This study explores the theoretical constructs and implementation of quality models to ensure continuous improvement in South African higher education institutions. Globalisation issues have forced higher education institutions to use quality models to survive in the increasingly global market. Worldwide, higher education institutions have made steady progress in adopting quality models and institutional self-assessment approaches. In the United States of America, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) and in the United Kingdom, the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) have been adapted for the higher education sector and these institutions are recognising their benefits. The higher education sector in Southern Africa has not been exempt from the global issues. Shortly after coming to power in 1994, government appointed the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) to analyse and make recommendations on higher education. The NCHE in many respects placed South African higher education in its present trajectory. A few years later, a National Working Group (NWG) was requested to advise the Minister of Education on the restructuring of the higher education landscape. The NWG recommended that the number of higher education institutions be reduced from 36 to 21 by means of mergers, acquisitions and incorporations. Quality assurance in higher education in South Africa is neither new nor unfamiliar. A range of internal and external formal and informal quality assurance arrangements have been in place for many decades. What is new in relation to quality assurance in South Africa is the need to respond to the rapidly changing landscape that now constitutes higher education. The Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) ensures academic quality by conducting institutional audits on teaching and learning, research and service learning at higher education institutions. This study points out that there is a great need for institutional quality in South Africa. The changing South African higher education landscape and particularly the merging and incorporation of institutions requires a framework to ensure institutional quality in the higher education sector, focusing on areas like governance, finances and other institutional operations which are not a focus of the HEQC audits. Institutional quality is addressed by adopting quality principles and institutional self-assessment approaches where issues like leadership, policy and strategy, people management and satisfaction, client/customer focus and satisfaction, resource and information management, processes, impact on society and organisational results are analysed to determine the institution’s strengths and areas to improve. This study provides an overview of the changing role of higher institutions worldwide and the organizational trends impacting on them. It also provides an overview of the higher education sector in South Africa. A literature review of quality models is provided with specific reference to the United States Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award (MBNQA) and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) In South Africa, the South African Excellence Model (SAEM) is the equivalent of the MBNQA in the USA, the EFQM in Europe and other quality models elsewhere in the world. Established in South Africa in 1998, the SAEM has been steadily gaining ground. The South African Excellence Foundation (SAEF) is the custodian of the SAEM for organisational self-assessment. Participating in the Excellence Award Programme offers an opportunity for an organisation to be benchmarked by unbiased independent assessors who provide a clear indication of exactly how well an organisation rates. The SAEM has four sectors in which organisations can apply for the excellence award: business and the defence industry, Small Medium Enterprises (SME), the public service (central, provincial and parastatal) and local government. The SAEF introduced three levels instead of only one level to enable more South African organisations to apply for the award. At level 3, the starting level, organisations apply for an excellence certificate. At level 2, the more advanced level, organisations apply for an excellence prize and at level 3, the most advanced level, organisations apply for an award. However, the SAEF does not yet make provision for a higher education institution sector and the main objective of the PhD was to contextualise and integrate quality models to provide a framework for continuous improvement in higher education institutions. One of the sub-objectives of this study was to determine the shortcomings of the Public Sector level 3 questionnaire and propose a questionnaire for the higher education sector. It is accepted that the academic culture in higher education will play a determining role in quality assurance. Although there are fundamental differences between higher education institutions and other organisations, higher education institutions also possess characteristics similar to most forms of organisation. Higher education institutions that use quality improvement efforts to cut costs and improve under crisis conditions are positioned to be more competitive in the future. The findings of this study indicate that the combination of the SAEM questionnaire and workshop self-assessment approaches; can be used to ensure continuous improvement if they are contextualised for the higher education sector. The findings also indicate that the SAEM self-assessment results can be used as part of the SWOT analysis phase during strategic planning and that the objectives can be linked to the Balanced Scorecard. An example is also provided of how the various disciplines like marketing and communication initiatives can be linked to the SAEM to ensure that the priority areas for improvement are addressed. The SAEM findings provide a framework to benchmark faculties and support service departments. Strengths and areas for improvement are identified and prioritised at faculty, departmental and institutional level. The analysis of quality models that have been applied in higher education institutions in the United States (MBNQA) and the United Kingdom (EFQM) provide invaluable lessons learnt for the South African higher education sector. Finally, this study provides a framework of continuous improvement for the higher education sector in South Africa by proposing that academic self-assessment for accreditation should be run parallel to a process of institutional self-assessment. The institutional self-assessment process is based on quality models adapted for higher education institutions. This framework aims to ensure that South African higher education institutions achieve and maintain a competitive edge in the globalised economy. / Thesis (DPhil (Marketing and Management Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Marketing Management / unrestricted

Research in the organizational psychology and organizational behaviour literature has identified the existence of multiple dimensions of OC and found different relationships between these dimensions and important organizational factors and outcomes. In an attempt to add to the efforts to clarify these relationships, this study focuses on the relationships between organizational factors such as human resources management (HRM) practices, leadership and trust, and organizational commitment within an academic environment. A sample of 246 employees from eleven South African institutions of higher learning was used in the study. The sample was made up of 67.88% respondents from Technikons and 28.86% from Universities. Females accounted for 45.12% of the sample while males were 54.51%. The average age of respondents was 41.9 years. ANOVA was used to determine the relationship between demographic factors and organizational commitment. The results of the ANOVAs showed no significant relationship between the demographic factors and organizational commitment. The only significant relationship was found between the type of academic institution and total organizational commitment. Tukey’s studentized range test indicated significant differences in the means of respondents from full-time residential institutions and those from institutions with a combination of fulltime residential and part-time non-residential students. Respondents from the later type of institutions had reported more total organizational commitment. Pearson’s Product Moment Coefficient was used to determine the inter-relationships between the total scales and subscales of the different variables. Significant inter-correlations were found between trust and HRM, trust and organizational commitment, leadership style and trust, and leadership style and HRM. Multiple Regression Analysis indicated weak predictions of organizational commitment by the different independent variables. Structural equations models could not be accepted as they showed weak fits with the data. In light of these findings, suggestions are provided for academic institution managers to evaluate the role of HRM practices, leadership style and trust in influencing commitment to the organization and organizational trust. Suggestions are also made as to how leadership style and HRM practices can affect the role of trust in the development of organizational commitment, and how OC research can provide practical results for academic institutions. / Thesis (PhD (Organizational Behaviour))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Clinical procedures are an important part of the daily work of doctors of various specialities, including the practice of regional anaesthetic procedures on paediatric patients. The competency that a doctor displays in clinical procedures is an important aspect of their overall clinical competence and the successful performance of regional blocks demands a working and yet specific knowledge of the anatomy underlying each procedure, especially knowledge regarding the relative depth or specific positions of certain key structures in paediatric patients, as it is known that the anatomy of children differ to a greater or lesser degree from that of adults. Precise information on epidemiology and morbidity of paediatric regional anaesthesia, especially from a clinical anatomy perspective, remains scarce. The aim of this study was therefore: (1) to determine, through means of a questionnaire, the scope of regional anaesthetic techniques performed on paediatric patients in South Africa, as well as, determine the competence of anaesthesiologists to perform these procedures based on their clinical anatomy knowledge regarding each nerve block; (2) select 5 problem procedures based on the anatomical competence that anaesthesiologists display when performing each nerve block; and (3) develop an extensive, referenced clinical anatomy knowledge base regarding each of the 5 problem procedures. A list of 18 regional anaesthetic procedures common in paediatric practice was compiled and a detailed questionnaire was completed by a randomly selected sample of anaesthesiologists (n=80) working in both government institutions and in private practice. The problem procedures chosen were those that were performed most often; ranked important; encountered most difficulties and complications; where anaesthesiologists felt uncomfortable performing the procedures and where the influence of clinical anatomy knowledge on the safe and successful performance of the procedure was ranked highest. The 5 problem procedures selected are the following: caudal epidural block, lumbar epidural block, the axillary approach to the brachial plexus, femoral nerve block and the ilioinguinal/ iliohypogastric nerve block. A referenced clinical anatomy knowledge base was developed by an extensive literature review of the selected procedures under the following headings: Indications, contraindications, step-by-step technique, anatomical pitfalls, anatomically related complications and references. / Dissertation (MSc (Anatomy))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Anatomy / unrestricted

Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT) play a very important role in modern organisations. IT can help drive business success and there are many potential efficiencies and competitive advantages afforded by technology. But, the real question is: are their strategic planning processes, organisational cultures, and day-to-day decisions of today’s organisation consistent with this belief? The IS/IT industry does not seem to be capable of delivering what business expects of it. This is evident in the many failed IS/IT projects. Due to this “expectation gap” and various human behavioural issues, there is an adverse relationship between IS and business. Business experts have a negative perception of the IS/IT function. A study of the business-IT interface produces numerous reasons for the relationship problems. Creating a relationship between business and IT is currently done through strategic alignment: set the business strategy and then determine how technology can help. For decades, IT strategy has followed and aligned with business strategy. Recent viewpoints are that traditional alignment approaches “invite risk and leave opportunities untapped”. To solve the problems in the fast-changing environment of today, more than merely aligning IT with business is needed. Higher returns can only be achieved through “a higher degree of strategic alignment”, namely the “fusion” or “atunement” of business and IT (IBM, 2002). Such fusion between IS/IT and business should be achieved on strategic, tactical and operational level. Creating fusion therefore depends on successful IT implementations, as well as healthy interpersonal relationships between the various stakeholders in the IT/Business relationship - from high-level relationships between the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) to lower level relationships between an IT professional and a client/user. Two important reasons why the IS function does not solve the real business need and why a gap exists, are insufficient analysis of the business problem and incomplete user requirement specification. Many organisations have a role called analyst, which was designed and positioned to bridge the gap between IT and the business client. The role of the business analyst is complementary to that of the systems analyst – and sometimes combined with the role of systems analyst - who is responsible for the IT system analysis. The analyst is key to ensuring that the information system fulfils the needs of the organisation. Their role is integral to the success of the information system and, in turn, the success of the organization. It is the role of business- and systems analysts to ensure that the real business problem is identified, well documented and that systems are designed that will solve the problem. These employees play a bridging role between business and IT and they need good IT-, business-, social- and communication skills to be successful in their jobs - they have an important role to play towards business-IT fusion. Many of the real problems facing IT departments are neither technical nor fiscal, but organisational and managerial. Many IT executives are still unaware of the many human organisational factors that can be attributed to project failure and they fail to take a holistic perspective on IT related organisational change and –development. The purpose of Organisational Development (OD) is to improve organisational effectiveness and create an organisation that can solve its own problems, has high performance levels and a good quality of work life. Functional managers - such as IT managers - cannot deny their responsibility toward organisational development anymore. As IT managers gain OD competence, they could become its most basic practitioners and fulfil an important role towards creating Business-IT fusion. An important factor in creating employees to successfully manage the business-IT relationship is the training and education of prospective IS/IT employees. Preparing employees for business-, technical- and relationship roles and delivering graduates with the required profile to meet the challenges of the new economy is the duty of higher education institutions. A need has been identified to develop a framework to integrate the various factors that contribute towards fusion in the IT/Business interface. / Thesis (DPhil (Organisational Behaviour))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Until 1999 road rage was a relatively unknown occurrence in South Africa. Although it probably occurred generally on our roads, at that stage no recognition was given to it by the media and research institutions. An increase in the occurrence of aggressive driving led to the media popularizing the term “road rage”. Simultaneously with this, organizations like the National Research Foundation identified road rage as a growing social problem. A literature survey showed that this was a world wide phenomenon. The United States of America already took the lead with research in this field. International conferences were held to address the problem and to find possible solutions. In South Africa however, no attempts were made to address this issue. The media only reported the occurrence of road rage increasingly and published general measures to prevent road aggression. Therefore a limited body of research exists regarding road rage. A qualitative study, according to methodological sound research guidelines, was undertaken to address this limitation. Criminological as well as psychological theories were used to guide the research and to explain the occurrence of road rage. A thematic analysis was used to identify specific themes in an exploratory way. The theories and existing research served as a basis to identify the research questions. Within the framework of qualitative research, non-probability-sampling was used as the most applicable method in the selection of research participants. Interviews were conducted with ten research participants. From the analysis of the information it is clear that all the research participants are familiar with the concept “road rage”. Different situations on the road were identified as contributing to the occurrence of aggressive road use, for example the flashing of lights and swearing. The majority of the research participants acknowledged that they themselves were also guilty of road rage. Furthermore different solutions were investigated to prevent road rage. Based on the findings, certain recommendations were made regarding the prevention of aggression on the road. / Dissertation (MA (Criminology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Today’s technology and advances in networking and telecommunications stimulate a change in the way everyday business is carried out, making it a globally distributed process, in which communication and collaboration of geographically dispersed groups is of vital importance. Virtual Environments are adapting accordingly, by providing not only a better man-machine interface, but also by facilitating human-to-human interaction and collaboration over distance. Therefore, new challenges are introduced in terms of distribution and interaction in Virtual Environments. It is not only a question of solving the technical problems of gathering and transmitting multimedia data streams with sufficient quality and speed, but also a question of addressing the specific needs of human communication and collaboration. The vision of Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVE) is to provide distributed, collaborative teams with a virtual space where they can meet as if face-to-face, co-exist and collaborate while sharing and manipulating in real-time the virtual data of interest. The objective of this thesis is to provide the Virtual Environments research community with a thorough investigation of distributed, collaborative interaction between geographically dispersed teams using projection based Collaborative Virtual Environments. / Thesis (DPhil (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Computer Science / unrestricted

The objective of this study is to identify the transaction costs factors and household characteristics that influence the farmers’ choice of cattle marketing channels in Mahalapye district, Botswana. The marketing channels are, typically, the Botswana Meat Commission and the local butchers. The study also identifies transaction costs influencing the level of cattle sales. It is expected that the identification of these transaction cost factors and the extent to which they influence farmers’ choice of particular marketing channels could assist in the formulation of policy interventions. Transaction costs emanate from several sources such as information asymmetries, negotiations and monitoring and enforcement of trade agreements. The hypothesis of the study is that farmers’ choice of cattle marketing channels is influenced by transaction costs and household characteristics. Households facing higher transaction costs and other inhibitive market conditions are excluded from using certain marketing channels. In order to test the hypothesis that transaction costs affect households’ decisions to choose marketing channels, a probit model was estimated to identify these transaction costs factors. The model was applied to a survey of 100 households selected using simple random sampling. A structured questionnaire was designed to capture the required data. The results show that the herd sizes owned by households and access to market information positively and significantly increased the probability of households to sell to Botswana Meat Commission. On the other hand the speed of payment, grade uncertainty and distance to the market were negatively associated with the probability of selling to the BMC. That is, they decreased the probability of households to sell to BMC. The level of cattle sales to BMC was positively and significantly influenced by cattle herd sizes, age of the head of the household and distance to the market, while stock theft and animal diseases negatively and insignificantly influenced the level of sales. The study provides recommendations, which might reduce the transaction costs, particularly by enhancing access to market information, and provision of farmer training (and cattle agents training) on marketing activities. / Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

It was established that although the phytoalexin scoparone is associated with resistance/tolerance of citrus rootstocks to stem cancer caused by Phytophthora citrophthora, it does not dictate tolerance to root rot caused by P. nicotianae. It can therefore not be used as an indicator for tolerance to root rot. Results of the current study show that increase in total soluble phenolic concentrations in citrus roots after inoculation plays a key role in tolerance of citrus rootstocks against P. nicotianae root rot. Elevation of the levels of total phenolic compounds is therefore a part of the mechanism involved in rootstock resistance. As far as could be established, this finding has not been reported before in citrus. Determination of total soluble phenolics in citrus roots can therefore be used as a parameter in the screening of rootstocks for tolerance to P. nicotianae. Application of the systemic fungicide fosetyl-Al increased the total soluble phenolic concentrations in the roots more than infection with the pathogen alone. This provides evidence that the elevation of phenolic levels is involved in the mechanism of action of fosetyl-Al in control of Phytophthora root rot, therefore supporting an indirect antifungal mode of action. A unique chemical compound (U82) has been discovered that is associated only with tolerant rootstocks. If this yellow compound is a viable marker for resistance, it will certainly be a breakthrough in rootstock resistance research. Such a unique compound that is only associated with tolerant rootstocks could potentially be used in developing a more reliable high throughput screening technique for citrus rootstock resistance. / Dissertation (MSc (Microbiology and Plant Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / unrestricted

The seed bank dynamics of five selected vegetation types within the Tembe Elephant Park, Maputaland, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were investigated. The different vegetation types from which soil samples were randomly collected during the entire year of 2001 are (a) the very rare and unique Licuati forest and (b) Licuati thicket vegetation, (c) a bare or sparsely vegetated zone surrounding the forest edges, the forest/grassland ecotone, dominated by cat’s tail grass (Perotis patens), (d) grassland and (e) woodland (dense savanna). The main idea of this study was to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of some of Maputaland’s most interesting and unique vegetation types. The aims were to obtain an estimate of the seed bank size, determine the species composition of the soil seed bank flora and compare the species composition with the aboveground vegetation, as well as to compare species richness between the seed bank and the standing vegetation in these selected vegetation types. Seed bank size and species composition was determined mainly by using the seedling emergence method. Soil samples were collected at three-month intervals to obtain a measure of the temporal variation in size and composition. The comparison between the seed bank flora and standing vegetation was done by means of a transect method. The depth distribution of seeds in the soil profile was investigated by collecting soil samples at six different soil depths. Soil seed densities obtained by the seedling emergence and flotation methods were also compared. Results showed that the forest/grassland ecotone and grassland vegetation types produced the largest soil seed bank in terms of seed densities and the Licuati forest and thicket vegetation the smallest, in fact the latter had almost no persistent seed bank. Within each vegetation type the seed bank size showed clear seasonal variation. Seed distribution was concentrated in the upper soil layers. The flotation and physical separation method produced much larger seed numbers than the seedling emergence method. Generally, there is no or very little correspondence between the number of species recorded in the seed bank and that of the standing vegetation. It was found that the seed bank of the different vegetation types, if present, was a fairly poor predictor of the species composition of the existing vegetation, especially in terms of woody species. / Dissertation (MSc (Botany))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Plant Science / unrestricted

The optimisation and implementation of a molecular fingerprinting system and its ultimate use in marker assisted selection of identified maize and wheat genotypes for the CSIR are described in this dissertation. The Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) method was optimised for the maize trait gamete sterility, and for the wheat traits eye spot resistance and cytoplasmic male fertility. Maize and wheat DNA were extracted from selected genotypes employing standardized protocols. A commercial AFLP kit was used to obtain suitable fingerprint fragments for analysis. As this kit was not designed for very large genomes, conditions for the large wheat genome required optimisation. AFLP fingerprints generated from the different genotypes of maize and wheat were evaluated for potentially trait linked markers. Polymorphic fragments were identified by their presence in genotypes containing the trait of interest, and their absence from fingerprints of genotypes that did not contain the trait of interest. These amplification products were identified and selected as possible markers. These potential markers were converted to Sequence Characterised Amplified Regions (SCARs) by cloning the selected amplification products to T-tailed pSK vector, and subsequent sequencing of the fragment. Primers were designed to recognise these amplification regions in the tested genotypes. Primers were optimally designed to include or exclude the restriction sites of the enzymes at each end of the amplified fragments and annealing temperatures normalised for each of the primer sets. The primers were validated by amplification of the tested genotypes with the primer sets at specific reaction and temperature cycling conditions. For maize, two primer sets were identified that could be developed to identify gamete sterility genotypes. In the case of wheat, one primer set for each of the traits spot resistance and cytoplasmic male fertility was identified for their potential use as markers. / Dissertation (MSc (Genetics))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Genetics / unrestricted