Training is often delivered before training needs analyses were completed for affected employees. The overall purpose of the study was to identify gaps in the perceived training needs between managers and employees. The first gap found that managers differ in how they perceived employees’ training needs. The second gap was found amongst employees about their own training needs. The managers responded through an electronic questionnaire and a conference, while employees completed their questionnaires at their business premises. The unique approach to this study lies in the fact that the employees were involved in the research while it is more common only to allow managers to complete questionnaires. Globally there is a shortage of supply chain management skills. Following the 2008 global recession, well-trained staff could allow businesses to recover economically. However the literature revealed that a lack of existing qualifications rendered employees vulnerable to lay-offs. For decades, governments, businesses and tertiary institutions have been mismatched in meeting their existing/future skills requirements. The research outcomes could help to prevent wasting resources required to train employees. The goal was accomplished by testing nine hypotheses against empirical evidence gathered in supply chain industries. The findings confirmed that managers and employees do not always share the same perceptions. Hypotheses testing on the following variables: the types of training, the format of training, motivating/demotivating variables for attending training, revealed differences. Other variables include respondents’ existing educational qualifications, their gender, age and career tenure. The respondents were questioned about signing contracts before being sent on training programs. This thesis reported and analysed the findings of three questionnaires. The study was in-field for four months in 2011. By using supply chain professional associations to target respondents the study yielded a more credible reflection of industry phenomena. The research contribution lies in the fact that it is a multi-disciplinary study trying to identify whether gaps exist in perceived training needs amongst respondents and why. It integrates theory from the disciplines of human resources, training and businesses management in structured supply chain networks. Future training programs can thus be tailored towards meeting actual employee training needs to align organisational with personal objectives. This study can help alleviate the skills shortage by emphasizing training needs analyses before the commencement of training programs. / Thesis (DCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Business Management / unrestricted

Home-based and residential-based businesses have become a very visible feature of some main road arteries into and out of suburbs of most big cities in South Africa. Previous residential zoned properties are being used to such an extent for business purposes that certain main routes into cities has virtually lost its residential character. Home-based businesses is not new to South Africa. Some 1,8 million people run some form of business from home. However, the purchase or rent of a residential property and then re-zoning it for business use in some specific areas seem to be a new phenomenon. Preliminary interviews with entrepreneurs and small business owners of these residential-based businesses would indicate that it is an alternative location to shopping centres/malls and office parks. They are often harassed by landlords and/or cannot afford the rentals charged or cannot comply with certain aspects of the lease agreement. The study is an exploratory research into this phenomenon and is supported by a proper literature study as well as an empirical study. The literature reviews the concepts of entrepreneurship and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME's) as a starting point for this study. This sector is a vital contribution factor for any economy and one of the most important strategic decisions that must be made by these small business ventures is the location-decision. All the theories and factors of location in the literature reveals this important decision and the different types of location for SMME's are explored, with emphasize on the newest phenomenon, residential-based businesses. The empirical part of the study consisted of a questionnaire that was completed by means of personal interviews on a sample in the greater Pretoria Metropolitan region. The objective of this study was to find the reasons for this very visible development in suburbs and to investigate whether this is an effective alternative location for SMME's. The research findings indicated the reasons and advantages of residential-based businesses as well as the possible problems and disadvantages of this location-decision. The three factors identified as advantages of this location-decision are the location and growth advantages, the cost advantages and personal advantages. The three disadvantage factors are some personal disadvantages, local authorities' rules and regulations and some management disadvantages. Proper recommendations are being made on how to run and manage such a residential-based business and the paper will therefore not only be of value to entrepreneurs and SMME's wanting to make this important location-decision, but also to town planners at the city councils for future strategic planning. / Thesis (D Com (Business Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Business Management / unrestricted

We conceptualize the new phenomenon of the Fractional Chief Information Officer (CIO) as a part-time executive who usually works for more than one primarily small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) and develop promising avenues for future research on Fractional CIOs. We conduct an empirical study by drawing on semi-structured interviews with 40 individuals from 10 different countries who occupy a Fractional CIO role. We derive a definition for the Fractional CIO, distinguish it from other forms of employment, and compare it with existing research on CIO roles. Further, we find four salient engagement types of Fractional CIOs offering value for SMEs in various situations: Strategic IT management, Restructuring, Rapid scaling, and Hands-on support. The results reveal similarities with existing CIO roles as well as novel insights concerning the different engagement types. Lastly, we propose a research agenda for the Fractional CIO field, based on four research themes derived from existing CIO research and insights from the interviews.