In many organisations, project management is no longer a separately identified function, but is entrenched in the overall management of the business. The typical project management environment has become multi-project. Most of the project decisions require consideration of schedule, resource and cost concerns on other project work, necessitating the review and evaluation of multi-project data. Resource management is at least as important as schedule (time) management. Functional managers, supporting multiple projects with shared and limited resources, need to know the demands on their resources and the impact of new project loads and changing priorities. This means that the effectiveness of project management is not only influenced by the function itself, but it permeates throughout the entire organisation, for which the overriding goal is to survive and prosper in a competitive environment. The research problem of this study is to assess how effective project management practices in the South African communications’ industry are, by using Telkom SA as the selected target group. The research method employed was to first identify the best practices of project management, by focusing on generally accepted standards and practices, that is those which are particularly effective in helping an organisation to achieve its objectives. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) which is considered to be the international standard for project management, was used as the framework for identifying the best practices. The identified best practices were used as an assessment tool to determine to what extent these practices are applied in Telkom SA.

M.A. (Social Work) / There are some drastic changes that took place in Telkom SA during the past six years. The extent andpace of these changes could lead to increased stress levels in employees and especially technical managers. This study undertakes an exploratory and descriptive investigation into the manifestation of work / stress in the lives oftechnical managers employed by Telkom. The study has a dual purpose, namely to explore work stress from a social work perspective and to determine to which extent the technical managers experience work stress. Four measuring instruments were used during the empirical research. A description of the group ofrespondents was obtained by way of a biographical questionnaire. The use of the experience ofwork and life circumstances questionnaire (WLQJ provided information about the stress levels ofrespondents and the stressors that influence respondents. The stress reaction questionnaire gives a quantitative indication of the stress reactions and symptoms which manifests in managers. This questionnaire also served as a cross correlationfor the WLQresults. Focus group discussions were facilitated to obtain information about the envisaged nature and impact ofspecific stressors in Telkom. Most respondents presented normal stress levels on the WQL results, while 64% of the respondents presented high levels of stress reactions (symptoms). Respondents with high stress levels also had high levels ofstress reactions. Managers in the age category 35 - 39 years with 0 - 5 years experience on management levels and in the Free State- and Northern Cape region apparently had higher stress levels and stress reactions. Respondents from the Northern Cape area presented higher stress levels than their colleagues in the other areas. Stressors such as organizationalfunctioning and task content was perceived by all respondents as being most stressful. Recommendations with reference to the study are made: Industrial social workers in Telkom can present programmes to improve the internal capacity of managers to deal with stress. Programmes can include include stress control, management support the establishment of support networks and mid-life crisis information. A further recommendation is that human resource sections must join forces to ensure career planning, effective organizational structures and healthy management culture. It is recommended thatfurther research in this regard must be undertaken.