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, 11 August 2015 / This research set out to investigate two relationships; the relationship between technical qualifications and emerging contractor project performance, and the relationship between experience and emerging contractor project performance. The focus was on emerging contractors in the public sector. This study was motivated by the notion that emerging contractors generally fail and have poor project performance. The objective of the report was to determine the general factors that affect emerging contractor performance and demonstrate the relationship between competence and project performance. Information pertaining to progress and performance for thirty projects from a government institution in Mpumalanga Province was collected. This information included contact details of the contractors who conducted the 30 government infrastructure projects. The contact details were used to collect contractors’ curriculum vitaes and company profiles in order to extract information on qualifications and experience. Literature has shown that the most prevalent issues facing emerging contractors in South Africa can be attributed to the contractors’ competencies. These competencies include skills, experience, qualifications and project management knowledge. Other factors that affect emerging contractor performance include project delays caused by late payments by clients, shortage of labour and lack of financial resources and equipment. The results of this study showed that contractors with technical qualifications and experience generally perform better than those with no technical background. It was also found that where there is no technical background, the level of education also affects the level of project performance. This study demonstrated the importance of the number of technical or construction related projects conducted by an emerging contractor company as compared to the number of years that the company has been in operation. The number of projects conducted, regardless of timeline, is more beneficial to project performance than the number of years in operation in the construction industry. This study recommends that focus should be drawn to the definite need to develop emerging contractor competence through skills development, training, collaborations and knowledge sharing. Competence development should focus on transferring technical knowledge and experience through policy formulation, collaboration of government and educational or training institutes. Focus should also be drawn to developing project management competence of emerging contractors in the South African public sector.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Management of Business Executive Coaching Wits Business School Johannesburg February 2017 / Coaching has been growing in popularity, application and understanding (Passmore, 2014), yet enough is not known about how the use of assessments within the coaching process is structured. This exploratory study looked at how coaches choose and how coaches use assessments. The research methodology of this study was qualitative. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken in order to understand the lived experience of the coaches (Ponterotto, 2005) The key findings of the research was that coaches choose assessments based on three sets of criteria; the first being that they are clear about the outcome they want to achieve, they are clear and intentional about their choice. A second criteria of choice includes choosing assessments based on a particular paradigm or approach. The paradigm can be based on theory it may be based on a belief system, a methodology or a philosophy or personal bias. A third criteria was made up of a group who were unintentional about their choice or, in some instances, the choice was being made for them. Although coaches choose along these three criteria, it was clear that they were not choosing dogmatically, but instead there was an eclectic approach to choosing. The way coaches use of assessment was overwhelmingly in a practical way for the benefit of the coachee and for the benefit of the coach. The provision of well-crafted and thoughtful feedback and the guarantee of the coach having the required competence were some of the aspects identified as critical in the use of assessments.The success of the assessment process was dependent upon the skillset of the coach. The amount of care dedicated to feedback of the assessment report confirmed its importance in the assessment and coaching process A further key insight was the complexity of working with assessments in corporate environments, assessments that sometimes boxed people and coaches negative experiences amongst others meant that this surfaced a number of critiques, cautions and conundrums. / MT2017

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2002 / Refer to the document

Thesis (M. Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011. / The study deals with the exit strategy impact within EPWP, WFW programme in Tzaneen area, Limpopo province. WFW programme employs contractors and workers for a short period of time and exit them out of the programme after skills transfer and training. In order to investigate the impact of exit strategy within the WFW programme, the researcher made use of different research techniques. The empirical data was collected on the basis of: a survey of 55 respondents, follow up interview with all respondents, and observation of the candidates who are due for exit. The major research findings clarify the selection and recruitment of workers and contractors in the programme, their training and skills development during the employment process, and finally, the exit achievements for poverty alleviation and further employability. It was recommended that exit strategy should be planned properly from the first day of employment, looking at the educational level of contractors and workers. The period of two years in the programme could be extended. In addition to training activities, a version of ABET programme could be implemented for them to improve their educational level. Exit strategy should be sustainable in such a way that the contractors and workers are able to improve their livelihood even after leaving the programme.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2015

M. Tech. Human Resources Management / The purpose of the research was to develop a list of priority training needs for engineers in the platinum mining industry. In the current skills shortage, it is imperative to reconsider engineering disciplines or qualifications in relation to the engineering skills in the mining industry, taking cognisance of the list of training priorities in the platinum mining sector. The study intended to achieve the following objectives: to develop a list of priority training needs of the engineers in the platinum mining industry; and to determine if there is correlation between the training needs of engineers in the platinum mining industry.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Business Information Systems.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2012. / Organisations all over the world require skilled people to gain competitive advantage over their competition but, there is currently a shortage of specialised skills. This is evident in the high unemployment rate within the various countries, especially with the graduates. Therefore, governments, industries and institutions of higher learning have started to create initiatives that are meant to bridge the skills gap. However, the skills gap is still open. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that are causing the skills gap to remain, especially between the institutions of higher learning who are the producers of specialised skilled people and industry who require the specialised skilled people. Hence the research question: What are the factors that needs to be considered in addressing the skills gap between industry requirements and institution of higher learning curriculum development at an IT undergraduate level?

The skills shortage and unequal standards of training in South Africa provided the stimulus for the Skills Development Policy. The purpose of the study was to analyze and appraise the Amaoti Vegetable Farming Learnership (AVFL), a skills development programme implemented in the Amaoti area. The aims were to establish what changes occurred to the scheme, which was implemented on a piece of land of land with no farmer as an employer; and to ascertain whether the AVFL achieved its intended purpose of providing participants with agricultural skills. Data were gathered via one-on-one interviews with six participants and two focus groups. One major finding that emerged from the study was that the programme equipped participants with agricultural skills. Another significant finding was that the elderly project learners did not accept being supervised by young mentors and perceived it demeaning. This resulted in a strained relationship between the two groups and subsequently led to non-productive supervision. The concurrent training of both learners and mentors also contributed to the strained relationship between the two groups. The study also found that the recruitment process did not adhere to the Skills Development Act, which prescribed that learnership participants should be recruited from labour centres. In the case of the AVFL, recruitment was conducted in the community. The use of land was problematic in that there were no resources. Recommendations included: 1) training of mentors should be done before the implementation of the learnership and should take into account cultural implications such as age differences; 2) resources need to be available on the land including water, ablution, and sick bay. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban, 2010.

This doctoral thesis essentially investigates what is currently done by South African municipalities with regard to the training and development of their personnel. The study was necessitated by the fact that personnel plays an important role in the viability of any local authority. Therefore, the quality of manpower should be above suspicion. Moreover, with the advent of the expected implications of the new constitutional dispensation it is imperative that attention shall be focused timeously on the training and development of the human resources available to local government and administration. The need for training and development also dominates the arena in view of the continued extention of government activities and the concomitant creation of new State institutions. Thus, the above reasoning serves as rationale for the background description of the right of existence of local authorities. The term, local authorities, is, therefore, viewed as a collective noun for all institutions engaged in governing and administering community life on the local level, be it municipalities, village boards, health committees or institutions for the peri-urban areas. A discussion of municipal administration is also given as it justifies a review of the location thereof within the spectrum of public administration, given its distinctive environment and character. Furthermore, an exposition of municipal personnel administration within the context of municipal administration is imperative should one wish to understand the delicate processes of provisioning, maintenance, utilisation and above all, training and development of scarce manpower resources. Coupled with the description of the components of municipal personnel administration, follows an explanation of the constituent parts of the activities, training and development. The study revealed that training is a process of which the groundwork is done by a related field, called education. Education starts at birth and continues ad infinitum. Education also provides the preparation-for-life foundation, whereby training continues as the preparation-for-work process. As a prerequisite for both processes to be successful, is an intellectual process, called learning. The will to learn then also prepares the individual with a willingness to develop at the hand of various ways and means. Thereafter the need for and the objectives of training within the institution is acknowledged and a description is given of how to identify and describe these needs and objectives in order to meet the common objective of local authorities, viz. the improvement of the general well-being of the citizenry. A responsibility rests on the individual municipalities to provide, through training and development programmes, the opportunity for municipal officials and employees on all levels, to develop. It is to this end that municipalities should endeavour to provide suitable training and development facilities and to utilise it to its fullest extent. Whether the facilities utilised, refers to on-the-job - or off-the-job training, the methods should be applied only after its relevant advantages and disadvantages have been carefully weighed and if it meets the requirements of the specific circumstances of the municipality. The study proves that in South Africa, there is not necessarily a shortage of available municipal manpower, but that a question-mark could be placed after the quality thereof in terms of training and development. It is, therefore, recommended that, in an endeavour to promote training and development activities, the following aspects, inter alia, deserve consideration: (a) the introduction at school level, of a course in environmental or public studies; (b) the establishment of a school of municipal government and administration in the Core City of each region specified in terms of the Regional Services Councils Act, 1985 (Act 109 of 1985); (c) that municipalities should devise a unique approach to training and development methods; (d) that training sessions should provide for the individual needs of the participants; (e) the publication of an annual report by the Local Training Board giving a detailed exposition of the nature and extent of training individually and collectively undertaken by leading South African municipalities; (f) the provision of specially designed and well-equipped technical training facilities; and (g) the establishment of resources centres or reading rooms to put periodicals, journals and relevant newspaper articles at the disposal of all the municipal employees. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1985.

Chapter 1 will cover the general background on training outside and inside Eskom. It will scrutinise the existing training programme taking into account the factors that inform this training. An assessment will also be made of the training strategy that the CED is already using. Chapter 2 will present an in-depth literature review that will serve as a guide in scrutinising training and development of the organisation and the staff. The literature in question covers coaching, mentoring, staff development, communication as a factor of training, induction, orientation, skills sharing, training evaluation, training objectives, job rotation, and skills knowledge. This literature will allow me to compare training in Eskom with that which is suggested from the literature review. This will be done in order to recommend solutions for training strategy problems in the CED. Studies touching on training have been undertaken in the past and this dissertation will also make use of them as references. Chapter 3 describes the research methodology used and the method of data collection. The three groups of staff that have been used to obtain data in the CED Camden Power Station, namely, discipline engineering managers, senior engineers and graduates in training, are also discussed. Chapter 4 presents the data analysis. All the data obtained from questionnaires and literature is analysed here. The analysis makes use of pie charts to analyse the data obtained from the respondents. Chapter 5 covers recommendations and conclusions. Recommendations are made based on responses to the research questionnaires. Research questionnaires that were used to obtain data are in the appendices. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.