Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The South African social, political and economic landscape has been characterized by profound changes during the past several years. Many organizations and their management are faced with inter alia, downsizing decisions, affirmative action policies to be implemented and a overabundance of other factors which could sway motivation and morale, attitudes and views of employees. The general research aim was to measure work motivation amongst employees in a government department in the Provincial Government Western Cape. Research has shown that motivated and satisfied employees are more productive and there is an improvement in service delivery. / South Africa

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The South African national government has bestowed certain authority on local governments in order for community services to be delivered by officials who are closer to the community and who will consider community needs. Post-apartheid South Africa is confronted with a major challenge in ensuring that municipalities deliver optimal and professional services to ratepayers of all ethnic and diverse cultures. Municipalities have important objectives to implement, while service delivery is one of its major goals. The ratepayers in the NMBM have complained and protested against poor service delivery that resulted from poor job performance by NMBM employees. It is therefore necessary to investigate the obstacles that are hindering the NMBM employees in exhibiting effective and satisfactory job performance in order to deliver the required services to the customers. The primary objective of the study is improving employee job performance in the NMBM by investigating the factors that influence such performance. More specifically, the study investigates the influence of job involvement, team work, organisational communication, skills development and training, recognition and pay and rewards on the job performance of NMBM employees. Convenience sampling was used to select a sample of 250 respondents from the large population of about 2 000 NMBM employees. The sample was stratified to include all occupational levels including the executive mayor, portfolio councillors, executive directors, and financial officers, operating officers, chiefs of staff, directors, assistant directors, senior managers, professionals and blue collar staff. Two hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed, but only 200 usable questionnaires were returned, producing a response rate of 80 percent. The empirical results showed that recognition systems, job prestige, skills recognition, and skills development and training were significantly related to the job performance of the NMBM employees. Job involvement, fringe benefits, pay and rewards, teamwork and organisational communication were not significant related to the job performance of the NMBM employees. The study provides managerial and future research recommendations in this regard.

An increase in the global competitiveness has forced manufacturing organisations to re-look their facility from a labour productivity standpoint. Leveraging a manufacturing operation into a competitive avantage must at all times support the organisation’s objective. It is therefore critical that the operation reviews its strategy so that it fulfils the ever changing needs in the market. Purpose – The main objective of this research is to identify the critical success factors to improve direct labour efficiency within Johnson Controls Automotive South Africa (Pty) Ltd (JCI). Design/methodology/approach – A combination of a comprehensive literature review and visits to the Uitenhage plant and head office were employed in the study. JCI practices were observed to highlight the level of direct labour productivity. This was followed by interviewing relevant and key personel who had an involvement in achieving direct labour productivity in the plant. A questionnaire-based research approach was adopted for this purpose and a total of 83 valid survey responses were received from staff in the Uitenhage plant, together with head office staff who directly supported the plant. The questionnaire was designed to identify and test perceptions of employees, regarding the factors of production, identified as sub variables. The research aim was to determine the most practical and effective strategies to improve direct labour productivity. Results were analysed and interpreted after which recommendations were formulated. Findings – Several critical success factors identified as sub variables were tested to understand their impact on direct labour productivity. Empirical results showed that organisational culture, leadership culture, employee engagement, communication and skills, development and training, had a significant effect on direct labour productivity. Respective ratings of these elements were discussed with the focus of improving this going forward. Research limitations/implications – Continued scepticim within JCI about the benefits of direct labour productivity to their business is one of the fundamental limitations this research faces. Originality/value – The novelty of the research project stems from the realization of key factors contributing to the improvement of direct labour productivity within the JCI enviroment. The results would provide JCI with indicators and guidelines for a successful implementation of direct labour productivity initiatives in the Uitenhage plant.

To gain workforce support and commitment, organisations should offer remuneration and rewards that are internally and externally equitable, as inequity in remuneration is the source of employee discontent and turnover. To succeed, organisations have to communicate the total value of rewards allocated to employees. Communication is the foundation of reward management and organisational success. Communication helps employees to understand that the rewards they receive are worth having. Remuneration and rewards communicate the value that organisations place on their employees. To deliver the proper messages, remuneration objectives and strategies should be aligned with the overall business strategy of the organisation. Alignment enables organisations to deliver the right type of rewards to the right people, at the right time, and for the right reasons. The only way the organisation can deliver the correct reward and remuneration, is to implement a total reward system together with a total pay system. Effective total pay system covers base pay, skills and competency pay, variable performance pay, recognition, and benefits. Total reward system cover investment in people, development and training, performance management, and career management. To motivate and retain employees, and to improve organisation’s profitability, a right mix of total pay and total rewards should be made available to employees as employees’ needs differ. With this information, an empirical study was developed and conducted at Lobels Bread in Zimbabwe. The results of this survey indicated that Lobels Bread uses traditional base pay system and benefits as a way of motivating and retaining its employees. This pay system seems to be insufficient to motivate and retain employees. To motivate and retain employees, the company should implement a total reward system, which includes total pay system, investment in people, career enhancement, open communications, involvement, and performance management.

Notre travail a cherché à éclairer une partie des éléments qui peuvent agir sur la productivité du travail, notamment les contrats incitatifs, les technologies de l’information et de la communication (TICS) et les pratiques organisationnelles. Nous avons naturellement tenu compte de la présence d’asymétries d’information, susceptibles d’influencer la relation d’emploi et les choix de l’entreprise en matière de pratiques organisationnelles et d’introduction des technologies de l’information et de la communication. La thèse se divise donc en deux grandes parties : la première se penche sur les contrats incitatifs optimaux ainsi que sur l’effet des différents modes de rémunération sur la productivité. La deuxième partie, quant à elle, met l’accent sur l’introduction et les effets des TICS et des pratiques organisationnelles. Les résultats empiriques tirés de la première partie montrent que l’effet de la rémunération sur la productivité dépend de la forme de rémunération choisie et de la catégorie socioprofessionnelle des employés concernés. Ils mettent également en évidence un effet de la durée du contrat de travail ainsi que du taux d’endettement à court terme sur la productivité. Les résultats issus des études faites dans le cadre de la deuxième partie de la thèse indiquent que les entreprises ont eu besoin d’un temps d’adaptation, entre 1998 et 1999, avant que les effets positifs des TICS et des pratiques organisationnelles puissent se répercuter sur la productivité des salariés. Leurs effets sont intervenus plus rapidement en 2004, compte tenu de ces délais d’accumulation du capital humain. Enfin, nous avons également pu montrer que le gain de productivité s’avère plus important si l’entreprise choisit de mettre en œuvre les deux changements en même temps. / Our work has tried to identify some elements which may have an effect on labor productivity, among which the incentive contracts, the information and communication’s technologies (ICT) and the organizational practices. We took into account the presence of asymmetric information, susceptible to influence the employment relationships and the firm’s choices concerning the organizational practices or the introduction of ICT. The dissertation is divided into two parts: the first one considers the optimal incentive contracts as well as the effect of various remuneration systems on labor productivity. The second part is devoted to the introduction of ICT and the organizational practices. The empirical results drawn from the first part show that the remuneration’s effect on productivity depends on the adopted type of payment and on the social and occupational group of the beneficiaries. They also indicate that the length of the employment’s contract and the rate of short term debts have an effect on productivity. The results obtained within the framework of the second part of the dissertation show that the employees needed some time to adapt, between 1998 and 1999, before the positive effects of the ICT and organizational practices could appear on their productivity. However given the delays of human capital’s accumulation, the effect on labor productivity of various ICT and organizational practices occurred more quickly in 2004. Finally, we showed that the productivity increases more if the company chooses to undertake both changes at the same time.

This thesis examines the evolution of China's economy and the competitive position of its exports in the international market. The thesis explores whether China is losing its competitive edge in export to the group of developing countries called Post China 16. First chapter identifies macroeconomic variables that significantly influence exports of a specific economy. Second chapter discusses the development of selected economic variables in Post China 16 economies. It studies whether the development of selected variables reveals possible changes in the competitive position of China and selected developing countries. Final part of the thesis develops an econometric model that tests the influence of selected variables on development of exports across several industries of The Post China 16 economies. Results confirm that most of the variables influence exports as the theory predicts and that the influence is higher in some industries than others. However, the model has limitations due to the shortcomings of the data.

The objective of this thesis is to develop a conceptual design of a computerized environment for detailed design of construction activities associated with projects characterized by significant repetition. High-rise building construction is used as the example of repetitive construction projects. The construction cycle design of a typical floor structure is studied to gain an understanding of the difficulty and complexity involved in the activity design process. Modeling techniques currently used in construction planning, modeling techniques developed in the field of operations research, and assembly line balancing techniques used in industrial engineering are reviewed to determine their applicability for detailed construction cycle design. Using the concept of decision support systems developed in the fields of management science and knowledge engineering for solving ill-structured and ill-defined problems, a conceptual design of a decision support system for construction cycle design is developed. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Civil Engineering, Department of / Graduate

M.A. / Social, political and economical changes in modern society, as well as the growing need for aid and assistance, have resulted in the questioning of the work procedures within the social services of the Dutch Reformed Church. This has motivated the researcher to do research on the productivity and effectiveness of the Christelik-maatskaplike raad (CMR) as a branch of the "Sinodale Kommissie vir die Diens van Barmhartigheid" of Northern Transvaal. The investigation was undertaken by identifying a strategic productivity model in the literature and applying that model to the CMR of Pretoria. A qualitative, as well as a quantitative approach has been used and the study can be described as exploratory/descriptive. The literature ·study indicated that not only physical but also human factors influence the productivity within the organisation. A description was given of the physical set-up of the organisation and of the attempts that have been made to improve productivity. It was found that a large number of these factors do indeed play a role in the organisation. The findings showed that social workers are aware of the necessary changes that must occur to create a better productivity function. Recommendations were made concerning the changes of the work procedure of the CMR, in order to improve the quality of the services rendered and to eliminate the factors that have had a detrimental influence on the productivity of the organisation.

This study examined the effects of switching from an incentive pay system solely based on productivity to a scorecard-based incentive pay system. Performance of staff and senior accountants was analyzed across three departments for a two-year baseline and a three-year intervention period. Results showed that percent of charge hour goal remained high during the study. Once the scorecard-based incentive system was implemented, performance on the other line items increased or remained at or above goal levels. Incentive payouts were generally higher under the second incentive plan than under the first for top performers. Possible explanations for data trends, weaknesses of the measures within the scorecard, measure/line item alternatives and implications for future research are also discussed.