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This collection of papers represents the author's maturing reflection on systemic engagements with three different organizations within the latter half of the first decade in post-Apartheid South Africa. The first two papers deal with two different systemic engagements: the first with a rural community development organization in a rural area of KwaZulu-Natal south of Durban and the second with the implementation of a district health system by a provincial health authority, also in KwaZulu-Natal. The last three are concerned with the theoretical and practical aspects of a single critical systems intervention (CSI) for policy development within the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service, a parastatal nature conservation organization. The first paper, Designing a Management System for a Rural community Development Organization Using a Systemic Action Research Process describes the use of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) for the development of a Human Activity System (HAS) Model, that is, a conceptual model of purposeful human activities, to facilitate debate regarding a 'problem situation' faced by the community development organization. A Critical Systems Intervention to Improve the Implementation of a District Health System in KwaZulu-Natal is the second paper. As the title suggests, this paper describes a Critical Systems Intervention in a district health system implementation process. By using Concept Maps and Sign-Graph diagrams with SSM this paper contributes theoretically to the growing body of literature on methodological pluralism. Paper 3, Towards a critical systems approach to policy formulation in organizations contributes to the literature on organizational policy. It is noted in this paper that whilst there is a substantial body of literature on organizational strategy as well as on public policy, there is a dearth of literature on organizational policy. The thrust of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it draws a distinction and shows the relationship between organizational policy and organizational strategy. Secondly, building on this distinction, it develops a critical systems approach to policy formulation. Paper 4, Environmental Paradigms, Biodiversity Conservation and Critical Systems Thinking develops a framework of environmental paradigms which may be used for any CSI in nature management as a tool for values clarification. The collection concludes with Paper 5, A Critical Systems Intervention for Policy Development within a Nature Conservation Organization. It discusses the process undertaken in the nature conservation organization - Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife - intervention and shows how the approach to policy formulation (developed in Paper 3) and the framework for environmental paradigms (developed in Paper 4) were used in the intervention. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

This study deals with appropriate policy education in the South African Context, using the Public Policy Partnership (PPP) as a case study. The first part of this portfolio is a theoretical framework, which looks at the evolution of public policy as an academic field of study and the study of public policy in a changing, global environment. This section highlights the challenges in terms of public policy within governments and the skills that policy practitioners need to be equipped with in order to address these problems. Part Two of this study looks at the PPP as a case study. The PPP was chosen as a case study as it is a current example of a public policy training and education programme within the new South African dispensation. The PPP is a programme based on partnership. It is the goal of the PPP programme to create a new breed of public policy practitioners who are able to make a meaningful contribution to policy-making, implementation and analysis in post 1994 South Africa. The PPP is a long-term policy training programme which consists of various programme components, namely: Winter Institutes, internship, and postgraduate study. These components are all dealt with in detail in Part Two. Part Three is a final report which discusses the current context of policy-making in South Africa in terms of the challenges that are discussed in Part One. It is important to address these challenges within a local context, as these are the problems that public policy practitioners in post 1994 are faced with. Accordingly, these public policy practitioners need to be equipped with specific skills and competencies in order to deal with such challenges effectively. This section also looks at some of the key issues that arise out of Part Two (case study) in terms of the PPP approach to public policy education in South Africa., namely: the student of public policy, an interdisciplinary approach to public policy education, skills and competencies acquired through the PPP programme, and the sustainability of the PPP programme. Public Policy Partnership (PPP) as a case study. The first part of this portfolio is a theoretical framework, which looks at the evolution of public policy as an academic field of study and the study of public policy in a changing, global environment. This section highlights the challenges in terms of public policy within governments and the skills that policy practitioners need to be equipped with in order to address these problems. Part Two of this study looks at the PPP as a case study. The PPP was chosen as a case study as it is a current example of a public policy training and education programme within the new South African dispensation. The PPP is a programme based on partnership. It is the goal of the PPP programme to create a new breed of public policy practitioners who are able to make a meaningful contribution to policy-making, implementation and analysis in post 1994 South Africa. The PPP is a long-term policy training programme which consists of various programme components, namely: Winter Institutes, internship, and postgraduate study. These components are all dealt with in detail in Part Two. Part Three is a final report which discusses the current context of policy-making in South Africa in terms of the challenges that are discussed in Part One. It is important to address these challenges within a local context, as these are the problems that public policy practitioners in post 1994 are faced with. Accordingly, these public policy practitioners need to be equipped with specific skills and competencies in order to deal with such challenges effectively. This section also looks at some of the key issues that arise out of Part Two (case study) in terms of the PPP approach to public policy education in South Africa., namely: the student of public policy, an interdisciplinary approach to public policy education, skills and competencies acquired through the PPP programme, and the sustainability of the PPP programme. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 1992. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 287-293).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 421-463). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1979. / Title from title page screen, viewed Feb. 2, 2005. Dissertation Committee: J.H. McGrath (chair), Ben C. Hubbard, Mary K. Huser, Clinton R. Bunke, Larry Kennedy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-117) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs universitet, 2001. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Dwight Kiel . Includes bibliographical references (p. 300-305).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1976. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 300-308).

Thesis (M (Political and Policy Studies))-University of Pretoria, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.