Formal project management methodologies and processes play a vital role in organisations that run large complex projects and programmes. Is it possible that these methodologies and processes can end up defeating the purpose for which they are introduced? Can these methodologies actually cause projects to fail by becoming the focus of attention? If so, what can be done to reverse this bizarre situation? This study intends to give some insights into these complex questions. Methodologies that are not usually used in such environments are applied to a particular messy situation on a project in an attempt to bring about some relief. The events took place in a conservative, rapidly changing and highly politicised organisation that had embarked on a programme comprising many large interdependent projects that needed to be implemented in an aggressive time frame. A particular large and complex project was running into trouble due to, in no small measure, the strict enforcement of onerous project management procedures. The project team was becoming demoralised and very stressed, which aggravated the situation further. Project managers usually adopt a "hard" approach to making changes. The aim of this research is to see whether using a "softer" approach in the environment described above could alleviate the situation. In this study, systems thinking and action research form the core of the multi-methodological approach to understanding the problem situation and identifying appropriate interventions to bring about improvements. Given the culture of the organisation concerned, will the application of these methodologies improve the situation by bringing the project back on track and improve staff morale? Other concepts that play a role in this study include complexity theory and the learning organisation that are deemed essential to the understanding of the holistic picture. 111 "This we know. The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and the daughters of the earth. We did not weave the web of life; we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves." (Chief Seattle) / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

This study investigates the challenges of implementing a performance management development system (PMDS) in the Department of Transport as a learning organisation. The objectives were: * To evaluate the PMDS that is currently utilised to motivate employees and to determine problems encountered in the implementation thereof with a view to employing a learning organisation approach. * To determine new approaches to the implementation of the PMDS. * To uncover problems encountered in the implementation of the PMDS. The study focused on managers and supervisors as the main role-players in the assessment of the PMDS. Supervisors were given questionnaires concerning issues pertaining to PMDS and learning organisations. Respondents were asked whether the role of trainers is visible in strengthening communication structures allowing employees to participate meaningfully in the decision-making processes of their organisation. The following research questions were asked: * What challenges do the Department of Transport in KZN, Pietermaritzburg faces concerning the PDMS and in becoming a mature learning organisation? * Is the PMDS compatible with a learning organisation? * How has the PMDS been utilised to motivate employees and to uncover problems encountered in the implementation of the PMDS? * How does the Department of Transport identify new approaches required for the implementation of the PMDS? / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The present study examines the impact of socio-demographic and attitudinal characteristics of pastors and laypersons on the implementation process. The research is based on the hypothesis that implementation of social action programs is related to the importance given to these programs by members of an organization. The findings reveal that different sets of socio-demographic characteristics are influential regarding the importance given to programs by pastors and laypersons. Additionally, the results show that the attitudinal characteristics have greater impact on pastors' perception of social action programs than that of laypersons. The priority in the implementation process of social programs is proven to be identical with the overall perception of the importance of these programs. / Department of Sociology

Information Systems (IS) are being developed and used in organizations to achieve their business goals and to enhance organizational effectiveness. The rate of systems success is questionable. One of the causes of IS failures might be user dissatisfaction with the systems. The success of an Information System is difficult to measure directly, so user satisfaction and system usage are frequently used as surrogate measures of system success. User participation in IS development has been advocated to achieve user satisfaction with the system and consequently system success. Past research findings about the effect of user participation on user satisfaction leading to system success are mixed and inconclusive. Past research has not been successful in showing whether user participation in IS development is necessary or not. So further research in this respect is justifiable. This thesis investigated the effect of user participation/involvement on user satisfaction. The effect of user expectations, and user-developer effective communications on user satisfaction has also been explored. A research model was proposed to proceed with this research. Meta-Analysis was carried out to investigate the relationship between user participation, user expectations and user-developer effective communication each with user satisfaction respectively. This thesis found some relationship of these factors with user satisfaction. The strength of the relationship (i. e. correlation 'r') was found to be 'medium' but not large'. The results also show that user involvement has a larger correlation with user satisfaction as opposed to user participation. The findings not only lead to the conclusions that user participation/involvement, user expectations, and user-developer effective communication have positive relationship with user satisfaction, but also contribute to the existing alternative views among IS researchers. The relationship between system usage and user satisfaction was found to be positive and of 'medium' strength and contrasts with the prevailing view that no correlation exists between them. So research findings are not only useful to resolve controversies that exists in past research but also lead to conclusions that user participation may contribute towards successful IS development and consequently user satisfaction with IS. Further, the causes of the emergence of unrealistic user expectations are explored and suggestions for future research are made.

There are many views about the meaning and importance of performance measurement of employees and of organizations. This thesis is concerned with many of these views but is most concerned with performance contracts and quality management and the relationship between them. The whole concept of the measurement of performance is sometimes questioned and in some cases regarded as being both subjective and futile. Van de Ven and Ferry (1980) argued that: "Whether the difficulties associated with assessing the performance of complex organizations can be met by a single set of measurement instruments and process guidelines has still to be proven." Glover and Kelly (1987) contended that measuring the performance of individual jobs can also be difficult: "Performance is hard or impossible to measure with many jobs and occupations, think for example of the differences between the work of architects, surgical appliance fitters, design engineers, criminals, politicians, street traders and musicians. There is often a conflict between volume and quantity of output in the long-term and the short-term such as when profits come before investment and vice-versa." Similarly, Van De Yen and Morgan (1980) argued with regard to organizational performance that: "Performance is a complex construct that reflects the criteria and standards used by decision makers to assess the functioning of an organization. As this definition suggests, performance is a value judgement on the results desired from the organization at different levels of analysis--and--often change over time." However, the demand for measurement of performance, whether it comes from the first level of supervision or from a shareholders' meeting, does tend to mean that attempts be made to measure performance (Talley, 1991).

<p>This study focused on understanding inter-organizational relationships (IOR) of a dynamic nature. A dynamic process that has repetitive sequences of negotiation, commitment, and execution stages is central to inter-organizational relationships. The dynamic process is a tool that is used by management through collaboration, co-operation, and coordination to engender formation, governance, and performance of inter-organizational relationships. This report looked into how the resource-dependency theory gives insight into the formation of an inter-organizational relationships and how the transaction-cost theory contributes to the understanding ofinter-organizational relationships governance.</p>

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is one element in a broad spectrum of skills that enable managers to create value for their organisation and themselves. Since Salovey and Mayer's (1990) seminal article on the concept, and its popularisation in a social science book of the same name (Gibbs 1995; Goleman 1995), emotional intelligence has emerged in several different models and measures. Matthews et al. (2002) outlined three contexts for the study of emotional intelligence: psychometric, theoretical, and applied. The focus of this study is on measurement and applied use of emotional intelligence; where the “underlying EI is the impetus to improve emotional functioning in real life” (Matthews et al. 2002, p. 27). To the author's knowledge, no independent studies have measured the emotional intelligence of managers in Singapore. Equally, little is known about the perceptions of managers and senior executives on the influence and importance of emotional intelligence in organisations in Singapore. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006.

Globalisation has elevated knowledge to become the prime source of competitive advantage. Because knowledge is derived from learning, management concepts such as the Learning Organisation (LO) started to gain popularity in the early 1990s. However, attention in the LO concept has declined since the mid-1990s. At the same time, there is a lack of relevant literature to guide practitioners in manufacturing organisations such as those in Malaysia which need to become LOs but do not know how to do so in their transition into the knowledge-based economy. Hence, three separate but interlinked papers on the application of LO concept were written as a contribution to revive interest and to assist practitioners on LO implementation. To show how Papers 1, 2 and 3 relate to each other, they have been integrated into this paper as the literature review, the first empirical study and the second empirical study respectively. / The literature review looked at the causes of the reduced interest in the LO concept and suggested some empirical research opportunities to revive it. Consequently, two empirical studies were conducted based on a common theoretical grounding and sample. The first study addressed the role of organisation size on the LO implementation by analysing the extent of presence of LO characteristics between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs) in the Malaysian electrical and electronic (E & E) industry. Because the industry is dominated by foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs), this research also looked at the role of ownership by doing a similar analysis between foreign-owned enterprises and Malaysian-owned enterprises. From the findings, it was concluded that organisation size and ownership do not cause any significant perceived difference among organisations in their practice of LO characteristics. The second study tackled the perceived lack of usefulness of the LO by testing for a correlation between the LO characteristics and organisational performance and for significant difference in organisational performance between LOs and non-LOs. The findings confirmed that LO characteristics correlate positively with organisational performance, resulting in LOs achieving significantly better organisational performance compared to non-LOs. / Thesis DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (MEd (Human Resource Studies)) -- University of South Australia, 1994