The main objective of this study was to investigate different forms of worker participation programmes and their implementation in selected countries including South Africa. Another objective was to study perceptions of managers and workers on forms of participation at two mining companies in South Africa, namely Vaal Reefs and Ergo Mines. The two mines were selected because they had dissimilar characteristics which would affect attitudes differently. Vaal Reefs Mine had a well established trade union movement whereas Ergo Mine was not very strongly unionised. The study focused on a comparison between the attitudes of managers and supervisors toward worker participation, at both mines. At Ergo Mine there was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of managers and supervisors on a large number of variables which was not the case at Vaal Reefs Mine. The results seem to indicate that at Vaal Reefs, supervisors tended to identify with workers on the shop-floor. Workers at Ergo Mine seemed to prefer direct forms of participation whereas the workers at Vaal Reefs Mine seemed to want to participate in management decision through trade union representation and other forms of indirect participation. The main conclusion was that the form of worker participation in a particular environment depends to a large extent, on historical and prevailing conditions. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1995.

Abstact unavailable. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

Historically, the majority of South African people, particularly Blacks, were denied access to free, compulsory basic education. This means that many citizens did not have access to education that would provide them with the skills necessary for quality work performance. Various arguments in this study imply that work performance is linked to the skills employees have in the work they do. The previous Bantu education system failed to produce people with the necessary skills for the economy of the country. To compensate for this situation the present South African government introduced the Skills Development Act and Skills Levies Act which intended to provide the unskilled workforce with an opportunity to be trained and acquire skills. This is an investment in people through skills development, which is aimed at the improved work performance of the country's workforce. The study aims to: • Determine the impact of skills development programmes on employees' work performance; • Determine whether the skills learned are actually applied in practice; • Assess the general performance of a company through skills development of its workforce; and ••• Determine how accessible skills development programmes are to employees in this company. The research sample comprised ten facilitators, 15 employees and one employer. The data collected from the sample attempted to answer the following research questions: => What impact will skills development programmes have on employees' work performance? => What evidence there is that skills learned are actually applied in practice? => How the company performs in general when the workforce has undergone skills development programmes? => Whether the skills development programmes are accessible to the employees of the company? The findings revealed that skills development programmes in the company under investigation were valuable and useful to employees. This is evident from the improved work performance of employees as observed by the employer, who confirmed that the employees do job more quickly with less wastage and less supervision. The employer further confirmed that his company has attracted new clients who come for the sake of the service the company renders. The researcher concludes with the following recommendations: • The company should draw up a skills development programme schedule that will fit in well with its objectives. It is emphasised that these two aspects must not clash with each other, but instead complement each other so as to meet the set goal, that is, reselling of the workforce. This should be integrated to the organisational goal. • The company should spell out the aims of the skills development programmes and must make sure that these are well understood and adhered to by everyone in the company. This will aid in designing the programme according to the company's needs. • The fact that very little evaluation of training is done indicates the probability that although expenditure on training is great very little is done to ensure to improved competence and performance. The vast majority of employers still see training and development as purely cost, not investment. In this instance, the employers should be educated on the importance of investing in people through skills development programmes in order to gain improved work performance. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

In this current hypercompetitive environment organisations are forced to become more efficient and effective. In this respect, one of the most popular tools used to streamline and improve service delivery is the application of performance appraisal systems. The objective of this study is to determine the extent to which the current performance appraisal system of BCS-Net Pty Ltd complies with the requirements and guidelines for performance appraisal as stipulated in the literature, in other words how effective is the current performance appraisal system utilised by BCSNet Pty Ltd. A quantitative research method was used to seek answers to the research questions. Survey questionnaires were sent to various respondents for data collection. The questions in the survey questionnaire were grouped into various criteria for an effective performance appraisal. All employees that were previously evaluated by the organisation were allowed to participate. A literature review was conducted to determine what criteria constituted an effective performance appraisal system. After analysing the relevant information from the organisation's employees it became apparent that the current performance appraisal system of the organisation was ineffective and it did not meet all the requirements for the criteria for a successful and effective performance appraisal system. Secondly, there was a clear indication that not all the supervisors/managers were adequately trained to conduct a performance appraisal and there was no consistency with regards to the implementation of the current performance appraisal system across the organisation. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

The problem addressed in this study is the lack of information relating to the viability of unbundling as a strategy for companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE). The study sought to determine whether the unbundling of listed companies on the ZSE has resulted in the maximisation of shareholder wealth and an improvement in the performance of the unbundled entities. The sample consists of spin-offs undertaken by listed companies between January 2000 and December 2005. The starting and ending points for the sample period were dictated by data availability. No spin-offs were identified prior to January 2000. The sample frame is composed of seven listed companies that have unbundled and whose unbundled entities were subsequently listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. In total sixteen companies emerged from the seven companies that unbundled and all sixteen companies were studied. Returns of parent and spun-off companies were computed to determine if unbundling resulted in cumulative abnormal returns. The value uplift of resultant firms was compared with the industrial index to determine if unbundling resulted in overall value uplift in the companies that unbundled. Questionnaires were also administered on financial executives of the parent and spun-off companies as well as stockbrokers to establish their views on the outcome of unbundling. The study finds that positive cumulative abnormal returns accrued as a result of unbundling and that value uplift in the resultant companies after unbundling is greater than the value uplift in the industrial index. The study also finds that significant drivers behind the decision to unbundle include the need to unlock shareholder value, focus on core competences and facilitation of future growth. Conclusions drawn from the study are that unbundling unlocks shareholder value, leads to performance improvement, results in value uplift of the unbundled entities and that it results in the elimination of information asymmetry. The study recommends that investors should position themselves in companies that have plans to unbundle as they tend to benefit significantly. It also concludes that unbundling is a viable strategy and consequently conglomerates that have experienced declines in performance as a result of diversification should unbundle. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

The South African public health sector is currently unable to effectively deliver an acceptable level of service to the population it serves. This is due, in part, to the continued attrition of medical doctors from the public service. The aim of this study was to identify the extent to which the national strategy employed by the health ministry has contributed to doctor attrition in addition to assessing the relative importance of factors that public sector employed doctors deemed vital to addressing this problem. In this way, retention strategies could be identified to deal with the migration of these knowledge workers in a cost-effective manner. A review of the available literature indicated that whilst governmental policy was largely well constructed, the failure to effectively implement these strategic objectives has negatively affected service delivery and resulted in doctor attrition. The thrust of this study involved surveying of public sector doctors to assess the relative weights of attrition factors identified. This quantitative assessment highlighted the urgent need to revitalize hospitals and improve infection control within these institutions. Another vital issue identified involved implementing innovative remuneration schemes such as lower tax thresholds and preferential loans from the state. Whilst family opportunities, career development and new learning experiences was considered less important than the abovementioned factors, respondents still attributed fair importance to these addressing these latter dimensions as part of a comprehensive model for retention. This study clarified the strategic initiatives that need to be implemented by the health ministry in order to stem the exodus of medical professionals from the public sector. Such intervention will go some way to realizing the strategic goals of this organization and leave it better placed to effectively deliver critical services that are required by the South African population. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

During the past five years risk management has evolved to such an extent that most companies have developed formal risk management systems whereby their risk identification processes are integrated into their objective setting processes, albeit with different forms of integration. The integration of the risk identification process into the objective setting process is an essential step in the risk management process as it facilitates the identification of those risks that may affect the achievement of business objectives and ensure that plans are developed to mitigate the risks identified. The management of risks is essential to the success of any business whether profit making or non-profit making. This study examines, by way of a case study, the extent to which a specific business unit, within an organisation has integrated its risk identification process into the objective setting process. It then explores the benefits that can be derived from integrating the risk identification process into the objective setting process. In support of the aims of the study the corresponding objectives are to determine the extent to which the unit of study has integrated the risk identification process into the objective setting process, to demonstrate the benefits of integrating the two process as well as recommendations on future research and guidelines on integrating risk identification into objective setting. The study concludes that the integration of the risk identification process into the objective setting process starts by setting business objectives and then followed by identifying those events that can negatively impact the achievement of objectives. The integration of the two processes can happen in practice and that there are benefits to the organisation that can be derived from the integration of the risk identification process into the objective setting process as observed by the study. For future research it is recommended that similar studies involving multiple case studies should be conducted to test the applicability of the integration model to a broader population. Other business units within ABSA, just like the Home Loans Division should use the risk identification integration model to identify business risks they are exposed to, that is, if they are not already doing so, taking into consideration their individual circumstances and business planning processes. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

The study examines the investment appraisal practices in the Namibian banking industry. It focuses on how the banks perform an investment appraisal, subsequent follow- up and measurement of project failure or success. The results reflect that both centralized and decentralized project decision making are practiced in the industry. Banking institutions have a tendency to use a single investment appraisal technique, mostly a discounted cash flow (DCF) model. They apply uniform appraisal techniques throughout the project life cycle. It was noted that firms apply a constant cost of capital across time and projects. The average cost of funds is found to be the main determiner of the companies' cost of capital. The firms pay attention to project risks and use financial measures to determine the project's success or failure. The alignment of the appraisal techniques used with the overall organization objectives was considered to be crucial in the banking industry. The paper was concluded on the note that the use of traditional investment appraisal techniques is far from over.s the investment appraisal practices in the Namibian banking. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

The primary purpose of the study is to carry out an investigation into the role of listed real estate stocks in a mixed asset class investment portfolio in South Africa and what weighting should be allocated to this asset class. The study involved collecting data from the last ten years from January 1995 to December 2004 and then comparing the data against data collected from the investment management industry, especially those entities with exposure to direct property and listed property stock holdings over long periods. The study investigates the benefits of listed property stocks in an investment portfolio in South Africa, and empirically tests the data collected using the mean-variance theory to determine the impact of listed property stocks on the performance (maximising returns) and risk (minimising risk) of investment portfolios. The Elton and Gruber computer programme is used to test the data to give an optimal weighting to the sector and produce an efficient frontier. The weightings are then used to work out the efficiency of a portfolio as a result of the inclusion of listed property stocks, and comparing it to a portfolio of just two asset classes, namely equities and bonds, at 75% and 25% weightings respectively. The results demonstrated the benefits offered by listed real estate and revealed that the sector should be treated as a separate asset class from equities due to lower correlation of returns between these two asset classes. It also demonstrated that an increased allocation to the listed property sector would have resulted in better investment performance over the past ten years. The conclusions consistently pointed to the increased asset allocation of listed real estate in investment portfolios as the best long-term solution to diversification and volatility, as long as the liquidity and size of the sector improves. It is concluded in this study, that investment managers have underscored the relevance and allocation of listed real estate in investment portfolios in the past ten years, thus not optimising the performance and risk of their portfolios, as expected in retirement fund portfolios to the benefits of the members. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.