Thesis (M.B.A.)-Business Studies Unit, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 xix, 147 leaves / There is a lack of commitment and participation in productivity initiatives at shop floor level in South Africa and companies are faced with competitive challenges of promoting innovativeness relating to productivity improvement amongst employees. South Africa’s labour productivity in the manufacturing sector is low when compared to Korea, United States of America, Taiwan, Japan, France and the United Kingdom. It has increasingly been recognised in industry that by introducing a carefully crafted incentive scheme, it may be possible to induce South African workers to work both harder and smarter and use existing technologies in new and better ways that enhance their productivity. The study proposes to evaluate to what extent gainsharing can be a solution. / M

Thesis (M.B.A.)-Business Studies Unit, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 xix, 147 leaves / There is a lack of commitment and participation in productivity initiatives at shop floor level in South Africa and companies are faced with competitive challenges of promoting innovativeness relating to productivity improvement amongst employees. South Africa’s labour productivity in the manufacturing sector is low when compared to Korea, United States of America, Taiwan, Japan, France and the United Kingdom. It has increasingly been recognised in industry that by introducing a carefully crafted incentive scheme, it may be possible to induce South African workers to work both harder and smarter and use existing technologies in new and better ways that enhance their productivity. The study proposes to evaluate to what extent gainsharing can be a solution.

In order to establish its status within the increasingly competitive global market South Africa needs to become a more active participant. In economic terms the current conjunction has often been characterised as a period of revitilised capital accumulation based on globalisation which in turn has helped bring about new forms ofproduction, distribution and consumption. Globalisation involves the integration of the economies of nation states through market mechanisms accompanied by increased transitional flexibility of capital, labour and new forms of technology. This insight of globalisation requires that we respond with greater competition and increased flexibility as we shift towards neo and post Fordist forms of work organisation rather than stick to outmoded practices of the past. One possible response to the requirement for greater labour flexibility lies in MultiSkilling, a system of skills flexibility recognised globally but still fairly new in South Africa. The current South Africa skills base is inadequate to meet global challenges and though change is becoming more so evident, existing education and training structures are doing little to ensure the higher degrees of skill flexibility required. This study focuses on Multi-Skilling and contextualise Multi-Skilling within the Automotive Manufacturing environment specifically where it has recently been implemented. This study shows that for Multi-Skilling to succeed, education, training and development of the workforce needs to be prioritised to uplift large numbers of employees who had been previously disadvantaged and limited to low levels of skill. Multi-Skilling will be shown to be of value and benefit to employer and employee alike as it offers opportunities for growth to particular sectors of employees, namely operatives who had previously been limited to routine and repetitive single focus tasks for years on end. lbis study shows that when the approach to Multi-Skilling involves the intention to encourage career development, improved grades and rates of pay for lower level employees, namely operatives through recognition of acquired skills, it has potential to assist the motor manufacturing industry achieve the world class manufacturing status provided that flexibility, quality and productivity of manning is accepted by the workforce as well. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Estimates of the value of manufacturing sector output enter into many economic indices, especially those measuring productivity. The South African Central Statistical Services has twice made substantial errors in the output series. Revisions to correct the first of these raised the growth rate in manufacturing over the period 1970-80 from 2,6 per cent per annum (compound) to 5 per cent. This episode is not common knowledge. After examining the conceptual difficulties involved in producing output stimates, a practical technique for detecting errors in the series , the Euler Consistency Test, is presented. Developed, refined, and then applied to the South African data, it predicted, retrospectively, the first set of errors (using only the information available at the time those errors were made), then detected another set of errors , not previously known to exist. The study records the process by which the CSS was made to concede this second error. Acknowledgement only came after protracted correspondence and an examination conducted by a special committee formed to investigate my complaints. With 1979 set equal to 100, the output level in 1988 was originally given as 113,8. After investigation, the CSS raised this to 126,1. The magnitude of this second error is equivalent to the omission of the total output of the two SASOL plants commissioned during the early 1980s. Estimates of productivity growth by the National Productivity Institute using these incorrect figures are shown to have created a misleading picture of the sector's performance, especially in the sensitive debate over the relationship between wage and productivity growth. An attempt is made to lay the groundwork of an analytical framework for comprehending (from a Marxist point of view) the activities of ideological state apparatusses like the NPI. A review of the literature on theory choice is conducted, and the necessarily political nature of this activity is explored. The relative impotence of I science' in the face of ideology in a conflict-ridden society is considered. The question of the significance of disagreements between economists is examined, and prospects for convergence and consensus on certain issues are weighed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-Unversity of Natal, 1994.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.