Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Governments and organisations focus their efforts and resources on physical production factors and the skills of their employees. However, in order to focus the resources and skills of an organisation on a specific outcome there needs to be a common and binding set of values. Many empowerment efforts in South Africa have not succeeded and the reasons cited for their failures, concomitantly, have been based on physical production factors and lack of skills. This study will investigate whether a misalignment of values may be the real problem of which the physical production factors and skills were mere symptoms. The Mckinsey 7s Model will be used to structure the analysis and to determine whether the reconstruction, development and empowerment organisations, both successful and unsuccessful, had shared values. The result was that the reconstruction, development and empowerment organisations that were successful had shared values and that the reconstruction, development and empowerment organisations, that were unsuccessful did not have shared values. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Regerings en privaat organisasies fokus hulle insette op fisiese produksie faktore en die vaardighede van hul werknemers. Om die insette en aksies van 'n organisasie te fokus op 'n spesifieke uitkoms, moet daar 'n gedeelde en samebindende stel waardes wees. Verskeie bemagtigingspogings in Suid-Afrika was nie suksesvol nie. Die redes wat vir hierdie mislukkings aangevoer word, is gebaseer op die fisiese insette en die gebrek aan vaardigheid van die deelnemers. Die navorsing in hierdie studie is daarop gemik om te bepaal of die gebrek aan gedeelde waardes nie dalk die werklike probleem is nie, en dat die fisiese produksie faktore en vaardigheidsvlakke slegs simptome hiervan is. Die Mckinsey 7s model sal aangewend word om struktuur aan die studie te verleen. Die Mckinsey 7s model sal ook aangewend word om te bepaal of die heropbou-, ontwikkelings- en bemagtigings organisasies, beide suksesvol en onsuksesvol, gedeelde waardes gehad het al dan nie. Die resultate van die studie het daarop gedui dat al die heropbou-, ontwikkelings en bemagtigings organisasies, wat gedeelde waardes gehad het suksevol was en al die heropbou-, ontwikkelings- en bemagtigings organisasies, wat onsuksesvol was nie gedeelde waardes gehad het nie.