The demand for improved service delivery requires new approaches and attitudes from local government. One of the ways this can be achieved is to focus on continuous improvement by driving innovation and lessons learnt from the municipalities’ past successes and failures. For local government authorities to rethink service delivery, they need to find better ways to share information assets, business processes and staff expertise with their citizens and business partners. The lack of Knowledge Management (KM) and, therefore, a low level of information and knowledge transfer in the public services have been identified as two of the main contributors to poor service delivery. The implementation of knowledge transfer process is one of the factors that will impact on the improvement of service delivery. The main purpose of this research study was to investigate how knowledge management systems can be used to improve the knowledge transfer at Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM). The research study focused on knowledge transfer within the Municipality as the general area of research. The objective of this study was to produce critical success factors that would improve knowledge management systems and knowledge transfer among employees at BCMM, which would ultimately improve service delivery.

Thesis (PhD (School of Public Management and Planning ))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Most of the less developed countries are engaging in development projects to address the development needs of their citizens. Yet the record of success of these projects is not high. The ‘crisis in development planning’ has been under scrutiny for some time so that ways may be found of improving the development planning process. Development planning requires reliable quantities of information of an acceptable quality. In particular geo-spatial information should be used in development planning. However, there is evidence of poor usage of geo-spatial information in development planning. There is a need to review the development planning process, in particular the decision-making process, particularly where information and knowledge are used. A proposed new development planning process is presented, emphasizing the role of information and knowledge, as well as capacity and capacity-building in a community participative process. From evidence presented in this research it is concluded that there is a significant relationship between geo-spatial information and development planning. A Geo-spatial Information Decision-making Model is developed, emphasizing the relationship between geo-spatial information, spatial knowledge and the decision-making process within the environment of the development planning process. This is an information / knowledge-centric model, with the objective of optimizing rationality in the decision-making process...

Thesis (M.Com. (Development Theory and Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2016. / Many ICT projects continue to fail despite the use of established projects methods and techniques as the proper communication systems required for successful project outcomes have been lacking. It is generally believed that the adoption and diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) makes a contribution to a nation‟s economic and sustainable development. The explosion of social media is changing the way we communicate and therefore the processes involving project management information systems. Research shows that as technology usage lags, so does per capita income, skills development and productivity. Despite much global literature that relates to the failure of ICT projects, what is absent from the literature is knowledge of the relative contribution of different factors to ICT project success in the South African context. This study sought to address this absence. From a review of the literature on social media tools and knowledge sharing and reuse, four propositions relating the use of social media and adoption of certain knowledge management practices to the success of ICT projects were generated about the likely impact of these variables on ICT project performance. The research study was conducted over twenty-month effort. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained. The qualitative study based on a grounded theory analysis of ICT professionals, derived propositions that were tested empirically. Bivariate correlation analysis, multiple linear regressions and multiple hierarchical regression analyses were applied. Results indicated that knowledge management adoption mediates the relationship between social media usage and ICT project cost performance. Additionally project type was found to play a moderating role in the relationship between knowledge management and project performance. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

The purpose of the research was to investigate the knowledge-sharing practices of legal professionals at the Gauteng Justice Centres of the Legal Aid Board (LAB). The rationale for the study was based on the premise that since the LAB is a knowledge-intensive organization, it is well suited to the implementation of knowledge management. Any successful knowledge management implementation plan, is founded upon the knowledge-sharing culture of the organization, hence the motivation for the research. Self-administered questionnaires were used to survey the views of the legal professionals regarding their knowledge-sharing practices. Three hundred and twenty-five (325) questionnaires were distributed, of which 143 were returned. The data received was presented in the form of tables and figures. Percentages and content analysis was used to analyze the data collected. The findings from the survey revealed that while knowledge-sharing and knowledge management took place at the LAB, it was not guided by a strategy of the organization. The findings also revealed that the knowledge-sharing and knowledge management which did take place did so on an ad hoc basis and was woven into the daily activities of the respondents. The researcher drew conclusions based on the analysis of the data and in the context of related literature and proposed a way forward for the implementation of knowledge management and knowledge-sharing practices at the LAB. The researcher recommended that the LAB employ a knowledge officer, who should be responsible for driving the knowledge management process. Furthermore, the researcher recommended that knowledge sharing should be compulsory and be rewarded. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the business sector of the Information Society, information plays a crucial role in giving an enterprise a competitive advantage. Information as a resource in a small enterprise includes internally produced information, information obtained from the external environment as well as the knowledge residing in people's heads. However, this information and knowledge needs to be processed and recorded in physical formats for the purposes of decision-making and problem solving as it is part of the information resources of the small enterprise. This study explored the extent of information and knowledge management in developing communities' small enterprises in pursuit of survival and success. A deeper understanding of the business information needs, sources of information, frustrations and problems were investigated in order to establish and meet the specific needs of small enterprises in developing communities. More specifically, the objective of the study was to promote effective information organisation in small enterprises, with special reference to developing communities, as a means to support economic and social development of South Africa. For data gathering, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to owner/managers of 17 small enterprises in Kayamandi, a developing community in the Stellenbosch area. The purpose was to determine owner/managers's needs with regard to information organisation and to identify existing systems, tools and procedures that might be appropriate for this sector. The results indicated the absence or insufficient business education of owner/managers in Kayamandi, which has a damaging effect on their ability to acquire the information they need for their daily business work and operational activities. Moreover, the owner/managers do most of their information gathering using a variety of informal sources, and that information is not organised in information packages. This, in tum, affects their business development. Information should interact with tacit knowledge to improve the quality of work. In addition, the oral tradition should be promoted because it plays an important role in the daily running of the small enterprises in developing communities. In that sense, owner/managers should create an environment that can assist in knowledge sharing from various information sources. Maintaining such knowledge as information in retrieval based information systems could assist owner/managers in the overall functioning of their businesses because they are faced with the challenge of responding effectively to changing customer expectations. An affordable information system model is recommended and structured to fit owner/manager's work habits. The arrangement of information resources in the system can be used for categorisation of information either in a manual or electronic system. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die sakesektor van die Inligtingsamelewing speel inligting 'n kritieke rol om aan 'n onderneming 'n mededingende voorsprong te bied. Inligting as hulpbron in 'n klein onderneming sluit in intern-geproduseerde inligting, inligting wat uit die eksterne omgewing verkry word, asook die kennis wat in mense se koppe is. Dié inligting moet egter verwerk en vasgelê word in fisiese formate met die oog op besluitneming en probleemoplossing, aangesien dit deel is van die inligtingshulpbronne van die klein onderneming. Hierdie studie verken die omvang van inligtings- en kennisbestuur in ontwikkelende gemeenskappe se klein sake-ondernemings met die oog op oorlewing en sukses. 'n Dieper begrip is gesoek van die sake-inligtingsbehoeftes, bronne van inligting, frustrasies en probleme ten einde die spesifieke behoeftes van 'n klein onderneming te bepaal en daaraan te voldoen. Meer bepaald was die doel van die studie om effektiewe inligtingsorganisering in klein ondernemings te bevorder, met spesifieke verwysing na ontwikkelende gemeenskappe, as 'n manier om ekonomiese en sosiale ontwikkeling in Suid-Afrika te bevorder. Met die oog op dataversameling is 'n vraelys ontwikkel en versprei onder eienaarslbestuurders van 17 klein ondernemings in Kayamandi, 'n ontwikkelende gemeenskap in die Stellenbosch-gebied. Die doel was om eienaars/bestuurders se behoeftes met betrekking tot inligtingsorganisering te bepaal en stelsels, werktuie en prosedures te identifiseer wat vir hierdie sektor toepaslik sou wees. Die uitslae dui op die afwesigheid of ontoereikendheid van sake-opleiding onder die eienaars/bestuurders in Kayamandi, wat 'n skadelike uitwerking het op hul vermoë om die nodige inligting te bekom vir hul daaglikse sake-bedrywighede en operasionele aktiwiteite. Verder hanteer die eienaarslbestuurders grotendeels hul eie inligtingsversameling deur gebruik te maak van 'n verskeidenheid informele bronne, en hierdie inligting word nie in inligtingspakkette georganiseer nie. Dit beïnvloed op sy beurt hul sake-ontwikkeling. Inligting behoort in wisselwerking te wees met versweë kennis ten einde die kwaliteit van werk te verbeter. Daarby behoort die mondelinge tradisie bevorder te word, want dit speel 'n belangrike rol in die daaglikse bestuur van die klein sake-ondernemings in ontwikkelende gemeenskappe. In daardie opsig behoort eienaars/bestuurders 'n omgewing te skep wat kan help met kennisdeling vanuit verskeie inligtingsbronne. Die instandhouding van sulke kennis as inligting in herwinningsgebaseerde inligtingstelsels, sou eienaarslbestuurders kon help in die algehele funksionering van hulondernemings, want hulle staar die uitdaging in die gesig om effektief te reageer op veranderende klanteverwagtinge. 'n Bekostigbare inligtingstelselmodel word aanbeveel en gestruktureer om by eienaarslbestuurders se werksgewoontes te pas. Die rangskikking van inligtingsbronne in die stelsel kan gebruik word vir die kategorisering van inligting óf in 'n hand- óf in 'n elektroniese stelsel.

Submitted in full compliance with the requirements for the Degree of Master Management Sciences: Human Resource Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / This study focused on an investigation into talent management and employee retention in the higher education sector of South Africa- a case study of the Durban University of Technology. Since the end of apartheid, South African higher education has been through many challenges, including how to attract, managing and retain a new breed of academics who will be able to assist in the development of a new transformed society. According to a report presented by Higher Education South Africa (2009:7), higher education institutions are facing a real crisis regarding their ability to attract and retain academic staff of a suitable calibre. This has led to the steady loss of academic expertise and the loss of senior and more experienced academic staff, thereby setting higher education Institutions back in terms of research output (Mapesela and Strydom 2004: 2). The concern is that there are insufficient numbers, particularly amongst Black African academics in the existing academic and postgraduate pipelines to replace them (Higher Education South Africa 2011:1). Consequently, talent management is becoming a central management challenge as it becomes more difficult to retain key and competent academic staff (Barkhuizen Roodt and Schutte 2014: 141). If attention is not paid to this issue, in the years to come the quality of graduates and the research outputs of universities will be severely debilitated (Badat 2009:12). The main aim of this study was to investigate how talent management and employee retention is addressed at the Durban University of Technology strategically, as well as the processes and practices that underpin such strategies. The quantitative research design was adopted and data was collected through a self-administered structured questionnaire. This study was conducted at the Durban University of Technology with a sample of 65 academic staff, including senior academic staff like professors, lecturers and junior lecturers. The target population was grouped into different strata and the sample elements were selected from each group. Findings from the study revealed that talent management is not a strategic element and it is not fully implemented in the higher education sector. Recommendations were made on the review of talent management practices of academic staff in the higher education sector. This study established that there were some elements of talent management principles and practices in place at the University. However, these were often the traditional functions for example recruitment, selection, training and development. It was evident that there needed to be a strategic focus on the entire talent management process. There also needed to be a lot more holistic approach with greater attention being paid to the process from the time academic staff are recruited through to the process of the development of their careers. Retention is another facet that should be focused on, especially in respect of up and coming Black academics as this is in its infancy. / M

Today companies are competing on the basis of what they know, how fast they learn it, and how well they use what they learn. At the heart of this knowledge-based competition lie knowledge and even more important intelligence. Competitive Intelligence, as a discipline, is increasingly being viewed as a critical enabler to reach competitive advantage. Previous research, however, suggest that South African com¬panies showed a general lack of appropriate pro¬cesses or structures for competitive intelligence compared to their international counterparts. The research aims to demonstrate, through a case study, how the theoretical concepts associated with competitive intelligence can be translated into practice so as to ensure efficient and cost effective competitive intelligence practices and thus contribute to the future success of competitive intelligence programmes in South Africa. / Information Science / M. Inf.

Today companies are competing on the basis of what they know, how fast they learn it, and how well they use what they learn. At the heart of this knowledge-based competition lie knowledge and even more important intelligence. Competitive Intelligence, as a discipline, is increasingly being viewed as a critical enabler to reach competitive advantage. Previous research, however, suggest that South African com¬panies showed a general lack of appropriate pro¬cesses or structures for competitive intelligence compared to their international counterparts. The research aims to demonstrate, through a case study, how the theoretical concepts associated with competitive intelligence can be translated into practice so as to ensure efficient and cost effective competitive intelligence practices and thus contribute to the future success of competitive intelligence programmes in South Africa. / Information Science / M. Inf.

Changes and challenges that have occurred in the past two decades have forced a radical shift in the basic foundations of how business is conducted. Internal, as well as external forces have forced organisations to constantly monitor their surrounding environment in order to create an awareness of opportunities and threats to allow them to survive in their competitive environment. Organisations need to gather all the information at their disposal, and turn the raw data into intelligence through a process of analysis and an exercise of human judgement. By utilising the potential offered by information systems in the process of generating intelligence and creating a corporate knowledge base to be used in strategic decision-making will lead to competitive advantage and constant innovation. Strategic Intelligence has information as its foundation. This research proposes that through its ability to absorb sources of information, the synergy of Business Intelligence, Competitive Intelligence, and Knowledge Management combined to form Strategic Intelligence, will allow organisations to incorporate all of their information and intellectual capital into a single database or system which will meet the intelligence requirements of management. The purpose of this study is to identify the current use of Strategic Intelligence in the Long-term Insurance Industry in the South African environment, and through the use of a survey questioned the benefits or problems experienced by executive management who have not yet implemented and used Strategic Intelligence as an input to the Strategic Management process, and identified the perceived value Strategic Intelligence could add in the decision-making process. The research study shows that organisations have not yet fully embraced a model for a cooperative global internal corporate Strategic Intelligence System or Portal that will incorporate all aspects of Strategic Intelligence into a single, easily manageable resource for management’s strategic planning and decision-making process, even though it could enhance their ability to withstand the onslaught of global competitors and expand their business into new markets, protect their local market or identify potential merger or acquisition targets, and increase innovation within the organisations. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / This thesis integrates social capital and ‘reasoned action’ theory to construct a theoretical model for investigating the factors which predict an individual’s intention to share tacit knowledge in a University of Technology. It utilizes Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998: 243) definition and conception of social capital. They define social capital as “the sum of the actual and potential resources embedded within, available through, and derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit”. This study examined tacit knowledge sharing behaviour (i.e., knowledge that is shared between individuals) within the context of social capital. The specific type of tacit knowledge that is being studied relates to work experience ‘know-what’ and ‘know-how’. ‘Know-what’ refers to the basic mastery of a discipline that professionals achieve through education and training. ‘Know-how’ refers to procedural knowledge about a business process and the individual’s capability to perform an action with an understanding of why the action is appropriate in the particular context, (i.e., action skill or applied competence). Specifically, this study examines the relationship between the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital and the individual’s attitude towards the sharing of tacit knowledge. It further examines the relationship between the individual’s attitude towards tacit knowledge sharing, their perceived norms and perceived behavioural control over the sharing of tacit knowledge (mediating variables) and their intention to share tacit knowledge. It is a case study which consists of a mixed methods research design, incorporating nine research interviews and five hundred and fifty four self administered questionnaires. The theoretical model is examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) and as a result of the findings, the initial model is revised into a set of theoretical models, which are tested using SEM and found to be consistent with the data (i.e., a good fit). The direct, indirect and total effects of the identified predictor (social capital) and mediating variables (‘reasoned action’) on the individual’s intention to share tacit knowledge, in each model, is examined and the results are presented. Each dimension of social capital is found to be significant for predicting the criterion variable ‘attitude towards tacit knowledge sharing’. The individual’s attitude towards tacit knowledge sharing is found to be highly significant for predicting the individual’s intention to share tacit knowledge but the ‘reasoned action’ variables are found to be not as significant, particularly perceived behavioural control over the sharing of tacit knowledge. The results of this study enrich our collective understanding regarding social capital and tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. / Academy of Management, National Research Foundation, Durban University of Technology