention, in shiftwork environments and for future shiftwork research in South-Africa. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Bedryfsielkunde)

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / The aim of this research project was to study the basic understanding the decision makers of construction companies in KwaZulu-Natal had of the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) initiative. This initiative has evolved from its origins as a form of affirmative action in the early 1990s into the broad-based initiative embodied in the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act promulgated in 2003 and gazetted in 2007. Research was conducted using a questionnaire to assess the targeted population’s understanding of BBBEE. A census of the 259 construction companies affiliated with the KwaZulu-Natal Master Builders Association (NMBA) at the time of the research was used. The questionnaire was distributed primarily by email and the returns were assessed using statistical methods. The results were also tested as a cross-tabulation based on the demographics and the BBBEE rating of the respondents. The findings showed that although most of the respondents knew about the BBBEE initiative and indicated a level of understanding of this policy, certain of their perceived understandings were misguided. The way in which the Act was intended to be implemented and was intended to benefit those who were previously disadvantaged had been misread by all parties. The way in which the government has rolled out its BBBEE initiative has not been effective. This needs to be addressed by both training and partnering with those SMMEs that can most effect change to implement the Act. This study only scratched the surface of the effects the BBBEE legislation will have on small to medium-sized businesses. It has highlighted the need for further research into both the trickle-down effect of this initiative and into the availability of skilled personnel to grow the economy in the way the BBBEE Act intended.