Thesis (M.Cur.) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / The implementation of a Performance Management System (PMS) and its impact on the professional nurses have never been evaluated and, therefore, the experiences of professional nurses are not known. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of professional nurses with regard to performance assessment at the Polokwane Mankweng Hospital Complex. Upon obtaining the clearance to conduct the study from the Medunsa Reseach and Ethics Committee, permission to conduct the study was granted by the Department of Health. A qualitative research approach was used by applying the principles of a phenomenological, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design. Data were collected from fourteen (14) professional nurses by using unstructured face-to-face interviews. Data were audio recorded and field notes were also written. Trustworthiness was ensured by applying the Lincoln and Guba’s criteria. Transferability was ensured by utilizing purposive sampling to include participats. Confirmability was ensured by by collecting data from thr participants who have experience on the problem studied. Data were analysed qualitatively by using Tech’s open coding method. The results indicated that there was conflict between the nurse managers and professional nurses that was arising from dissatisfaction with the assessment rating and scores allocated. Professional nurses complained about unfair ratings, stating that scores were based on personality and not performance. Those professional nurses who were obtaining high scores were perceived as the nurse managers’ favourites. Professional nurses called for a change in or review of the method of performance assessment. The results indicated that nurse managers were lacking knowledge about performance assessment and, therefore, feedback about performance were not given. It is recommended that on-going training of the nurse managers and a change in the method of assessment will remedy the situation.

It has come to the attention of the researcher while being involved in the tertiary education industry, that the current performance management system for academics is considered ineffective because it: • Does not provide meaningful, timely feedback • Is impossible to administer in an equitable manner • Is driven by numbers • Is focused too closely on rewards The impact of this performance management system is as follows: • It generates low moral • It discourages teamwork • It does not foster trust • It generates avoidance of assessment • It has an adverse effect on productivity • It discourages risk taking • It encourages quest for higher visibility • It produces feelings of being judged rather than being appreciated The study focussed on the question of: • How the performance management system at TSA affects employee attitudes? • How employee attitudes towards the performance management system affects their performance? The objectives of the study are to: • Determine the attitudes of the academics at TSA towards the performance management system • Determine how service delivery might be transformed by implementing an effective PMS • Determine the supporting/preventing factors of the existing PMS at TSA • Identify areas for improvement and produce recommendations for future performance management practice at TSA. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

This research explored the experiences and perceptions of the performance appraisal systems in place and its value to social workers within the Department: Social Services and Poverty Alleviation: Provincial Government of the Western Cape.

Thesis (Masters Diploma(Educational Technology))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 1992 / Quality assurance has emerged as a vital element in tertiary education management at both the macro- and the institutional levels in the Netherlands as well as the united Kingdom. Although, from the nature of the matter, the situation in South Africa would obviously differ from that in these two respective countries, it is clear that universities and technikons may both learn considerably from the British and Dutch experiences. However, in this study the focus will be on technikons. In both the Netherlands and Britain comprehensive quality assurance systems have been established within the realm of higher education during the past decade. Although this phenomenon was largely prompted by external pressures, educational institutions themselves, individually and collectively, contributed substantially to the present system. Characteristic of the Dutch and British dispensations is the willingness on the part of the authorities to create structures for quality assurance. Such structures are still largely absent in South Africa. Compared to the British and Dutch systems, there is, particUlarly within local university education, very little by way of collective structures and actions towards ensuring quality. The link between quality of education and state funding is well established in the overseas countries studied. As a corollary to this, various measuring instruments have been developed for the purpose of determining quality. In this respect it is significant that in the United Kingdom the emphasis is on performance criteria, while in the Netherlands preference is given to peer evaluation. Although the State may through its actions do a great deal to ensure quality of education, individual institutions cannot escape accountability for the development of self-evaluation systems and promoting an internal quality culture and value system aimed at enhanced quality. However, in the process it is important to maintain a balance between efficiency in terms of management and effectiveness in terms of output.

Lack of quality in the South African construction industry is causing various problems for different stakeholders. The causes of this lack in quality are due to various different attributes. Corruption has become one of the leading causes with regards to lack of quality. Quality assurance can mitigate or eliminate defects through the implementation of a quality management system. Defects manifest primarily through cracking, dampness, detachment, and water leaks. Defects are categorized as structural, subsidence, acoustic and thermal. In terms of time, defects are either patent or latent, and can be discovered through observation, inspection and various tests. The causes of defects are ultimately due to error or omission, either during design or during the construction phases. Defects may also result due to procurement related factors, such as appointment of incompetent contractors. The result of defects is customer dissatisfaction, rework and disputes. Non-conformance to requirements results in rework and this in turn contributes to time and cost overruns. The aim of this research was to investigate the greatest cause that leads to defects in houses; the most common type of defect; and why projects fail in term of project management terms (due to defects). Results of quantitative research amongst professionals within the construction industry in the Western and Eastern Cape of South Africa as well as literature that has been reviewed form the basis of this study. Architectural practices, consulting engineering practices, and general building contractors were selected on a random sample basis, and surveyed using an online questionnaire. The study revealed that inadequate artisan skills is the biggest cause leading to defects in houses, and that cracks are the most frequent type of defect occurring. Projects fail in project management terms because of defects as the construction time of the projects are increased. The study revealed that construction related causes of defects dominate over design related causes. This study should be of value to both construction industry professionals as well as their clients.

Improvements to the properties of recycled rubber, by developing a more selective breakdown process, is an important issue and a global challenge. Devulcanization is the most promising way to achieve this. It is a process which aims to totally or partially cleave monosulfidic (C-S-C), disulfidic (C-S-S-C) and polysulfidic (C-Sx-C) crosslinks of vulcanized rubber. In this study, the devulcanization of sulfur-vulcanized natural rubber with a variety of diphenyldisulfides has been studied using 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene and squalene as model compounds, vulcanized by sulfur and 2-bisbenzothiazole-2,2’-disulfide. 2-aminodiphenyldisulfide; 4-amino-diphenyldisulfide; bis(2-benzamido-)diphenyldisulfide and 2,2’-bithiosalicylic acid were used as aromatic disulfides devulcanization agents. Thermal analysis was used to investigate interactions between various combinations of curatives in the vulcanization systems in the absence of model compounds. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to detect mass changes during vulcanization and whether the samples decompose/evaporate so as not to contaminate differential scanning calorimetry instrumentation. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to investigate reactions occurring between curatives. Comparison of reversing and non-reversing signals in modulated experiments are suggestive of reactions between devulcanization agents and sulfur, and accelerators Vulcanization of the model compounds were performed in 10m evacuated sealed glass ampoules placed in an oil bath at 160 °C and agitated for the duration of vulcanization. After 60 min the ampoules were removed and quenched. These were then devulcanized by exposure to a devulcanization agent in a sealed ampoule at 180 for 60 min. Crosslinked 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene species were isolated and analysed by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography. Particular attention was paid to changes in the number of sulfur atoms in the crosslinks. Results indicate that of the devulcanization agents tested 4-amino-diphenyldisulfide was the most effective. No detrimental effect on devulcanization efficiency was caused by the substitution of a basic amino group with an acidic carboxylic acid group Gel permeation chromatography was performed on devulcanized squalene crosslinks using a tetrahydrofuran eluent. GPC investigations with squalene were less effective than HPLC experiments with 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene at evaluating the relative efficiency of individual devulcanization agents. Results were, however, consistent with 4-amino-diphenyldisulfide again being the most efficient devulcanization agent.

Research asserts that learner performance in South African schools is in a state of crisis. While many more learners’ post-1994 in South Africa have physical access to education, very few have epistemological access. The quality of the education learners receive is polarised along socio economic lines. This crisis has its roots in the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and as such, there is a need to transform the education system to ensure equal opportunity for all learners, and ultimately economic growth and security for the country. One of the explanations offered for the crisis in learner performance is the poor teacher education system. However, there is a paucity of research in teacher education generally in South Africa, and specifically in relation to pre-service teachers. Furthermore, little attention has been given to how initial teacher education could contribute to the promotion of a social justice agenda with the intention of transforming the South African schooling system. This research seeks to understand how the expectations, scaffolding and assessment of preservice teachers’ teaching practices can be utilised to promote social justice during the Teaching Practice (TP) component of initial teacher education. In answering the research question, I analyse data and literature to identify a set of key valued functionings of quality praxis that preservice teachers ought to be provided the capability to realise, at the level of achieved functioning. This is a qualitative case study located in the interpretive paradigm. The case under study is: quality teaching practices of pre-service teachers. This case is bound by context (initial teacher education in South Africa) and setting (the pre-service teacher in the classroom). Two South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were selected through purposive sampling and their respective Teaching Practice (TP) documentation was analysed. Focus group interviews were conducted with five lecturers involved in TP at one of the HEIs. The theoretical framework of the study used to guide the analysis of the data was underpinned by a social justice perspective on quality education. Given that a social justice perspective does not have analytic tools, I view quality pre-service teachers’ teaching practices as praxis and utilise the capability approach as a mechanism for identification and description of valued functionings and capabilities that contribute to quality praxis. There are four significant findings in my research. Firstly, there is consistency with regards to the valued functionings and capabilities across the TP documentation of the two participating HEIs. In other words, the conceptions of a capable pre-service teacher are similar. Secondly, if social justice goals are to be realised, greater clarity of the valued functionings needs to be evident in the TP documentation. Thirdly, the valued functionings can be categorised into those that are foundational and those that promote a social justice agenda. Finally, in promoting a social justice agenda, there are functionings that ought to be valued by the HEIs that are seemingly not currently valued.

M.Cur. / Quality health service delivery is a necessity in any health care service and is the responsibility of the management, but it is often not accomplished due to a variety of reasons. The most important determinant is the personnel of the health care service and their level of motivation to provide quality service. The aim of this study was the describing of motivation guidelines for the delivery of quality health service. The study was qualitative and contextual. The research strategy was explorative and descriptive. The study is based on the Botes research model and the Nursing Theory of Wholeness. Several measurements were taken to increase credibility. It is regarded as a prerequisite to explore, describe and implement a quality improvement programme for the specific health service, before motivation guidelines could be described for quality health service delivery. The quality improvement programme was based on literature, with recognition of the context of the health service. The determinants of quality health service delivery were discussed as well as the aim, reasons, prerequisites, contents and principles of the quality improvement programme and the quality improvement process. The realisation of the quality improvement programme was also discussed. The exploring, description and implementation of the quality improvement programme in the health care service is followed by the exploring and describing of factors which motivate and/or demotivate personnel to deliver quality health care service, by means of naive sketches obtained from open questionnaires of two samples. It was verified for accuracy during a feedback interview. The results are used to describe motivation guidelines which is confirmed by literature.

M.Ing. (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) / The present Eskom procedure used for allocating harmonic current injection limits to large customers have been in use for the past three years. This thesis presents an international comparison of the Eskom procedure with other procedures. This comparison is used as a basis for development of recommendations that can lead to improvement of the present procedure ...

M.Comm. (International Accounting) / Recently, there has been a spate of reported cases of large corporate entities paying very little, or no income tax, despite the appearance of being profitable. Enron conducted a lot of business through special purpose vehicle (SPV) companies that were structured specifically for the purpose of paying very little, if any, corporate tax, without having to reduce reported book net profits to achieve this. A study in October 2012 of Starbucks by Reuters found that the company had reported no profits and had paid no income tax for the previous 3 financial years in the United Kingdom despite sales of 1.2 billion pounds. By comparison, McDonalds had to pay tax of 80 million pounds based on a turnover of 3.6 billion pounds, and KFC paid 36 million pounds in taxes on 1.1 billion pounds turnover in the United Kingdom. Another company highlighted for paying no tax is the giant Internet company, Ebay. In its latest financial period the company paid 1 million pounds in tax, on a turnover of 800 million pounds. Again complicated tax structures are at the centre of the tax computation. Consideration has to be given to the role played by the accounting standards, if any, in this scenario, and the extent of the role played by accounting treatments. One has to question if accounting treatments are enabling companies to consistently pay lower rates of tax than is statutorily required, through mechanisms like the raising of deferred tax, or whether it is simply a question of the relevant tax legislation being formulated in a way that allows taxable income to be lower than accounting income. The extent of this book-tax gap and the amount of tax actually paid by companies have been researched to a limited degree. Several studies have been conducted on the financial results from the 1990s, where a consistent decline in the collection of tax by authorities, despite the economic boom that was in existence at that time, has been shown. Research in the 2000s tends to confirm the continuance of this trend of an ever-increasing book-tax gap. The general consensus from the literature review conducted is that the divergence between book income and taxable income is a growing trend, and taxes actually paid by corporates are declining and are on average lower than statutory tax rates.