Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2016 / The study revisits the topic of post-acquisition performance of M&A in South Africa. Unlike preceding studies the emphasis was on target firms rather than acquiring firm and on operating performance rather than on share price reaction to M&A announcements. The study explores how operating performance is affected by BEE related M&A and non-BEE related M&A transactions. Operating performance is measured using EVA®. Economic Value Added (EVA®) reveals that target firms experienced a decline in post deal operating performance following an M&A transaction regardless of whether the M&A deal was motivated by BEE or not. The study also found that the decline in operating performance was larger for conventional (non-BEE) M&A transactions relative to BEE linked M&A transactions, though the decline was not statistically significant. Accounting based corporate performance measurement methods used to supplement the EVA® exhibit a marginal and insignificant increased in performance when the average five year post-acquisition returns are compared to the average five year pre-acquisition returns. Overall, the economic performance of target firms declined suggesting that target firms do not benefit significantly from the M&A. / GR2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, 2017 / Empowerment of previously disadvantaged groups has been applied in many countries, in order to achieve specific political, economic and social outcomes. Group preferences and preferential policies are common in developed and developing countries under various names. They have been mostly implemented in countries where a specific ethnic, religious, or gender group has been discriminated against historically. An ESOP is an empowerment tool that can be adapted and designed to achieve the goals of companies, employees and governments. An ESOP is an instrument used to enable employee ownership in private and public companies. Internationally the application of ESOPs have taken various architectures highly dependent on individual company and country circumstances. SA has a long and well documented history of racial discrimination and economic exclusion. Poverty, unemployment and inequality continue to bedevil the South African economy. Transformation in the mining industry is given effect in the Mining Charter which is governed under section 100 of the Minerals and Resources Development Act. The Charter is buttressed by a key set of pillars. These pillars are supplemented by the codes of good practice as well as the housing and living conditions standards. These pillars include reporting; ownership; housing and living conditions; procurement and enterprise development; employment equity; human resource development; mine community development; sustainable development and growth and beneficiation. This report focusses on the ownership pillar of the Charter. The mining industry has completed a number of empowerment deals post implementation of the Mining Charter. The impacts of most BEE deals have not been broad-based; and have mostly benefitted only a few HDSA entrepreneurs. The value and number of transactions have coincided with the rise and fall of the JSE, making the deals expensive – due to elevated stock prices in favourable market conditions. ESOPs enable extensive employee ownership; and have the ability to foster a sense of individual enterprise that fuels productivity in companies that have imbued a culture of ownership amongst their employees. ESOPs generally contribute positively to company performance; and they provide a stable and dynamic working environment, when administered effectively. ESOPs cannot be implemented in isolation; but they require a combination of factors to make them successful. ESOPs generally contribute positively to company performance; and they provide a stable and dynamic working environment, when administered effectively. Effective ESOPs require a combination of elements for success: these comprise of financial incentives, employee-involvement mechanisms and the instilling of an ownership culture. Anglo American was used as a proxy for the industry due to its size and diversity. ESOPs that have been implemented have failed to meet stakeholders’ expectations. These ESOPs are inconsistent, complicated and mostly opaque to employees; whilst delivering modest returns to employees. This report proposes the application of a new ESOP framework that is to be considered in amending existing ESOPs or in the crafting of new programmes. Existing ESOPs are assessed against this proposed framework in this report. The proposed ESOP framework is supported by a set of key principles, essential to the success of the framework. The performance of ESOPs in Anglo American varied when assessed against the framework. With the exception of Envision, Anglo American’s ESOPs have delivered very modest financial benefits to employees. They have not achieved their intended purpose, of empowering employees and aligning company performance with individual employee performance. When assessed against the other pillars of the framework, KIO and AAP did not perform satisfactorily. / XL2018

A budget is an action plan that is utilized by organisations, private or public, in order to attain their objectives. Budgets are used to ensure better financial performance for organizations. They are also used to identify financial problems and take appropriate corrective measures. Public secondary schools also prepare their budgets to plan for their income and expenditure. It is through developing their budgets that public secondary schools are able to achieve their visions and missions. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the extent to which the budgeting process is effectively implemented in public secondary schools in the Gauteng South Region. To achieve this objective a questionnaire was developed to elicit responses from the participants in the research. The questionnaire was a closed-ended one with two sections, A and B. Section A of the questionnaire was developed to gather biographical information about the units of analysis, whereas Section B dealt with key issues pertaining to the budgeting process. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested through Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The feedback from the questionnaire was analysed by means of Exploratory Factor Analysis where five factors were extracted and their reliability also tested. The factor loading matrix was computed to identify appropriate items for each factor. The items were analysed using frequencies in respect of each factor. Correlations analysis for the factors was conducted to determine the relationship between them. The findings from the study indicate that: budget planning assists school managers in comparing income and expenditure; coordination of budgeting activities is a problem at schools; lack of communication stifles effective implementation of the budget; there is no effective training and development for those involved in the budgeting process; the financial targets are not set and communicated to key stakeholders; there is lack of budget control and monitoring measures of variances of the planned and actual budget is non-existent; educators are not offered the opportunity to participate in the budgeting process let alone have the authority to make decisions on budgetary issues for those who are involved. The value of this research lies in setting appropriate guidelines for effective implementation of the budgeting process. Effective implementation of the budgeting process will facilitate efficient delivery of quality education to learners. The importance of the study is that it offers various types of budgets that public secondary schools can use to remain financially viable and sustainable.

Top management commitment and employees empowerment is one of the most important and vital principle in total quality management, because it is often assumes to have a strong relationship with customer satisfaction. In TQM implementation top management commitment in creating an organizational climate that empowers employees is very imperative. Thus, this can be achieved with top management commitment in training employees and giving employees opportunities to be responsible for the quality of their work. TQM strategy brings about a turn around in corporate culture as compared to the old traditional system of management in which the top management simply give orders and the employees merely obey them. In this study we’ll show that TQM objective of quality improvement and customer satisfaction can be better achieve if the top management are committed to empower employees to be responsible for the quality of their work and also empowerment in relation to decision making authority and process. We’ll as well show that empowerment in TQM brings about a flattened organizational chart where there is a shared responsibility between the managers and the employees. Despite some arguments put forward by some researchers to criticize employee empowerment, we’ll as well show that employees’ empowerment and improved level of job satisfaction can be facilitated by top management leadership and commitment to the goal of customer satisfaction in TQM organization. / Uppsatsnivå: D

To improve an organizations competitive edge, leadership has adopted a conventional and organized approach known as TQM to improve the quality of its products and services. Implementation of TQM varies from one organization to another. This study determined the various impacts of leadership on TQM in the food industry in India. The continuous decrement of India's economy has led organizations to hire nonskilled people who lack the basic knowledge of the process and thus do not work efficiently and thus ensuring failure of TQM. Another problem faced was the lack of a healthy management which ensures a positive environment and boosts morale of the people. This study gave an idea about the organizational culture and characteristics, the issues it faced while implementing TQM due to lack of an effective leadership, the linkage between the leadership and TQM policies. Data was collected with the help of a questionnaire survey from the people involved in the industry and thus the results from the survey were analyzed and used to answer the research questions.

Gauging the quality of the relationship between federal managers and employees and its impact on organizational performance excellence is a continuing problem for the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM). President Barack Obama's President's Management Agenda mandated several actions- to respond to the problem. Part of the mandate was to use data from the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) to gauge the relationship between management and employees and overall performance. The FEVS is a tool that measures employees' perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions that characterize successful organizations are present in their agencies. The research question for the study was whether differences exist between the employees of higher and lower performing federal agencies as measured by the Engagement Index of the FEVS. The samples were controlled for sex, age, and education. Secondary- data obtained from the OPM 2014 FEVS were obtained for the research.- This quantitative study involved a nonexperimental, correlational, and descriptive research design. Multiple regression analysis determined differences among the dependent variables as portrayed within the high- and low-performing agencies. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the demographic variables. Analysis results of the 2014 FEVS report determined that no difference existed between employees- (n- = 258) from higher and lower performing agencies as measured by the FEVS. The study contributes to positive social change by enabling agencies to determine where managerial changes are necessary for agency performance. Longitudinal studies using the FEVS can contribute to future improvements in federal agencies performance improvements.

The aim of this thesis is to assist industry leaders in Australia understand the nature of employee empowerment by identifying the characteristics of employee empowerment, the leadership strategies required to guide employee behaviour changes and the interaction between the two concepts. This thesis argues that in the 1990's the role of leadership needs to change in order to address the threat of increasing competition. The role of leadership needs to focus on employee development and enhancing their ability to adapt to change, be innovative, creative and committed to achieving the goals of the organisation. Effective leadership is therefore reflected in the behaviour of employees. A characteristic identified as employee empowerment. The research for this study had two components. First was the development of the model to investigate the relationship between leadership strategies and employee empowerment behaviour in a workplace setting. The second research component of the study was testing the model. Testing required the development of a multi-component workplace survey instrument. A range of validation methodologies supported the survey instrument. The case study site was a government organisation. Results provided answers to each of the research questions. Among other findings, it was found that factors other than leadership could also moderate empowerment behaviours. The results of the study, if replicated, have important significance to Australian industry. Serious questions are raised concerning the direction of previous leadership research. Furthermore a new focus is provided to explain why TQM fails in organisations. Another key point highlighted in the study was the importance of using practical models that can be tested in the workplace. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>COURSE: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15ECTS</p><p>AUTHOURS:Peters Silvia Chigozirim. Elham Mazdarani.</p><p>Flugsnappargatan 6, 3tr. Nybohovsbacken 99, 9tr.</p><p>72472, Västerås. 11764, Stockholm</p><p>0737225113. 0709391923</p><p>SUPERVISOR: LEIF SANNER</p><p>TOPIC: The impact of employee empowerment on service quality and customer satisfaction: a case study of Länsförsäkringar AB.</p><p>BACKGROUND: Considering the nature of service delivery and particularly intangible-dominant services, employee empowerment becomes a very important issue to organizations producing services. In that, the customers and the employees are, engaged simultaneously in the production of the service. This inseparability is what is considered by the organization in choosing how best to serve its customers, either by the traditional method or through the empowerment approach.</p><p>The inability of the management to control the service encounter makes the employees responsible for the quality of service delivered to the customers. In order for the management to trust that the employees are successful in dealing with their customers, the management has to give the employees the authority and necessary support to succeed at it, which is referred to as employee empowerment. The practice of which can directly affect the quality of services delivered, and customer satisfaction.</p><p>PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to ascertain the extent to which Länsförsäkringar Bank AB practices employee empowerment in their organization and how it impacts on service quality and customer satisfaction.</p><p>RESEARCH METHOD: This research is based on a qualitative study. The authors’ have used both primary and secondary data to make a qualitative analysis, since this is a single-case study to enable them to fulfill the purpose of the research.</p><p>CONCLUSION: Based on this research, the authors have found out that employee empowerment practices at LFB enable the employees to influence customers’ perception of service quality positively, due to their control over the service delivery process, which leads to customers’ satisfaction.</p><p>Moreover, LFB extensively practices employee empowerment through the actions and practices of human resource management and top management. The nature of the organizational structure also influence the character of the services delivered through their employees regarding the free flow of information all around the bank.</p>

COURSE: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15ECTS AUTHOURS:Peters Silvia Chigozirim. Elham Mazdarani. Flugsnappargatan 6, 3tr. Nybohovsbacken 99, 9tr. 72472, Västerås. 11764, Stockholm 0737225113. 0709391923 SUPERVISOR: LEIF SANNER TOPIC: The impact of employee empowerment on service quality and customer satisfaction: a case study of Länsförsäkringar AB. BACKGROUND: Considering the nature of service delivery and particularly intangible-dominant services, employee empowerment becomes a very important issue to organizations producing services. In that, the customers and the employees are, engaged simultaneously in the production of the service. This inseparability is what is considered by the organization in choosing how best to serve its customers, either by the traditional method or through the empowerment approach. The inability of the management to control the service encounter makes the employees responsible for the quality of service delivered to the customers. In order for the management to trust that the employees are successful in dealing with their customers, the management has to give the employees the authority and necessary support to succeed at it, which is referred to as employee empowerment. The practice of which can directly affect the quality of services delivered, and customer satisfaction. PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to ascertain the extent to which Länsförsäkringar Bank AB practices employee empowerment in their organization and how it impacts on service quality and customer satisfaction. RESEARCH METHOD: This research is based on a qualitative study. The authors’ have used both primary and secondary data to make a qualitative analysis, since this is a single-case study to enable them to fulfill the purpose of the research. CONCLUSION: Based on this research, the authors have found out that employee empowerment practices at LFB enable the employees to influence customers’ perception of service quality positively, due to their control over the service delivery process, which leads to customers’ satisfaction. Moreover, LFB extensively practices employee empowerment through the actions and practices of human resource management and top management. The nature of the organizational structure also influence the character of the services delivered through their employees regarding the free flow of information all around the bank.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between job satisfaction among hotel employees as well as the relationship between employee empowerment and contextual performance behaviours. Background: Most managers and scholars emphasize that an organization’s most important tool for gaining a competitive advantage is its people and; in order for the firm to attain success employees must be involved and active. It has been argued that success within the hotel industry lies with customer satisfaction, of which is the result of overall job satisfaction of the employee. Most hotels strive to empower their employees in order to deliver better quality service. In addition, contextual performance behaviours are also common practice in such places where employees have a broad range of duties and tasks. Both empowerment and contextual performance behaviours are thus seen to provide overall job satisfaction. Method: The research approach used was that of a single case study, using a survey instrument to collect data on facets empowerment and contextual performance behaviours. The Scandic Hotels of Jonkoping were used for this purpose. The data collected were then analysed by way of factor analysis and multiple regression methods to validate the hypotheses formed in the theoretical framework. Findings and Conclusions: Based on the results of the analysis, the majority of the hypotheses were supported.  Training and rewards showed a significant relationship with overall job satisfaction. Job dedication behaviours also showed similar results. In addition, information sharing and trust and training and rewards proved to have interrelationships as facets of empowerment.  Interpersonal facilitation and job dedication behaviours were also proved to be distinct behaviours within contextual performance.