Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

The purpose of this study was to develop and empirically test a hypothetical model of factors impacting strategy implementation in state Corporations in Kenya in order to establish their statistical significance. To achieve effectiveness and efficiency in strategy implementation in state corporations, change is needed. Due to the rapid changing global environment and increasing demand for service delivery, continuous change is needed. Changes have been taking place in the Kenyan state corporations since 2003 and this has been as a result of corporate strategy implementation. However it is not enough to develop a good strategy, good strategies can fail during implementation. The state corporations in Kenya, like in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, have been characterised by slow and bureaucratic processes that retard corporation‟s performance. Employees and managers in these corporations have been perceived as not performing as they should. Kenyan state corporations are important to the economy of the country. They provide social and essential services to the Kenyan population. There is therefore a need to investigate ways to improve strategy implementation in state corporations, collectively viewed in this study as factors affecting strategy implementation. The study investigated and analysed how the independent variables (internal-, market- and external) impact strategy implementation (dependent variable). The study reviewed literature in the areas of internal-, market- and external factors supported by Louw and Venter‟s (2006), the planning context environmental scan (2010), Zaribaf and Hamid‟s drivers for implementation outcomes (2010), and the Nortel network external environment (2010) models as presented in section 1.5 of chapter one. The hypothetical model developed was based on the models mentioned. The study sought to establish the perceptions of Kenyan state corporation‟s managers and utilised the quantitative research paradigm. A survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire distributed to managers in state corporations in Kenya. The final sample comprised 485 respondents. Data was collected between October, 2012 and February 2013, that is, a period of five months. The returned questionnaires were subjected to several statistical analyses. The validity of the measuring instrument was ascertained using exploratory factor analysis. The Cronbach‟s alpha values for reliability were calculated for each of the factors identified during the exploratory factor analysis. In this study, correlation and exploratory factor analysis, the KMO measure of sample adequacy, Bartlett‟s test of sphericity, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, multi-colinearity diagnostic and regressions were the main statistical procedures used to test the appropriateness of data, correlation and significance of the relationships hypothesised between the various independent and dependent variables. The study identified twelve independent variables as significantly impacting the strategy implementation (dependent variable) of state corporations in Kenya. Five statistical significant relationships were found between the internal factors: organisational structure, human resources, financial resources, leadership, communication and strategy implementation in state corporations in Kenya. Three statistical significant relationships were found between the market factors: customers, suppliers, labour market and strategy implementation in state corporations in Kenya. Four statistical significant relationships were found between the external factors: social-cultural, technology, ecological, global forces and strategy implementation in state corporations in Kenya. The study also found three statistically insignificant variables. It was found that managers in state corporations in Kenya should be encouraged to study and clearly understand the culture of their state corporations in order for them to believe that organisational culture could have a significant impact on strategy implementation and that the culture of their corporation needs to be compatible with the strategy being implemented, because where there is incompatibility between strategy and culture, it can lead to high organisational resistance to change. The managers should also be made to understand that organisational culture shapes employees behaviour, guides strategic decisions and accommodates proposed changes and that When culture influences the actions of employees to support current strategy, implementation is strengthened. Managers should strive to achieve competitive advantage by offering distinctive or unique products or services that clearly add value to the customers. They should be made aware that the strategies of competitors who offer unique service to the customers could derail their strategy implementation. State corporation managers should acknowledge that severe competition results in pressure on prices, margins and profitability for all state corporations. There is a need for managers to ensure that the state corporation strategies are supported and aligned with government policies, directives and programmes. They should actively lobby with government to enact good policies and directives that support strategy implementation. The study has provided general guidelines at internal environmental level on how to implement strategies effectively and efficiently in state corporations in Kenya. Furthermore, general operational guidelines at market level for improving strategy implementation have been given for such corporations to become and remain competitive in the global market place. The study has also highlighted general guidelines regarding managing external environmental factors to assist in improving strategy implementation in state corporations in Kenya.

No description available.

The importance of State-owned entities (SOEs) in a developing State has been argued for centuries. SOEs are perceived as the tool that the State can successfully use to implement its developmental agenda. In the Republic of South Africa, SOEs have been used to ensure universal access to electricity, water and logistical infrastructure to support industrial development, as well as basic service delivery. These entities have been expected to fund these initiatives from their own funds, which alleviated the need for commercial SOEs (also known as State-owned companies) to be profitable without continuous financial injections from the RSA government. Generally, commercial SOEs have been performing poorly financially. This research study aims to determine whether political influence might affect the profitability of these commercial SOEs. The poor financial performance plaguing the commercial SOEs hinders their ability to effectively contribute as a collective to the developmental agenda of the State, as espoused in the current strategic plan of the RSA in the form of the National Development Plan (NDP). Due to the poor financial performance and subsequent diversion of financial resources from other national priorities for their bail-out, commercial SOEs have been considered a liability rather than an asset to the RSA. To satisfy the primary and associated research objectives, qualitative primary and secondary research data have been collected. The primary data have been collected by using the semi-structured interview from the CFOs of commercial SOEs from various government departments – given their proximity to the financial performance and the drivers of this performance in commercial SOEs. CFOs are also part of the commercial SOEs senior-executive management of these entities. The general opinion of the participants and the literature review of the research study is that, indeed, political influence has had an adverse effect on the profitability of commercial SOEs, among others, as a consequence of the positioning of SOEs within the governance system of the RSA, the impact of the recruitment process for senior executives and the implications of an unfunded mandate. It is clear that in the RSA, commercial SOEs, and SOEs in general, will continue to play a pivotal role in the implementation of the developmental agendas of the State, as expressed in the NDP. With the RSA government expecting commercial SOEs to fund these activities from their own funds, it is critical that the State should be an enabler rather than a hindrance for commercial SOEs‟ profitability.

This dissertation research investigates whether merit-based principles and practices are embedded into the HRM systems of 19 Title 5-exempt federal organizations. Title 5-exempt organizations, such as government corporations, serve as a vehicle for exploring the question of what constitutes merit in more loosely regulated public environments. This research fills a void in the discussion about how we can sustain a merit foundation in deregulated and decentralized federal human resources systems. It also captures previously uncollected information about HRM in some organizations that operate fully or partially outside the general government management laws. While the research focus is specific to certain organizations, the context is the broader issue of merit in modern government. A recognition that alternative merit-based HRM systems exist under the federal umbrella without the constraints of Title 5 is important to the overall question of what constitutes merit in federal HRM and whether merit practices must be centrally determined and controlled. The larger goal is that of offering an alternative perspective for embedding the democratic values that merit represents in a more flexible, responsive, and business-like government. The dissertation is divided into three sections that include building a generic model of merit-based HRM to identify the intrinsic components of such public HRM systems, collecting HRM data from 19 organizations through multiple case methodology, and analyzing and comparing the findings to the merit model. The discussion covers six themes emerging from the research, including the institutionalization and legalization of HRM, the impact of collective bargaining on merit, and the limited formal oversight and accountability of HRM in the studied organizations. The findings suggest that even in less regulated political environments, merit-based systems do survive and serve the changing needs of the organization. The key recommendation proposes offering the traditional federal agencies the option to develop and defend their own merit-based HRM systems under a broad public policy and accountability framework. The growth of standard HRM policies and practices in all large organizations and the increased protections in the HRM systems stemming from civil rights and employment law as well as collective bargaining offer protections similar to those merit was originally intended to provide. / Ph. D.

This study investigated the alignment of the oversight function conducted by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) with the constitutional oversight mandate and with the service delivery priorities for Gauteng. The Gauteng Provincial Legislature adopts 5-year strategic plans at the beginning of each Political Term of Office to execute its mandates of oversight, law making, public participation and cooperative governance. Since all functions of the legislature emanate from these strategic planning documents, and if such 5-year strategic plans are aligned to the legislature’s mandate on oversight and to the provincial priorities for the province, it can be deduced that the resultant oversight function conducted by the legislature will similarly be aligned. This alignment between the oversight function of the legislature and the constitutional mandate on oversight, and between the oversight function of the legislature and the service delivery priorities for Gauteng is essential to promote implementation, performance and ultimately, the actual service delivery by the executive in a manner that is similarly aligned with the constitutional oversight mandate and the service delivery priorities for Gauteng. By using a qualitative approach, the study has shown that this alignment is inadequate. While there was sufficient alignment between the oversight conducted by the GPL and the Constitutional oversight mandate, there was inadequate alignment between the oversight conducted by the GPL and the service delivery priorities for Gauteng. The study has also identified challenges that relate to these inadequate alignments as well as recommendations for improvement. / Public Administration and Management / M. Admin. (Public administration and management)

Concern regarding corporate governance is a new phenomenon in Indonesia. It became apparent in the business community when the economic crisis hit the country in 1997. Due to its recent recognition, it appears that very little is known about corporate governance in Indonesia and there has been no academic study conducted on corporate governance in the Indonesian Stateowned Enterprises (ISOEs) despite the fact that their performance is closely linked to the development of the country. The main objectives of this study are two-fold: first is to examine corporate governance systems and the roles of the Boards of ISOEs; and second is to assess the effectiveness of government initiatives in improving corporate governance practices in ISOEs. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. The quantitative analysis was derived from numerical data obtained from government reports and other public documents. The qualitative analysis was based on the results of in-depth interviews with key individuals and other sources such as public opinions published in the mass media. Several key findings were obtained from the results of this study. Firstly, the study found that using agency theory to explain the relationships between the agents and the principals was more problematic in ISOEs than those in private enterprises. This is because an ISOE is a loose coalition of various agents with no real owner. Consequently. agency theory, if it is used to redefine the relationships among parties in ISOEs. should be approached at two different levels. At the micro level the agency theory examines the agent-principal relationships among the ISOE management, the Boards and the government-the corporate governance tripod. At the macro level it examines the agent-principal relationships between the corporate governance tripod and the ISOEs stakeholders (the public, labour unions, politicians in the People's Representative Assembly and others). Secondly, the results of this study confirm the results of previous studies which found that Boards in SOEs were largely ineffective. To enhance Boards' effectiveness, this study suggests that as a quasi-owner the government needs to reduce its intervention in ISOEs' operations and empower the Boards by establishing employee representation on the Board. In addition, Board training and assessment should be a mandatory in the ISOEs. Thirdly, this study found that the initiatives on corporate governance carried out by the Indonesian government had been ineffective due to the lack of incentives, lack of commitment and consistency, lack of understanding of corporate governance and unclear programmes. Here, the key factor required to enhance effectiveness is strong-willed commitment of the government and ISOE management. Lastly, other factors such as culture, public governance and law enforcement have a great influence in the process of attaining good corporate governance practices. Therefore, there should be joint efforts among parties in the public sector to ensure that good corporate governance is achieved in conjunction with the attainment of good public governance.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2016. / Refer to document

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Commerce (Accountancy). / Accountability by state owned companies has been lacking in recent times. The need for an oversight mechanism to improve governance and as such accountability is required for state owned companies (IOD and PWC, 2011). Integrated reporting has answered this call due to its ability to provide a holistic view of the factors that create value for an entity in the short, medium and long-term. South African state owned companies have realised the benefit integrated reporting can have on their corporate governance and as such have adopted integrated reporting in terms of King III and the IR Framework. The purpose of this study is to investigate the trends in integrated reporting by state owned companies per The Public Finance Management Act 1999 for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 financial periods. This report examines the extent of disclosure made by state owned companies per the King III and IR Framework recommendations and requirements in respect of integrated reporting; by means of using a scorecard approach to identify the level of disclosure made by each state owned company. The key findings of this study was that the level of reporting disclosure by state owned companies increased following an upward positive trend with the disclosures on average increasing from providing little information on a poor to average basis in 2013 to providing some information at a satisfactory level in 2015. It was found that there were no instances of noncompliance with overall disclosure by any of the state owned companies analysed over the three year period. Furthermore, not a single company provided disclosure overall at an excellent level in any of the three years analysed. This finding suggests that although improving, the level of integrated reporting disclosure by state owned companies is still only satisfactory and as such there is a lot of room for improvement over time. Areas that are in need of reform relate to governance, the governance of information technology, the provision of information on the outlook of the entity and information as to the basis upon which integrated reports are prepared. / MT2017

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management: Strategic Marketing Johannesburg, 2017 / State-owned enterprises share many similarities with their purely commercial counterparts. There are however, a number of factors that these organisations are obligated to account for that set them apart from traditional product and service brands. This makes them unique in terms of how and why they build their corporate brands and manage their brand portfolios. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are prolific across the world. Enterprises controlled and funded entirely or partially by governments are involved in a broad spectrum of business ranging from arms manufacture to communications and media. These state-owned enterprises often command marketing budgets and resource their businesses with brand managers for the purposes of building strong corporate brands and managing their brand portfolios effectively. In short, SOEs often behave as brands and yet their objectives differ from the very definition of what building a brand is intended to do; deliver bottom-line value to the business. The main problem in this study then was to identify the decision-making factors in corporate brand building and portfolio management in a South African state-owned organisation. This was in a bid to resolve how these factors are prioritised to achieve organisational objectives and what value there is in building a corporate brand in such a state-owned organisation. To do this a qualitative research strategy was selected as a means of identifying insights from key personnel at a state-owned organisation. A single case study method was utilised and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was identified as an ideal SOE in which to conduct the study. The key findings indicated a worrying level of confusion regarding the true objectives of the organisation. This was attributed to be due to two factors. Firstly, that there is a conflict between the mandate of an SOE or its altruistic, normative objective to serve the country and its people and the commercial imperative to build consumers (or audiences in the case of the SABC) and attract revenue to be self-sustaining. Secondly, that due to political influence and the nature of state- ownership of the organisation, the objectives documented and approved differ to those that are truly practiced by managers in the organisation. Further to this it was found that there is a lack of clarity regarding the structure of the brand portfolio and relationships between brands, many of which have strong heritage in and of themselves and form key touchpoints for sizeable audiences. It was found that building a strong corporate brand was essential for the SABC’s success and that each brand in the portfolio should fall under the umbrella corporate brand however this again brought forth the conflict between how things should be and how they can practically be done. Due to its SOE nature, and the public context of the SABC, it was found that the portfolio brands tended to distance themselves from the corporate brand due to its instability and negative corporate reputation which impacted on individual brand performances in the portfolio. Based on the findings in this study, this thesis recommends a clear prioritisation of the three areas of influence within the SOE in the order of audiences followed by mandate and then revenue. The thesis recommends a corporate brand audit, taking stock of the heritage elements of the SABC corporate brand and its brand portfolio so as to mine the value in its 80-year-old history and to turn these heritage-based elements into advantages for the organisation upon which its corporate brand can be built. This thesis recommends the building of a strong corporate brand for the SABC with links between each brand in its portfolio leaning to the branded house side of the spectrum of classical brand relationship typology. The study also proposes practical applications to achieve prioritisation of the corporate brand which requires high level management attention. To this end, it calls for the appointment of a Chief Marketing Officer to the executive of the SABC and a core corporate brand management team. The function of this team would be to articulate the objectives and the prioritisation of these objectives to all stakeholder groups, to audit and reorganise the brand portfolio for effective management according to theory-based guidelines, and to establish and implement a corporate brand building strategy that will deliver value to the SABC and all its stakeholders, using the corporate brand and its messaging as a bridge to connect the brand promise of the organisation to the brand reality experienced by those stakeholder groups most especially its audiences as priority. / MT 2017