Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Stakeholder engagement, and specifically employee engagement has proven to have an influence on how companies perform and how value is created in organisations. Within the competitive world where Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are functioning, employee engagement can be the master key that unlocks better organisational performance. The objective of this study is to research the influence of stakeholder engagement on business performance and value creation, and to identify factors that impact on stakeholder engagement. The processes that are in place to engage with employees and how value are created through employee engagement, are also investigated. Studies have proven that successful employee engagement can have a positive influence on how businesses perform. The various factors that have an influence on employee engagement, are identified, including: • People. • Communication. • Work. • Rewards. • Opportunities. • Quality of life; and • Company practices. The study found that engagement levels in selected SMEs in Gauteng are high and the results, as discussed in Chapter 3, are positive. It proves that a significant percentage of employees are engaged on the following levels: 1. Rational - this indicates how well employees understand their roles and responsibilities in their various companies. 2. Emotional - this level indicates with how much passion employees work and how passionate they are about their organisation. 3. Motivational - this indicates how willing employees are to give more than is expected of them, and how hard they work to perform well on their roles and responsibilities. The results of the study can be used by companies to improve employee engagement and create value in their organisations - it can assist them in building a sustainable, competitive organisation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Many of the failures and deficiencies of software projects can be attributed to the lack of effort exerted in addressing requirements in the early planning stages of software development. In multiple stakeholder development environments, requirements will inevitably come into conflict, therefore, it is important to address these conflicts early in software development. The research presented in this thesis surveyed several existing models that resolve requirements conflicts. The goal of the research was to investigate the suitability of these models in identifying, visualizing and solving requirements conflicts. To achieve this goal it was decided to apply these models in a context different than they were originally applied. The context of this research was a process where two stakeholder groups negotiated the requirements of the particular software system. The application of the models was done as a case study. Three models were studied, namely the Utility Curves Model, the Win-Win Model and the \textit{\textbf{i*}} Framework. It was found that each model contributes uniquely to conflict resolution. We have documented strength and limitations for each model and have concluded that these three models should be used together in tandem. A hybrid model was constructed that was composed of the three models. The hybrid model leverages the strengths and addresses the limitations of the three individual models.

The thesis proposes that Strategic Planning for Information Systems (SPIS) has become ineffective through a tendency to focus on the information technologies involved. The thesis argues that the dominant rational, reductionist epistemology of SPIS methods, tools and techniques limits the effectiveness of SPIS through methodological impoverishment. The thesis proposes that a humanistic, sociotechnical perspective of SPIS accommodates the use of complementary tools and techniques that improve the process. This thesis advances a new Framework to improve the process of SPIS based on the propositions; first that the lack of sufficient knowledge of both the internal and external environment is a root cause of many of these insufficiencies, and second that this knowledge is held within the stakeholders of this process. An ernancipatory information systems research programme (Klein and Hirschheim, 1987) is used to advance a framework that overcomes the insufficiency and inadequacy of the process of strategic planning for information systems in organisations that permits information systems to fail. The framework is tested on two organisations and shows that the proposed Framework has significant potential to improve the SPIS process. The case research investigates the role of stakeholders, knowledge, and boundaries in the process of SPIS in order to develop more sufficient methods for the process of SPIS that address the perceived inadequacies in current processes, and thus provide an improved strategic planning process for information systems. Two novel tools are introduced: the Stakeholder Web and the Interaction Matrix. Their evolution is a major contribution of this research. The collection of tools presents a practical research contribution for the SPIS process and as generic (methodological) research tools. A new definition for the term 'stakeholder' is formulated and used to supply clarity in understanding for this study - and would prove useful for the field of IS.

The continued growth of waste generation rates and the general concern for its impact on the natural environmental have resulted in a search for solutions to contain the problem before it spirals out of control. One such solution is organised recycling, the practice whereby municipalities require waste generators to set aside post-consumer materials so that they do not enter the mixed waste for collection and delivery to the markets. The practice is popular in developed countries, with municipalities engaging in household waste source separation schemes to meet statutory targets set by higher authorities. In developing countries too, NGOs, municipalities and national governments have started to include source separation in waste management policy and legislation. But this approach will present a new set of challenges to municipalities and waste generators alike, particularly when it is not preceded by a proper analysis of practical constraints on the ground. The purpose of this research is to develop workable recycling guidelines for cities in developing countries with similar characteristics to Gaborone from analysis of such constraints. The study began as an exploratory research process that evolved into a case study. A cross-sectional survey methodology was used including survey techniques such as waste characterisation sampling surveys for household and commercial waste, questionnaire-based interview surveys, semi-structured interviews with key informants representing stakeholders, and market survey for post-consumer materials. The research is directed by the hypothesis that: Despite the projection of organised recycling as an effective means to enhance waste recycling, its practicality as a waste management strategy in developing countries is constrained by the realities on the ground. The research found that, the major constraints to organised recycling are lack of practical official support for recycling, failure of public awareness to translate into participation in recycling initiatives, the attitude of municipal officials that favours maintenance of the status quo and relatively high recovery rates achieved by the existing recycling initiatives. The research concludes that under the prevailing conditions, it would not be practical to organise recycling schemes in the format used in developed countries and proposes guidelines that lake into consideration the established constraints.

Cross sector social partnerships have been increasingly used as vehicles to address societal issues. However the practices are poorly understood and lacking transferability. One of the challenges relates to evaluating the success of cross sector social partnership projects through a stakeholder perspective. This thesis aims to examine how the different stakeholders perceive and assess project success by examining a case in a tripartite cross sector social partnership project named Umeå Interactive Recycling Room. Seven interviews with representatives from five participating organisations and project archival documents were analysed for the purpose of this thesis. The study reveals that stakeholders assessed success in multiple dimensions using short and long-term perspectives. The success criteria tend to be related to the value creation concept of the project which can be categorised into outcome, organisational benefits, product, and learning perspectives. The study also reveals that the stakeholders did not assess success using the traditional project management measures of time, cost, and scope. Furthermore, project success was assessed multiple times, both during the project life and post the project life with the evaluation means that can differ from informal ways to more formal ways. Overall, the findings suggest that connections exist between the success criteria, the timing of the project being assessed, and the role of the stakeholders in the partnership.

In this study, it is aimed to derive strategies and develop a Balanced Scorecard in General Directorate of Environmental Impact Assessment and Planning in Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Firstly, the objectives of the General Directorate defined in the law are reassessed and strategies to realize the objectives are derived by making use of feedback received by conducting surveys to 4 main stakeholder groups which are the staff of the General Directorate, Provincial Directorates, companies preparing EIA reports, other public institutions, and interviews with managers. Following the determination of strategies, performance measures for each strategy are specified, replaced into internal business perspective, stakeholder perspective and learning and growth perspective in the Balanced Scorecard and and finally deployed to head of departments and branch offices.

Co-operative education (co-op) is a form of work-integrated-learning that involves university undergraduate students undertaking full-time paid and discipline-related employment as a structured part of their program of study. Co-op programs provide learning opportunities for students that enable them to integrate their work and their academic experiences. Such opportunities, provided that a number of conditions are met, can lead to deep level learning. Deep level learning results when students engage in and interact with the material that they are learning so that the material is integrated into their knowledge and personal understanding. Whether or not deep level learning occurs through co-op, depends on various factors including the learning opportunities provided by co-op employers, the students' own commitment and ability to learn, and the commitment of university staff to support this learning. Insufficient resourcing of co-op programs by universities and ultimately the government places a major constraint on the programs' potential effectiveness in bringing about the desired learning outcomes for students. This is particularly the case in Australia where universities are under enormous pressure of reduced government funding and the long-term sustainability of co-op programs is under threat. In order to justify more funding for co-op programs, it is important to identify and measure the outcomes associated with undertaking co-op. There has been a great deal written about the outcomes of co-op programs and the associated benefits that accrue to the major co-op stakeholders; students, graduates, universities and employers. Most of the measurement of these outcomes has, however, taken place in North America. Furthermore, studies have generally focused on the outcomes for one, or sometimes two, stakeholder groups. The results of many of these studies have been limited by confounding variables and have been very mixed; with some providing evidence that supports co-op and others providing evidence that does not. Little work has been done to estimate the costs associated with running co-op programs. This thesis considered the research question of what is the added value of a cooperative education program. A positivistic paradigm was adopted and empirical measures of learning and employment outcomes were analyzed for co-op compared to non co-op students and graduates. The graduates taking part in the study were matched in an effort to overcome some of the methodological limitations of other studies. The majority of the graduates had completed an Economics, Finance or Commerce degree at one of two major universities located in Melbourne, Australia: one university provides a compulsory co-op program, the other does not. Through the analysis of the learning outcomes of co-op, this study found that co-op led to a reduction in the proportion of students adopting a surface approach to learning. The shift from students adopting a surface approach to students adopting a deep approach to learning as a result of co-op, was not evidenced as strongly as expected. This may have resulted in part, from the lack of funding necessary to provide the level of learning support required to bring about these learning outcomes. There is, however, evidence to suggest that co-op has a significant impact on the academic performance of students and particularly for those whose academic performance pre co-op was low. When employment outcomes for co-op graduates and non co-op graduates were analyzed, it was evident that 90% of co-op graduates, compared to only 19% of non co-op graduates, found discipline-related employment within one month of actively seeking a job. Furthermore, co-op graduates took an average of two weeks to find employment whereas non co-op graduates, with no undergraduate discipline-related work experience, took an average of three-and-a-half months. There is evidence that employers recognized, through increased salaries, the benefit of the co-op year over and above the experience that can be gained from summer placements, traineeships and post co-op discipline-related work. While the starting salary for co-op graduates, was significantly higher than for non co-op graduates, this difference disappeared when both cohorts had the same number of years of industry experience. Even though this result, which is consistent with other studies, appeared not to demonstrate the increased salary advantages associated with co-op, there is another factor that needed to be taken into consideration. The co-op graduates in this study had a range of academic achievements yet their graduate employment outcomes were at least the same as those for the non co-op graduates who were all high academic achievers. The impact that co-op has on the achievement of relevant strategic goals and key performance indicators specified by the co-op university was considered and an estimation was also undertaken of the cost of providing this co-op program over and above the government funding received for its support. It was found that while the co-op program attracted students with the same university entry score as the non co-op program, the non co-op graduates would, with hindsight, have chosen a co-op degree. This suggests that the pool of quality students applying for entry into the university offering co-op programs could be increased with more effective marketing of co-op to secondary school-leavers. Academic progression rates and retention rates, two university key performance indicators, were high for co-op students and co-op was a significant factor in achieving the university objective of graduate employability. While co-op has had a significant impact on the achievement of relevant university goals, it was also found that the university that offers co-op incurs a funding shortfall of approximately $1,300 for every Economics and Finance co-op student. This amounted to a total funding shortfall of $41,600 for the 32 co-op students included in this study. One option that is available to the university to find support for the long-term financial sustainability of co-op programs is to seek a share of the significant cost savings experienced by the two other major stakeholders in a co-op program - the government and the employers of co-op graduates. The estimated savings in graduate recruitment costs as a result of co-op students returning to companies as graduate recruits varied from $1,100 to $3,000 per graduate. This resulted in a total saving of between $19,000 and $51,000 for the 17 Economics and Finance students in this study who returned to their co-op companies as graduate recruits. The impact of co-op on social welfare payments made by the government was also quite significant. It was estimated that co-op led to savings of approximately $15,000 in social welfare payments for every co-op graduate - the total social welfare payments made to all the non co-op graduates being $147,000 higher than the total social welfare payments paid to the co-op graduates included in this study. To achieve these benefits of co-op, the government funds co-op programs at a rate of $1,800 per student. For the 800 RMIT Business students who currently undertake co-op each year, the funding shortfall experienced by RMIT was extrapolated to be $1.04m. The associated saving to graduate employers was estimated to be between $500,000 and $1.37m and the expected saving to the government in social welfare payments was estimated to be over $4m while the total funding of co-op programs for the 800 students by the government was $1.44m. These figures provide a strong case for an increase in the financial support of co-op programs. In conclusion, while there is a need to extend the research into the added benefits of a cooperative education program to a longitudinal study also covering other discipline areas, there is evidence to show that improved academic and employment outcomes occur for co-op graduates compared to non co-op graduates. There is also evidence of significant cost savings that accrue to the Australian Federal Government and to graduate employers as a result of co-op. If these data can be used to transfer resources to the universities that provide these programs then greater efforts can be made to direct the resources in a way that will further enhance the learning and the employment outcomes for co-op graduates.

Abstract This thesis presents innovative applications of Multi-Objective Decision Support Systems (MODSS) to forestry decision support. New MODSS methodologies were developed to assess and evaluate forestry practices and finance regimes. The assessment of forestry investments draw on case studies conducted in the Hodgson Creek catchment on the Darling Downs in south Queensland and on the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland, Australia. MODSS are systems that aid decision-making, in which a set of alternative management options are evaluated against a set of decision criteria. The criteria, that represent the stakeholders’ goals and objectives, are weighted to reflect stakeholder preferences regarding their relative importance. The weighted criteria scores are then aggregated to create an overall measure of option performance. In the first case study, MODSS procedures identified from the literature as being most suitable to forestry and the MODSS software package DEFINITE was used. After a critical review of the first study, a new MODSS was developed to address the particular needs of forestry evaluations and the weaknesses of current MODSS for addressing these needs. Limitations of the Hodgson Creek MODSS included lack of stakeholder engagement in the MODSS development process, inefficient use of the stakeholder time and an excessive work load on the experts in the scoring process. The new MODSS development process included the combined use of weighted sum and Electré aggregation methods, these being compensatory and non-compensatory aggregation methods. This combination of aggregation methods provided a measure of overall option performance and identified the presence of fatal flaws in the options. Various criteria weighting methods were trialled – including rank order methods, the analytical hierarchy process and direct assessments – to assess their utility for defining weights that reflected stakeholder priorities. A new hybrid weighting technique was developed using a combination of rank order methods and direct assessments. A new and innovative process for scoring options and criteria was developed, using an adaption of the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) in conjunction with a new computer-based Group Decision Support System (GDSS). This iterative process involved repeated rounds of individual scoring and group discussions. In the workshop conducted to elicit scores from experts, the GDSS was used to identify criteria where the elicited scores differed and discussions were focused on these criteria. After the discussions the options were rescored against the criteria and discussed further. This analysis was innovative in that uncertainty around the individual option scores was addressed for the first time using MODSS. This new application was developed in a spreadsheet using the risk analysis package @RISK. Evaluations of forestry options were undertaken at various time scales to address the long delay between incurring costs of tree planting and receiving returns from harvest. The various time scales identify the periods in which environmental and social benefits occurred as the trees grow and the economic benefits occurred at clearfell (or selective) harvest. This thesis specifically focuses on situations where measured and modelled data is not available, and seeks to increase the scientific rigour of the use of expert and stakeholder opinion in MODSS. The MODSS analyses revealed that forestry in the case study areas had the potential to offer considerable economic, environmental and social benefits to both landholders and the wider community. However, these benefits (and the associated costs) were not viewed as equally important. The MODSS developed in this study addressed these concerns. The benefits and costs of an option were reflected in its performance against the criteria. The degree of importance of the individual criteria varied from minor to high and overriding all other considerations. Criteria against which an option performed highly (the option’s strengths) were identified, as were criteria against which an option performed poorly (the option’s weaknesses). When these weaknesses occurred in highly important criteria, these were identified as fatal flaws in the option. The first case study in the Hodgson Creek catchment considered eight forestry options against 17 economic criteria, 12 environmental criteria and 12 social criteria. The second case study on the Atherton Tablelands considered 16 forestry options against eight economic criteria, six environmental criteria and five social criteria. The MODSS analysis identified the most preferred forestry options and the strengths and weaknesses of the options. In both case studies the most preferred options were large or medium-sized plantations with monoculture plantings with an element of non-landholder funding, in the form of government funding, joint ventures or land leasing agreements. These options had the highest performance against the economic criteria at all time scales and satisfactory environmental and social performance. Other forestry options that performed well included plantings focused on under-utilised land areas and salinity prevention areas, agroforestry, and selective harvesting of private native forest. These options generally had a higher level of performance against the social and environmental criteria, but lower levels of performance against economic criteria. These plantings would be undertaken for environmental and social reasons and not for financial returns. The application of MODSS developed in this thesis presents a significant scientific contribution to MODSS methodology. This thesis includes: the use of multiple time-periods to address the temporal differences in the delivery of benefits and costs, the use of NGT and a GDSS to provide a process for rapidly eliciting expert opinion, and the use of the combination of Electré and weighted sum aggregation methods to provide an overall measure of option performance and to identify fatal flaws in the options.

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