Cost saving strategies gained prominence in South Africa's retail sector when the Multinational Corporation (MNC) Walmart entered South African retail industry through the Walmart/Massmart Merger in 2011. Retail companies such as Pick n Pay (PnP) adopted workplace-restructuring strategies to maintain a competitive edge in the retail sector. This study draws attention to the effect of the cost saving strategies such as VRPs, and labour brokers in the workplace. This research explores the experience of retail workers who took voluntary retrenchment package (VRP) in 2017 and then returned to the same workplace as contract workers through labour brokers. This study specifically focuses on the experience of the transition from being a permanent worker with access to various employment benefits to a contract worker without access to typical benefits associated with industrial citizenship. The study adopted a qualitative research design with 10 semi-structured interviews. Using the worlds of work model and the concept industrial citizenship for analysis, this study finds that workplace restructuring strategies have led to the erosion of workers' industrial citizenship rights and has given rise to high levels of precarious working conditions. This illustrates that despite access to information sessions organised by PnP, workers were not adequately prepared for post-work life especially where finances were concerned. Due to their age, limited skills set for jobs outside the retail sector which affected their employability and the fact that they could not maintain their household needs after taking the VRP, workers returned to the same workplace as contract workers. This study finds that workers had a negative experience when they returned to their former workplace as casual workers because employment through labour brokers takes the employment accountability away from the company even though the worker is physically working under the PnP brand. Due to their long service at PnP, workers experienced the transition from being a permanent to contract worker in two ways. Firstly, by noting the erosion of industrial citizenship rights in their workplace. For example, workers experienced precarious conditions such as unfair dismissal, irregular and long working hours, less wages and received no employment benefits nor trade union representation. Secondly, by noting that there was a major shift from the traditional family-owned management style that made them feel like they were part of a family in previous years, to a corporate business set up that made them feel marginalized and unrepresented by trade unions.

Bibliography: leaves. [141-145]. / This thesis is a case study of the social relations of power within the canning industry in Ashton. The project had three main aims: 1) to document the physical situation at the two canning factories in Ashton, in order to profile the basic composition of the workforce, aspects of the labour process and working and employment conditions; 2) to examine the processes and mechanisms of control and then 3) to use the first two aims as a basis to take stock of what this control means in terms of workers lives: i.e. examining the lived experience of 'control'. I adopted a primarily qualitatively focused approach and used a combination of interviews and group discussions to elicit the information necessary to inform these aims. The results showed how in the logic of capitalist development, pre-existing social divisions are exploited. The interaction of these pre-existing social divisions within the structure of the workforce, combined with deliberate control mechanisms serves to divide, atomise and thereby control the workforce. I found the workers to be divided by gender and race, these divisions are intensified by differences between whether workers have seasonal or permanent employment and where they live. These divisions, aggravated by differences, are then combined with the deliberate use of piecework, the assembly line and the factories recruitment system. Workers experienced most of these control mechanisms as normal and natural and are mostly thankful to have work.

Bibliography: leaves 165-172. / The aim of this thesis was to establish whether South African companies implementing Quick Response in an apparel textile pipeline moved towards flexible specialisation and post-Fordism or a neo-Fordist method of production. I also determined whether these companies implemented Quick Response according to the theory or to suit their environment. Manufacturing 6 Fordism or mass production became the most important manufacturing system in the early 20th century. When it was in crisis a new era, post-Fordism, was born. The change in manufacturing in post-Fordism was labelled flexible specialisation. It utilises new technology and flexible ways of organising work to help companies become more competitive. However, some people believed the new era was not new, but rather a modification of Fordism. They called this modified system neoFordism, consisting of both Fordist and post-Fordist features. The clothing and textile industries South Africa's textile and clothing industries are faced with increased competition due to the country's re-entry into the world economy and the subsequent drop in tariffs. One way for textile and clothing companies to compete is by developing a Quick Response approach - a type of flexible specialisation. It could help these companies fight cheaper imports as it cuts lead times and allows companies to use their local proximity to deliver the right products at the right time. Methodology using qualitative research methods I attempted to describe Quick Response in this pipeline by finding out what it is, what its features are, how it is implemented and what its effects are. I combined descriptive and explanatory elements in my study. I used semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions to interview workers, middle and upper management of the companies in the pipeline. I also used nonparticipant observation by attending meetings these companies held. Quick Response or not? The system that this pipeline implemented has some of the main trademarks of Quick Response. The companies improved their relationships, shared some information, cut the lead times, and relied on sales figures to determine production. All of this resulted in an increase in sales, Quick Response's ultimate goal. However, this system lacked many features of Quick Response such as worker involvement, full information sharing, Pareto improving measures to ensure no company is worse off than before, and cutting lead times constantly. Despite this I still believe this system could be classified as Quick Response as it was mainly about cutting lead times and this pipeline did that in a small way. Post- or neo-Fordism? Although these companies introduced elements of Quick Response, Fordist production features were still evident. These include manufacturing with long runs, just-in-case or safety stock, power differentials, mistrust, managerial prerogative, and large wage gaps. It is clear that Quick Response as described in the theory is a type of flexible specialisation, which is the change in manufacturing in the post-Fordist era. However, the version used in this pipeline contained many elements of Fordist production combined with post-Fordist methods. So the conclusion is that the companies who implemented Quick Response moved towards a neo-Fordist method of production. Only when they import Quick Response as an integrated package might their methods be described as post-Fordist.

The association of microelectronics and the office and its consequences specifically for life assurance companies is the central focus of this thesis. The original intention was to survey the impact of computerisation on clerical work in the Finance Sector, focusing specifically on banks, building societies and life assurance companies. The Finance Sector was chosen because it is the largest employer of clerical workers after the civil service and was also the most advanced user of computers in commerce. A survey of the literature on computerisation and clerical work revealed that a comparison of job categories prior to and following computerisation was necessary if the full impact of the technology was to be assessed. However, after several months of research it became evident that a comparison of job categories in the pre- and post-computer eras in all parts of the Finance Sector - banks, building societies and assurance companies - would make for an impossibly long exercise in the thesis if all were researched comparably. It was decided to concentrate on two very large life assurance companies in South Africa who were among the first to computerise in the country. Comparability was enhanced by the fact that both company headquarters were in Cape Town and therefore accessible for in-depth and repeated interviewing. This together with the fact that the companies were among the largest employers of clerical labour in the Western Cape made the choice natural and inevitable.

Bibliography: leaves 122-129. / The object of the thesis is to explore the perceptions of small business people mainly from the Athlone area regarding the SBDC and other similar support organisations. The survey targeted mainly coloured and Indian firms. African businesses face constraints different from those run by Indian and coloureds in the Western Cape. The study targeted a defined group of businesses and its particular limitations. This complexity requires sensitivity that recognises differences among disadvantaged firms. It also investigated the provision of training, marketing and financial functions of the Small Business Development Corporation, addressing: the activities involved in the provision of services, the policy formulation process within the institution with regard to the service function, and the environment within which the institution operates. Finally the thesis analysed the post 1994 government policy on SMEs and activities since the Presidents Conference on Small Business. The study focused on three support functions, training, marketing and financial services offered to black entrepreneurs. The study looks at the SBDC as support provider of services to the construction, service and manufacturing sectors in the Western Cape.

Includes bibliography. / This dissertation describes the investigation into absenteeism in Cape Town manufacturing industries which the writer conducted in 1992. It presents the main findings from this investigation as well as a series of recommendations regarding the recording and reduction of absenteeism in industry. The investigation was undertaken to investigate: the nature and extent of absenteeism in the Cape Town area, the main causes or variables associated with the problem of absenteeism, and to establish what industries were doing to combat the problem. The writer used a convenience sample of twenty manufacturing industries in the Cape Town region. The study involved identifying the amount and nature of absenteeism by quantitative analysis of attendance records.

Bibliography: leaves 87-93. / The phenomenon of skills mobility has become quite a topical issue, not just in South Africa, but worldwide. The reason for this is that in today's knowledge and skills-based economy the loss of highly qualified human resources is a critical issue for any country and especially for developing countries. Strategies have been implemented during the last three decades to counteract the brain drain, but these have not been very successful. A new and promising strategy is now emerging, this is referred to as the "diaspora option". The diaspora option seeks to mobilize highly skilled expatriates of a country to contribute to the social and economic advancement of their country of origin by finding ways of setting up links and connections between these highly skilled expatriates and the country of origin The distinguishing feature of the diaspora option is that expatriates don't have to return to the country of origin, they can stay in the host country, but contribute their skills and knowledge to their home country from wherever they are in the world. The diaspora option is quite a recent phenomenon and no systematic research has been done on the number of countries that have actually gone the diaspora route. The aim of this project was to identify and study the experiences of countries that have set up scientific/intellectual diaspora networks and to assess the success of the diaspora option. Through systematic and rigorous searches on the Internet 35 networks were identified. However, because not all of them could strictly be classified as scientific/intellectual diaspora networks, only twelve networks were chosen for analysis. After careful investigation of the information available on these networks, it is concluded that the diaspora option, although not without potential pitfalls, is indeed a viable solution to the brain drain.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-76). / This research report explores whether the rules, regulations and policies set by the City have formalised informal trade at Greenmarket Square. The sample included 14 informal traders from Greenmarket Square, a former "illegal" trader, three formal business owners and three City of Cape Town officials. Semi-structured interviews and the creation and implementation of the Informal/Formal Continuum were the tools used to obtain the necessary data for analysis. The findings suggest that the informal traders at Greenmarket Square are formalised, to some extent, by the City's rules, regulations and policies, but that some traders have been formalised more than others.

There is a growing presence of platform companies of the gig economy that are providing platform domestic work in South Africa, more specifically cleaning services. In the platform domestic work model, the provision of domestic service is now undertaken on an on-demand basis and is organized and structured virtually though an online platform or ‘app' provided and managed by private technology companies or platform companies. Platform companies in the sector are part of the wider shift towards the modernization of domestic work through commercialization by private, for-profit companies. Using an interpretivist case study approach, this study sought to understand domestic workers' motivations for becoming platform domestic workers, their experiences of the job and the ways in which the platform domestic work model is structured and executed. This study is based on in-depth qualitative interviews with ten platform domestic workers in Cape Town, and a document analysis of public interviews and published company materials about their platform company SweepSouth. Findings in this study were analysed using a labour process theory lens that is based on the permissive-power framework of platform work governance by Vallas and Schor (2020). This study finds that the commercialization of domestic work through the gig economy addresses unemployment in the domestic sector by allowing workers easy and reliable access to a regular supply of jobs through digital platforms. However, it does not overcome underemployment in the sector, which prompts workers to seek additional work outside the digital platform. Platform leakage, a phenomenon whereby platform workers and platform customers transact outside of the platform following their initial service interaction on the platform, was found to be a common occurrence among platform domestic workers in this case study. Platform leakage shows that domestic workers approach the platform as a networking tool to gain access to regular cleaning work with clients on and off the platform, and to also gain access to more favourable work opportunities once matched to desirable clients on the platform. This study also found that working on-demand as a platform domestic worker is a highly insecure form of work. Platform domestic workers experience intensified levels of commodification on the platform and a market despotism in the regulation of their labour effort. Managerial control over platform domestic workers' labor is exercised indirectly and from a distance, through the practice of management-by-customers and the algorithmic surveillance and monitoring of work and productivity on the platform. This affords the platform immensely consequential “permissive power” over workers and the platform domestic work labor process. This study argues that the gig economy and gig work as an externally driven force of modernization in the domestic sector leads to the severe commodification of domestic workers. There is a need for a worker-led and or negotiated gig economy transformation of the domestic sector that empowers platform domestic workers and guarantees their access to rights and labour protections as workers.

<p> This study investigated whether pet-friendly workplace policies, specifically dog-friendly policies, serve as a buffer against stress, as well as impact perceived organizational support (POS). Using a mediational questionnaire design, this study examined whether the availability of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to employee occupational stress levels and employee POS, with POS mediating the relationship between a pet-friendly policy and stress. One-hundred eighty-eight full-time employees recruited via crowdsourced and snowball sampling methods completed an online survey, including several measures of workplace attitudes. Results supported all hypotheses, revealing that the presence of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to lower stress, and POS fully mediated this relationship. Significant interactions were also found, indicating that this effect was stronger for dog owners than for employees without dogs. Ultimately, these findings provide support for the affordance of a pet-friendly policy in organizations, when appropriate. </p>