M.Comm. / Moving from a traditional organisation to a shared services business unit through the shared services evolutionary continuum, and eventually to an independent business model requires a significant investment in technology, infrastructure, planning and time. Once committed, the process is as rigorous as planning and implementing a new business venture (Van Denburgh & Cagna, 2000). From the basic shared services model through to the independent business model, and during each other phase, the shared services business unit needs to be managed. The shared services business unit executive finds himself in the position of managing a business unit that: Is service orientated. Operates in an evolutionary process. Operates in a changing environment. Runs on business principles. Is an income generating business unit in its own right. Crosses national and international borders. Considers communication between business units as an ongoing process. Is customer and process-focused. Continuously improves and benchmarks business processes against the best. The leadership challenge is now to practise these business processes in a shared services environment, to make them successful and efficient and to add value to the organisation (Gunn, Carberry, Frigo & Behrens, 1993).

This thesis presents a structured approach to measure the performance of a shared services business unit. This approach links the activities in the areas at which a shared services business unit must excel to create sustainable value for the organisation to the organisational vision. The methodology developed can be used to measure the performance of a shared services business unit by all the stakeholders that have an interest in the organisation. The study concludes that measuring of the performance of a shared services business unit is dependent on the organisational vision and strategies as contained in a mission statement. The study further concludes that as the transformation of technology, business processes, people and customer satisfaction are required for continuous evolution of the shared services; the activities that make up these areas should form the basis of the performance measurement of shared services. These activities in the areas of technology, business processes, people and customer satisfaction should be derived from the organisational vision and mission, and be supportive of the organisational mission and vision. The author has studied shared services and performance measurement metatheories and has found that the principles applicable to measure the strategic performance of an organisation can be applied to a shared services business unit. Some of these principles are so straight forward that they are often overlooked and taken for granted. The empirical methodology in this thesis follows a structured approach where the sample framework was tested to determine if the sample elements comply with the requirements of shared services. Following on this the study had to determine if the remaining sample elements are measuring the performance of their respective organisations in a structured manner. Only once this has been established can the study determine the manner in which these sample elements measure the performance of their shared services. After this, the elements identified through the literature study and empirical research could be build into a hierarchy of performance measurement for a shared services business unit. In developing a hierarchy of performance measures for a shared services business unit, shared services organisations have been provided with a structured approach to measure the performance of their shared services business unit that will indicate the value created by the shared services to all stakeholders concerned. / Prof. A.L. Boessenkool

D.Tech. Organisational Leadership. Business School. / The development of a quality framework for services in a shared services environment was the focus of the study. The shared services model has recently become an attractive organisational structure with many conglomerate multinational corporates. Shared services can be defined as a concentration of internal support services, professionally managed as an internal services business unit rendering the necessary services to the organisation’s business units. The shared services concept is not about centralisation. It is based on the existence of an internal supplier-customer relationship, where the power of the demand and nature of the services rest with the various business units. The literature has shown that the benefits of the shared services model include a reduction in the operating costs, improvements in efficiency of the corporate and in a higher level of internal customer satisfaction. Many practitioners have documented the fact that a reduction of operating costs stems from the elimination of duplicated services and providing service offerings at a greater economy of scale. In addition, business units can concentrate their efforts on the improvement of sales, thus lowering the percentage of the cost of sales. Efficiencies are improved by acquiring better technologies made possible by proportioning the costs to the various business units. The customer satisfaction levels of services from shared services centres have not materialised as per the literature. In recent research, shared services customers reported that they were dissatisfied with the quality of services and felt that there is a need for intervention to improve the quality of the services. One of the popular interventions for improving quality is a quality model.

With the renewed emphasis in recent years on profitability as the the key corporate metric, "forgotten" functions such as finance, human resources, procurement and IT are back in the spotlight. They are not only being viewed as sources of cost efficiency, which has been the traditional focus, but also as tools for corporate strategy and competitive advantage. But turning these functions into strategic value drivers can be as difficult as spinning straw into gold. Indeed companies have adopted a variety of approaches, form simple cost reduction and consolidation to discrete outsourcing and offshore strategies. However inconsistent approaches have led to equally inconsistent results. Benefits are available, but, in many instances, they are less than ideal and frequently short lived. In this paper, we will evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the newly implemented Anglo Coal Financial Shared Services Centre to determine if the inherent benefits of introducing a shared services environment is being realised. We will benchmark the current "AS-IS" state of the SSC to best practice in order to assess the gap and recommend a set of possible initiatives that, if implemented, will help improve the performance of the SSC. A broad, systematic approach was used in the diagnosis of the SSC that incorporated the three primary elements of a system - the processes, the technology that enables the processes and the people that drive the process. The research methodology is divided into two phases. Face-to-Face interviews were utilised to assess the process and technology aspects while a rating questionnaire was used to evaluate the people aspects. The study then makes several recommendations to help correct the most critical findings on process, technology and people of the study. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

Organizations normally introduce and implement changes in their respective departments. The general assumption is that the changes are meant for the improvement of operations, efficiencies and cost control measures, among other things. This research project was prompted by the fact that Eskom is introducing Shared Services within its Transactional Procurement and Supply Chain Management. It is important that this study is undertaken, through a survey, involving top executives, upper and middle management, as well as operational employees. Perceptions of the inherent successes or failures the new system might have on Eskom as an organization will be ascertained. Perceived difficulties will make the results more interesting, in that the sampling methodology used has to be compatible with the targeted research market. The results of the survey are important for sharing with Eskom’s management as the findings have a direct bearing on the improvement of the project. Whether Eskom should proceed or not with the introduction of Shared Service within the Transactional Procurement and Supply Chain Management is the problem statement of this research project. Although this project is meant for a particular market sector in the organization, the consequences of the benefits accrued and/or losses incurred will reverberate throughout the whole organization as it has multiple independent transactional procurement and supply chain outfits running in all their departments in South Africa. Whether the previous dispensation was beneficial or not, is subject to what is referred to as the ‘burning platform’ in Chapter 1. The researcher was an Eskom employee at the time of the research project, and the project was aimed at looking at Eskom’s corporate challenges. The survey was conducted conveniently among Eskom employees comprising two sets of respondents: executive management and operational employees drawn from upper and middle management together with supervisory and front staff. Convenience Sampling was done among what was believed to be the employees within the value chains of Procurement and the Supply Chain. The survey results have shown the distinct difference between the perceptions of the executive management and operational employees in that the former are more supportive of the project and well aware of its introduction, while the opposite is true for the operational employees. There was also a marked agreement noted where both responding groups regard the current set-up within the procurement and supply chain management as being fraught with problems. Both groups also agree that this section does not yield the required results. These research findings are significant for Eskom’s management to take note for benefits to accrue by virtue of a buy-in from the different stakeholders. The Eskom employees are expected to implement, manage and improve the efficiencies within the Procurement and Supply Chain Department, and this research project can be taken to have served as an unofficial but important research tool on behalf of the company. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

M.Com. (Business Management) / It has been evidenced through the strategic management theory and literature perused in this study, that transformation of strategies and plans into actual results could only happen through efficient and effective implementation. Any efforts to translate strategy into action that are not guided by the principles of strategy implementation theory have often proven futile or insufficient, thus failure to achieve strategic objectives became the default result for many organisations. Continuous evaluation of this critical implementation phase of the strategic management process enables identification of challenges that cause inefficiency and ineffectiveness and lays a foundation to resolve and improve these identified hiccups. Because of the ever-changing environments within which organisations operate, new challenges are confronted, hence the need for continuous study to identify these challenges and seek solutions to improve the process of implementation of plans and strategies. This study therefore evaluates the implementation process of the Integrated Development Plan as a strategy towards attainment of goals in a local municipality. Recommendations based on strategy implementation theory and literature, are made to deal with identified challenges.

M.Comm. / The global environment is changing drastically and companies need to respond to this change in order to survive. The concept of shared services has seen its boom in the market as one of the measures to adapt to the ever changing global environment. With the strengthening of the global economy, corporations implement shared services to enhance their competitive advantage. Shared services are implemented for various reasons inclusive of quality, cost, time and economies of scale. The result is changes in processes, technology and culture / people. Change is not easy. People resist as it impacts on culture i.e. the way they currently operate. The introduction of shared services is no different. The changes it leads to create a sense of discomfort thereby leading to resistance. It is, thus, of critical importance to manage the transition of people from the current to the future culture. It has been evident that the softer side of change (people) is the most neglected area when managing change. The study focuses on change management to transform people’s attitudes and behaviours from a functional culture to a service oriented culture. The researcher identified this transition as not successful when introducing shared services, and this forms the research problem. The study is qualitative and exploratory in design with the aim of identifying change management tools and techniques in the implementation of shared services. Various tools have been identified with communication being the most critical tool in managing change. The conclusion drawn is that focus should not only be on the technical areas of change, but involve people as well. No change can be successful without the involvement of the people that are expected to implement it, no matter how sophisticated the processes or technology is.

Na realização deste trabalho foi utilizado o método de estudo de caso para estudar uma grande instituição financeira pública brasileira que decidiu substituir a estrutura organizacional funcional de projetos por outra que pudesse ser compartilhada por outras unidades organizacionais. Esta pesquisa analisa o desempenho desta unidade compartilhada de projetos, uma organização matricial de projetos, criada como um centro de serviços compartilhado. A concentração dos projetos neste centro buscou dentre os benefícios esperados em outros centros de serviço compartilhado a melhoria de desempenho dos projetos, quanto a maior pontualidade, melhor planejamento, controle dos atrasos e maior dedicação aos projetos. Porém não havia indicadores para verificação da melhoria após a implantação deste novo arranjo organizacional e, portanto, não era possível afirmar que seu desempenho havia melhorado conforme esperado. Foram então utilizados novos indicadores que permitiram efetuar o diagnóstico do desempenho dos projetos antes e depois da mudança organizacional. Para isto foram utilizadas as informações dos relatórios de acompanhamento do Escritório de Projetos do período de 2009 a 2013 para obtenção de indicadores de eficiência, eficácia e efetividade. Estes indicadores permitem afirmar que esta unidade compartilhada de projetos é mais eficiente, mais eficaz e mais efetiva que a estrutura organizacional funcional anterior quanto a maior pontualidade, melhor planejamento, menores atrasos e maior dedicação aos projetos. / Bibliografia: p. 104-108 / Dissertação (mestrado) - Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Escola Brasileira de Administração Pública e de Empresas, Rio de Janeiro, 2014.

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Business Administration in Project Management in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / Good governance has been and is a growing phenomenon for almost all business organisations regardless of size, profit margins and purpose for existence. Government, quasi-government, non-governmental organisations and even civic organisations have adopted a project-based approach to business. The City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality is one such organisation that had adopted a project-based approach to business. The challenge was how to effectively and efficiently implement governance issues around projects and business organisations. Most organisations can easily be misled if issues of governance are not clearly defined and followed. A project-based approach helps in defining the resources needed at specific times, the time required for a specific task and the cost of a specific operation. In a multi-project environment (programme) resources are shared in a well-defined manner. The City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality has a huge responsibility in terms of successfully initiating, planning and implementing projects successfully. The magnitude and the dynamic complexities of their operation call for proper governance structures to be established within any municipality if service delivery is the main objective. Managing complex and mega projects calls for certain leadership traits. A fusion of these traits at different management levels will be critical for effective delivery of services to the electorate. Models and plans need to be in place as guidance to successful implementation of projects. A number of people, committees and institutions have developed different governance frameworks that can be adopted by organisations as a guide to good governance. This research is based on King III guide to good governance. Challenges experienced by other Municipalities and business organisations e.g. Nelson Mandela Municipality, Eastern Cape Education Department, Transnet, LeisureNet, Limpopo Provincial government and many others, directly relate to poor governance. This therefore calls for the investigation of the Corporate Services directorate in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality to establish the level of compliance with what King III had recommended as a framework for good governance. The City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality has different general governance frameworks in place. However they do not use them effectively because of different issues identified by the researcher. The major challenges facing the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality are effective governance communication and lack of training in the practice of good governance. There were serious discrepancies when it comes to understanding and interpreting governance issues within the different levels of management. It is expected that an organisation like the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality should have proper communication channels and effective training programmes. The researcher also found that information is not readily available to people who need it most yet the expectation is that information be readily available.

M.Tech. (Construction Management) / This research provides an overview of intra-organisational centralised/decentralised structures and inter-organisational consortia. It then aims to provide a theoretical explanation of Management Shared Services, prior to providing case study evidence of management shared services performance and proposed areas of improvement, comprising business units and services departments of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The research provides empirical evidence of the proposed improvement areas of selected processes of management shared services as a viable structural option for improving services provided to the business units and a starter to currently untapped reservoir of potential research. It suggests an additional improvement options to be considered in determining the optimum management shared services model and to provide business case evidence and suggestions for optimum usage of the management shared services. The research assessed the actual level of performance of Management Shared Services Unit in order to provide a basis on which to identify potentials for efficiently improving and optimising existing Management Shared Services Unit. The research identified two areas as success areas in the current set-up and six other areas as requiring improvement if Management Shared Services Unit is to serve the purpose of providing non-core services to the Business Units. The first area of success is the organisation, governance and compliance in the Management Shared Services Unit. The second is in the area systems and technology. The areas identified by research as requiring improvement are strategy, customer relations, human resources, business processes, performance management and continuous improvement.