Orientador: Jose de Souza Rodrigues / Resumo: Objetivo Este trabalho de pesquisa avalia o nível de maturidade gerencial de uma empresa familiar do setor sucroenergético utilizando o Modelo Brasileiro de Excelência da Gestão (MEG®). Metodologia / Procedimentos de Pesquisa A pesquisa possui caráter descritivo-exploratório, com abordagem do problema na forma qualitativa, sendo o procedimento o Relato Técnico. O levantamento de informações se dá através de entrevistas semiestruturadas, da análise documental e da livre observação nas áreas da empresa. O estudo é efetuado pela aplicação do Instrumento de Avaliação da Maturidade da Gestão (MEG®) em uma empresa familiar do setor sucroenergético. Resultados e Discussões A empresa mostrou encontrar-se em um grau de maturidade “em desenvolvimento”, sendo Liderança Transformadora e Desenvolvimento Sustentável os temas mais defasados, segundo a pesquisa. Muitos dos problemas gerenciais encontrados podem estar relacionados com a forte cultura familiar patriarcal difundida na organização. Foram receitadas algumas ferramentas gerenciais propostas pelo MEG®, no intuito de controlar os processos mais defasados. O MEG® mostrou ser uma ferramenta abrangente e eficiente, mas que necessita, para sua aplicação, de um profissional tecnicamente capacitado e com grande conhecimento sobre a organização. Implicações Gerenciais A pesquisa trouxe uma grande contribuição gerencial para a organização em estudo, considerando que mensurou os processos gerenciais da empresa e conseguiu propiciar para os l... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Purpose This research evaluated the management maturity level of a family business in the sugar-energy sector using the Brazilian Management Excellence Model (MEG®). Design/methodology The research has descriptive-exploratory character, with approach of the problem in the qualitative form, being the procedure the Technical Report, the gathering of information occurs through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and free observation in the areas of the company. The study is carried out by applying the Management Maturity Assessment Instrument (MEG®) in a family-owned sugar-energy company. Findings and Discussions The company was found to be in a "developing" maturity, with Transforming Leadership and Sustainable Development being the most lagged themes according to the survey. Many of the managerial problems encountered may be related to the strong patriarchal family culture widespread in the organization. Some management tools proposed by MEG® were prescribed to control the most outdated processes. MEG® has proved to be a comprehensive and efficient tool, but one that needs a technically capable professional with a great knowledge of the organization to be applied. Management Implication The research made a great managerial contribution to the organization under study, considering that it measured the company's management processes and was able to provide the leaders of the organization with a photograph of the real scenario of the situation. A contribution to compani... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Managers today are faced with a bewildering choice of Management Standards that are being promoted to improve personal and organisational performance by a wide range of Standards-setting bodies. Standards-based management is a well-researched field, but all the research concentrates on individual Standards such as ISO 9000 and 14000 without identifying the influences of other Management Standards. This research seeks to extend the debate about Standards-based management and to encourage other researchers to consider it as both an entity and a phenomenon and to note its divergence from other management theories. A taxonomy of Management Standards is presented to enable the principal Standards to be categorised and a definition of a Management Standard is proposed to enable the distillation of the considerable body of literature into more manageable proportions. A chronology of Management Standards development is tabled and compared with the evolution of Quality Management and Total Quality Management (TQM) and the possible future development of Management Standards is examined. The literature research confirmed that Standards-based management approaches had increased very significantly, despite a lack of empirical research to show that this method of management yielded uniform improvements. It identified a trend for integrating Management Standards and creating a “super” Management Standard that would incorporate all the functions of management within an organisation. The Scottish Quality Management System (SQMS) is an integrated Management Standard that incorporates many of the key functions of management within an audited Management Standards framework that its architects claim is based on the principles of TQM. While originally developed for the Scottish training provider network in 1993, it has spread internationally and is currently in use by circa 600 organisations in several countries. It is the only example of a Management Standard of this kind, and despite its longevity, extensive coverage and significant public investment, it has not attracted any previous research interest. The SQMS project was ambitious, seeking to impose a major new Standard on a diverse and predominately unsophisticated population of organisations within a tight time frame. The field research surveyed the entire SQMS registered organisation population using a questionnaire that was based upon the principles of ISO 9004: 1994 and some preliminary research. The questionnaire was designed to examine attitudes and motivation, as well as gauging the effectiveness of the SQMS Standard as determined by an analysis of the improvements that could be directly associated with its implementation. The survey achieved over 70% response rate and the resulting data set was comprehensive and the analysis robust. An additional element of the research compared the results of the questionnaire response analysis with the perceptions of the SQMS Auditors who had audited a majority of the respondent organisations. The field research showed that the SQMS population was very experienced and had been working with SQMS for well over three years. This is a period that the literature research indicated was the minimum time required for the benefits of quality improvement initiatives to become measurable. In the absence of any clear published objectives for the implementation of SQMS, a number of likely objectives were postulated and these objectives were measured against the results of the research. The results of the research suggest an attitude of compliance, rather than improvement as the underlying mind-set of the SQMS organisations and an absence of quality improvement planning or measurement of key performance indicators. This attitude was no different among organisations that had also adopted ISO 9000 and IiP. SQMS accreditation had not shown to provide any marketing or promotional benefit in the same way as ISO 9000 and it had not led to increased market share or profitability. Few of the possible benefits of applying a Standard of this nature had been realised by the majority of organisations and there was little evidence of tangible organisational improvement. The Standard could not be deemed to have met its proposed objectives and a comparison with an accepted model of TQM did not find sufficient compatibility to designate SQMS as a tool for TQM implementation. The interviews with SQMS Auditors identified major discrepancies between their perceptions and the views of the organisations that they audited. The admission by over half of the respondent organisations that they produced evidence purely to satisfy audits raised questions about the effectiveness of the Standard and its audits and the competence of auditors to audit “super” Standards. The novelty of the research is examined and suggestions for future research proposed.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 114-117).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 111-115).

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) in improving the performance of educators. While literature exists on IQMS as a performance management system for educators in South Africa, no research examines it as a Performance Improvement (PI) system. Given the gap in the literature, this study aimed to answer the question: How effective is the IQMS in improving the performance of educators? The IQMS policy mandates the District Office to design and implement Performance Improvement interventions. This study investigated the effectiveness of the IQMS as a PI system with specific reference to the interventions designed and implemented by the East London District of Education. The introduction of the IQMS marked a paradigm shift from the inspectorate system. It introduced a democratic system of teacher evaluation. It put consultative structures in place and allowed educators to make their voices heard during the evaluation process through pre-evaluation meetings and feedback. The IQMS is a standards based system of evaluation. As such it is morphed with the use of rating scores and rubrics to identify the performance gap, which is followed by the development and implementation of intervention strategies to close the gap. The concept of Performance Improvement (PI) which is the process of identifying and analyzing individual performance gaps, planning for future performance improvement, designing and implementing interventions to close performance gaps, comes into play. This study was conducted using qualitative research methods. Data from questionnaires and the interviews were triangulated with information from a review of policy documents from the Department of Basic Education, pertinent documents from the East London District of Education and sampled high schools in Mdantsane. The Post Level 1 Educators are primary stakeholders in this study, and the School Principals and Education Specialists are secondary stakeholders. In this qualitative study, forty-two high school Post Level 1 (PL1) educators provided responses to an open-ended questionnaire. Six PL1 educators were interviewed. Three high school principals and three education specialists provided responses to open-ended questionnaires. Pertinent documents were surveyed. Qualitative responses were categorized and analyzed into themes and sub-themes. The findings of the current study indicate that the IQMS in its current form did not impact positively on the Performance Improvement of educators. Five specific findings emerged from this study: Educators have not embraced IQMS as a Performance Improvement system; The twofold purpose of the IQMS: development and salary progression renders it ineffective in improving the performance of educators; The logical framework for the implementation of the IQMS is not adhered to; The implementation of the IQMS is not monitored; The IQMS has no impact on learner attainment. This study also documents other positive areas in the implementation of the IQMS. This study has implications and recommendations for further research, practice and provides valuable information to the Department of Basic Education and the teacher unions in the Education Labour Relations Council as they review the IQMS and in implementing future teacher performance evaluation policies.

This study evaluates the implementation of Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) policy to improve the quality of teaching and learning at schools in the Cofimvaba Education District. IQMS involves the measurement and evaluation of teacher performance for developmental purposes and to reward the best performers in order to improve teaching. A qualitative research approach was adopted and data was collected using questionnaires distributed and retrieved from schools in order to determine educators’ experience of IQMS implementation. The data were then analysed using constant comparative methods. The findings indicate that most participants agreed with the objectives of the policy and felt that it should be retained to evaluate teacher performance for accountability purposes and improved teaching and learning results. The system has the potential to develop educators if is implemented honesty and as long as educators trust the evaluation processes to identify weaknesses and strengths. A key recommendation is that IQMS should be part of the school management team’s responsibilities, which must report quarterly on implementation.

2020 kommer troligen sammanfattas i historieböckerna som ett mycket turbulent år, många kommer minnas det som ett år fyllt av ångest och oro. Pandemin har orsakat världsomfattande restriktioner vad gäller resmönster, fysiska restriktioner och länder har stängt ned helt. Detta har inte bara förändrat våra vardagliga rutiner, ändrat våra levnadsmönster, utan omdefinierat mycket av det vi finner normalt. I företagsvärlden har många organisationer utmanats både i uthållighet men också verksamhetens flexibilitet. För att kunna överleva har det varit avgörande för organisationer att ändra sitt sätt att arbeta. De har varit tvungna att anpassa stora delar av organisationen till det nya normala. Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka organisationers anpassningar av sitt arbete med kvalitetsledning och kvalitetsutveckling under pandemin. Ambitionen har varit att bidra med kunskap som förklarar delar av de omställningar som gjorts under det senaste året. Denna uppsats sammanfattar en handfull organisationers anpassningar med avseende på både företagets struktur och deras förmåga att vara stabil i en värld i förändring. Denna studie baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra olika organisationer, aktiva inom både privat och offentlig sektor. Resultaten visar att alla deltagande organisationer i sin kontext har varit framgångsrika i sina anpassningar under det senaste året. Vi kan dra slutsatsen att anpassningar som gjorts är likartade i varje organisation, med störst inverkan på arbetsmiljö och kommunikation. Inom området kvalitetsledning och kvalitetsledningssystem har ingen av de deltagande organisationerna gjort någon betydande förändring. Resultat som visar att det är Quality Management Systems (QMS) som har gjort det möjligt för organisationerna att vara stabila över tid. QMS har varit en möjliggörare för bibehållen kvalitet i produktionen. En begränsning i studien är att ingen av de studerade organisationerna har misslyckats med att anpassa sig. Det är möjligt att organisationer som inte har varit lika framgångsrika avstått från att delta i undersökningen. Det är möjligt att det inte är så attraktivt för en organisation att öppet erkänna att de inte var utrustade för de förändringar och krav som pandemin orsakat. / The year of 2020 will go down in history as a year with a lot of turbulence, it's likely to be remembered by many as one of the most agonizing years in modern times. Due to the pandemic, we have seen countries shut down completely from one day to another. The world spread disease has caused worldwide restrictions in travel patterns, physical regulations and lockdowns. This has not only changed our everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. But it has also tested the corporate world to the limits. Organisations have been challenged both on their resilience and endurance. The need for adaptation has never been greater. To be able to survive in this uncertain world, it has been crucial for organisations to change their way of work. The purpose of this study is to explore how organisations have adapted to the variation caused by the pandemic. Contributing with knowledge explaining what have been the hardest transitions along the past year. This thesis summarizes a handful of organisations adaptations, regarding both the company's structure and their capability to be stable in a world in change. This study is based on semi structured interviews with four different organisations, three of them active in the private sector whilst the other one in the public sector. Results show that all the participating organisations have been successful in their transitions over the last year. We can conclude that there are similarities within the companies' adaptations strategies, with the biggest impact regarding the working environment and communication. In the field of quality management and quality management systems, none of the participating organisations have made any significant change. Results showing that it's the QMS that have enabled the organizations to be stable over time. A limitation of this study is a bias related to that none of the participating organisations have failed to adapt. It is possible that organisations who are not as successful, decline to participate in surveys and interviews. It may not be that attractive for an organisation to admit that they were not equipped for the dramatic changes the pandemic caused. / <p>2021-06-06</p>

D. Tech. (Logistics, Faculty of Management Science), Vaal University of Technology / The strategic importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their role in stimulating economic growth and competitiveness in many countries are well documented in literature. The same applies to South Africa, where the SME sector has grown tremendously to become an important contributor to social and economic development through employment creation and constant input to the gross domestic product. However, in spite of these contributions, South African SMEs face numerous challenges, which negatively impact their prospects for growth and success. Some of these challenges include the limited access to financial capital, the lack of infrastructure and the lack of skills, which play a significant role in the high mortality rate of SMEs. One of the proposed solutions to address these operational challenges is the adoption of supply chain management strategies to strengthen the operational and long-term capabilities of SMEs. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between supply chain management best practices, supply chain agility, risk management and supply chain performance in South African SMEs. The study applied a quantitative approach in which a cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data to test direct and indirect relationships between different constructs (buyer-supplier collaboration, supply chain integration, total quality management, IT adoption, supply chain agility, supply chain risk management and supply chain performance). A structured survey questionnaire was developed using adapted measurement scales and administered to 407 randomly selected SME owners, managers and professional employees who had some knowledge about supply chain management. The collected quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS version 24.0) and the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS version 24.0) statistical software. The actual data analyses techniques applied included descriptive statistics and inferential statistics using structural equation modelling. The latter included a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to test the psychometric properties of measurement scales and the testing of the six hypotheses using the path analyses technique. The results of the study showed positive and significant relationships between all supply chain management practices and supply chain agility. Specifically, buyer-supplier collaboration and total quality management exerted a moderate and significant influence on supply chain agility. Moreover, IT adoption had a strong positive and significant relationship with supply chain agility iv while supply chain integration had a weak but significant relationship with the same factor. More results provided from the analysis confirmed the existence of a very strong and significant relationship between supply chain agility and supply chain risk management. In turn, supply chain risk management had a strong positive relationship with supply chain performance. The study also takes note of its contributions to highlight its merits. From a theoretical perspective, it provides an in-depth examination of some driving factors to supply chain agility, supply chain risk management and supply chain performance within SMEs. Given that a study of this nature has not been performed before amongst South African SMEs, the results are an essential addition to the existing body of literature within the area of supply chain management within SMEs in developing countries such as South Africa. From a management perspective, the study suggests that specific attention should be directed to all of the four supply chain management practices (buyer-supplier collaboration, supply chain integration, IT adoption and total quality management) considered as possible avenues to address operational challenges in SMEs.