The impact of the global financial crisis, which has its origins in the United States, reverberated through the private sector and brought some country economies to their knees. This highlighted the interconnectedness of world economies. Big companies filed for bankruptcy whiles others were acquired in a bid to avoid total annihilation. Unemployment levels reached terrifying heights. While the world economy was unravelling and the legitimacy of governments was determined by their ability to alleviate the financial pressures their citizens were under; another group was feeling the pressure. However, the impact the financial crisis has had on group has not received nearly as much attention. Although the non-profit sector may not feature highly on the economic scales and matrices; it is part a part of the global economic fabric. It receives funds from governments, corporates, foundations, philanthropists and individual citizens. The size of the donations they receive correlates to the size of the disposable income of their donors. It therefore follows that when the world economy unravelled; non-profit organisations saw a marked decline in the funds received. This paper sets to establish not only how the South African non-profit sector responded to what became a funding crisis for them; but also to test their responsive strategies within the framework of the strategy process. An exploratory research method was used to investigate this problem, and the results showed on the one hand, a spirited sector that has taken the challenge on by adopting more commercial thinking to ensure their financial sustainability. On the other it was found that challenges with a key strategic partner prevailed as well as the challenge of accepting the incongruence of embracing commercial practices vis-à-vis holding deep social mission values. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / zkgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

This paper investigated trends in social entrepreneurship within non-profit organisations (NPOs). It was inspired by a survey conducted by Trialogue, a non-profit research organisation that surveys corporate social investment in South Africa. The survey showed a significant number of Non-profit organisations (69%) are moving toward developing social enterprise due to issues of sustainability. The research sought to ascertain what are the causes for the trend. The method of sampling used was non-probability, purposeful sampling to select 12 organisations from the available population. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted via face-to-face interviews with 12 organisations and 14 respondents. The transcripts of each were manually reviewed line-by-line for common themes to compare and generate results. The study was undertaken to better understand what motivated NPOs to social entrepreneurship and how they identified and exploited opportunities; distributed revenues and what form of relationship was created with the parent organization. The study reviewed theoretical models and selected a best-fit model of the Opportunity Creation Process which had to be modified to suit the trends in thought that arose from the study. The findings showed that funding challenges of the parent NPO and limited access to funds were key features likely to illustrate when an NPO will move into social entrepreneurship. The research concludes with evidence demonstrating that NPOs are not always willing participants in the social enterprise game, but are forced to discover opportunities to prove to funders that they are seeking means to be sustainable, with varying degrees of success. The form of social enterprise they select is often determined by the centrality of the NPOs mission to that of the social enterprise. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the structure of social marketing within a collaboration between non-profit organisations (NPOs) and business organisations as well as whether this collaboration facilitates the process of social marketing for the NPOs. For this purpose, Austin and Seitanidi´s (2012a, 2012b, 2014) Collaborative Value Creation (CVC) framework was applied to social marketing as value outcome by combining it with Andreasen and Kotler´s (2003) model of the social marketing process in NPOs. Method: A qualitative study was conducted based on secondary and primary data. Hereby, primary data was gathered from a total of seven NPOs and twelve respondents across Sweden by the use of face-to-face and phone interviews. Result & Conclusions: Two main findings were identified in this study. Firstly, within the process of social marketing in a corporate-NPO collaboration the NPOs predominantly plan and design the campaigns independently. Hereby, it is shown that the NPO´s organisational model of operation influences the collaboration structure. Secondly, it is demonstrated that the corporate-NPO collaboration facilitates the NPOs social marketing process. Suggestions for future research: Further investigations of NPOs could be undertaken by distinguishing between their organisational model and area of operation in order to complement the presented theoretical model of the social marketing process in the corporate-NPO collaboration. Additionally, the perspective of business organisations could be considered. Contribution of the thesis: The present study contributes to literature by providing a theoretical model based of the social marketing process in the corporate-NPO collaboration. It demonstrates that this collaboration facilitates the social marketing process of the NPOs.

Competitive Intelligence (CI) has become increasingly important for organisations in the private sector, or profit-making organisations, because the level and intensity of competition has increased in recent years. This increase in the level and intensity of competition has also affected the public sector, or non-profit-making organisations, such as Public Service departments. In South Africa, the Public Service departments have undergone significant changes, in order to rectify the injustices of the past. Despite much progress, it is noticed that government does not have sufficient capacity to deliver and sustain a quality service to its citizens. It is further noted that improved service delivery cannot be implemented by issuing of circulars only, and it is not just an administrative activity, instead it is a dynamic process and to do this, Public Service managers require new management tools. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) was chosen as the case study Public Service department for this study. The purpose of this study was to ascertain how competitive intelligence tools and techniques could be implemented in Public Service departments in South Africa to enhance the delivery of services. This aim was established during this study by addressing the following issues: • Identifying how CI tools and techniques could contribute to the functioning of the Public Service sector. The study outlined the benefits of CI for public service organisations and focussed on several tools and techniques that could be used. Most of these tools and techniques were not used in DHA. • Assessing the current state of Public Service delivery in South Africa. It became evident from the study that the Public Service sector and in particular DHA was experiencing several problems in terms of achieving its service delivery mandate. The Department lacked structured and formal frameworks, policies and strategies for conducting its operations. The organisation was viewed to have many unskilled and de-motivated staff. The current state of service delivery in South Africa also revealed disturbing findings of corruption, fraud, nepotism, and extreme despair in staff that had to work in these conditions. • Identifying gaps in the Public Service current strategies for service delivery. It was established that DHA does not use reliable techniques and methods when conducting its strategic planning. Furthermore, staff lacked the competencies, skills and experience to assist in strategic planning. The existing strategic plan for DHA does not address the future desires of the organisation and can be regarded as a plan to address the immediate issues of the organisation only. • Identifying the forms of competition that impact service delivery in Public Service departments in South Africa. Several forms of competition were encountered at DHA. These forms of competition can be divided into three different areas namely internal competition in DHA, external competition and left field competition. The information about these forms of competition was not readily available to managers and decision makers therefore appropriate actions could not be taken to counteract the impact of the competition on service delivery. • Identifying initiatives adopted by Public Service departments to improve service delivery. It was evident from the study that while the new initiatives being implemented by DHA to improve service delivery would be able to, and in some cases, have already had a positive impact on the operating and service delivery environment, several concerns were also identified. • Designing a new CI related framework for gathering and analysing information that can be used in all Public Service departments in South Africa to improve service delivery. From the empirical investigations it became evident that no single CI tool or technique would have been able to address the situation at DHA, therefore, a combination of tools was necessary. These tools were depicted in a CI framework that DHA could use to gather and analyse information for decision making and service delivery. • Suggesting proposed solutions and recommendations that can assist Public Service departments in South Africa in improving its service delivery. It was evident that CI can contribute towards the enhancement of decision making and service delivery not only in DHA but also in all other Public Service departments in South Africa. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Information Science / unrestricted

“What role did branding play in the social marketing processes of the three Schwab Foundation award winning social enterprises (SEs)?” The research problem, as well as the research questions, revolve around the issue of establishing how branding may be employed as part of the social marketing process in such a way as to increase the competitiveness of those organisations known as social enterprises (SEs). This study investigates three SEs whose Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have won The Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur (SFSE) of the Year Awards, to determine how branding was used as a communication tool to position their organisations as leaders and differentiators in the development sector. The three SEs that were chosen as case study organisations are: Soul City, Heartbeat and the Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC). The theoretical context focuses firstly on the non-profit sector in South Africa as the context and environment of this study, more specifically, the evolution of non-profit organisations (NPOs) into Social Enterprises (SEs). This is followed by defining communication principles and applications as they appear in both profit-driven and non-profit organisations/social enterprises (NPOs/SEs). This is applied in two different communication contexts: communication within corporate organisations and communication within development organisations. The last theoretical focus is placed on understanding what branding means, a description of the different branding categories, and a view of the evolution of branding to brand building and brand leadership. This is followed by a discussion on the importance of brand identity and equity in the process of brand development, brand management and measurement, including a presentation of the main role players in this brand-building process. Branding is then discussed as it is applied in SEs, outlining what a strong brand could do for the development sector. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches are utilised; more specifically a qualitative research approach, supported by a quantitative one, referred to as the “dominant less-dominant model”. This study is based on the grounded theory model supported by a collective case study approach, also referred to as “building theories from case study research”. The study further indicates the theory that was generated by this study, namely “The Social Enterprise (SE) branding layered grounded theory model”. Whereas the 1st layer displays the important role that the NPO/SE sector if fulfilling in modern society; the 2nd layer the specific space and linkages of SEs with the different other society sectors are explained; the 3rd layer positions/similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with the growth path of NPOs towards SEs and their own sustainability on the NPO/SE pyramid model; the 4th layer indicates the fact that the same corporate communication principles applies to the development sector; and the 5th layer stresses the important role that branding plays as the core element of a corporate communication strategy. In summary, the study found that a lack of implementation of corporate communication in NPOs and SEs, more specifically the absence of a corporate identity, image and a strategic brand management process, has a direct impact on the effectiveness of SEs’ communication and limits the achievement of their developmental objectives. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Information Science / unrestricted