M.A. / The objective of this study is to estimate the productivity of labour in the South African textile industry. This was achieved by firstly looking at the theoretical background which will facilitate the calculation of labour productivity. The Cobb-Douglas production function was found to be most suitable to estimate labour productivity in the South African textile industry. Conditions necessary and sufficient for equilibrium to hold were explored which gave an indication on efficiency in the allocation of input factors , capital and labour. South African textile industry's performance over the years has been influenced by the changing trade policies brought about by the Uruguay round of talks of 15 December 1993. The talks concluded that countries should reduce tariffs and embark on export-led growth. Exporters should have free access to imported intermediate inputs and countries should do away with anti export bias associated with import protection. Inevitably the South African textiles industry was affected by the conclusions drawn at the Uruguay Round of talks. The textile industry which had enjoyed growth under high protection tariffs and other import duties had shed down the high tariffs and liberalise trade. But the tariff reductions had to happen over the period ranging between five and twelve years. This further implied that export incentive schemes will have to be eliminated as they were in contradiction with GATT Agreement so, R2 billion that the government had budgeted for the General Export Incentive Scheme will have to be dispensed with and according to GATT South Africa has been given three years to dispose of the export incentive scheme. ix The long term strategy for the textile industry was formulated as an industrial strategy to prepare the industry for the changing policies. The long term objectives emphasised on achieving international competitiveness, labour demanding growth to foster employment in the textile industry and lastly to supply local consumers with textiles at affordable prices. But it should be noted that trying to gain international competitiveness imply laying off workers as new technology comes in. This is in contradiction with the Industrial strategy which advocates for labour absorbing economic growth in the textile industry especially in the light of the fact that employment has been on the decline over the years and it is expected that the new industrial strategy, will be able to create more jobs.

M.A. (Economics) / The objective of this study is to highlight the problematic aspects regarding labour productivity in the South African motor vehicle industry. The perfomance of the South African motor vehicle industry in the national economy has not been as what was expected from the industry, purely because of the pressure of rising costs link to a lack of productivity. A study of labour productivity and any comparisons regarding labour productivity is very difficult and stays a problematic issue. The reason for this is two-fold in that firstly relevant and applicable data was not available until recently and secondly the data that is available is very diverse in the sense that it is applicable to the different levels of economic activity. The fact remains that the productivity levels of both labour and capital stays important indicators of the competetiveness of any nation. In this sense the South African motor industry could be a potential source of competitive advantage and economic growth for South Africa. The method used to study labour productivity in the South African motor vehicle industry was to look at the theory surrounding labour productivity, the South African labour market and the general trend of labour productivity in South Africa and the trend of labour productivity in the South African motor vehicle industry compared to international industry trends. The traditional micro economic theory consider labour as just another production factor and competition in the labour market is determined on the principles of demand and supply. The criticism against the traditional micro economic theory is based on the applicability of the theory on the modern business world. The macro economic theory surrounding labour productivity showed the importance of this variable as determinant of international competetive advantage. The theory further showed that there is a strong link between labour productivity and inflation. The most important characteristics of the South African labour market include a labourforce of thirteen million workers{which includes the informal sector and unemployed) against a total population of forty million, a population growth rate of 2,7% that is higher than the average economic growth rate and high levels of unemployment, illiteracy, inequalities and discrimination. Labour productivity in South Africa has been characterised by a drastic increase in the amount of strikes and work stoppages since the mid eighties. The international comparison of South Africa with its most important trade partners regarding labour productivity, was not positive for South Africa. On most of the variables like unit labour cost, real output in manufacturing, output per worker in manufacturing and gross domestic product per capita, South Africa did not compare favourable with its leading trading partners.

M.Com. (Economics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Comm. / South Africa had a stormy political past with the result that as a nation it needs peace and job opportunities. One of the methods of increasing job opportunities is to make use of more labourers and less machinery. But, according to The Mail and Guardian (1996a:1), South Africans have an obsession with capital-intensive projects instead of labour intensive projects.

Abrasive blasting process optimization is aimed at establishing relationships between applied feed rates and resulting productivity and consumption rates. It is clear that the high costs of disposal of the multimedia wastes generated by the dry abrasive blasting processes are of increasing concern in the future of shipbuilding industry. In such circumstances essential care has to be given to all components of the process to enhance productivity and decrease consumption rates. This study discusses most of the process components and their respective effects on blasting productivity and consumption rates briefly and concentrates on two important process parameters, nozzle pressure and abrasive feed rate. Feed rate is a vital process parameter that contributes to the productivity and consumption rates of the process. Subsequently feed rates also can significantly impact the costs bore by Shipbuilding Industry in the form of disposal and environmental costs. Most commonly used abrasives were identified through a rigorous survey and were opted to be used in this study. The approach adopted to develop the relationships consists of a mass balance equation between the expended abrasives and disposed wastes to clean a predetermined area of a plate. The obtained data was further analysed to develop productivity rates and consumption rates for each sample runs. The data was then evaluated to formulate relationships that would enable the derivation of optimum feed rates for desirable productivity and reduced waste generation.

M.Com. (Business Management) / The question of quality in the workplace is considered within a framework where structural and process variables, leadership, personal filters and behavioural patterns are addressed. Viewpoints regarding quality of work by Rosow, Piskurich, Bennet, Fulmer, Callahan and Drucker, amongst others, were examined. Problems associated with the feasibility of measuring quality is briefly analysed in the light of viewpoints of writers such as Tuttle and Romanowski...

Magister Public Health - MPH / Background: Protecting and promoting health in the workplace is imperative, both for individual employee health and workplace productivity. High rates of workplace injuries, particularly in environments where high levels of physical activity are required, point to the need for effective occupational interventions, minimization of workplace inhibitors that increase the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), and occupational management checks to reduce the onset of MSDs in the workplace. However, for these measures to be successful, it would be important to identify individual and workplace-related factors associated with the development and duration of MSDs. Aim: To determine potential risk and protective factors associated with MSDs among employees in a workplace where heavy lifting is a key job function.

El propósito de la presente investigación es Determinar si la implementación de los Dashboard permitirá mejorar la productividad de la obra “Rehabilitación de la protección del perímetro del Terreno de la Universidad Nacional de Piura colindante con la margen izquierda del Río Piura”. Para ello se ha investigado con respecto a dos variables: Implementación de Dashboards y Productividad. El estudio partió de la hipótesis que la implementación de los Dashboards influye significativamente en la mejora de la productividad de la obra “Rehabilitación de la protección del perímetro del Terreno de la Universidad Nacional de Piura colindante con la margen izquierda del Río Piura. Para probar las hipótesis se utilizó el estadístico de prueba de T de Student. En el estudio se trabajó con una muestra de 85 registros documentales, los cuales fueron obtenidos de la obra en mención, la recolección de datos se realizó mediante la técnica de la observación y análisis documental; con ello se pudo crear los indicadores de rendimiento o Kpi’s para la elaboración de los Dashboards. El diseño investigativo es Cuasi Experimental y longitudinal. Como resultado se demostró que la implementación de los Dashboard influye significativamente en la mejora de la productividad del área de estudio, ello permitió tomar decisiones para mejorar productividad de la obra, como resultado final se redujo en 10% el costo total de la obra. / The purpose of this research is to determine if the implementation of the Dashboard will improve the productivity of the work "Rehabilitation of the perimeter protection of the land of the National University of Piura adjoining the left bank of the Piura River." For this, it has been investigated with respect to two variables: Implementation of Dashboards and Productivity. The study started from the hypothesis that the implementation of the Dashboards significantly influences the improvement of the productivity of the work "Rehabilitation of the protection of the perimeter of the land of the National University of Piura adjoining the left bank of the Piura River. To test the hypotheses we used the Student's T test statistic. In the study we worked with a sample of 85 documentary records, which were obtained from the work in question, the data collection was made through the technique of observation and documentary analysis; with this it was possible to create the performance indicators or Kpi's for the elaboration of the Dashboards. The research design is Quasi Experimental and longitudinal. As a result it was demonstrated that the implementation of the Dashboard significantly influences the improvement of the productivity of the study area, this allowed to make decisions to improve the productivity of the work, as a final result the total cost of the work was reduced by 10%. / Trabajo de investigación

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, School of Human and Community Development, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by coursework and research report in the field of in Organisational Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg September 2017 / Emails have become a fundamental computer application and business tool, in organisations across the global. This is because of the accessibility and convenience of emails which have generated an array of benefits to both employees and their organisations. However, this accessibility has led to an over-reliance on emails, which often has the negative consequence of email overload. Email overload continues to be a recurring issues experienced by employees universally, which research has found to have negative implications on employees’ wellbeing and productivity. Yet there has been limited research, particularly in South Africa, that aims to reduce email overload among employees. Thus, this research report investigated how the role of providing employees with a job resource (training intervention) could increase perceived productivity and eliminate email overload and change caused by the job demands (emails) on employees .In order to examine this effect, this research utilised a pretest post-test control group design on order to compare the impact of a training intervention in reducing email overload and increasing productivity. The quantitative results revealed that the training intervention contributed to a decrease in feelings of email overload among the participants. Additionally, focus groups were administered to determine participants’ experience with emails both prior to the training and after the training, to gain a clearer understanding of the best practices used to eliminate email overload. These findings observed that the participants transferred learnt contents from training into their working lives. Thus research both further contributes to other research currently associated with email and email overload, and also provides a greater understanding of the need to provide employees with job resources much like training intervention in order to counteract those job demands like emails, that are often ignored. / XL2018

Student Number : 9111753K - M M research report - School of Management - Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management / Employee engagement is a critical business issue for South Africa if we are to take this country to the next competitive landscape. South African business has been mired by negative perception of underperformance and uncompetitiveness from the international community for years in the past, with an over-reliance on the mining sector. From 1994, this perception has progressively improved and going forward more urgency from business is required in order to progress even further. Whilst employee engagement represents only one factor amongst a number of macro and micro issues, it is central to this country’s economy, business productivity and sustainability. In attempting to assist business in this regard, a study of factors that promote employee engagement has been investigated. The research was qualitative and quantitative in nature. A number of respondents from across the length and breath of South Africa participated in the study. Analysis was done on the results and correlation done to the propositions and the literature. The findings identified employee engagement strategy, the culture of engagement, leadership and management, talent mindset, communication and knowledge sharing, and organisations’ reputation and branding as prominent factors in business in South Africa. Resulting from the research, an employee engagement model is proposed which attempts to integrate key lessons for business.