Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / Research suggests that parents feeding practices play a critical role in the development of children tastes, eating habits, nutrition and eventual weight status. Thus if parental feeding practices play such a critical role, the question arises as to whether there is a difference in parental feeding practices that determine different developments in children nutritional habits. Furthermore, feeding practices are possibly based on the nutritional knowledge of parents. The aim of this study was to assess the Body Mass Index (BMI), nutritional knowledge and behaviour of primary care-givers. This study followed the quantitative research paradigm. A sample of 147 staff members, who were primary care- givers of children at a University in the Western Cape was self-selected to participate in the study. Only primary care-givers of children were invited to participate. The primary care-givers were asked to complete two online questionnaires, the Comprehensive Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFPQ) developed by Musher-E-Eisenman and Holub (2007), and the General Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ) for adults. Data analysis was done by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS17). Results indicated that the majority of participants were overweight (46% of the participants). Primary care-givers across all body mass index groups did not lack nutritional knowledge but variations in behaviour were found with regard to feeding practices. However similarities were found in the BMI categories in the areas of teaching about nutrition, pressure to eat at meal times and encouraging balance and variety. / South Africa

The need for this research stemmed from the fact that in today’s new world of work, organisations and markets are demanding new skill sets, innovative approaches to delivery and increasingly higher performance levels. The impacts of globalisation, technology and the demand for knowledge have brought a new era in economies and organisations, resulting in new career realities. The purpose and direction of a knowledge worker’s career is no longer confined to a single employer boundary. Therein lies the opportunity for individuals to understand, manage and leverage this dynamic context for career progression and growth through the accumulation and implementation of relevant and valued career capital. This research investigated the components of career capital, the process of formation, differentiating features and their interrelationship for knowledge workers. A conceptual de jure model of career capital (Figure 6) was created from the concepts extracted from the literature review. This model was intentionally utilised as a discussion framework in the qualitative in-depth interview stage conducted with 18 respondents across the knowledge workers, human resource practitioners and recruitment specialist samples. The outcome allowed for the validation and enhancement of the de jure model. The de facto model of career capital (Figure 8) emerged from the research findings and was found to represent an integrated view of the components of career capital that are recognised in the new economy, thereby validating the literature review and contributing new insight. The outcome of this research could facilitate knowledge workers in enhancing their career capital stature in the market, making them more competitive and valued as employees. In addition, the research could provide an insightful platform for management in overseeing the new breed of workers in knowledge-based economy. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The core assets of reinsurance organisations lie in the knowledge, skills and experience of knowledge workers. The source of competitive advantage within the reinsurance industry lies in managers’ ability to harness and foster discipline, willingness and innovation amongst knowledge workers. Innovation is a key challenge in knowledge intensive firms and it is therefore critical that executives find ways of encouraging an environment that is conducive to sharing ideas, building trust and motivating superior performance. The loyalty and retention of knowledge workers have become key managerial challenges.This research is intended to provide an insight into the development and implications of the psychological contract amongst knowledge workers within the reinsurance industry in South Africa. In understanding the nature of the psychological contract, it is intended that employers will be able to identify how and when psychological violations take place, the extent to which they impact productivity and the implications for knowledge workers’ propensity for departure. The research will provide an insight into the alignment of knowledge worker values and perceived organisational and industry values. Furthermore, this research will provide the basis for establishing a model for remedial and restorative contracting with a view to redefining new psychological contracts in order to achieve optimal performance from knowledge workers within our industry. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Competitive advantage for any organisation relies on the output of knowledge workers. The more motivated the knowledge worker the more likely they are to perform. This research explores the links between motivation and performance and creates a better understanding of which motivational factors would fall within the ambit of the psychological contract. The secondary portion of the research was to clarify if different types of knowledge workers performed in response to motivation in the same way. The research was done through in-depth interviews of knowledge workers in the 4 defined clusters. A total of 26 interviews were conducted. A questionnaire using open ended questions was used to guide the interview. The interviews were recorded, and the key themes in the results were captured, transformed and analysed, after which a ranking process was done on the results. The findings were analysed from various perspectives. The research found that there are differences in the groups studied from a number of perspectives, such as; motivation and performance scores, the motivation factors, the factors that act against performance, the organisational and individual duties as would be ‘held’ in the psychological contract. The research found that most of the factors that motivate are in the psychological contract. The findings strongly recommend that management needs to fully understand and manage the unique motivators of each individual knowledge worker in order to obtain maximum performance and hence competitive advantage. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Globalisation has produced the knowledge economy, which is characterised by a world of work that requires and is dependent on intellectual capital or knowledge workers. Knowledge workers differ from their predecessors who populated the world of work during the industrialisation era. Knowledge workers are highly educated, flexible, technology literate individuals who contribute to increased productivity through life-long learning and innovation, teamwork and the establishment of strong inter-personal networks.South Africa’s economy is increasingly becoming knowledge-oriented and therefore dependent on skilled labour and knowledge workers. However, a skills shortage is said to exist in many sectors, impeding stronger and more sustainable economic growth. Therefore, this research sought to determine whether the future knowledge economy labour market entrants, that is, South African undergraduates possess the characteristics required of knowledge workers, specifically with regard to soft skills.The research was conducted with the aid of a survey administered to undergraduate students in the relevant faculties. The results derived from the research show that South African undergraduates possess many of the soft skills required of knowledge workers. However, they have some shortcomings that are related to past socialisation structures. These can, in some instances be overcome through adequate education systems, particularly at tertiary level. Nonetheless, the root of the problem still lies at the primary and secondary education levels, which is where the overhaul is required. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

For a company operating in a knowledge industry, the management of tacit knowledge is a critical factor for sustainable success. The objectives of this research were to establish the level of management understanding of and focus on the sharing of tacit knowledge within one South African organisation in a knowledge industry, the extent to which tacit knowledge was being shared in the organisation, the levels of motivation to share that existed among the people at the organisation, and the impact of the internal structures within the organisation on the sharing of its tacit knowledge. The research involved a case study with Glenrand MIB Limited as the subject, using a triangulation method to reduce perceived researcher bias.The research findings indicated an intuitive understanding of the importance of sharing the tacit knowledge held by the people within the organisation, but very little focus on making it happen effectively. Tacit knowledge was only being shared in pockets within the organisation, and this was largely attributable to a lack of internal structures aimed at fostering motivation to share, and fostering the sharing of tacit knowledge. The physical structure housing the organisation’s head office was also found to act to inhibit the sharing of tacit knowledge within it. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Engineering is believed to be one of the oldest professions and it is estimated that engineering existed 10 000 centuries B.C (Before Christ). Engineering plays an important role in making the environment safer, making daily lives more convenient and also contributes to countries’ economic developments. Engineering has advanced in such a way that it is difficult to survive without some kind of engineering these days. The same as engineering, knowledge management also dates back to biblical times just after creation. Knowledge management is not only applied in organisations, but also within communities, societies, and families. Engineering organisations rely the most on past discoveries and product information (knowledge) in order to solve engineering related problems. Due to globalisation of markets and products, shortage of skills and technological advancement, knowledge has become one of the main competitive factors of many organisations. Therefore engineering organisations need to have knowledge management strategies if they are to stay competitive. Different engineering organisations might have similar knowledge management strategies or different knowledge management strategies depending on organisational size, structure and culture and service offered or product offered. Against this background, this study sought to discover what knowledge management strategies are currently implemented in engineering organisations and recommend on strategies that can be implemented and how they can be implemented. The study is based on a review of literature on engineering, engineering organisations, knowledge and knowledge management and a structured questionnaire on knowledge management in engineering organisations. The population for the study was all engineering organisation employees and the engineering organisations in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were sampled for the survey.

The twenty-first century is an era where corporate and small businesses alike have to give way to what has been termed the ‘knowledge era’. Knowledge management is regarded as the most important factor in the mainstream of the business fraternity in ensuring sustainability within organisations. Because knowledge management is an integral part of managerial activity in a number of organisations, the broader economic environment and social life today, it is imperative that organisations must be knowledge-driven. Equally important are the associated knowledge management implementation strategies. Based on the literature study and the survey of the branch managerial teams in FNB branches in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan in Port Elizabeth, it was concluded that FNB partly applied specified concepts to embrace an innovation culture in the organisation. The concepts specified included innovative competency, leadership initiative, customer engagement, staff engagement and personal desire, at both individual and FNB level. In order to attain the objective of the empirical study, survey results were evaluated in order to establish whether the above mentioned concepts were applied. A sample of fifty five (55) managerial members from fifteen (15) branches were surveyed. The responses obtained from the respondents were analysed and compared with the matters raised in the literature review. Leadership initiative appeared to be the most important critical factor in driving knowledge management culture in the organisation. However, it was established that personal desire, both at individual and FNB level, were misaligned to knowledge management. This implied that the organisation was not yielding full benefits from their employees in ensuring that management optimise on the employees’ skills, qualifications and expertise. Conclusions, research gaps and recommendations were formulated for the FNB’s promotion of innovative competency, leadership initiative, customer engagement, staff engagement and personal desire, both at individual and FNB levels. The empirical results were satisfactory and informative. Leadership initiative appeared to be the most critical factor in driving knowledge management culture in the organisation.

In this study the survey was conducted at an automotive component manufacturer to examine the theory about what influence knowledge sharing within an organisation. The evaluation would assist in improving knowledge sharing by indicating which strategies are appropriate for management to enhance knowledge sharing within the organisation. Organisations lose expertise and knowledge because of employee movements and old employees that have retired. The literature review was done as a guidance to test what influences employees to share their knowledge. Based on the survey and literature study that was conducted it was concluded that by making resources available, employee personality traits, giving employee recognition, encouraging better social environment within the organisation and job design that would make it easy for knowledge to flow amongst employees that will elevate knowledge sharing within the organisation. The conclusion and recommendation were formulated for management at the end of the study.

Integrating Knowledge Management maturity with associated Continuous Improvement efforts in order to remain competitive, is absent in most Operational Excellence initiatives. Furthermore, the intertwined relationship of Continuous Improvement and work development becomes a crucial focus area for organisations that wish to establish a continuously evolving management system consisting of core values, methodologies and tools with the aim of creating more satisfied customers with less resources. The old industrial paradigm that focused on labour, capital, materials, and energy viewed technology and knowledge as external influences on production. This framework is now being challenged and a new trend is emerging. This trend seeks to transform the old industrial system to that of a knowledge-based which one can lead to innovation and hence economic advantage. Continuous Improvement as a concept has roots in many other fields, including social-technical system design, human relations progress and the discussion surrounding ‘lean manufacturing’. This study will focus on Continuous Improvement as a noun, referring to on the outcome of the process of a stream of emergent innovations. The primary objective of the study is to create a model that will present an organisation with a three-layer knowledge reference process grid, which will align and depict the surrounding business knowledge functions, knowledge-enabling processes and knowledge-manipulating processes aiming for enabling Operational Excellence. This study promotes the theory that the cognitive domain layer, functional domain layer and resources layer of an organisation can be increasingly stimulated by focusing effort through Continuous Improvement routines towards the associated inter-organisational knowledge processes sustaining Operational Excellence. The proposed model is structured to review, compare, evaluate and integrate existing Knowledge Management practices of ii an organisation within the context of clear definitions for important concepts of Knowledge Management. Additionally the model provides an assessment instrument for evaluating the organisation’s Knowledge Management maturity level. The study concerns itself with two concepts towards business value creation which will lead to increased Operational Excellence. Firstly, the maturity of Knowledge Management processes, and secondly the level of the organisation wide process of focused and continuous incremental improvement namely, Continuous Improvement. A case study with PriceWaterhouseCoopers was concluded and an on-line Internet survey was used with a stratified sample from knowledge workers to test the factors from both a Knowledge Management and Continuous Improvement perspective. These factors were verified by means of a hypotheses network, describing in a structured and descriptive way, the importance of Knowledge Management and Continuous Improvement collectively on sustainable Operational Excellence as an integral development of Operational Excellence. With respect to Knowledge Management practices, the hypothesis network proposed at least three domains, which of knowledge generation, knowledge mobilisation and knowledge application as important input to the proposed process grid of knowledge development and associated layer elements. From a Continuous Improvement principles perspective it is apparent that elements from Continuous Improvement routines and Continuous Improvement characteristics are associated with the organisation Continuous Improvement ability. These findings are also a result of the deliberate design of processes, tools, structures and environments with the intent to increase, renew, share or improve the use of knowledge represented in any of the three elements for structural, human and social of intellectual capital. The proposed model combines the framework of the Boyd cycle as it is conceptualized as self-assessment activities, for it becomes possible to use them as basis of a self-assessment with sense making navigational properties across iii the proposed knowledge process grid for the model. The model will facilitate the concept of a three-layer knowledge reference process grid, which represents the main components of the knowledge processes within the cognitive domain layer, functional layer and resources layer of an organisation. The proposed model will deliver a single value that co-exists with the Knowledge Management maturity level and Continuous Improvement readiness index rating attained. Logical relationships to dynamic, evolving and flexible enabling Knowledge Management practices for each layer of the proposed three-layer knowledge reference process grid will be integrated as output of the proposed model. The research has limitations as Knowledge Management practices were measured using a subjective norm scale. It is suggested that a more comprehensive measure of Knowledge Management maturity processes may be needed to represent this construct. The complexity of the proposed model and the number of associated variables included in the results need further confirmation using possible multiple samples and additional measures of Knowledge Management maturity and Continuous Improvement readiness elements. The benefit of the proposed model as a practical Operational Excellence tool is to overcome the perceived gap of implementing Knowledge Management practices and Continuous Improvement principles collectively to deliver and sustain Operational Excellence.