South African gold mining companies fail to meet employment equity targets at management level. The research aimed at establishing the level of Blacks in junior, middle and senior management positions in South African gold mining companies and to gain an understanding of the drivers and restraining factors for achieving employment equity at management level. Qualitative research was undertaken comprising focus group discussions with Black managers in the gold mining industry and with the Department of Mineral Resources. This was supplemented with in-depth interviews with gold mining HR and transformation managers/executives, labour unions and the Department of Labour. The research confirmed the current level of Blacks in management in gold mining companies, ranging between 23% and 29.6%. A conflict was identified between the Department of Mineral Resource’s “compliance” approach compared to gold companies’ “commitment” approach to employment equity transformation. Transformation Planning, Individual Development Support and Employment Equity Support Structures emerged as the key employment equity transformation themes. These were captured in the “three pillar” model to guide improved employment equity transformation in South African gold mining companies. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The research focuses on the implementation of project management in South African public sector work departments. These departments are typically responsible for managing the construction activities whereby building accommodation is provided for rendering collective services such as health and education. The theoretical basis of the research stems from the earlier work of Schellenberg (1983) who suggested that strategy formulation and implementation be viewed from both content and process school perspectives. The content-related issues of the formulation and implementation of a strategy for project management were examined through the use of a force field analysis, as utilized elsewhere by both Nicholas (1990) and Kerzner (1992). The process-related issues of formulating and implementing a strategy for project management were examined through the application of the Connor and Lake (1988) general change management model. The research strategy involved the use of a questionnaire comprising five parts namely, A: the general classification of the respondents, 8: the general orientation of respondents to project management, C: the management of organizational change, D: a force field analysis of the success driving and restraining factors in the implementation of project management, and E: a theoretical assessment of the chances of successfully implementing project management. All results were analyzed first for the respondents as a whole, secondly for the different managerial levels (top-level, middle and lower management), and thirdly for the different application groups (formal, informal and no project management). While it was found that formal project management was already being applied in a large proportion of work departments, the results of the research could be of benefit to the work departments where informal project management is applied or where no project management is currently being applied. / Thesis (DBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Business Management / unrestricted