Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The political transition that has occurred in South Africa can be viewed as the country's first liberalisation process. In order to ensure sustainable political democracy, it must be accompanied by a second liberalisation, socio-economic development. The new government recognised that the second liberalisation entails an economic transformation process that will re-gear the economy towards attaining the objectives of economic growth and human development. The restructuring of state owned enterprises (SOEs) has emerged as one of the major trends in new economic thinking of the present government. A list was drawn of all the state owned enterprises that were to be restructured. The Post Office as a state owned entity was also in the list. The purpose of this study is to assess the South African Post Office Limited (SAPOL) as a typical state-owned enterprise in the context of the restructuring debate. It analyses and reviews the achievements and developments that took place in the Post Office since commercialisation in 1991 up to the stage where government decided to restructure the postal industry. It first starts with the issues that led to government's decision for restructuring, the options for the restructuring of the Post Office and the selection of acquiring a Strategic Management Partner as the most favourable option. More important, the study explains the approaches that postal services have taken to improve performance even when they have been faced with widely differing legal, institutional, and regulatory environments and bottlenecks. This study looks at the international trends and compare SAPOL with other postal administrations in particular those that have gone through a similar process of postal reform. This restructuring process of the Post Office is discussed in detail. The case studies of the two postal administrations namely, New Zealand and the UK, and the steps taken and lessons learnt by these countries in reforming their enterprises are explored. The purpose of this is to outline several different approaches available to the postal service to meet these and related challenges. Lastly, the study looks at the implications of the Strategic Management Partner (SMP) within the enterprise and whether to employ them was a strategic initiative for the government. It also attempts to solicit important information where aspects of postal reform seem to succeed and also identify the problem areas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die politieke oorgang in Suid-Afrika was die land se eerste liberalisering. Ten einde die politieke demokrasie standhoudend te maak, moes "n tweede liberalisering - vir sosio-ekonomiese herstrukturering, geloods word. Die nuwe regering bedoel dat die tweede liberalisering die ekonomie moes transformeer sodat herkonstruksie en ontwikkeling kon plaasvind. Die herstrukturering van staatsbates het "n vername deel van die nuwe denke geword. "n Lys van sulke staatsbates is opgestel. Die Poskantoor is so "n staatsbate. Die doel van die studie is om die SA Poskantoor (SAPOS) se herstrukturering te beskryf en ontleed. Dit ontleed mikpunte en ontwikkelings wat in SAPOS sedert kommersialisering in 1991 plaasgevind het. Dit ontleed die besluit om verder te herstruktureer, verdere opsies wat oorweeg is en die aanwysing van "n Strategiese Bestuurs-vennoot (SBV). Dit kyk ook na die benaderings om posdienste te verbeter en wel teen die agtergrond van regsraamwerke, institusionele omgewings en regulatoriese vereistes. Die. studie ontleed ook internasionale tendense en vergelyk dit met SAPOS se omgewing, veral in lande wat vergelykbaar is. Die gekose gevallestudies wat ook SBV-vennote geword het, is Brittanje en New Zealand. Hulle het ook posdienste hervorm. Lesse kan geleer word. Laastens, word die implikasies van die SBV bekyk en word beoordeel tot watter mate dit aan die doelstellings van herstrukturering voldoen. Daar word na hervormingsprestasies sowel as knelpunte gekyk.

Disruptive technologies. Revolutionary products. Innovative services. Unpredictable change. Ever-shifting markets. Today's complex, entropic and volatile business environment poses a daunting challenge for organisations like the South African Post Office: how to create - and sustain - strategic advantage and customer value in the midst of such entropy (chaos). Most organisations respond to this challenge with more entropy-inducing mechanisms - endlessly elaborate rules, laborious processes and convoluted business, functional and technical systems to guide their strategic planning and decision-making. But this bogs organisations down, hindering business growth instead of spurring it; and ultimately restricting the organisation's ability to navigate shifting market terrain. The last few years have seen the Post Office grappling with such issues. In search of a muchneeded turnaround it has found itself engaging in, amongst others, initiatives such as the socalled strategic management partnerships than have left it worse off than it was in the first place. From an Information Management (lM) point of view, ill conceived Information Technology (IT) strategies were pursued which instead of bringing measurable value and benefits have turned out to be nothing more than mere exercises in "fire fighting". All the above issues have, if nothing else, highlighted the difficulty of doing business in the new economy, an economy that is fundamentally characterised by unpredictability, volatile markets, and disruptive technologies. Whilst this may, on the surface, point to limited value of using traditional business methods and strategies, this is in fact not so. Others may argue that the traditional business model is fast losing sustainability; this could not be further from the truth. As will be evidently demonstrated in this report, "brick" and "click" business models can be successfully implemented side by side in a complimentary manner, resulting in better competitiveness for the Post Office. Indeed, there has to be shifts in speed of thinking and planning, but the fundamentals of business remain to a large extent the same. This research looks at the Post Office's IT function in detail and provides specific competitive Information Management Strategies (lMS's) the aims of which are to enable the Post Office to effect a human-centered - instead of an IT-centered - approach to using technology in helping the organisation to navigate entropic environments and to realise its larger strategic turnaround goals and objectives. However, as is mostly the case, the proof of the proverbial pudding is still in the tasting as strategy is both hard thinking and doing. / Thesis(MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

M. Tech. Human Resources Management / The objectives of this research are to determine employees perceptions about performance management system contracting, to determine the performance management system evaluation within South African Post Office. It also looks at the perceptions of South African Post Office employees about the outcomes of the performance management system.

M.Tech. (Industrial Engineering) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M. Tech. Public Management / The primary objective of this study was to research the effects of crime risk in the Postal services that are located in the North East (postal) Region of South Africa, and to recommend some measures which can be explored to ameliorate the problem from a Public Management and Administration point of view.

Includes bibliography. / South Africa needs a modern, sophisticated telecommunications network to ensure economic development and political stability. The same network must also provide affordable and reliable service to a great percentage of the population. The telecommunications industry is currently monopolised by Telkom, a state-owned business enterprise (SBE), and does not appear capable of meeting these basic requirements. The purpose of this paper is to present a case for restructuring Telkom and liberalising the telecommunications industry to best serve the needs of the South African economy. The objective for restructuring the telecommunications industry must be to maximise long-term consumer welfare for all South Africans. This paper argues that consumer welfare will be maximised only by dismantling the statutory monopoly structure and moving toward a highly competitive, privately owned telecommunications industry. The economic issues, of course, cannot be discussed realistically without reference to political, social and historical variables, all of which are also considered. By focusing primarily on economic issues, however, this paper strives to avoid the ideological disputes which usually surround discussions of state ownership. This paper focuses on the telecommunications industry because it represents the single most important infrastructural component in a modern economy. It also presents a unique opportunity if managed well, and a grave danger if allowed to continue in its current structure.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters Degree In Management Sciences Business Administration, Department of Entrepreneurial Studies and Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / The retail industry is arguably one the most prosperous sectors in the global economy. Retail’s importance lies in the fact that it serves as an intermediary between producers and consumers. Given its significance in the everyday lives of people in communities and its role in national economies, the industry operates under extensive competition driven by growth in Information Technology which has dramatically changed the consumption patterns and buying behavior of consumers today. The changes are greatly influenced by different economic factors that impose change in the industry and impact on the bottom line of businesses. Thus, retailers are constantly realigning their businesses in ways that ensure that old customers are kept and new ones are sourced. It is from the foregoing that this study sets out to investigate the influence of transformation on the financial performance of the operational level of retail businesses: A case study. Using a quantitative research method, the study focused on 101 middle level branch managers of The South African Post Office obtained through the simple random technique. The questionnaires were administered to the branch managers and the data obtained was analysed using SPSS software. Findings from the study revealed that the overall business transformation has a positive impact on the financial performance of businesses. The results further revealed that continuous communication with regards to transformation inspires confidence among employees, thereby leading to productivity and the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. Findings also suggest that productive employees contribute positively to the financial performance of the business. The study recommends that retail businesses should consider overall business transformation in terms of structural design change, Information Technology, products and services and employee motivation to keep business relevant in the ever-changing global economy. / M

Introduction and Relevant Details: This research investigates the impact of inbound logistics' activities on the operational performance of the business within the branches of the South African Post Office (SAPO) in the Eastern Cape Province. The study basically hypothesises a statistically significant positive correlation between inbound logistics' activities and the operational performance of the business with regards to revenue generation and operational costs in particular. A sample of 100 branch offices was randomly selected. A 50-item questionnaire was administered by mail to the branches to collect the data during September 2005, and statistical tests for correlation were conducted on at least five dependent variables; stock procurement costs, effects on revenue, number of stock variation occurrences, order variation occurrences and the stock holding effects. Results of Data Analysis: The results of 88 respondents (88%) showed the existence of the significant positive relationship between the inbound logistics activities and the operational performance of the business at the South African Post Office branches as proposed by the study. The Spearman Rank Correlation tests were above 0.7 for most of the tested variables, showing a strong relationship. The inbound logistics' activities were also found to be positively correlated to revenue generation as well as to the operational expenses of the business. Conclusion and Recommendations: The findings allowed the researcher to conclude also that whatever improvements are made to the inbound logistics will also impact on the operational performance of the business, while failures in the inbound logistics will do so negatively. Business endeavours to maximise revenue and minimise costs are directly affected by the inbound logistics' activities. The branches of the SAPO seemed to be dissatisfied with most of the services rendered by the Supply Distribution Centre (SOC) of the SAPO, and such services have negatively affected the achievement of revenue targets at the branches as well as the operational costs. Holistic approaches to developing positive perceptions in the branches together with improving service activities at the SOC are recommended. Collaborative initiatives between branches and the SOC, reviewing the lead-times and the establishment of proper structures to handle supply chain queries, enhanced by information system technology to provide accurate and up-to-date information to branches and related parties about stock order issues are required . Areas of further research highlighted include the inbound logistics' activities of the SOC and the effectiveness of company policies as a guide to Supply Chain Management (SCM).

Measuring the success of Activity Based Costing (ABC) is part of a more general challenge of measuring the success of any major change in managerial methods. The past thirteen years have seen accelerated rates of change in the South African Post Office (SAPO). However little is known about `'Measuring the successful implementation of ABC in (SAPO)''. The objectives of this study is to research the perceptions of staff regarding the successful implementation of ABC, the benefits of ABC implementation and the conditions that affect the potential benefits from the successful implementation of ABC. This will allow organisations and provide them with relevant information that will enable them to make better decisions with regard to measuring the successful implementation of ABC. To achieve these objectives a questionnaire was prepared and handed out to the finance staff of the SAPO. They were asked to respond to the questionnaire on their experience and their perceptions on the implementation of ABC. 121 questionnaire were returned generating a 38% response rate. The findings in this study highlighted that top management fails in giving active support to the implementation of ABC and the technical factors were perceived as standing in the way of the successful implementation of ABC. These were training, the high cost of implementing ABC, the lack of software packages, the lack of data requirements and co-operation between departments. From the finding the recommendation was made were general strategies were suggested for the SAPO for measuring the successful implementation of ABC. / Business Management / M.Tech. (Business Administration)

Measuring the success of Activity Based Costing (ABC) is part of a more general challenge of measuring the success of any major change in managerial methods. The past thirteen years have seen accelerated rates of change in the South African Post Office (SAPO). However little is known about `'Measuring the successful implementation of ABC in (SAPO)''. The objectives of this study is to research the perceptions of staff regarding the successful implementation of ABC, the benefits of ABC implementation and the conditions that affect the potential benefits from the successful implementation of ABC. This will allow organisations and provide them with relevant information that will enable them to make better decisions with regard to measuring the successful implementation of ABC. To achieve these objectives a questionnaire was prepared and handed out to the finance staff of the SAPO. They were asked to respond to the questionnaire on their experience and their perceptions on the implementation of ABC. 121 questionnaire were returned generating a 38% response rate. The findings in this study highlighted that top management fails in giving active support to the implementation of ABC and the technical factors were perceived as standing in the way of the successful implementation of ABC. These were training, the high cost of implementing ABC, the lack of software packages, the lack of data requirements and co-operation between departments. From the finding the recommendation was made were general strategies were suggested for the SAPO for measuring the successful implementation of ABC. / Business Management / M.Tech. (Business Administration)