There are an estimated 300 state-owned enterprises in South Africa with nine reporting to the Department of Public Enterprises (Chabane, 2010). The remaining institutions report to various national ministries, provinces and municipalities. The problem faced by these institutions is related to performance management practices that do not assist these institutions to be effective, efficient, responsive and accountable service delivery arms as per the guiding principle of their establishment. The current performance management practices in these institutions prevent the institutions from achieving set goals and targets and being able to operate efficiently in a highly competitive environment. Performance management is a broad field and includes any activity that organisational leaders may undertake which is designed to ensure that personal and organisational goals are consistently achieved. In reality, most of the day-to-day activities of individual employees, teams, and business units make some contribution to the performance management effort. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of performance management system in state development agencies in the Eastern Cape Province and recommend a framework for performance management that can be implemented to improve productivity. The empirical study was conducted, using a questionnaire with a semi-structured question design. The results of this study suggest that performance management is still a top down approach that results in sub-units and individual employees (not) taking ownership of the process. Another shortcoming in the implementation of performance management is related to the unavailability of easy-to-use technology for collecting performance information. Furthermore, a majority of the agencies do not use a strategy map which is an additional procedural framework through which the score card can be applied as a system to strengthen the management of the organisation’s strategy. State development agencies should find ways to improve their performance management systems to ensure that these are effective, efficient, responsive and accountable service delivery arms as per the guiding principle of their establishment. Despite all the shortcomings identified, the majority of the respondents agreed that performance management is a method of management designed to ensure that organisations and all its components work together in order to optimise the organisational goals. It is recommended that in order for the institutions to be effective and efficient delivery arms of government, a lot of work needs to be done to reengineer the implementation of performance management as a day-to-day management tool to drive the strategy of the organisations. This includes:  Taking advantage of technology and adopt easy-to-use computer-based programmes to collect performance data. These systems can be linked to the company intranet and allow all employees to update performance information in an effective and efficient manner.  Focus on their reward and recognition process. The reward and recognition should be linked directly to performance not a status, job grade or seniority. Reward and recognition should be given as soon as possible after outstanding performance. In doing so, institutions should move away from secrecy about performance evaluation results and remuneration, and towards an environment of more openness (transparency).  Lastly, institutions should make strategic management a core competency. This new management discipline has been adopted by the local government sphere. This means organisations should look at creating a position of strategic manager at a senior management level in their organograms.

Thesis (M.A. (Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This study sought to explore the perceptions of practitioners such as school principals, Heads of Departments and teachers towards the Grade9 curriculum changes in Economic and Management Sciences (EMS).This stems from the need for South African schools to have teachers with positive perceptions of teaching Economic Management Sciences since this is one subject that prepares learners for one of the scarce skills in the country entrepreneurship.The problem identified in this study is the perpetual poor performance of Grade 9 Economic Management Sciences learners.The review of the literature points out that since Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) in Grade 9 comprises the Accounting section, Business Studies section and Economics part, it is the former that contributes to the experienced learner's poor performance.This is a qualitative case study carried out at the Malelane circuit in Mpumalanga.This case study method allowed the researcher to use multiple data collection methods to enhance the qualityof the findings.The qualitative data generation methods applied in this study included the interviews, documents review and observations. Out of 12 secondary schools in the Malelane circuit, Mpumalanga, 3 secondary schools were conveniently sampled. In each secondary school, 3 research participants became part of this study. Teachers were specifically sampled for this study based on teaching Economic and Management Sciences in Grade 9. Key findings of the study revealed that a lack of sufficient teaching and learning resources in EMS delays the successful teaching of the subject. Furthermore, overcrowded EMS classes in secondary schools, make it difficult for the subject to be taught with enthusiasm by teachers. Finally, the difficult accounting section, which is part of the EMS, triggers negative perceptions against EMS by the EMS teachers. Lastly, inadequate support given to EMS teachers from secondary schools was worsening the negative perceptions against the subject. Based on the expressed findings, the researcher recommends that the Mpumalanga Education Department allocates more time for Economic and Management Sciences subjects in secondary schools to enable learners to build a better foundation of the subject. Inaddition, adequate teaching and learning resources for EMS are necessary

Thesis (PhD (Logistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Conventional supply chain integration concepts focus primarily on the internal and external integration of individual supply chains (can be viewed as intra-supply chain integration). Due to the highly integrated nature of petrochemical value chains, related supply chains should also be integrated by taking account of enterprise/industry-wide synergies and interdependencies (can be viewed as inter-supply chain integration). Inter-supply chain integration can typically develop along three dimensions: - Upstream feed clusters (upstream in the chemical value chain) - Downstream product clusters (downstream in the chemical value chain) - Macro logistics network clusters (within and across related logistics networks for liquid bulk, dry bulk, packaged goods and gases) This dissertation presents a generic framework of applicable intra- and inter-supply chain planning processes that supports related long- (strategic), medium- (tactical) and short-term (operational) supply chain decisions for large-scale petrochemical companies. This type of companies has to manage relative complex supply chains. Highly complex supply chains (due to an extensive product portfolio, supplier base, customer base, manufacturing processes, transportation, and management processes and systems) require far more advanced planning processes than simple supply chains. Advanced supply chain planning processes cover an extended supply chain scope, deal with longer time horizons, and utilize more sophisticated analytical techniques and decision support systems. An extensive literature study, supplemented by empirical research in the South African petrochemical industry, provided the foundation for the advanced supply chain planning framework concluded in this dissertation. Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire presented to an informed audience constitute the empirical research conducted. The related best practices, concepts, approaches followed, and level of advancement in three supply chain planning dimensions were derived. To guide petrochemical companies along the planning advancement journey, the roadmap developed can be utilized for the application and implementation of the advanced supply chain planning framework. This roadmap articulates the advancement stages, dimensions, characteristics, and triggers to advance. Typical characteristics associated with the advancement stages and dimensions provide the means for a company to assess their level of progression. The essential mechanisms that can enable interventions are also articulated.

Product markets have been found to be socially constructed as industry logics, product ontologies and organising visions. Information intermediaries play an important field-level role in determining the categories and ontologies of emerging products. Within shared cognitive structures, sellers and buyers come together in mutual understandings on how products are used, what features are important and what counts as value. Although market information is often legitimated through objective scientific methodologies, it can also appear as uncertain knowledge, or rumour. Contrary to the often seen conception of rumour as crowd-like behavioural contagion, it is presented here as an informal message lacking a reliable sponsor that is developed in an uncertain situation, but still may be subject to critical reasoning. This thesis investigates the ambiguity around the fuzzy front-end of product markets, as social media and blogs that trade in rumour and proposition before any official announcement by firms. Through a process of improvised news, these online collectivities, as product publics, deliberate and collectively generate expectations as meaning structures. By tracking discourse from tech blogs, I trace the emergence of meaning in the tablet device product ontology. This occurred well before product introductions by firms who eventually came to form the market.

Submitted by Elba Lopes (elba.lopes@fecap.br) on 2017-10-16T18:30:52Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Renato de Lima Arruda.pdf: 426272 bytes, checksum: 7004aa713341a9ec273d1b4fc22948e6 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-16T18:30:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Renato de Lima Arruda.pdf: 426272 bytes, checksum: 7004aa713341a9ec273d1b4fc22948e6 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-01-31 / This study investigates the cientific production in Behavioral Corporate Finance, especially those who treat about the biases overconfidence and management optimism. A research was done on bibliometric at international level concerning the years of 2000 thru 2015. There were 57 articles identified and analyzed. The results show that there was a sharper evolution from the research of this subject matter after 2011. The University of Sfax in Tunisia and the Journal of Financial Economics outshined in the publishings of this subject matter. The authors Abdelfettah Bouri, Ezzeddine Ben Mohamed, Geoffrey Tate and Ulrike Malmendier were the most prolific in the period. The study ???CEO overconfidence and corporate investment??? of Geoffrey Tate and Ulrike Malmendier was the most mentioned, becoming a reference of the model of measuring the biases of overconfidence and optimism to other researchers. Merges and acquisions, cash flow sensibility, Corporate Investiments and structure of Capital were the issues most addressed by the researches. Concludes that the main issue about Behavioral Corporate Finance is still emergent and in a maturation phase, however of extreme importance, as the biased managements?? decisions can evoke significant impacts in many areas of the companies. Therefore, this study contributes to the knowldege and diffusion of this subject matter in Brazil, promoting a reflection about the questionings that are still in open and poiting to directions, in a way to propitiane other brazilian researchers to develop future studies. / Este estudo investiga a produ????o cient??fica em Finan??as Corporativas Comportamentais, especialmente os trabalhos que tratam dos vieses do excesso de confian??a e do otimismo gerencial. Conduziu-se uma pesquisa bibliom??trica de ??mbito internacional concernente ao per??odo de 2000 a 2015. Identificaram-se e analisaram-se 57 artigos. Os resultados mostraram que houve evolu????o mais acentuada das pesquisas sobre esse tema a partir de 2011. A University of Sfax e o Journal of Financial Economics destacaram-se nas publica????es de artigos relacionados a esse assunto. Durante esse tempo, os autores Abdelfettah Bouri, Ezzeddine Ben Mohamed, Geoffrey Tate e Ulrike Malmendier foram os mais prol??ficos. O estudo ???CEO overconfidence and corporate investment???, de Geoffrey Tate e Ulrike Malmendier, foi o mais citado, de modo a ter-se tornado uma refer??ncia de modelo de medida dos vieses excesso de confian??a e otimismo para outros pesquisadores. Fus??es e aquisi????es, sensibilidade ao fluxo de caixa, investimentos corporativos e estrutura de capital foram os temas mais abordados pelas pesquisas. Concluiu-se que a quest??o tocante ??s Finan??as Corporativas Comportamentais ainda ?? emergente e em fase amadurecimento, mas de extrema import??ncia, visto que as decis??es de gestores enviesados podem suscitar impactos significativos em diversas ??reas das empresas. Este estudo contribui, portanto, para o conhecimento e a difus??o desse tema no Brasil, promovendo uma reflex??o acerca das quest??es que ainda se encontram em aberto e apontando caminhos, de forma a propiciar que outros pesquisadores brasileiros possam desenvolver futuras pesquisas.

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