M.Comm. / Globalization initiates rapid change and innovation that is: “… no longer an option, but it has become a business imperative” (Grulke, 2002, p. 18). Innovative organizations have developed the ability to satisfy both the shareholders’ demand for wealth (Hamel, 2000) and the customers’ demand for more creative and innovative products that facilitate ease of use (Kelley, 2001) while at the same time ensuring business sustainability (Skarzynski & Gibson, 2008). The development of creative and innovative thinking and problem-solving skills are crucial for the survival of organisations in the 21st century. Creative problem-solving training was generally found to be the most effective when organizations wanted to equip their employees with creative and innovative thinking and problem-solving skills. A specific financial services organisation in South Africa realised that they had to join the innovation revolution in order to remain commercially competitive in the twentyfirst century. With retailers and other competitors such as the telecommunication role players entering the traditional financial services domain, the organisation recognised that they required a novel approach to conduct their business. The highly regulated and to some extent conformist environment of the financial services organization constitute the sphere within which the research problem is situated. The organisation commissioned the researcher to design a Creativity and Innovation Workshop with the intent to improve the creative and innovative thinking and problem-solving skills of their employees. The evaluation question that the study purports to address therefore is whether employees in a corporate context such as a financial services organisation can develop appropriate creative and innovative thinking and problemsolving skills through an intervention such as a workshop and can a benefit for the business unit and organisation be identified. The unit of analysis is a niche business unit in a South African financial services organization. The sample used in this study comprises of managers (employees) and senior or executive management of those employees who attended the Creativity and Innovation Workshop.

Operational risk has become an increasingly important topic within financial institutions of late, resulting in an increased spend by financial service organisations on operational risk management solutions. While this move is positive, evidence has shown that information technology implementations have tended to have low rates of success. Research highlighted that a series of defined critical success factors could reduce the risk of implementation failure. Investigations into the literature revealed that no critical success factors had been defined for the implementation of an operational risk management system. Through a literature study, a list of 29 critical success factors was identified. To confirm these factors, a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed to an identified target audience within the South African financial services community. Reponses to the questionnaire revealed that 27 of the 29 critical success factors were deemed important and critical to the implementation of an operational risk management system. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Operational risk has become an increasingly important topic within financial institutions of late, resulting in an increased spend by financial service organisations on operational risk management solutions. While this move is positive, evidence has shown that information technology implementations have tended to have low rates of success. Research highlighted that a series of defined critical success factors could reduce the risk of implementation failure. Investigations into the literature revealed that no critical success factors had been defined for the implementation of an operational risk management system. Through a literature study, a list of 29 critical success factors was identified. To confirm these factors, a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed to an identified target audience within the South African financial services community. Reponses to the questionnaire revealed that 27 of the 29 critical success factors were deemed important and critical to the implementation of an operational risk management system. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)