Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study proves that South African organisations, listed in "Best Organisation to Work For", correlates to high-energy organisations. By implication, these South African leaders acknowledge and implement best practice in their organisations. Three case studies, Absa, SAB and Edcon, listed in "Best Organisation to Work For", were considered in determining whether they meet the characteristics of high-energy organisations. Having determined the correlation, the study meets the objectives set. One objective includes determining any "gap" between high-energy organisations from previous research and South African organisations listed "Best Organisation to Work For". The other objective, namely determining whether the present leadership behaviour of the leaders in the South African case studies considered, correlate to the required behaviour of leaders facilitating a high-energy organisation. As mentioned previously, the study correlates to high-energy organisations. Specifically, leaders are committed to the strategy of developing their intangible assets, namely people. The resulting benefits include an efficient organisation, satisfying the needs of employees, customers and stakeholders. This in turn facilitates delivering the right quantity at the right time, while creating a competitive organisation regarding "Best Organisation to Work for". From the above, it is of cardinal importance that a leader possesses and utilise certain behaviours so as to facilitate a high-energy organisation. This will give an organisation its sustainable competitive advantage. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie ondersoek bewys dat Suid Afrikaanse organisasies wat gelys is in die "Best Organisation to Work For" saamgaan met hoë-energie organisasies. Sy implikasie erken hierdie Suid Afrikaanse leiers "beste praktyke" en implementeer hulle dit dan ook in hulle organisasies. Drie organisasies gelys in "Best Organisation to Work For", naamlik Absa, SAB en Edcon was oorweeg om te bepaal of hulle die eienskappe beskik van hoë energie organisasies. Met die bepaling van die korrelasie is daar vasgestel dat die studie aan die doelwitte beantwoord. Een doelwit behels die bepaling van die "gaping" tussen hoë energie organisasies vanuit vorige navorsing en Suid Afrikaanse orginisasies wat gelys was as "Best Organisation to Work For". Die ander doelwit, naamlik, om te bepaal of die huidige leierskap gedrag van die leiers in die Suid Afrikaanse gevalle studies met die vereiste gedrag in hoë energie situasies korrelleer. Soos voorheen genoem, korrolleer die ondersoek met hoë energie orginisasies kenmerkend van hierdie leiers dat hulle verbind is tot 'n strategie vir die ontwikkeling van hul ontasbare bates, naamlik mense. Die gevolglike voordele sluit in 'n doeltreffende organisasie, bevrediging van personeel, kliente en belanghebbers se behoeftes. Hierdie fasiliteer die lewering van die regte hoeveelheid op die regte tyd moontlik, terwyl dit 'n kompeterende orginisasie skep met betrekking tot "Best Organisation to Work For". Vanuit boegenoemde, is dit duidelik dat dit van kardinale belang is dat 'n leier oor spesefieke eienskappe beskik en dit gebruik om daardeur 'n hoë energie organisasies moontlik te maak. Hierdie sal 'n organisasie 'n houbare kompeterende voordeel gee.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / Some digitised pages may appear illegible due to the condition of the original hard copy / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To compete in the global economy South African, organisations have been forced to become more competitive with other organisations worldwide. These changes have necessitated analysis of improved management techniques, stakeholder needs and requirements, business orientation and people management skills in order to ensure that the most efficient systems and structures are implemented. In this project, the systematic approach towards business excellence is discussed. Business excellence can only be achieved by implementing a structured approach towards business performance. This approach starts with the stakeholder needs, which are incorporated into the organisation's policies and strategies. The organisation must align its process and capabilities with the strategy in order to achieve the desired business results. This whole process is driven by leadership and a performance culture. The Denison Organisational Culture Model is based on managerial practices that have an impact on performance, and is introduced as a framework for measuring the organisational culture. The SAEF Model for performance excellence is a framework for measuring the organisation's progress towards achieving performance excellence, and is supported by the principles of continuous improvement and TOM. The self-assessment process, as prescribed by the South African Excellence foundation, is reviewed as a process to measure performance against the SAEF Model framework. A process for integrating results of the self-assessment exercises into the business planning process is presented. Lastly, guidelines on benchmarking, surveys and performance measurement are discussed as a toolkit for successful self-assessment.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: People management, as a differentiating factor for an organisation in a competitive environment, has become a reality. This report focuses on practical best practices in making human capital the differentiating factor in any organisation. Eight topics are discussed, after positioning them against existing models and showing their relationship to the MARDEN diagnostic model of change management. The topics are: • Ensuring that your organisation's people management strategy delivers tangible results. • Entrenching a workplace culture that delivers optimum performance. • Creating high performance workplace practices. • Achieving growth through competency-based people performance and development. • Leveraging superior performance through team based leadership. • Strategy processes in developing supply chains and workplaces into major competitive advantages. • Transforming knowledge into power by becoming a true learning organisation. • Enabling your organisation to implement a successful change and transformation process. The topics are each evaluated in further detail, in order to drill down into specific practices and issues that need to be addressed by organisations. This ensures that practical best practices are positioned to ensure that the human capital, as a major intangible asset, is nurtured into high performing teams and a cohesive group. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mensebestuur as 'n differensierende faktor vir 'n organisasie in 'n mededingende omgewing is 'n realiteit. Hierdie verslag fokus op praktiese beste praktyke vir die versekering om mense-kapitaal as die differensiasie faktor te vestig in enige organisasie. Daar word agt onderwerpe bespreek teen die agtergrond van bestaande modelle, asook die verwantskap met die MARDEN diagnostiese model van veranderingsbestuur as evaluerings basis. Die onderwerpe is: • Versekering dat die organisasie se mense-bestuur strategie tasbare resultate lewer. • Vestiging van 'n werkplek kultuur wat optimale resultate verseker. • Vestiging van hoë verrigting werkplek praktyke. • Groei stimulasie deur bevoegdheid gebasseerde mense-prestasie en ontwikkeling. • Hefkrag van buitengewone prestasie deur span gebasseerde leierskap. • Strategiese prosesse deur die ontwikkeling van waardekettings en werkplek tot mededingende voordele. • Omskakeling van kennis in mag deur 'n ware lerende organisasie. • Bemagtiging van 'n organisasie deur die implimentering van suksesvolle veranderings en transformasie prosesse. Elke onderwerp word verder ondersoek in meer praktyke en detail wat deur organisasies geadresseer moet word om te verseker dat die beste praktyke toegepas word. Sodoende word die organisasie by gestaan om mense-kapitaal te posisioneer as die belangrikste ontasbare bate en ontwikkel in hoë prestasie spanne en 'n samehorige groep.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Continuous improvement is a consensus theme used by many industries for improving product quality and service. In the last decade a new quality philosophy known as Six Sigma has become well established in many companies, e.g., Motorola, General Electric, Ford, Honda, Sony, Hitachi, Texas Instruments, American Express, etc. Some have suggested that the Six Sigma quality improvement philosophy is not only impacting the global business sector, but will also re-shape the discipline of statistics. The Six Sigma philosophy for improving product and service quality is based upon existing principles established by other well-recognised quality experts, (Le. Deming, Juran, and Ishikawa). The significant departure of the Six Sigma philosophy from existing quality philosophies is that it promotes a stronger emphasis on monitOring production yield and manufacturing costs associated with any quality improvement effort. The other significant contribution that Six Sigma makes to the quality movement is the detailed structure for continuous improvement and the step-by-step statistical methodology. The goal of any Six Sigma improvement effort is to obtain a long-term defect rate of only 3.4 defective parts per million manufactured. Lean and Six Sigma are recent developments in continuous improvement methodology that have been popularised by several high-profile companies. The success and complementary nature of these methodologies has led to their combination into a single methodology, commonly called Lean Six Sigma (LSS). Although there is considerable literature available and many implementations of LSS, very little published research addresses the practical experiences of companies that have implemented LSS. To formalise a Lean Six Sigma implementation strategy for MeG Industries the focus of this research was to answer the research question: "How and why are certain implementations of LSS successful or unsuccessful?" To answer this question, this research investigates the implementation processes of organisations by addressing the following investigative questions: .:. How has LSS been deployed and implemented in organisations? .:. What are barriers to LSS deployment and how are they overcome? .:. What are challenges experienced during a LSS implementation and how are they overcome? The investigative questions further focused the research question and identified several factors that appeared to significantly contribute to implementation success; these factors are: .:. Fusing business strategy with continuous improvement strategy .:. Leadership commitment and involvement in the deployment and implementation processes .:. The use of consultants that are proficient and experienced .:. A defined organisational model and infrastructure which links the continuous improvement efforts with the performance measurement system and senior leadership .:. Defined and standardised personnel selection criteria This research's purpose is to assist MeG Industries to structure a continuous improvement program that abates or eliminates the negative effects caused by deployment barriers and implementation challenges. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Deurlopende verbetering is 'n eenstemminge tema gebruik deur menige nywerhede vir die verbetering van produkgehalte en diens. Gedurende die afgelope dekade is 'n nuwe kwaliteitsfilosofie, bekend as Six Sigma, goed gevestig in verskeie maatskappye, bv. Motorola, General Electric, Ford, Honda, Sony, Hitachi, Texas Instruments, American Express ens. Sommige het voorgestel dat die Six Sigma kwaliteit verbeteringfilosofie nie alleenlik impak maak op die globale besigheidsekor nie maar sal ook die disipline van statistiek herskep. Die Six Sigma filosofie vir die verbetering van produk en dienskwaliteit is gebasseer op bestaande beginsels gevestig deur welbekende kwaliteitdeskundiges (bv. Deming, Juran en Ishikawa). Die betekenisvolle afwyking van die Six Sigma filosofie vanaf die bestaande kwaliteitfilosofie is die bevordering van 'n sterk klem op die moniteering van produksieopbrengs en vervaardigingskostes verbind met enige kwaliteitverbeterings inspanning. Die ander betekenisvolle bydrae wat Six Sigma aan kwaliteitbeweging maak is die struktuur vir deurlopende verbetering en die stap vir stap statistiese metodiek. Die doel van enige Six Sigma verbeterings inspanning, is om 'n langtermyn defekgraad van net 3.4 defektiewe parte per miljoen vervaardig, te verkry. Lean en Six Sigma is onlangse ontwikkelings in deurlopende verbeteringsmetodiek, wat populer gemaak is deur verskeie hoe profiel maatskappye. Die sukses en komplimerende karakter van hierdie metodiekke het gelei tot die kombinasie van 'n enkel metodiek, algemeen bekend as Lean Six Sigma (LSS). Alhoewel daar aansienlike literatuur beskikbaar is, bestaan daar min gepubliseerde navorsingstukke wat die praktiese implementering van LSS deur maatskappye aanspreek. Om 'n Lean Six Sigma implementering strategie vir MCG Industries te formuleer is gefokus op navorsing wat die navorsingvraagstuk: Hoekom en waarom is sekere implementerings van LSS suksesvol of onsuksesvol?". Om hierdie vraag te beantwoord ondersoek die navorser die implementeringsprosesse van organisasies deur middel van die volgende navorsingvraagstukke: - Hoe is LSS ontplooi en geimplementeer in organisasies? - Wat is die hindernisse tot LSS ontplooiing en hoe word dit oorbrug? - Watter uitdagings word ondervind met die implementering van LSS en hoe word dit oorbrug? Die ondersoek bevraagteken verdere gefokusde navorsingvraagstukke en identifiseer verskeie faktore wat skynbaar 'n betekenisvolle bydrae lewer tot suksesvolle implementering; hierdie faktore is: -Samesmelting van besigheidstrategie met deurlopende verbeteringstrategie -Leierskapvertroue en betrokkenheid in die ontplooiing en implementerings prosesse -Die gebruik van bekwame en ervare konsultante -'n Gedefineerde organisasiemodel en infrastruktuur wat gekoppel word aan deurlopende verbeteringsinstelling deur middel van 'n prestasiemetingstelsel en senior leierskap -Bepaalde en gestandaardiseerde personeel seleksie kriteria. Die navorsing doel is om MCG Industries behulpsaam te wees met die struktuur van 'n deurlopende verbeteringsprogram wat vermindering of eliminasie van negatiewe uitwerkings, veroorsaak deur ontplooiings hindernisse en implementerings uitdagings.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To compete in today’s ”new” economy, Centocor R&D SCH has to attain and maintain a competitive advantage within the global Pharma/biotech industry. With their drive to become a centre of excellence in the fields of fill-finish of biologics and particle characterization, it is important that an analysis of the status quo be done, and that efficient systems and structures are implemented to achieve world class performance. In this project, the approach to business excellence is discussed. Business excellence is more than a simple accumulation of a range of best practices. It can only be achieved by implementing a structured approach towards business performance. This begins with an internal self-assessment; as well as an assessment of the customer/partner needs: these of which are incorporated into the organization’s policies and strategies. Their perceptions are evaluated since these “quality chains” are what ultimately drive a business. The organization must align its culture, processes, inputs, and capabilities with the vision, goals and strategy; and promote and display a mind-set for innovation, and continuous improvement. In this way, the desired business results may be achieved. This is all driven by leadership; and a quality and performance culture; and provides an opportunity to view the organization holistically. The developed model for Centocor R&D SCH is a framework for measuring their business excellence towards achieving performance excellence, and from there a well-paved route for developing the centre of excellence. It is developed on the basis of the European Foundation for Quality Management Model as well as that of the global J&J Process Excellence Competitive Assessment Model; and is supported by the criteria that support those. Strengths are identified, and areas of improvement are viewed as opportunities where the teams can improve on to ensure leadership and excellence in those arenas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Om in vandag se “nuwe” ekonomie mededinge te kan wees, moet Centocor R&D SCH ‘n mededingende voordeel in die globale farmakologiese/biotegnologie industrieë bereik en handhaaf. Met die dryfveer om ‘n sentrum van uitnemendheid in die velde van lyofilisasie and partikel karakterisasie te word, is dit belangrik dat ‘n ontleding oor die status quo gedoen word, en dat doeltreffende stelsels en strukture geïmplementeer word om wereldklas prestasies te behaal. In hierdie projek word die benadering om tot sake-uitnemendheid te vorder, bespreek. Sake-uitnemendheid is meer as net ‘n eenvoudige akkumulaise van ‘n reeks beste praktyke. Dit kan slegs bereik word deur die implementering van ‘n gestruktureerde benadering tot sake resultate. Hierdie proses begin met ‘n interne self-ondersoek, asook ‘n beoordeling van die behoeftes van kliënte en vennote: dit wat in die organisasie se se beleide en strategieë geïnkorporeer is. Hulle persepsies word ge-evalueer want dit is juis hierdie waardekettings wat uiteindelik die sake-onderneming voortstu. Die organisasie moet sy kultuur, prosesse, insette en vermoeëns met die visie, doelwitte en strategie belyn; en ‘n ingesteldheid op innovasie en deurlopende verbetering toon en uitbou. Op so ‘n manier kan die gewensde sake resultate behaal word. Dit word alles beheers deur leierskap en ‘n kultuur van kwaliteit en prestasie, en skep die geleentheid om die organisasie holistoes te benader. Die model wat vir Centocor R&D SCH ontwikkel is, is ‘n raamwerk waarmee hulle hul sake-uitnemendheid kan meet, met die oog om uitmuntende prestasie te lewer, en om van daar af tot ‘n sentrum van uitnemendheid te ontwikkel. Die model is gebasser op die European Foundation for Quality Management Model asook die globale J&J Process Excellence Competitive Assessment Model, en word gedar deur die criteria van daardie modelle. Sterkpunte word geïdentifiseer, en areas vir ontwikkeling word gesien as geleenthede vir die spanne om te verbeter en na leierskap en uitnemendheid in daardie gebied te streef.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / Since 2006, DGF struggled with a diverse and disjointed corporate culture. In this industry, the diversity did not bring about a competitive advantage – on the contrary, it was a negative influence on the organisation’s sustainable performance. It was clear that there were many different cultures, different sub-cultures and different ways of working within DGF, which affected the overall company’s effectiveness, efficiencies and performance. The core research question for the purpose of this research assignment was, “What is the existing culture within DGF, how did this culture evolve and what can be done to change the culture into a strategic example?” The empirical analysis made use of quantitative research, where the majority of the research outcomes were based on the findings from two types of questionnaires. The first questionnaire, “Beehive 2.0”, was used as an analytical tool to analyse DGF’s culture and the second questionnaire was the DGF Employee Opinion Survey (EOS). This survey allowed a safe environment in which the employees voiced their opinions in terms of the organisation. Initial informal one-on-one interviews, open forum Senior Leadership Team discussions and group discussions were held to determine the team’s general approach, how individuals felt towards the organisational culture at the time of the research and whether there was a real opportunity for an improved culture. The Senior Leadership Team identified organisational needs in terms of trust building, changing the culture and improving staff moral. It was clear through the discussions that people were cautious to speak up about organisational culture issues in a group environment. A lot of hurt came to light and without the ability to ensure confidentiality and privacy, a true reflection of how people perceived the culture would not have surfaced. As a result, the quantitative data gathered formed only a small part of the total data gathered for this research. It became apparent through the initial informal discussions as previously referred to, that there was a lack of trust and collaboration, and a culture of fear amongst the employees. The series of acquisitions DGF has been involved with over the years, without solid change management to ensure a unified culture, resulted in many different cultures and sub-cultures within the company. Change management coupled with a unified culture was promised to the employees prior to the acquisitions, but it never materialized. This left the employees uncertain and weary to trust their leaders. Communication throughout the organisation was poor and there was a top down approach to strategy creation. Through this, employees did not feel empowered to make their own decisions and this negatively influenced their trust in the organisation. There was little focus on talent creation, managers did not take the time to impart knowledge or develop employees and in general, employees felt neglected, under-valued and unappreciated. Employee engagement was very low. Most of the results obtained from the EOS and Beehive survey research confirmed the initial needs identified by the Senior Management Team and confirmed the reason for the low morale and negativity in DGF. Employees have lost confidence in a better tomorrow within DGF, and felt that it will not help to speak up anymore. No solid action plans came from making their voices heard in the past, they were concerned about their job security and previous EOS survey results has shown that less than a third of employees felt that positive change could still happen. There was, therefore, a dire need to identify a cultural framework for DGF. Once the new economy leadership culture was selected as the most optimal framework, the existing DGF culture needs to transition into the selected framework. The change of culture was therefore needed to restore the trust of the employees and achieve sustainable competitiveness in DGF, since employee satisfaction and performance are directly linked to organisational culture.

The case study described in this thesis involves a process improvement project in the Tax Department of a Certified Public Accounting firm. A process map was created by interviewing employees involved in the process. A process analysis identified problems and possible solutions. The Partners in the firm decided to streamline the process for simple tax returns in order to make them more profitable. This study examined what impact, if any, the process improvement intervention had on key financial and operational measures. Results indicated that the tax returns prepared in the new process were faster, cheaper, and more profitable. This study indicates that organizations conducting process improvement interventions can beneficially affect key financial and operational measures.

Information Technology (IT) is often viewed as a resource that is capable of enhancing organizational performance. However, it is difficult for organizations to measure the actual contribution of IT investments. Despite an abundance of literature, there is an insufficiency of generally applicable frameworks and instruments to help organizations definitively assess the relationship among organizational performance, IT-business alignment, and IT governance. Previous studies have emphasized IT-business alignment as an important enabler of organizational effectiveness; however, the direct and indirect effects of IT governance have not been incorporated into these studies. The purpose of this study was (1) to propose a new model that defines the relationships among IT governance, IT-business alignment, and organizational performance, (2) to develop and validate measures for the IT governance and IT-business alignment constructs, and (3) to test this IT Governance-Alignment-Performance or "IT GAP" model. This study made some novel contributions to the understanding of the factors affecting organizational performance. The quest for IT-business alignment in the MIS literature has been based on the presumption that IT contributes directly to organizational performance. However, this study found that although IT-business alignment does contribute to organizational performance, IT governance is an important antecedent of both IT-business alignment and organizational performance. The major contributions of this work are the development and validation of uni-dimensional scales for both IT-business alignment and IT governance, and the confirmation of the validity of the IT GAP model to explain the hypothesized relationships among the three constructs. Future studies may improve upon this research by using different organizations settings, industries, and stakeholders. This study indicates that in order for organizations to improve the value, contribution, and alignment of IT investments they first need to improve the ways in which they govern their IT activities and the processes and mechanisms by which IT decisions are made.

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Construction project success is the number one goal for every client, stakeholders and for project team members who are involved with construction projects. However, construction projects often exceed the stipulated budget, are completed beyond the scheduled period and are not even to the required quality. Despite its poor record, the construction industry contributes a lot to the country’s economy and as such, it should be ensured that it performs better than it has currently. Besides the technical issues/factors which are a norm for influencing construction project performance, recent studies have shown that other factors relating to people and how they interact in teams may in fact have a significant influence on project performance. Consequently, culture and cultural differences seem to be one of the important issues that need to be dealt with and managed properly if projects are to be successful; given the nature of contracting, where joint ventures and partnerships seem to be prevalent (Kivrak et.al, 2009). Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of cultural differences on construction project performance. Because culture is seen as a ‘soft’ issue, it makes it hard to be measured empirically (Ankrah, 2007), and therefore requires to be assessed through the perceptions of the individuals who operate within that particular culture (Palmer, Cooper and Burns, 2010). Five dimensions of culture, namely: age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational background and organisational culture background were investigated and chosen to be measured against the three traditional project outcomes, namely: time, cost and quality, while taking into account safety and productivity. A questionnaire was issued to 310 participants drawn from construction projects across South Africa, and 109 responses were received, giving a response rate of 35.16%. The study reviewed that the construction industry’s performance is poor and it can also be attributed to differences in individuals’ cultural background because culture affects one’s mind in terms of behaviour and decision making. Findings from the study showed that a relationship existed between culture and project performance, and that cultural differences had an impact on construction project performance.

This study is directed to the problem of the quantitative determination of the number of additional personnel required in an organization for servicing unscheduled priority tasks without delaying the completion of scheduled tasks. The manager of an organization which has been enlarged in order to respond adequately to the random arrival of priority requests may face criticism if the organization appears to be "overstaffed" during periods when only "routine" service requirements must be met. An audit team oriented toward accounting-type data may be reluctant to accept a manager's justification of his organization's size if the justification is based primarily on nonquantitative arguments.