The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which the finance function has evolved from being mere transactional – into one being more value-adding and business-partnering. The main focus of this study is on the role of finance as a business partner. Its main function is to add value to the business and the operations, and to offer the required support, in order for management to be able to make the right decisions. In this role, finance is regarded as part of the management team – and not just an external support function providing number ‘crunching’ – but a member that provides valuable input in the processes that the business follows. They become an in-house consultant for the business, thereby providing technical knowledge, which is aligned to the manner in which the business conducts its operations. The activities that are to be done by finance in this role comprise the following: Alignment of the functions of finance with those of the business, and what is thereby required; Providing information to the business on a timely basis; Providing information that assists and is relevant in the decision-making process of the business; Having a balance between providing governance support, as well as ensuring adequate control of the assets of the organisation. Reducing non-value adding activities that can be outsourced, such as standard reports, which can be developed and housed within a linked IT system. In order to be able to perform these activities effectively, there needs to be adequate support from the organisation’s IT environment, where standard templates can be developed, which are linked, and which lead to the availability of time for the analysis of the data. The resources also needs to have the required soft skills – of which communication and the ability to influence are important aspect – as there would be times when the people in operations would need to align their business decisions to the right finance decision – without becoming an obstruction to the business. A survey was carried out involving the accountants, whose role was to support the business in the South African environment, and which provided information on the following research questions: (i) Are finance professionals moving towards becoming business partners and away from transactional back-office work? (ii) What are the main reasons for the lack of transformation of the finance function? (iii) Is the size of the organisation a factor in its transformation? (iv) Does the fact that a company is a multinational or a South African organisation have any impact on the transition? The results of the survey were used to draw a conclusion on the extent of the change in the role of finance. The research concluded that there had been some change in the role that finance was performing in regard to the business. However, there were still areas where more could be done to move the change along, and to arrive at a position where finance becomes a full business partner.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Comm. / The normal pattern of life is birth, childhood, adulthood, old age and death. South Africa can still be seen in its childhood shoes in relation to countries like the USA, Japan and others. However, the playing field in the international arena that South Africa has to operate in when it comes to survival, is not divided between children and adults but instead, we are all competing on equal terms, and South African companies will have to realise that only the strong will survive. It is with this view in mind that this study has been undertaken in the hope that at completion South Africa will have its own management wave. South Africa is a country on its own with a history like no other country and a diversity like no other country. Therefore South Africa needs her own management wave, a wave out of South Africa for South Africa. The international competitive playing field is something new to South Africa and companies will have to adapt, or in years to come only a few of the current companies will have survived. To enable South African management to determine their own management a comparison of South Africa with her main competitors will be done, This will help to determine what is still needed in South Africa on the economical, political and educational fields and to help determine what South Africa need to survive for now and for the future. With this in mind it will be possible to start creating South Africa's own management wave which will enable companies, big and small, to still be part of South Africa in time to come, and to withstand the onslaught of overseas companies . South Africa is young, and has a very turbulent history, but with past happenings like: The Big Trek; The Boer Wars; The years of apartheid; The coming of democracy; it is clear that the South African people has got the will, stamina and strength to survive. South Africans now need to realise "EX UNITATE VIRES". It is with this in mind that the conclusion of this study will show South African companies, big and small, a new and unique management wave to follow. This new management wave will lead South Africa to a brighter future and a better tomorrow.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters in Business Science / Employees often face many difficult situations that demand ethical decision making from the viewpoint of society and organizations. Various factors influence the outcome of ethical or unethical decision-making and behaviour of employees. This paper briefly examined some of the major factors that may affect ethical behaviour in construction companies. The strength of these factors may vary from individuals to individuals, organizations to organizations, and situation to situation. The factors that were investigated are personal values, corporate ethical values and the organisational climate. Age and gender were used as moderators in this study. South Africa is a developing country in which many private and public organizations are being faced with a lot of fraud and corruption. It is not only in private organization but also the government. This call for an investigation on ethical behaviour but to solve a problem one must find the source of the problem. The study was designed to answer the major question: Are there any significance relationships between personal values, corporate values and organisational climate and ethical behaviour in the South African construction industry? The researcher employed a quantitative research method. Data collection was done by use of questionnaires distributed to various construction companies. A computer programmer called SPSS version 25 and Microsoft excel were used to analyse data. Descriptive statistics was used to interpret data collected from the first section of the questionnaire that is the biographic information. Linear regression and correlations were used to test the proposed hypothesis. Multiple regression was used to test the moderation effect of age and gender. The findings largely confirm previous studies that personal values and corporate values influence ethical behaviour. However contrary to some previous studies, there was no significant relationship between ethical behaviour and organisational climate. Conclusions, findings and recommendations were drawn from the results. / NG (2020)

<p>The aim of this investigation was to provide a framework or strategy for prioritising and implementing regional groundwater monitoring in the Olifants-Doorn Water Management (WMA) area. The general approach was to attempt to reconcile monitoring requirements with existing resources, while investigating the hypothesis that regional monitoring should focus on resource status monitoring. Groundwater science needs to focus on clarifying the sustainability options available to the stakeholders, and monitoring the chosen option. This can best be done by adopting an adaptive management approach to both the management of the groundwater resources, and the management of the monitoring programme.</p>

M.Com. (Business Management) / This study focuses on one specific knowledge management process, namely the knowledge sharing process within an operational risk management cluster of a chosen South African retail bank. The study specifically focuses on the bi- weekly meetings that are used as platforms for knowledge sharing sessions. The primary objective of the study, is to ascertain how well the corporate investment bankers, shared services and CIB Africa operational risk management cluster is effectively utilising its meetings in terms of knowledge sharing to ensure that the operational risk management strategies of the chosen bank, provides optimal assurance to its stakeholders that the bank operates within its operational risk appetite. The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides the readers with a thorough understanding of the research problem and topic. The second chapter provides the theoretical framework of the literature pertaining to the context of knowledge management with a specific focus of knowledge sharing. The third chapter discusses the research methodology adopted to conduct the study. The fourth chapter discusses the empirical findings and discussion of the study. Lastly, chapter five provides conclusions, recommendations and possibilities for further research. The theoretical framework of study began by focusing broadly on the concept of knowledge management weaving its way to the specific concept of knowledge sharing. A single case research approach was adopted. All respondents were attendants of the bi-weekly knowledge sharing sessions held in the chosen bank. The empirical findings of the study revealed that there is no common awareness and understanding of the concepts of knowledge management and knowledge sharing within the chosen bank. It was further established that factors such as the role of organisational culture, leadership involvement and participation, and rewards and incentives were key factors that had the ability to either enable or hinder the knowledge-sharing within the chosen bank.

Thesis (M.B.A.)-Business Studies Unit, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 xiii, 96 leaves, Annexures A-C / Project managers are faced with the challenge of matching skills to a task rather than merely assigning people to a job. If these skills are not readily available, the project may not be able to be executed with the desired level of quality and timescales may not be met. Nowadays, organisations need to respond faster to market requirements than before due to increased competition and rapid advances in technology. Coupled to this is the trend for human resources to be more mobile, as lifelong commitment to an organisation becomes a thing of the past. These two trends present modern organisations with the requirement that their human resources require increasing levels of skills, yet they are faced with the risk that these skills may be lost due to their mobility. Organisations, therefore, need to understand what their core competencies are and ensure that these competencies are developed such that the organisation retains an adequate supply of core skills. The aim of the study is to identify the core competencies and associated skills within an organisation and devise a method whereby these competencies and skills can be measured and duplicated such that core knowledge is retained and developed within the organisation. / M

In fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Systems. In the Division of Information Systems , School of Economic and Business Sciences. University of Witwatersrand 2017 / This thesis is about how an organization adopted an information system (IS) and the subsequent current use of that system. That is, the relevance of this thesis is premised within the adoption and use of IS research fields. The adoption and use of systems is still a key IS issue as organizations strive to find ways to justify investments while the research issue is in striving to profoundly describe the adoption and use behavior. The thesis employs Human resource information systems (HRIS) as the system under study, with a South African university being the context. HRIS are adopted and used in organizations, including universities, to facilitate human resource functions and practices. The adoption and use of HRIS is often critical to achieving organizational visions and mandates; however, literature in this field is still in its infancy, with no known study conducted with a South African university context. To this point, there was a need to study behavior during HRIS adoption and the subsequent use behavior, in order to inform an efficient and appropriate ongoing use. Existing scholarly HRIS literature focus on either its adoption or its use, but hardly addressing both concurrently. This thesis argues that adoption may inform present use, and therefore, paramount to study both facets, and in the same locale. The study sought to understand how HRIS was adopted as well as understand how it is presently used, in the context of a South African university. The research argument driving the thesis is that HRIS is realized in a multidimensional environment, and thus, there is a need for a framework that may inform both adoption and use dimensions. The framework ought to be cognizant of the contextual determinants which influence both adoption processes and use behavior at varied levels, so that HRIS is adopted and used effectively and efficiently, sensitive to the South African context. To conceptualize the multidimensional framework, the study was underpinned by Upper echelon theory; Social cognitive theory; Technology, organizational and environment framework; and Task-technology fit, as theoretical lenses. Majority of HRIS adoption or use studies take a positivist stance; however, this thesis deemed an interpretivist philosophy as a more appropriate stance to understanding the complexities of adoption iii and use. A qualitative inductive approach using a case study research strategy was the methodology followed. Semi-structured interviews, field observations and institutional documents were ways to collect data. The empirical data were analyzed following thematic analysis and content analysis techniques. Literature and the interpretation of study findings informed the conceptualization of the multidimensional framework for the adoption and use of HRIS. The thesis contributes theoretically by providing a framework that informs adoption and use; practically, the framework may be used by policy and decision makers to improve use and appropriate use of HRIS; Methodologically, the thesis shows how a case study following the interpretive philosophy may be a better alternative to profoundly describe and explain adoption and the use of HRIS; finally, the thesis contributes to context by giving insights unique to South African universities. Keywords: Adoption and use framework, Human resource information systems Interpretive case study, Multidimensional, South African university / GR2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management (in the field Finance and Investment Management) , 2016 / Style investing is a well-documented global phenomenon that refers to the manner in which investors formulate their capital allocation decisions. The two broad styles of investing to be discussed in this report are the ‘value style’ and the ‘growth style’ investing. Recent empirical research suggests that value style of investing outperforms growth style investing over the long term. Rational theories suggest that a value premium exist because value counters have higher unsystematic risk. However, theories such as behavioural finance attribute the value premium to more psychological social factors such as emotional and heuristic biases. The aim of this study was to determine whether value style investing outperforms growth style investing in South Africa. For the purposes of this study, we evaluated the performance of various portfolios for the period of December 2000 to December 2015. In addition, the study determined the relative risk of the two styles, by testing whether value outperforms growth during periods of financial crisis, and during a period of slow economic growth. In defining the parameters of our study, we divided the constituents of Financial Times and London Stock Exchange/Johannesburg Stock Exchange (FTSE /JSE) index into growth and value based on their relative Price to book (P/B) going back to December 2000. This created four portfolios; namely, Deep value, Relative value, Relative growth and Super growth. Portfolio Analytics were employed to determine which style outperforms over the period. Regression analyses was used to ascertain which portfolio generated abnormal risk adjusted returns over the period. Relative risk is also analysed. The results of this research indicate that there is limited evidence of value premium in South Africa over the period of the study, albeit there are some periods where one style is dominant over the other. Regressions suggest that none of the portfolios constructed using market capital weighted generate abnormal returns. However, deep value, relative value and relative growth portfolios generate abnormal returns when constructed on equalweighted basis. On a relative risk basis, deep value outperforms during the financial crisis, whereas relative value outperforms during economic slowdowns. / GR2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering / The purpose of the study was to investigate ways of providing corporate real estate management services in the South African context. The data collection process started with a pilot study using a questionnaire. A qualitative approach was used with semi-structured interviews of six Corporate Real Estate managers from companies of various industries in Johannesburg in March 2014. The larger organizations prefer to have a formalized Corporate Real Estate unit that is situated at headquarters and have no links with core business. These companies refer to their corporate real estate units as facilities management, property management and workplace management, the actual term “corporate real estate” is not used in South Africa. The companies that have the formalized Corporate Real Estate units own their Corporate Real Estate or are triple net leasing their Corporate Real Estate. Respondent companies prefer to manage strategic aspects in-house and outsource the operational activities, because real estate is not their core business. Some of the respondents did not experience challenges with either outsourcing or in-house management. Respondents that experienced challenges with outsourcing had problems with performance issues, lack of knowledge and experience by service providers, the quality of the service and the lack of performance measurement tools. The challenges experienced with managing in-house included performance issues, lack of accountability from internal staff, lack of flexibility, and lack of skill and experience on the part of internal staff. South African practice may appear to match international best practice; however, more studies might be needed to validate the results. Key words: South Africa, corporate real estate management, outsourcing, in-house management