This study uses a practitioner research approach to focus on poorly performing schools in grades 10 –12 in the Samungu Ward, and looks at the value of using a systems thinking approach to address the problems of poor performance, as compared to the traditional, reductionist approach that is usually applied by the schools and the Department of Education in the implementation of its policies. The research moves from the premise that schools are complex learning organisations and that their problems should be addressed within the context of the systems thinking approach, in which the organisation is seen as a whole with emergent properties, a layered structure, and with processes which enable it to adapt in response to environmental pressures (Checkland, 1999:21). The research has used some aspects of the Soft Systems Methodology as a tool to process the information collected from the participants, because the Soft Systems Methodology “concentrates on learning from organizational and contextual ambiguity and appreciating socially conditioned problem situations with a view to changing relationships and making improvements.” (Jacobs 2004:140) The study has looked at the problem formulated during the discussion with the stakeholders and has juxtaposed the value of the use of Systems Thinking with that of the traditional approach, either in the intervention programmes or in the formulation of solutions. The research concludes with recommendations made in terms of the systems thinking approach, having discovered that the traditional approach fell short in yielding the desired outcome during the implementation process of the policies. From a practitioner research perspective, the study has also led to the implementation of some of its recommendations, which seem to be viable and has produced the desired outcome. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

This dissertation has posed and answered the question whether strategic conversation can be used as a tool for facilitating learning and change in organisations, within the context of the public sector. The study provided answers to the following sub-questions through the literature review:- * What is ‘strategy’ and what does it entail? * What are ‘strategic conversations’ and what do they entail? * What is ‘organisation learning’? * What is ‘organisational change’? * What factors create an environment conducive to the facilitation of learning in organisations by means of strategic conversation? * What factors create an environment conducive to the facilitation of change in organisations by means of strategic conversation? After the above questions had been answered, an interactive data collection and analysis was conducted. This process culminated in the findings of the study which made it possible to draw specific conclusions. The main conclusion of the study was that strategic conversation is a tool that can be used to facilitate learning and change in the Legislature as an example of a public sector organisation. The study concluded by highlighting key recommendations. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The purpose of this study was to explore and understand how policies and legislative frameworks impact on the planning for water provision in rural areas, and in particular, the Makosha village in the Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo Province. The research method used was qualitative, which is exploratory, descriptive and conceptual in nature. The sample selection method was purposive since it was targeting specific people. Data were collected from a focus group and individuals through in-depth interviews. The findings of the study for the focus group were presented under the following themes:- Problems related to water provision; problems related to rights; communication between the municipality and the community; and respondents’ envisaged recommendations related to problems of water supply. The findings for the individual interviews were also presented under the following themes: - The district municipality’s expression of its difficulties when providing water; and planning. The results of the study provide evidence that water provision in rural areas is still a challenge. Mopani District municipality does not have the capacity to provide water. Water sources in the Greater Giyani municipality are not able to provide water to the various villages due to inadequate infrastructure. In the Makosha village, technical challenges are a cause of the problem. Illegal connections, lack of public participation in water provisioning activities and lack of skills in water provision were also identified as a cause of the problem. It is noted that the use of the Water Service Development Plan (WSDP) and the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), as planning tools, were not properly implemented. The study recommends that planning for water provision should be in line with the various legislative frameworks put in place in the country. The two planning tools, i.e. Water Service Development Plan (WSDP) and Integrated Development Plan (IDP) must be used in planning for water provision in all municipalities which are either a water service authority (WSA) or a water service provider (WSP). The capacity of the municipality should be improved in terms of skilled human resources, financial resources and infrastructural development. The Water Services and local government sectors should create a culture of public participation in the activities of the municipality. Monitoring and Evaluation should form an integral part of project implementation. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The purpose of this study was to examine the claimed racism and lack of transformation in the advertising, marketing and communications industry based on the plenary hearings that were held in parliament in November 2001 to October 2004. The main aims of this dissertation included the exploration of national media communications industry paths in respect of the transformation agenda and the provision of systematic analysis for a smooth transition to real transformation. This study could therefore be classified as being located within the interpretive school of social science (Silverman, 1993), and a mixture of methodologies was appropriate. Using a multiple case study approach, this dissertation particularly focuses on the alleged resistance of this industry to transformation, which sparked the journalists, media owners, the government and non- government organisations to set their focus on how the communications industry conducted their business. The Department of Communications and the Government Communication and Information System (both determined to be catalysts and not meddlers) took the initiative to establish a task force to put together an Indaba of all interested parties and anyone who had even the most remote interest in the issue regarding the claims that the industry was still immersed in the old apartheid mentality. The South African media and communications industry is a world-class industry. In the context of a global industry of over $300 billion in which the USA accounts for 42%, Japan for 11%, UK for 4.5% and SA for 0.3%, SA has distinguished itself when it comes to measuring its creative product against its global peers. In the four major international advertising festivals, SA is invariably in the top 10 best performing countries in the world (Ikalafeng & Warsop, 2002). It was therefore imperative to investigate such claims because it appeared as if the industry was diverting from the national agenda of transformation. Data was collected from three sources (policy documents, expert interviews and industry case studies) using two main tools. These were the face-to-face interviews and web-data mining. The data collected assisted in drawing the conclusions and to form both inductive and deductive reasoning about the research subject. As this study locates the issue of transformation within the corporate social investment (CSI) framework the researcher also had to put the two (transformation and corporate citizenship) in context. By gathering available primary and secondary data this dissertation therefore tries to find answers empirically to explore the issue of perceived or actual lack of transformation in media and how these impact on the individual and organisations. The findings are consistent with other research showing that even though significant strides have been made there is still a long way to go before we can truly claim that the industry is truly representative of the South African demographics. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The study examines the challenges and critical success factors for effective incubation of ICT start-up firms. Information and communication technology (ICT) start-up firms are internationally acknowledged for their contribution to economic growth, improving the quality of life and job creation. The selected case site is the Innovation Hub which hosts a hi-tech incubator called Maxum. The Innovation Hub is an internationally accredited science park located in Tshwane, Pretoria which was launched by the Gauteng Provincial Government in year 2002. The Innovation Hub’s challenge is that its incubation programme is similar to those employed in the developed world. The off-the-shelve programme has not been customised for use within the South African socio-economic context. However, the Innovation Hub is a relatively high performing incubator which has met the prescribed precursors for success. The critical success factors include the hands-on professional services provided to entrepreneurs, value networks and government support. In order to improve the success rate of the incubation of ICT start-up firms, there is a need to adopt a long-term approach towards innovation support and to establish an incentive funding mechanism that fosters job creation by entrepreneurs. The objectives of the study were achieved. The researcher has extended Kumar & Kumar framework and added three critical success factors. The findings of the study cannot be generalised but can be replicated. These findings are of value to the incubator managers and also to the policy-makers when developing and enacting policies that promote incubation of ICT start-up firms. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The research focused on an alternative partnership as an intervention strategy with regard to addressing problematic learner behaviour within the broader system and takes into account that there are practitioners who are experts with specialized knowledge and pooling of such resources would lessen the burden on those currently involved. The current position is that when a learner is considered to be presenting with challenging behaviour, the policies and referral procedures of the Department of Education deem it necessary that the learner is referred to the Department of Social Development, which is mandated to provide statutory services to children up to age 18years. The research strategy focused on the challenges in the current partnership between the respective departments through the collection of data from educators and social workers. A review of policies and procedures that address problematic behaviour among children under the age of 18 years was also undertaken with the objective of identifying gaps and challenges posed in their implementation when addressing learner behaviour. While the research focused on the partnership between the Department of Social Development and the Department of Education in the management of learner behaviour, an alternative partnership was implemented as part of an „action research‟ project and which includes other Departments, Non Governmental Organizations and Community Based Organizations thereby adopting a holistic approach in addressing problematic learner behaviour. Critical Systems Thinking and its metamethodology of Critical Systems Practice, utilizing Soft Systems Methodology as the dominant method of data collection, influence it. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Educators from five schools and focus group discussions held with Social Services Practitioners to identify an effective partnership while engaging in continuous learning. An analysis of the responses revealed that the notion of a community of practice prevailing within the Department of Social Development can be extended to include other Social Workers who are experts in their respective fields of service, other professionals and Educators, all of whom have the common goal of uplifting humanity. The research, based on a core competence partnership approach, revealed that it is possible to implement the Integrated Service Delivery Model to the problem situation giving effect to its purposes, one of which is to develop and empower vulnerable groups in society, in this instance, learners at secondary schools as well as their parents thereby regenerating sound morals and values. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

Chapter 1 will cover the general background on training outside and inside Eskom. It will scrutinise the existing training programme taking into account the factors that inform this training. An assessment will also be made of the training strategy that the CED is already using. Chapter 2 will present an in-depth literature review that will serve as a guide in scrutinising training and development of the organisation and the staff. The literature in question covers coaching, mentoring, staff development, communication as a factor of training, induction, orientation, skills sharing, training evaluation, training objectives, job rotation, and skills knowledge. This literature will allow me to compare training in Eskom with that which is suggested from the literature review. This will be done in order to recommend solutions for training strategy problems in the CED. Studies touching on training have been undertaken in the past and this dissertation will also make use of them as references. Chapter 3 describes the research methodology used and the method of data collection. The three groups of staff that have been used to obtain data in the CED Camden Power Station, namely, discipline engineering managers, senior engineers and graduates in training, are also discussed. Chapter 4 presents the data analysis. All the data obtained from questionnaires and literature is analysed here. The analysis makes use of pie charts to analyse the data obtained from the respondents. Chapter 5 covers recommendations and conclusions. Recommendations are made based on responses to the research questionnaires. Research questionnaires that were used to obtain data are in the appendices. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

The study conducted was An Appreciative Inquiry approach into the post-merger Campbell Collections at UKZN. The study was meant to explore and discover the value of the Campbell Collections in the new merged institution, which is the University of KwaZulu- Natal. The study was appreciative in nature, and it took the complete interconnected elements that affect the system into consideration. Every year since 2004, when the University of Natal and the University of Durban Westville were officially declared as merged, there have been various changes that took place. The merger is one huge change project that the universities engaged in. Thus the concepts ‘merger’ and ‘change’ were used inter-changeably in the study. The background on the merger was brought into perspective, and an in-depth literature review on Appreciative Inquiry was conducted. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) introduced to the study a research perspective that was very different in focus from more traditional approaches. AI is a highly participative, systemwide approach that seeks to identify and enhance the life-giving forces. It concentrates on things we want to increase to add value, and it is a radical approach to understanding the social world. It concentrates on exploring ideas that people have about what is valuable in what they do and then tries to work out ways in which this can be built on. The emphasis is strong on appreciating the activities and responses of people, rather than focusing on their problems. Appreciative Inquiry is declared to be a strong pillar of research which looks to build a productive link between people and the substance of what they talk about as past and present capacities. In general AI studies are carried out through the use of 4-D Cycles. The 4-Ds represent: discovery; dream; design and destiny. This study was conducted through the application of only two Ds which are discovery and dream phases. The questions used in data gathering were crafted based on affirmative topics to meet the principles of AI. The interview technique was employed and carried out in the form of individual/one-one interviews as well as through focus groups. All Campbell Collections’ staff members were invited to participate in the study, and a few former staff members were also part of the study. The strategic decisions made about whom to invite to take part in a study were based on their experience, familiarity, and understanding of Campbell Collections and the merger. The study findings revealed the strengths and value of Campbell Collections as well as the impact of the merger, mainly in terms of decisions taken at the University’s executive level. One limitation of the study was that it was bound to Campbell Collections; therefore, the information generated could not be generalised and remained specific to the particular case studied. However, the same research can be studied further to evaluate the entire postmerger system of the University. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

This study aims to undertake a thematic investigation of core issues and concerns around peace, conflict and security for residents of three municipal wards of Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I provide a contextual analysis of the socio-economic and political circumstances prevailing in 3 municipal wards of Richmond, suggest core contextual issues to consider when designing a sustainable peace education programme for Richmond and finally, reflect on my application of Freirean methodologies in the study. While collecting the data I was project manager of a UKZN peace education programme in Richmond and my research participants were either directly involved in the programme, or peripherally, as NGO workers in complementary peace projects in the area. Data was gathered from minutes of project meetings, structured interviews, and collegial reflections on the project work, but predominantly from informal face-to-face, telephonic and email dialogues with participants during the course of regular project work. Both the theoretical and methodological approaches I adopt for this action research study are centrally framed by a Freirean pedagogy which emphasizes authentic dialogue, praxis, problem-solving education, the importance of social and personal transformation, collaborative inquiry and the production of knowledge that is collectively owned and shared. My findings, which I present in the form of discussions around the generative themes which emerged from the data, largely corroborate my documentary analysis of the context. Historical violence issues such as “unfinished business”, police and military complicity in the political violence, and the proliferation of weapons emerge as powerful generative themes, while displacement of people and families, trauma and fractured families (which also stem from the history of violence), emerge as serious current social challenges to peace and stability. Substance abuse and prostitution, poverty and unemployment, and lack of development also feature strongly as generative themes. One of the key findings of this study is the extent to which political partisanship, power struggles and patronage hamper the implementation of peace and development initiatives. While I suggest some specific contextual issues which need to be considered when designing an holistic peace education programme for Richmond, I recommend that significant stakeholders (including affected communities and their leaders, the university, various NGOs, religious groupings, organs of state, and traditional healers) unify and direct their respective capacities towards a common goal of peace and reconciliation in order to address these issues: creating a culture of healing through jointly organizing cultural events and peace rallies, helping to establish and support Peace Committees, training people in non-violent conflict resolution skills, providing counseling for survivors of political and domestic violence, supporting fractured and vulnerable families, providing better recreational spaces and job opportunities for the youth. Each of these initiatives would furthermore provide a useful opportunity for non-formal peace education. In addition, I suggest the university could partner with the provincial Department of Education to explore ways of integrating peace education throughout existing school curricula, and the establishment of learner peace clubs where learners could form peace committees to provide in-school peer mediation services. I conclude by reflecting on my application of Freirean methodologies. While I lament my failure to apprehend the extent to which my privileged background and my position as a member of the elite class prevented me from experiencing authentic dialogue with my primary participants, and how I consistently missed opportunities to dialogue and employ core Freirean pedagogical techniques such as problem-posing, and how I failed to get to the point of “re-presenting” to participants the generative themes as problems, and coinvestigating solutions to these problems, I manage to end on an optimistic note by recognizing the significance of the personal transformative learning I gained from the experience. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-123).