Thesis (MS en S)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Internationally a reconciliation of man and nature is taking place in environmental management, a movement in the direction of sustain ability. This movement also developed in South Africa, but against the background of the characteristics of the post-Apartheid phase in which the country is still at present. Various development programmes are undertaken in the name of sustainability, while in actual practice the full potential of existing environmental management tools for proactive, integrated environmental management and therefore the assurance of sustainability are not employed. In the time of rapid change in which South Africa is at present, it is important that an integrated, holistic, proactive, multi-disciplinary approach should be followed in environmental management. It is also important that the public should form part of the events, so that a learning process can take place in which shared visions and objectives for sustainable development can be identified. In the this study it was found that the model of the biosphere reserve offers a mechanism for planning based on public participation and the proactive demarcation of zones for the different functions of it. The concept of a biosphere reserve has various characteristics which give it the potential to offer a good framework for environmental management, if it can be executed in an integrated way. From the case study it is clear that there are various stumbling-blocks for the implementation of the biosphere reserve concept in South Africa. The country is therefore in the process of forming co-ordinating bodies on provincial as well as national level with the purpose of addressing several of these stumbling-blocks. Moss (2000) said the following at a seminar in this regard: "Rather than forming islands in a world increasingly affected by severe human impacts, they can become theatres for reconciling people and nature; they can bring knowledge of the past to the needs of the future". / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Internasionaal vind daar in omgewingsbestuur 'n versoening van die mens en natuur plaas, 'n beweging in die rigting van volhoubaarheid. Hierdie beweging het ook in Suid-Afrika posgevat, maar teen die agtergrond van die eienskappe van die post- Apartheidsfase waarin die land steeds is. Verskeie ontwikkelingsprogramme word in die naam van volhoubaarheid aangepak, terwyl daar in die praktyk nie van die volle potensiaal van die bestaande instrumente vir pro-aktiewe, geïntegreerde omgewingsbestuur en dus die versekering van volhoubaarheid gebruik gemaak word nie. In die tyd van vinnige verandering waarin Suid-Afrika tans is, is dit belangrik dat 'n geïntegreerde, holistiese, pro-aktiewe, multi-dissiplinêre benadering in omgewingsbestuur gevolg word. Verder is dit ook nodig dat die publiek deel van die gebeure sal wees sodat daar 'n leerproses kan plaasvind waarin gesamentlike visies en doelwitte vir volhoubare ontwikkeling geïdentifiseer kan word. In die hierdie studie is bevind dat die biosfeerreservaat-model 'n beplanningsmeganisme bied wat op publieke deelname en die pro-aktiewe afbakening van sones vir die verskillende funksies daarvan gebaseer is. Die biosfeerreservaatkonsep het verskeie eienskappe wat die potensiaal daaraan gee om 'n goeie raamwerk te bied vir omgewingsbestuur, indien dit geïntegreerd gedoen word. Uit die gevallestudie is dit egter duidelik dat daar verskeie struikelblokke vir die implementering van die biosfeerreservaat-konsep in Suid-Afrika is. Die land is steeds in die proses van vorming van koordineringsliggame op provinsiale en nasionale vlak ten einde hierdie struikelblokke aan te spreek. Moss (2000) het tydens 'n seminaar daaroor die volgende gesê: "Rather than forming islands in a world increasingly affected by severe human impacts, they can become theaters for reconciling people and nature; they can bring knowledge of the past to the needs of the future".

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the role that they play in the economy have been widely studied. SMEs are of particular interest because they are seen as greatly contributing to innovation, economic competitiveness, equity and redistribution, employment creation. Given the positive role that they are seen as playing in the economy, the growth and transformation of small enterprises into medium enterprises is welcomed. It is seen as increasing the benefits of the SMEs to the economy and society in general. The research sought to analyze and draw insights on the growth of enterprises from small to medium size. This issue has been widely studied but as late as 2007, reviewing the state of knowledge about growth in small businesses, Dobbs and Hamilton (2007, p.296) observed that despite the growing volume of applied research, our knowledge base still lacks a body of theory capable of explaining the growth of small businesses. This research therefore responds to this call by Dobbs and Hamilton (2007) for new theoretical perspectives and alternative types of research. It does so by focusing on the practical role that the entrepreneur plays in facilitating or hindering growth. It also responds to this call by using a methodological approach that has not been widely used in this field to date. In addition, not sufficient attention has been paid to the role of the entrepreneur as the dynamic element in the growth and transformation process, neither globally but even less so in the Southern African case in general but even less so in the South African construction setting specifically and in Gauteng in particular. The lack of sufficient attention to the role of the entrepreneur in facilitating or hindering the growth and transformation process is very pronounced in the context of the Southern Africa region. This thesis therefore seeks to address this gap. This thesis takes as its departure, the decisiveness of the entrepreneur in the business system. It places the entrepreneur at the centre of the enterprise and analyses the role that the entrepreneur plays in facilitating or hindering the growth of the enterprise from small to medium size. Freel (2000: p.321) observed that more significantly, the internal dynamics of firm growth have remained something of a 'black box'. Focusing on growth, this research seeks to identify the key drivers of why some firms grow and others do not. It seeks to unravel the "black box" of small enterprise growth in the context of South Africa. In this process, the research sought to focus on the role of the entrepreneur in facilitating or inhibiting growth. The main question that this research sought to answer is: Is the entrepreneur the main driver of small enterprise growth and graduation, and what role does he or she play and how does he or she facilitate the growth and graduation of small into medium enterprises in South Africa? Building on the main and sub research questions the research sought and successfully proved the following Propositions: Proposition One (P 1): The entrepreneur is the key driver of small enterprise growth and graduation in South Africa. Proposition Two (P 11): The entrepreneur is the main inhibitor of small enterprise growth and graduation in non- growth small enterprises in South Africa. Proposition Three (P 111): Macro - economic environmental factors are a key but not the decisive driver for growth and transformation of SMEs. Proposition Four (P 1 V): The growth and competitiveness of the industrial sub sector is a key but not decisive driver of growth and competitiveness of SMEs. This research was undertaken within the framework of qualitative research. It was undertaken in four phases, namely: Phase One: Sector and SME Selection Phase Two: Individual Interview Phase Three: Document Analysis Phase Four: Case Study Development focusing on the role of the Entrepreneur in the Growth Process The data analysis was driven by the model of the drivers of SME growth and transformation already outlined above. It sought to apportion qualitative weightings to key already identified drivers of growth and transformation: macro-economic environment, industry sub sector, access to finance, technology, and BDS and the entrepreneur's motivation and skills. The data analysis delved deeper into the last category of drivers, entrepreneur's motivation and skills. It dissected the role that the entrepreneur's skill played in the overall growth and transformation of the enterprise. The data gathered from the three methods, namely individual interviews, follow up telephonic interviews and the document analysis were analyzed to arrive at the role that the entrepreneur's skills played in the growth and transformation process. Qualitative analysis of the entrepreneur's responses was undertaken to apportion the weighting given to the key drivers of the growth and transformation process. The data analysis also sought to unravel the key constituents of the entrepreneur's skills. It identified what constitutes the entrepreneur's skills that are crucial to the growth and transformation process. Focus was on the technical, managerial or leadership aspects. Findings from the data analysis assist in the conclusions and recommendations. This study was limited to Gauteng province of South Africa. It is hoped that this province will represent the best construction macro-economic environment in South Africa. This study concentrated on the sectors that were selected from the sector selection process. The study interviewed entrepreneurs and enterprises that are exclusively in the selected sector. The study was limited to medium sized enterprises that grew out of small enterprises that were formal - registered, licensed and operating within the framework of the law. The medium enterprises that this study focused on were not subsidiaries of larger conglomerates. This study also did not focus on medium enterprises that were created as medium enterprises and did not grow in size. The study is based on three key assumptions: the growth in employment is a sufficient reflection of the growth process, changes in the structure of the business are a direct result of the growth in employment and what the entrepreneur does directly reflects itself in the growth or lack of growth in the enterprise. This study has the following limitations: the peculiarities of the selected sector construction, growth in employment may not capture the entirety of the growth process and the fact that the study was conducted in the period of the Soccer World Cup 2010 affected the perceptions of the owner managers to be more positive than could have been experienced outside of this unique event. This research has proven through the data gathered, presented and analyzed that the owner manager of the respondent enterprises is the fulcrum upon which all the major decisions in the enterprise revolve. It is the quality of these decisions that drive or hinder the growth process. The owner manager makes the key decisions regarding: - the role and nature of interaction with the government, - the structure of the enterprise and the roles and responsibilities of the staff within the enterprise, - the marketing strategy, - the quality and skill level of the staff, - the role information technology, the nature and type of communication within the enterprise and between the enterprise and its external stakeholders, - the culture of the enterprise, - the interaction between the business and family and, - the management of the book of accounts. It is the cumulative impact of these decisions that the owner manager makes that propel the enterprise to growth. This confirms that the entrepreneur is the main driver of enterprise growth and graduation from small to medium enterprise size through the decisions that he or she makes. This research has also identified that it is not only the decisions that the owner manager makes that matter. It is also the management style that the owner manager adopts that facilitates or hinders growth. The owner manager needs to adopt a participatory management style which empowers the staff, to facilitate enterprise growth and transformation. Based on the data gathered this research has dealt with the issue of the impact of the macroeconomic environment on the growth of the owner managed construction enterprises. Focusing on growth, this research has identified the key drivers of why some owner managed construction enterprises firms grow and others do not. The research has identified the macroeconomic environment as a key driver of the performance of the whole economy. A key element of the construction industry which positively benefitted the enterprises in the period 2002 - 2010 is the construction boom experienced because of the Soccer World Cup 2010. The construction bonanza was based on the ten new stadia to be build or renovated and the accompanying road infrastructure. This played a key factor in the positive growth experience by most of the firms in the industry. The South African economy performed well in the period 1994 - 2008. The good performance of the economy in the period 1994 - 2008, had a positive spillover effect on the construction sector and the enterprises in that sector. This proves that the macroeconomic environment is a key driver of growth and competitiveness. However, starting in 2008, the GEFC set in. The impact of the GEFC on the economy was very severe. The GDP declined dramatically and the inflation rose. This impacted the whole economy. Added to this was the impact of the newly introduced National Credit Act. The National Credit Act made access to credit especially for housing loans more difficult. Despite the combined negative consequences of the GEFC and the National Credit Act, the majority of the respondent enterprises continued to experience growth. One respondent enterprise suffered a dramatic decline in sales and growth in this period. This was more because of the 'wrong' marketing strategy it chose to respond to the overall down turn in the economy. Significantly, when the owner manager adjusted the marketing strategy, sales and growth have begun to pick up again. This proves that a positive macroeconomic environment is crucial as a driver of growth but is not a decisive factor because even when the macroeconomic environment turns negative, growth firms are able to maintain their growth path. So, in conclusion, the macroeconomic environment is a necessary but not sufficient condition for enterprise growth. The above conclusion on the macroeconomic environment is also true of the sector competitiveness and growth's impact on the growth of enterprises in that industrial sub sector. As the economy has grown, so has the construction industry. Within the period 2000 - 2008, the construction industry has also been performing well on the back of the good macro economic performance. As a result the RMB / BER and the FNB / BER Business Confidence Indexes have been on a gradual upward trend. The Respondent Enterprises in this research clearly benefited from this gradual upward trend in the economy in general and the construction industry in particular. The Respondent Enterprises experienced sustained growth in this period as well. This confirms that growth enterprises benefit from a growing and competitive industrial sub sector. However, the industrial sub sector took a negative turn on the back of the GEFC, the National Credit Act and the end of the 2010 Soccer World Cup construction boom in the pperiod 2008-2010. Despite this, the majority of the respondent enterprises continued to enjoy significant growth. This leads to the conclusion that the growth and competitiveness of the industrial sub sector is a key but not decisive driver of growth and competitiveness of SMEs. This research has therefore unraveled the "black box" of owner managed small construction enterprise growth of the South Africa context by analyzing the role of the macroeconomic environment, the growth and competitiveness of the industrial sub sector and the owner manager. In this process the research has focused on the role of the entrepreneur in facilitating or inhibiting growth and highlighted the entrepreneur's centrality to the growth process. Through the use of the case study method this research has been able to address the how and why of construction enterprises growth in Gauteng. This study has added value to the existing body of literature on enterprise growth by delving deeper into many already known factors driving enterprise growth. This research in most of the identified areas has been to analyze deeply and give greater insight into the dynamics of how growth actually happens within the enterprise through the role of the owner manager. Through this process this research has helped in opening Freel (2000)'s 'black box" of enterprise growth with particular reference to the construction sector in Gauteng, South Africa. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the growth and transformation of SMEs globally. But specifically it makes a contribution to the understanding of the growth and transformation of the construction SMEs in Gauteng province of South Africa where there is a dearth of such studies. In a country and province where the issues of increasing black participation in the economy is topical, this study will increase society's understanding of how construction SME growth and transformation can contribute to the realization of this goal. This study assists in creating awareness within society of how entrepreneurship development can play a major role in achieving the goal of equitable distribution of the region's wealth. It contributes to a realization of a society that is supportive of enterprise development and an enterprise culture. The study contributes to the debate of what policy measures can assist in the development of a construction entrepreneurial class. The BEE policies attempt to create an environment which facilitates the growth and graduation of SMEs. This study will assist in informing how these policies can best be shaped. This study contributes to a greater understanding of this phenomenon in the context of the construction sector in South Africa. By focusing on the qualltative approach this study seeks to bring a different angle to the largely quantitative approach which has dominated the study of SME growth thus far. / Business Management / D.B.L.

Despite decades of development efforts to combat desertification processes in southern Zimbabwe, a development deadlock occurs. Using the local knowledge systems as a basis, and making an effort to strategically facilitate the revival of their capacity for checks and balances as a development approach, endogenous development could become more realistic. The actor-oriented RAAKS.methodology offers relevant tools for a case study'in which an insight into the processes of innovation is obtained in order to confirm this. The Charurnbira case study shows that many local interfaces hinder development. Although the facilitation of platform processes could enhance endogenous development, the external environment provides a serious constraint. The method employed did ndt permit broad conclusions, but a deeper examination of recent experiences suggested that by giving local people a greater say in natural resource use, local knowledge could be utilized more effectively and better use could be made of traditional management structures. / Development Administration / M.A. (Development Administration)

The proposed study intends to establish how procedural the reward systems are being implemented in the Limpopo Department of Health and whether claims of biases are founded. The study is aimed to determine the system’s influence on the organisation’s ability to track poor performance and to manage it. It also provides a refreshed view of the current pitfalls in the implementation of the programme, and subsequently provides indications of remedial action to recover the purpose of the performance management and development system. The study furthermore assesses the impact of performance management practices and explored the best implementable practices for effective performance management systems and best service delivery by the Limpopo Department of Health. A qualitative research approach that included interviews with HR and line managers was utilised and a quantitative research approach that included questionnaires from ordinary employees was followed. The findings are that the system cannot be linked to employee output, but an obvious benefit is employee rewards. The literature review shows that there is a general poor understanding of performance management and development system in the public service. It (Literature review. Chapter 2) further establishes that there are several challenges that hinder the effective implementation of performance management and development system in the public service. Other findings of the study include that there is a challenge of biased ratings (subjective assessment), and a setting of unrealistic performance targets which are unrealisable by employees. The main finding of the study is that lack of training poses a serious challenge in implementing performance management and development systems. Many respondents indicated that employees need to be brought to awareness about the implementation of the model so that both management and employees can work towards the Department’s vision. Some suggested that management should realise our needs and arrange training for capacity building. Another employee agitated that “I am not involved in any performance management because this is used for financial gains. This is another corrupt activity?” The above-mentioned statements clearly show concerns of employees in their overall performance. / Public Administration / M.P.A.

Capes / Com a crescente preocupação em relação à questão ambiental, não somente a sociedade, como também as empresas vêm buscando um equilíbrio, de maneira que as questões econômicas, ambientais e sociais interajam harmoniosamente. Dentre as ferramentas utilizadas para esse fim, a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) vem se destacando, pois permite avaliar os impactos ambientais de determinado produto ou serviço oferecido. A ACV é composta de quatro fases: definição de objetivo e escopo; análise de inventário; avaliação de impactos; e, interpretação. Dentre essas fases, a análise de inventário, que consiste principalmente na coleta de dados, é a fase que mais consome tempo e talvez a de maior dificuldade em virtude de sua extensão. Por outro lado, existem dados disponibilizados em relatórios, sejam de agências ambientais, sejam de empresas que poderão, eventualmente, ser utilizados. Esse trabalho tem como objetivo, portanto, verificar a possibilidade de utilizar os dados desses relatórios ambientais para auxiliar a elaboração de ICVs. Para realizar essa verificação estabeleceram-se alguns critérios de corte e de qualidade que devem ser atendidos e, caso sejam, estabeleceu-se uma adequação para que possam ser utilizados em ICVs. Em seguida foram executados três estudos de casos em que são mostrados como foram feitas a verificação e adequação dos dados para poderem, enfim, serem utilizados em ICVs. Como resultado, pode-se afirmar que seguindo o procedimento adotado nesse trabalho é possível utilizar os dados desses relatórios ambientais. Identificou-se, porém, que a qualidade da maioria desses dados é baixa. / With the growing concern about the environmental issue, not only the society, but also companies are seeking a balance, so that the economic, environmental and social interact harmoniously. Among the tools used for this purpose, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been highlighted because it allows evaluating the environmental impacts of an offered product or service. The LCA consists of four phases: goal and scope definition; inventory analysis; impact assessment; and, interpretation. Among these phases, the inventory analysis, which mainly consists of data collection, is the most time-consuming and perhaps the most difficult phase because of its length. Moreover, environmental data are available in environmental reports, by environmental agencies, by companies that can possibly be used. This study aims to determine the possibility of using the data from these environmental reports to help the development of Life Cycle Inventories (LCIs). To perform this check were established some criteria for cutting and quality that must be met and, if so, adequate these data for being used in LCIs. Three case studies were performed in which the verification and the adequacy to be used in LCIs were carried out. As a result, it can be stated that by following the procedure adopted in this work is possible to use the data from these environmental reports. Moreover it was found that most of these data environmental reports do not meet the minimum required for use in LCIs.

Capes / Com a crescente preocupação em relação à questão ambiental, não somente a sociedade, como também as empresas vêm buscando um equilíbrio, de maneira que as questões econômicas, ambientais e sociais interajam harmoniosamente. Dentre as ferramentas utilizadas para esse fim, a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) vem se destacando, pois permite avaliar os impactos ambientais de determinado produto ou serviço oferecido. A ACV é composta de quatro fases: definição de objetivo e escopo; análise de inventário; avaliação de impactos; e, interpretação. Dentre essas fases, a análise de inventário, que consiste principalmente na coleta de dados, é a fase que mais consome tempo e talvez a de maior dificuldade em virtude de sua extensão. Por outro lado, existem dados disponibilizados em relatórios, sejam de agências ambientais, sejam de empresas que poderão, eventualmente, ser utilizados. Esse trabalho tem como objetivo, portanto, verificar a possibilidade de utilizar os dados desses relatórios ambientais para auxiliar a elaboração de ICVs. Para realizar essa verificação estabeleceram-se alguns critérios de corte e de qualidade que devem ser atendidos e, caso sejam, estabeleceu-se uma adequação para que possam ser utilizados em ICVs. Em seguida foram executados três estudos de casos em que são mostrados como foram feitas a verificação e adequação dos dados para poderem, enfim, serem utilizados em ICVs. Como resultado, pode-se afirmar que seguindo o procedimento adotado nesse trabalho é possível utilizar os dados desses relatórios ambientais. Identificou-se, porém, que a qualidade da maioria desses dados é baixa. / With the growing concern about the environmental issue, not only the society, but also companies are seeking a balance, so that the economic, environmental and social interact harmoniously. Among the tools used for this purpose, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been highlighted because it allows evaluating the environmental impacts of an offered product or service. The LCA consists of four phases: goal and scope definition; inventory analysis; impact assessment; and, interpretation. Among these phases, the inventory analysis, which mainly consists of data collection, is the most time-consuming and perhaps the most difficult phase because of its length. Moreover, environmental data are available in environmental reports, by environmental agencies, by companies that can possibly be used. This study aims to determine the possibility of using the data from these environmental reports to help the development of Life Cycle Inventories (LCIs). To perform this check were established some criteria for cutting and quality that must be met and, if so, adequate these data for being used in LCIs. Three case studies were performed in which the verification and the adequacy to be used in LCIs were carried out. As a result, it can be stated that by following the procedure adopted in this work is possible to use the data from these environmental reports. Moreover it was found that most of these data environmental reports do not meet the minimum required for use in LCIs.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Die Anwendung agiler Arbeitsweisen rückt zunehmend in den Interessensfokus unterschiedlicher Bereiche in produzierenden Unternehmen. Eine erhöhte Reaktionsfähigkeit auf unvorhergesehene Veränderungen im Kontext, Steigerung der Transparenz bezüglich Arbeitsinhalt und Auslastung im Entwicklerteam sowie das erschaffen und Vorantreiben einer übergeordneten Teamvision und damit verbundene Performancesteigerungen sind nur einige der positiven Effekte, die hierdurch erzielt werden sollen. Da die genutzten Ansätze jedoch meist auf Best Practices aus der Branche der Softwareentwicklung resultieren, stellen sie die Bereiche in produzierenden Unternehmen vor neue Herausforderungen, wie den Umgang mit Normen und Standards im agilen Arbeiten, Datenschutz bei der Erfassung von Arbeitsaufwänden und den Umgang mit physischen Produkteigenschaften. Damit die Einführung von Agilität in die Abläufe produzierender Unternehmen nachhaltig erfolgt, wurde eine Methodik entwickelt, mittels derer ein individueller Prozess bestehend aus agilen und strukturierenden Elementen abgeleitet werden kann. Im vorliegenden Beitrag soll diese Methodik hinsichtlich ihrer Zweckmäßigkeit untersucht werden, um daraus in zukünftigen Forschungsarbeiten eine Weiterentwicklung dieser Methodik abzuleiten. Dies erfolgt in einem realen Anwendungsfall – dem Änderungsmanagement eines deutschen OEMs in der Automobilindustrie. Hierzu wurde der hier existierende Prozess beobachtet und erfasst, Interviews mit betroffenen Mitarbeitern geführt und Potentiale für eine Prozessverbesserung durch die Integration agiler Elemente definiert. Diese wurden im Anschluss ebenfalls im Zuge der Methodik zur Entwicklung der individuellen agilen Prozesslösung durch eine zum Anwendungsfall passende Gesamtmethode realisiert. Die Evaluation des Vorgehens hat gezeigt, dass der Anspruch der Individualität der entwickelten Gesamtmethode gegeben ist, jedoch noch kleinere Verbesserungspotentiale bestehen.

Management of teachers is one of the important tasks of principals at school, aside from their primary goal of ensuring that teaching and learning happens effectively at school, is their potential to manage two types of teachers present at school, unionised and non-unionised. It is well-established that principals have a mammoth task of identifying and implementing the correct strategies to manage these teachers. A review of the management styles in use today shows that the new management strategies are required to solve the problems encountered by principals in managing these teachers. Several methods of implementing these new strategies are described. These methods include creating trust between teachers and principals through fruitful communication and participation in decision-making. The application of the theory of emotional intelligence is described in detail. The theory of emotional intelligence denotes that the accomplishment in the management of human resources depends largely on the emotions, behaviours, and attitudes of managers. While past studies have detailed the effectiveness of the management styles used by principals to manage teachers, these studies have been confined to the management of teachers collectively. The present study distinguishes between teachers who are unionised and non-unionised and the individual, focus group interview and observation are the primary sources of data used in the study. The findings are intended to solve challenges associated with the implementation of the management strategies of principals in managing unionised and no-unionised teachers to attain improved quality teaching and learning in the context of South African secondary schools. The results show that developing trust between principals and teachers requires efforts from both parties. They also show that the main complaint about the management of teachers is unequal treatment of teachers and a lack of trust between teachers and principals in schools. The analysis of individual interviews, focus-group interviews and observations revealed that the establishment of strategies that address both types of teachers found at schools would be a significant step to take towards a positive management of teachers. It is proposed that the Department of Basic Education creates an environment where both teachers and managers’ personal and professional development is upskilled to expand their capabilities to deal with relational problems and challenges. / Educational Management and Leadership / Ph. D. (Education (Education Management))

The objective of the dissertation thesis are to conduct the first research survey in continuity of pre-primary and primary education from the perspective of management in integrated kindergartens and primary schools in the Czech Republic. It studies school heads' opinions on continuity of pre-primary and primary education in the context of curricular reform an well as how they put this continuity in practice of their schools. The topic of dissertation thesis is defined by school management and curricular reform. The theoretical part focuses on the triad of the following concepts: management, continuity and curricular reform. The concepts are linked to the environment of integrated pre-primary and primary schools. At the same time, the head teacher's role in the specific conditions of this type of school is reflected. The theoretical framework builds on theories from management and pedagogy. The empirical part focuses in more detail on exploring the role of one of the actors in ensuring continuity of pre-primary and primary education, the head of the school. Qualitative research is conducted as a descriptive case study reflecting the views of a sample of heads of schools. It presents their views of managerial activities and competences, as well as their needs related to ensuring continuity of...