University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

Arivia.kom was formed out of a merger of the information technology (IT) departments of Eskom, Transnet and Denel. The aim was to address skilled staff losses and to achieve economies of scale. Agreements were drafted ensuring arivia.kom business patronage for a period of five years. Arivia.kom's commencement was accompanied by problems, affecting its customers to the extent that they indicated dissatisfaction with performance. This study established the extent of those problems, and the reasons for their occurrence. A market analysis was conducted with specific focus on customer and competitor analysis. An investigation was conducted into the quality of service, overall customer impression of the organisation since its inception, as well as performance against competitors. The major findings indicated that performance problems were not isolated incidents but consistent across the organisation. These problems stemmed from poor organisational design, poorly evolved organisational culture, unclear positioning and poor competitor and customer intelligence capability. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

Corn production is scattered geographically over various continents, but most of it is grown in the United States. As such, the world price of corn futures contracts is largely dominated by North American corn prices as traded on the Chicago Board of Trade. In recent years, this market has been characterised by an increase in price volatility and magnitude of price movement as a result of decreasing stock levels. The development and implementation of an effective and successful derivative price risk management strategy based on the Chicago Board of Trade corn futures contract will therefore be of inestimable value to market stakeholders worldwide. The research focused on the efficient market hypothesis and the possibility of contesting this phenomenon through an application of a derivative price risk management methodology. The methodology is based on a combination of an analysis of market trends and technical oscillators with the objective of generating returns superior to that of a market benchmark. The study found that market participants are currently unable to exploit price movement in a manner which results in returns that contest the notion of efficient markets. The methodology proposed, however, does allow the user to consistently achieve returns superior to that of a predetermined market benchmark. The benchmark price for the purposes of this study was the average price offered by the market over the contract lifetime, and such, the efficient market hypothesis was successfully contested. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

Public entities are faced with the problem of increasing the interest of stakeholders in their annual reports. The aim of this study was to identify the stakeholders of AISA who use the annual report, to investigate their perceptions of the AISA annual report and to determine whether it is used for decision making or accountability purposes. Data was collected by using questionnaires sent to a representative sample of the stakeholders and minutes of meetings and audio recordings of the interrogation of the annual report by the parliamentary accountability and oversight body over DST. The study found that the AISA stakeholders use the annual report for accountability purposes and not for decision making and it has a small readership as it is read mainly by internal stakeholders. The study recommends that public entities need to do much to inform the stakeholders of the availability of their annual reports. / Business Management / M. Com. (Accounting)

State-owned enterprises (SOES) exist in South Africa to drive economic development and improve service delivery to the large population. In order for SOES to achieve their mandates, as set out by government through their shareholding department, financial assistance by the state is imperative. In the case of the monopolistic power utility, Eskom, the South African government (SAGO) has 100% ownership which is managed through the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). This total ownership by the state means that government is responsible in ensuring that the utility is operational and supported financially. The current study was aimed at evaluating the financial assistance received by SOEs in South Africa by the state with specific focus on Eskom. Eskom was selected from the eight SOES managed by the DPE for the purpose of focusing the research. The focus of the study was on the financial assistance to SOES in South Africa by the state. In 2008, Eskom received funding from different sources through loan intervention of the South African government. The loan and guarantees made available to Eskom by government, enabled the SOE to achieve a positive credit rating. Data for this research was primarily collected through academic journals, books, Acts, White Papers, legislation and personal interviews at the National Treasury (NT). The recommendation that this research states relates to the need for a single policy document on state financial assistance to SOES in South Africa. / Public Administration and Management / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

Devido ao aumento de expectativa de vida, diversas gerações hoje convivem no ambiente de trabalho. Com a entrada recente de uma nova geração, quatro gerações podem trabalhar em uma mesma organização. Entender quais os valores, expectativas e de que forma se cria e mantêm o comprometimento desta nova geração, chamada comumente de Geração Y, é importante para que as organizações possam alcançar sua missão e objetivos. Empregados mais comprometidos tendem a se esforçar mais para alcançar suas metas e contribuir para a viabilização dos objetivos da organização. Neste cenário, o presente trabalho buscou entender quais são as bases do comprometimento da geração Y em uma organização pública. Para isto, foi realizada uma pesquisa junto a indivíduos pertencentes a esta geração, através de um instrumento que mede as múltiplas bases do comprometimento organizacional: a Escala de Bases do Comprometimento Organizacional (EBACO). A escala avalia sete bases do comprometimento: afetiva; afiliativa; obrigação em permanecer; obrigação pelo desempenho; falta de recompensas e oportunidades; linha consistente de atividades e escassez de alternativas. O resultado final sugere que os membros da geração Y na organização pesquisada se comprometem mais nas bases afetiva e obrigação pelo desempenho. Nas bases linha consistente de atividades e falta de recompensas e oportunidades o comprometimento foi considerado abaixo da média nos padrões da escala EBACO. As bases obrigação em permanecer, escassez de alternativas e afiliativa foram as bases que apresentaram menor comprometimento. / Due to the increasing in life expectancy, nowadays many generations share the work space. Recently, with the entrance of a new generation, four generations may work in the same company. Understanding which values, expectancies and how do we raise and keep this new generation’s (generation Y) commitment is important so that companies can reach their mission and goals. The more committed employees are the harder they try to accomplish their tasks and contribute to the company’s goals. Based on that this research project intend to understand on what grounds the generation Y’s commitment is built. For doing so individuals belonging to this specific generation wire pooled about questions related to their commitment to a public company. The questions were written based on the EBACO scale (basis scale of organizational commitment). This scale measures seven basis for commitment: affective; obligation to stay; obligation to performance; affiliative; lack of rewards and opportunities; consistent line of activity and a scarceness of alternatives. As a result, it was possible to see that individuals belonging to generation Y in the company where the research was conducted tend to be more committed on the affective and obligation to performance basis. On basis like a consistent line of activities and lack of reward the level of commitment reached below the average in EBACO’s scale patterns. The basis obligation in staying, scarceness of alternatives and affiliative were the basis where the commitment reached its lowest level. / Dissertação (mestrado) - Programa de Pós-graduação em Administração de Empresas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 2012. / Bibliografia: p. 59-63.

Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Orientador: Marcio Pochmann / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T14:12:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida_ManoelDonatode_D.pdf: 2461326 bytes, checksum: 9e02761a306846df330534d5841f479b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho, como sugere o próprio título, é o de fazer uma análise política e econômica da ofensiva da ideologia neoliberal, das privatizações e do desemprego no Brasil, entre 1980 e 1998. O universo de estudo será - numa ordem cronológica - a resistência da ideologia do desenvolvimentismo, nos anos 80, contra as privatizações das empresas estatais com o conseqüente agravamento do arrocho salarial, ocorrido ao longo da década de 1980. Assim, um relativo destaque deve ser dado também à análise da expressão política que tomou a defesa do Estado desenvolvimentista e a resistência do novo sindicalismo surgido no Brasil neste período. Este fato se caracterizou pelo elevado número de greves, com expressiva quantidade de trabalhadores mobilizados contra as políticas de arrocho salarial. Isso contribuiu, ontologicamente, para a defesa do Estado desenvolvimentista, representado pelas empresas estatais e para a consolidação do processo democrático. Para concretizar tal tarefa, foi necessário eleger um método (o método dialético), pressupondo-se que o mesmo, uma vez utilizado de forma ampla, viesse a dar conta da correlação existente entre os três fenômenos, político, econômico e social, de que se compõe o objeto de estudo em sua totalidade. No Brasil, na tentativa de administrar a crise do capitalismo na década de 1980, adotaram-se as receitas impostas pelo FMI e pelo Banco Mundial para políticas públicas e de arrocho salarial. Na década de 1990, predominaram as receitas do Consenso de Washington, cujas orientações, além de agravarem a crise do setor público, acentuaram a concentração de renda e pioraram as condições de vida dos trabalhadores. Além de os governos brasileiros promoverem as políticas de abertura comercial e financeira, adotaram as propostas do "Estado mínimo" como retórica neoliberal contra o Estado desenvolvimentista. Assim, contando com o apoio dos partidos de direita, historicamente as mais reacionárias e conservadoras representações políticas do país, os governos concretizam a hegemonia neoliberal: além de privatizarem as empresas do Setor Produtivo do Estado (SPE), adotaram políticas macroeconômicas, que só atendiam aos interesses do capital financeiro. Paradoxalmente, o BNDES - que nos anos 50 fora criado para consolidar a ideologia desenvolvimentista - na década de 1990, os governos o transformaram em órgão gestor das políticas econômicas da ideologia neoliberal. A concretude dos referidos fatos é possível de ser apreendida analisando-se os processos de privatização e os interesses neles envolvidos, em especial o caso da privatização da USIMINAS, pelo governo Collor, e da Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, pelo governo FHC. Os governos neoliberais privatizaram empresas que foram construídas a partir de necessidades intrínsecas da própria consolidação do desenvolvimento no Brasil e que também serviam para proporcionar lucro ao setor privado. Assim, tais governos privatizaram as empresas estatais, que passaram a ser dominadas pelo capital estrangeiro, acentuando-se a desnacionalização da economia e a sujeição política dos governos em condições de segurança e de soberania. Além da liberalização comercial e financeira, os governos neoliberais estimularam a dinâmica do capital especulativo, contribuindo para aumentar a concentração de rendas e o desemprego no Brasil. / Abstract: The objective of this work is to study the neoliberal ideology offensive related to the privatizations and the unemployment in Brazil between 1980 and 1998. In a chronological order it was first analyzed the resistance of the developmental ideology of in the 80s, against the privatizations of the state companies and the consequent aggravation related to the salary difficult throughout the decade of 1980. Thus, a relative emphasis should also be given to the analysis of the political expression which made de defense of the developmental State and the resistance of the new unionism that emerged in Brazil in this period. This fact was characterized by the high number of strikes, with an expressive number of workers mobilized against the salary policy. This, contribute, ontologically, to the defense of the developmental State, represented by state companies and to the consolidation of the democratic process. To achieve this task, it was necessary to choose a method (the dialectical method), estimating that itself, once used in a wide form, would help the correlation between the three phenomena, political, economic and social, that composes the object of study. In the attempt to manage the crisis of the capitalism in the 80s, Brazil adopted the rules imposed by IMF and World Bank for public policy and salary difficult. In the 90s, all the orientations came from the Washington Consensus, which increase the crisis in the public sector, with high concentration of income and getting worse the condition of live of the workers. In addition to the Brazilian government to promote the policies of open trade and finance, it adopted the proposals of the "State minimum" as neoliberal rhetoric against the developmental State. Thus, with the support of right political parties, historically the most conservative and reactionary ones, the governments implement the neoliberal hegemony: besides to privatize the companies of the State Productive Sector (SPS), it was adopted macroeconomic policies, which only helped the interests of the financial capital. Paradoxically, the BNDES - which was created in the 50s to consolidate the developmental ideology - in the 90s, the governments transformed it into the national manager of economic policies of the neoliberal ideology. The related facts can be consolidates analyzing the privatization process of the USIMINAS, during Collor government and the Vale do Rio Doce company during FHC government Neoliberal governments that privatized companies that were built according to the consolidation of the industrial development in Brazil and that also provide profit to the private sector. Thus, such governments privatized State companies, which, since that time, have become controlled by foreign capital, increasing the denationalization of the economy and the submission of the government in relation to security and sovereignty. Besides the trade and financial liberalization, the neoliberal governments have stimulated the dynamics of speculative capital, and contributed to the concentration of income and unemployment in Brazil. / Doutorado / Ciencias Sociais / Doutor em Ciências Sociais

The study examined the alignment of Supply Chain Management (SCM) practices with the policies and regulations in State-Owned Entities (SOEs) in South Africa. SCM plays a crucial role in the implementation of service delivery programmes and the achievement of socioeconomic imperatives in SOEs in South Africa. However, there is a substantial misalignment between SCM practices and the relevant policies and regulations, which negatively influences the performance of SOEs in South Africa. The research study was designed to employ a combination of exploratory and descriptive research, using quantitative approaches based on a survey of SCM managers in SOEs in South Africa. A structured questionnaire was administered to SCM managers who were selected using simple random sampling. Descriptive statistics using the software, SPSS version 21.0, was used for the statistical analysis and to provide the descriptive analysis results. In addition, Smart PLS 2.0 M3 was used for structural Equation Modelling to assess the alignment between the key variables. The results of the study revealed that, in general, there is an alignment between SCM practices and SCM policies and regulations. However, based on the analysis of the four constructs that were used in the study (SCM strategy, SCM policies and regulations, SCM practices, and SCM performance), the results revealed a misalignment between SCM strategy and SCM performance. The study further revealed a positive and weak relationship between Enterprise Supplier Development (ESD) and SCM performance in SOEs. The poor implementation of these two practices compromises the contribution of SCM to socioeconomic imperatives, and consequently SCM. The results of the five SCM policies and regulations that were examined indicated the poor implementation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (BBBEEA) across SOEs. The study suggests a conceptual framework for SCM in SOEs to enable them to enhance their performance. The study provides an understanding of how SCM could be applied efficiently in the SOEs environment and it provides new insights to the body of knowledge. / Applied Management / D. Admin. (Business Management)

M. Tech. (Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / This study noted the implications of the absence of a strategic framework to manage the career mobility of employees with disabilities in the Gauteng-based, state-owned enterprise (SOE). In response to the limited research on career mobility of employees with disabilities (EwDs), the study aimed to investigate EwDs understanding of the phenomenon, identify its enablers and inhibitors, as well as propose a strategic framework for managing it. The study is significant for the inclusion of EwDs and contributing to employers achieving employment equity targets, as required of them by the Employment Equity Act (55 of 1998). In order to achieve the study’s objectives, an exploratory design was employed by conducting individual interviews with five purposively selected participants on junior management levels. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed and piloted with two champions who represent the interests of EwDs in disability forums within the SOE. Given the prevailing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researcher collected the data online via Microsoft Teams (MS Teams). The data were analysed manually for emerging themes using Braun and Clarke’s six steps of data analysis. The study found that career mobility was understood by participants to include promotion (job change), succession planning and gainful employment supported by opportunities for skills transfer and reasonable accommodation. Factors identified as enablers of career mobility are training and career development, disability awareness and sensitisation, reasonable accommodation, social networks and benchmarking. Those factors perceived as inhibiting career mobility are mind-set, inaccessible training, lack of confidence and poor succession planning. Through conversations with the participants, the researcher identified critical components for the development of a strategic framework to enhance career mobility for EwDs as organisational diagnostics (input factor), enabling policies and support systems (process factors) and inclusion and career mobility evident in employment equity targets being met (outcomes) to manage career mobility of EwDs in the workplace. The main limitations of the study are that the results cannot be generalised to other settings without validation of the proposed strategic framework due to the sample size involved. It is recommended that future studies consider sensitivity regarding the prevailing circumstances around research during periods of pandemics and the use of language in the field of disability research. It is further recommended that employers consider implementing benchmarked disability awareness and sensitisation programmes to create a conducive environment for EwDs to achieve career mobility in the workplace. Lastly, employers should develop and implement programmes that will enhance mental health and well-being of EwDs and consider the establishment of empowered disability forums.