The Council for Geoscience (CGS) is one of the National Science Councils of South Africa and is the legal successor to the Geological Survey of South Africa. The total staff complements numbered 291 as of March 2006, consisting of four executive managers, 18 unit managers, 124 professionals, 84 technicians, 41 administrative personnel, 17 unskilled labourers 3 skilled workers. The strength of the CGS is manifested in its core of competent geoscience and technical staff. The primary business of the CGS is science; therefore scientists, apart from human resources, finance and procurement, are appointed to senior positions in the organisation. The criteria for scientists to qualify for managerial positions are either a masters or doctorate degree in science. Although a sound knowledge of science is needed for these positions, the necessary managerial and leadership characteristics have never played a significant role in the appointment of unit leaders. Therefore, it is the aim of this study to determine the leadership style of the scientists that were appointed as unit leaders. Theories on leadership provide for a variety of potential explanations regarding effective leadership, including personal attributes, contingencies, and the role of subordinates. By analysing managerial leadership, it becomes important to consider and recognise the complex interplay among the structure of organisational life, patterns of behaviour, varied beliefs, values, interests, and initiatives of the individuals who create and work within this structure. Research on organisational leadership has grown systematically with the advance of industrialisation. Large work organisations are associated with bureaucratic and technological complexity that affects the demand for managers and the need for coordination and leadership roles. Leadership theories have evolved over time, becoming more sophisticated and even more applicable for their “innovation”. Different perspectives have featured throughout history. Theories of leadership are primarily analytical, directed at better understanding of the leadership process and the variations among them. The most up- to- date concept within leadership is the theory of transformational and transactional leadership. Transformational leadership comprises five factors — (1) idealised influence: attributed; (2) idealised influence: behaviour; (3) inspirational motivation; (4) intellectual simulation; and (5) individualised consideration — of which the first two factors refer to the concern, power, personal morality, and sacrifice of the leader, as well as his or her ability to instil collective pride in the group’s mission. The third factor relates to motivating the group to accomplish missions through challenging goals and by indicating certainty in areas of uncertainty, which, in turn, arouse individual and team spirit. The fourth factor refers to the leaders’ ability to relate at an individual level to the follower and the fifth factor to intellectual stimulation. Transactional leadership display behaviours associated with constructive and corrective transactions, and comprises three factors— (1) contingent reward leadership; (2) management-by-exception: active; and (3) management-by-exception: passive — of which relates to leaders who involve themselves only when things go wrong, i.e. the constructive style. Their interventions are associated with failure and punishment. The corrective style is labelled management-by-expectation: active, which refers to the closer involvement in monitoring the subordinates’ actions. Contingent reward leadership relates to rewards for work performance. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) has become a standard instrument for assessing a variety of transformational, transactional and non-leadership scales and was used to assess the leadership style of scientists of the Council for Geoscience. The instrument measures a broad range of leadership types: passive leaders, leaders who give contingent rewards to subordinates and leaders who transform their subordinates into leaders themselves. The objectives of the study were to (1) determine the leadership style of scientists in positions of unit leaders; (2) how their supervisors, peers and subordinates perceive their leadership style; and (3) whether scientists as unit leaders, perceive their own leadership style differently than do their supervisors, peers and subordinates. The MLQ instrument contains 45 items that identify and measure key leadership and effectiveness behaviours. A five point rating scale (0: 1: 2: 3: 4) is used for rating the frequency of observed leader behaviour where 0=not at all, and 4=frequently, if not always. The average scores of the MLQ questionnaire for the Council for Geoscience ranged from 2 to 3 on the transformational leadership factors. Participants in general perceive scientists in unit leader positions more as transformational leaders as apposed to transactional leaders. The 2.5 rating on transformational leadership indicates that the unit leaders are often influential in the awareness of what is important. The ratings of scientists as unit leaders were similar to the ratings of their peers and 'others'. Supervisors and subordinates, however, rated them lower. Transactional leadership ratings for the majority of leaders were between 2.0–3.0 on CR, and MBEA and 1.0–2.0 on MBEP. The ratings obtained, indicate that unit leaders would be seen as people wwho prefer to monitor and take action before failures occur. Supervisors, peers and others rated the scientists as unit leaders higher on transactional leadership, except for subordinates who rated them lower. Leaders are rated 0–1 on laissez-faire leadership style. Supervisors, peers and subordinates rated scientists as unit leaders higher on laissez-faire leadership style than the rating they gave themselves (self-rating). The low rating on the laissez-faire leadership style confirms that leaders do get involved in important issues and have a need to be involved in the decision-making process. Scientists as unit leaders, however, perceive themselves to be more involved than do supervisors and subordinates. Attribution ratings (extra-effort, effectiveness and satisfaction) varied from 2.0–3.0. For attribution dimensions, supervisors and subordinates rated the scientists as unit leaders lower on extra-effort, effectiveness and satisfaction, whereas peers rated them higher. The satisfaction dimension indicates that unit leaders often work with others in a satisfactory way. For attribution dimensions, supervisors and subordinates rated the scientists as unit leaders lower on extra-effort, effectiveness and satisfaction, whereas peers rated them higher. Supervisors are less satisfied with the leaders than subordinates are. The results obtained from the MLQ questionnaire for the leadership style of scientists in the Council for Geoscience are slightly different from those of United States companies. The Council for Geoscience, compared with United States (US) companies, rated lower on both transformational leadership and attribution dimensions (extra-effort, effectiveness and satisfaction) and higher on both transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles. This seems to indicate that the Council for Geoscience tends to follow a less inspirational and influential leadership style with more objective setting and less satisfying methods of leadership, compared with US companies. Transformational leadership development is recommended for the scientists as unit leaders of the Council for Geoscience. It is important to note that false transformational leaders (seemingly transformational leaders with a self-absorbed tendency) should be distinguished from the genuine ones. Optimism and employee frustration can be used in future surveys by the Council for Geoscience to determine the progress of transformational leadership development in the organisation. The leadership of an organisation influences the organisational culture. Upper management is responsible for the implementation of the necessary changes to promote transformational leadership. The culture of an organisation is a reflection of upper management. If upper management does not realise the importance of transformational leadership, the chances for the rest of the organisation to promote a transformational leadership culture in the organisation are not good. One recommendation to consider is for the Council for Geoscience to employ people with adequate managerial skills in unit leader positions. These skills would include leadership traits, operational skills, financial skills, etc. A decision needs to be taken by the Council for Geoscience that when scientists are employed as unit leaders or as members of the upper management cadre, they must have adequate managerial and leadership skills, and all parties have to agree with the competency and be satisfied with the management styles. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / M.B.L.

The research question and phenomenon that is addressed by this research study is: “What is the perceived importance and level of acceptance of ERM in the South African business environment, and what is the perceived value of ERM in South African organisations?” The definition of ERM utilised throughout this research study is: “Enterprise Risk Management is a process, effected by an entity’s board of directors, management and other personnel, applied in strategy setting and across the enterprise, designed to identify potential events that may affect the entity, and manage risk to be within its risk appetite, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of business objectives”. (Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission – COSO, 2004: 4) Enterprise Risk Management is perceived by many as being a necessity, but a burden to business caused by increased investor confidence requirements, such as adherence to King II, Basel II, JSE listing requirements, and the Public Finance Management Act in South Africa, and Sarbanes Oxley requirements placed on organisations listed in the USA, resulting primarily from recent international corporate failures. This causes ERM to be implemented for compliance reasons without obtaining the true value that ERM provides. The main research problem is therefore to firstly identify the extent of acceptance and implementation of ERM in organisations in the South African business environment, secondly identify the reasons why organisations implement ERM in these organisations, and thirdly identify factors that describe the perceived value that ERM provides to these organisations. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

A Research Report presented to the Graduate School of Business Leadership University of South Africa. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MASTERS DEGREE IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA / The purpose of this research is to analyse the changes in housing values in Windhoek, Namibia over the past ten years and explore links in property value variation to macroeconomic changes during that period. The objectives of this research are twofold. Firstly this research compiles and assesses the movement of housing values over the past ten years. Secondly this research assesses if there is a causal relationship between changes in macroeconomic factors and housing values, and to define the nature of this relationship. The timing and magnitude of response by housing values to changes in macroeconomic factors are investigated. The primary data requirements for this study are a monthly relative value index of housing prices for the Windhoek area and macroeconomic factors. Macroeconomic data collected relates to macroeconomic conditions within Namibia that could have an effect on housing prices. This includes information on housing supply, GDP, population levels, inflation and interest rates. The results of this study explore the relationship between these factors and changes in housing prices as reflected by changes in the housing index. The most significant result of this study is the effect of housing availability on housing values. Changes in the total supply of housing as estimated by the number of houses built in a month affect changes in housing values after 5 and 6 months. A total of 20.5% of the change in housing values can be explained by the change in total housing supply. The effect of interest rates found by this study was lower than the theory and literature reviews would have led us to expect. The results of the Pearson correlation test for the relationship between percentage changes in interest rates and percentage changes in future housing values found that a relationship exists 8 months after the change in interest rates occurred. Interest rates were found to explain 5.5% of the change in housing values 8 months later. No significant effects were noted for changes in inflation. For population and income changes there was insufficient data to perform more than a high level look at possible interactions with the level of housing prices. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

The research question and phenomenon that is addressed by this research study is: “What is the perceived importance and level of acceptance of ERM in the South African business environment, and what is the perceived value of ERM in South African organisations?” The definition of ERM utilised throughout this research study is: “Enterprise Risk Management is a process, effected by an entity’s board of directors, management and other personnel, applied in strategy setting and across the enterprise, designed to identify potential events that may affect the entity, and manage risk to be within its risk appetite, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of business objectives”. (Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission – COSO, 2004: 4) Enterprise Risk Management is perceived by many as being a necessity, but a burden to business caused by increased investor confidence requirements, such as adherence to King II, Basel II, JSE listing requirements, and the Public Finance Management Act in South Africa, and Sarbanes Oxley requirements placed on organisations listed in the USA, resulting primarily from recent international corporate failures. This causes ERM to be implemented for compliance reasons without obtaining the true value that ERM provides. The main research problem is therefore to firstly identify the extent of acceptance and implementation of ERM in organisations in the South African business environment, secondly identify the reasons why organisations implement ERM in these organisations, and thirdly identify factors that describe the perceived value that ERM provides to these organisations. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

This thesis deals with the evaluation of the competitiveness in the construction company HOCHTIEF CZ a.s. on the basis of strategical methods and processes.

This thesis deals with the strengthening of competitiveness of a company that specializes in the development and sale of the economic system. The work first deals with the strategic analysis of the external and internal environment of the company. Based on the results, nature of the current competitive strategy of the company is defined and measures aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the company in the economic system market are proposed.

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) is one of the National Science Councils of South Africa and is the legal successor to the Geological Survey of South Africa. The total staff complements numbered 291 as of March 2006, consisting of four executive managers, 18 unit managers, 124 professionals, 84 technicians, 41 administrative personnel, 17 unskilled labourers 3 skilled workers. The strength of the CGS is manifested in its core of competent geoscience and technical staff. The primary business of the CGS is science; therefore scientists, apart from human resources, finance and procurement, are appointed to senior positions in the organisation. The criteria for scientists to qualify for managerial positions are either a masters or doctorate degree in science. Although a sound knowledge of science is needed for these positions, the necessary managerial and leadership characteristics have never played a significant role in the appointment of unit leaders. Therefore, it is the aim of this study to determine the leadership style of the scientists that were appointed as unit leaders. Theories on leadership provide for a variety of potential explanations regarding effective leadership, including personal attributes, contingencies, and the role of subordinates. By analysing managerial leadership, it becomes important to consider and recognise the complex interplay among the structure of organisational life, patterns of behaviour, varied beliefs, values, interests, and initiatives of the individuals who create and work within this structure. Research on organisational leadership has grown systematically with the advance of industrialisation. Large work organisations are associated with bureaucratic and technological complexity that affects the demand for managers and the need for coordination and leadership roles. Leadership theories have evolved over time, becoming more sophisticated and even more applicable for their “innovation”. Different perspectives have featured throughout history. Theories of leadership are primarily analytical, directed at better understanding of the leadership process and the variations among them. The most up- to- date concept within leadership is the theory of transformational and transactional leadership. Transformational leadership comprises five factors — (1) idealised influence: attributed; (2) idealised influence: behaviour; (3) inspirational motivation; (4) intellectual simulation; and (5) individualised consideration — of which the first two factors refer to the concern, power, personal morality, and sacrifice of the leader, as well as his or her ability to instil collective pride in the group’s mission. The third factor relates to motivating the group to accomplish missions through challenging goals and by indicating certainty in areas of uncertainty, which, in turn, arouse individual and team spirit. The fourth factor refers to the leaders’ ability to relate at an individual level to the follower and the fifth factor to intellectual stimulation. Transactional leadership display behaviours associated with constructive and corrective transactions, and comprises three factors— (1) contingent reward leadership; (2) management-by-exception: active; and (3) management-by-exception: passive — of which relates to leaders who involve themselves only when things go wrong, i.e. the constructive style. Their interventions are associated with failure and punishment. The corrective style is labelled management-by-expectation: active, which refers to the closer involvement in monitoring the subordinates’ actions. Contingent reward leadership relates to rewards for work performance. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) has become a standard instrument for assessing a variety of transformational, transactional and non-leadership scales and was used to assess the leadership style of scientists of the Council for Geoscience. The instrument measures a broad range of leadership types: passive leaders, leaders who give contingent rewards to subordinates and leaders who transform their subordinates into leaders themselves. The objectives of the study were to (1) determine the leadership style of scientists in positions of unit leaders; (2) how their supervisors, peers and subordinates perceive their leadership style; and (3) whether scientists as unit leaders, perceive their own leadership style differently than do their supervisors, peers and subordinates. The MLQ instrument contains 45 items that identify and measure key leadership and effectiveness behaviours. A five point rating scale (0: 1: 2: 3: 4) is used for rating the frequency of observed leader behaviour where 0=not at all, and 4=frequently, if not always. The average scores of the MLQ questionnaire for the Council for Geoscience ranged from 2 to 3 on the transformational leadership factors. Participants in general perceive scientists in unit leader positions more as transformational leaders as apposed to transactional leaders. The 2.5 rating on transformational leadership indicates that the unit leaders are often influential in the awareness of what is important. The ratings of scientists as unit leaders were similar to the ratings of their peers and 'others'. Supervisors and subordinates, however, rated them lower. Transactional leadership ratings for the majority of leaders were between 2.0–3.0 on CR, and MBEA and 1.0–2.0 on MBEP. The ratings obtained, indicate that unit leaders would be seen as people wwho prefer to monitor and take action before failures occur. Supervisors, peers and others rated the scientists as unit leaders higher on transactional leadership, except for subordinates who rated them lower. Leaders are rated 0–1 on laissez-faire leadership style. Supervisors, peers and subordinates rated scientists as unit leaders higher on laissez-faire leadership style than the rating they gave themselves (self-rating). The low rating on the laissez-faire leadership style confirms that leaders do get involved in important issues and have a need to be involved in the decision-making process. Scientists as unit leaders, however, perceive themselves to be more involved than do supervisors and subordinates. Attribution ratings (extra-effort, effectiveness and satisfaction) varied from 2.0–3.0. For attribution dimensions, supervisors and subordinates rated the scientists as unit leaders lower on extra-effort, effectiveness and satisfaction, whereas peers rated them higher. The satisfaction dimension indicates that unit leaders often work with others in a satisfactory way. For attribution dimensions, supervisors and subordinates rated the scientists as unit leaders lower on extra-effort, effectiveness and satisfaction, whereas peers rated them higher. Supervisors are less satisfied with the leaders than subordinates are. The results obtained from the MLQ questionnaire for the leadership style of scientists in the Council for Geoscience are slightly different from those of United States companies. The Council for Geoscience, compared with United States (US) companies, rated lower on both transformational leadership and attribution dimensions (extra-effort, effectiveness and satisfaction) and higher on both transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles. This seems to indicate that the Council for Geoscience tends to follow a less inspirational and influential leadership style with more objective setting and less satisfying methods of leadership, compared with US companies. Transformational leadership development is recommended for the scientists as unit leaders of the Council for Geoscience. It is important to note that false transformational leaders (seemingly transformational leaders with a self-absorbed tendency) should be distinguished from the genuine ones. Optimism and employee frustration can be used in future surveys by the Council for Geoscience to determine the progress of transformational leadership development in the organisation. The leadership of an organisation influences the organisational culture. Upper management is responsible for the implementation of the necessary changes to promote transformational leadership. The culture of an organisation is a reflection of upper management. If upper management does not realise the importance of transformational leadership, the chances for the rest of the organisation to promote a transformational leadership culture in the organisation are not good. One recommendation to consider is for the Council for Geoscience to employ people with adequate managerial skills in unit leader positions. These skills would include leadership traits, operational skills, financial skills, etc. A decision needs to be taken by the Council for Geoscience that when scientists are employed as unit leaders or as members of the upper management cadre, they must have adequate managerial and leadership skills, and all parties have to agree with the competency and be satisfied with the management styles. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / M.B.L.

There is a great need for qualified MBL and MBA graduates in South Africa to support and maintain the current growth rate that the economy is experiencing. Diligent effort is required to ensure that the locally acquired MBA/MBL qualifications remain on par with international qualifications. As an initial step to ensure high standards, the Council for Higher Education (CHE) did accreditation evaluations and only 18 MBA courses are now accredited. Admission criteria for the MBA/MBL is one of the minimum standards being assessed as part of the accreditation process conducted by the CHE. / Department of Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M.B.L.

There is a great need for qualified MBL and MBA graduates in South Africa to support and maintain the current growth rate that the economy is experiencing. Diligent effort is required to ensure that the locally acquired MBA/MBL qualifications remain on par with international qualifications. As an initial step to ensure high standards, the Council for Higher Education (CHE) did accreditation evaluations and only 18 MBA courses are now accredited. Admission criteria for the MBA/MBL is one of the minimum standards being assessed as part of the accreditation process conducted by the CHE. / Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.B.L.

This diploma thesis involves a strategic development plan proposal within a particular family business. It describes a theoretical framework in the areas of family business, strategic management and change management. Using critical analysis in accordance with the theoretical findings, a proposal of strategic development within a chosen family business is created together with a high-level implementation plan.