No abstract available. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The South African Post Office is investing large amounts of money in IT. Organisations were encouraged by the notion that investing in IT correlates with higher returns and the delivery of expected results by replacing the human component in organisations. The employment of IT within business has often resulted in the replacement of old problems with new and the expected business benefits of IT not realised. The primary research objective was to determine the relationship between IT expenditure and the financial performance of a firm. The secondary research objective was to explore the perceived value of IT investment in SAPO. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

The Public Internet Terminal (PIT) is the Department of Communication initiative that aims to bring electronic communication to all South African citizens. It was launched in 1998 as a joint venture between the Department of Communications (DoC) and the South African Post Office (SAPO).This study postulates that the massive roll out of the Public Internet terminals (PIT‘s) has enhanced the lives of the poor by providing easy access to government services. It further assumes that the PITs are able to facilitate access of eService‘s to all the citizens in particular where electronic services are not freely available such as in the rural and remote under serviced areas of South Africa. In addition, it explores the envisaged value added initiatives stipulated in the memorandum of understanding entered in between the Department of Communication (DOC) and the South African Post Office (SAPO).

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.

The South African Post Office is investing large amounts of money in IT. Organisations were encouraged by the notion that investing in IT correlates with higher returns and the delivery of expected results by replacing the human component in organisations. The employment of IT within business has often resulted in the replacement of old problems with new and the expected business benefits of IT not realised. The primary research objective was to determine the relationship between IT expenditure and the financial performance of a firm. The secondary research objective was to explore the perceived value of IT investment in SAPO. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

The Public Internet Terminal (PIT) is the Department of Communication initiative that aims to bring electronic communication to all South African citizens. It was launched in 1998 as a joint venture between the Department of Communications (DoC) and the South African Post Office (SAPO).This study postulates that the massive roll out of the Public Internet terminals (PIT‘s) has enhanced the lives of the poor by providing easy access to government services. It further assumes that the PITs are able to facilitate access of eService‘s to all the citizens in particular where electronic services are not freely available such as in the rural and remote under serviced areas of South Africa. In addition, it explores the envisaged value added initiatives stipulated in the memorandum of understanding entered in between the Department of Communication (DOC) and the South African Post Office (SAPO).

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.

E-commerce technologies have many possible applications both in commercial and non-commercial operations. The development and implementation of these applications is on the increase especially by government and its agencies, for the delivery of services. Specific to this study is the distribution of old age pension benefits to recipients that reside in the rural areas of South Africa. Of importance to this study are the factors that promote and impinge on the development, implementation and acceptance of these applications. A specific project, the Pension Biometric Project was implemented by the South African Post Office in line with the government's initiatives of improving service delivery, and in response to the encroaching digital economy. The research problem is to investigate the pensioners' perception and their experience of three areas of this project, its implementation, its acceptance and its uses and impact. The research was conducted in the constructivist paradigm, using the case study research method. Three data collection methods were used, i.e. a document study of SAPO project documentation, on-site observations and interviews with pensioners. It was found that despite problems in implementation, the pensioners were accepting of the new system, although they were ignorant of the functionalities of the smart card. Consequently, few pensioners were making use of the banking facilities of the card, or had changed their economic behaviour. The study has also found that two themes are overriding all findings of the study. These two themes are ignorance and dignity. Ignorance has had a causal effect on adoption of the smart cards and dignity has been found to be a result of the project. The overriding implication of this study is that pensioners' ignorance around issues of service delivery by government and its agencies needs to be eradicated, otherwise there is no reliable way of measuring efforts against actual delivery. Also, the fact that dignity has emerged as an overriding theme needs to be deliberately strengthened, and maybe even driven as a specified objective of the Pension Biometric Project. Recommendations in this regard are provided as well as ideas for further research.

M.Tech. / The South African Post Office or SAPO is the national postal service of South Africa and is owned by South African government. It employs 17000 people and operates more than 2400 postal outlets throughout the country. The history of SAPO can be tracked back to over 500 years. In 1994 South Africa was readmitted to the universal union following the end of apartheid. SAPO currently operates under a 25 year license granted by the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and in terms of this must provide a universal service to all citizens of the country. The monthly service delivery performance target as set out by the postal regulator (ICASA) is 98%. With the current pressures of having to deliver services according to the license agreement with the regulator, it becomes imperative that SAPO has to improve its business process in order to enable it to meet and exceed set delivery standards with the aim of satisfying its customer’s needs. Throughout the 1990’s the South African Post Office (SAPO) has been offering communication system that was used even before cell phones were introduced and it is still one of the communications channels (SAPO history). As a result there has been increased interest in the application of total quality management (TQM) principles. The emergence of the revised ISO 9000 standard (9001:2008) now permits the South African Post Office gain advantages to improve their performance in a manner that can be measured and monitored precisely.

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).