Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / This research study focuses on the way the Namibian public sector plans and implements capital projects, mainly in the Ohangwena region, and the Ministry of Health and Social Services in general. The research results show that the planning and project process is not clear and that options need to be considered for the improvement thereof. It is observed that often some of the identified and approved capital projects are not implemented and, if implemented, this is typically done in two or three years. Most parts of Ohangwena are comprised of sandy roads, especially the north-eastern area of Ohangwena which represents a large part of the region. Distances between health facilities and the scarcity of transport make it difficult for the community to easily reach the nearest health facility. The primary objective of this study is to perform an assessment of the planning process in the public sector for the implementation of capital projects and its effectiveness with regard to the planning and implementation of identified capital projects. From the outset, the critical issue is not only implementation, but also how the Ministry plans its capital projects for successful implementation. Interestingly, no research has been done before on this topic in Namibia. Against this background, officials (planners) that are directly involved in capital projects design were interviewed at the district, regional and national levels of the Ministry. The research investigation found that, in general, the planning and project processes in the Ministry are good, but a number of weaknesses were observed in the implementation process. The findings of the study showed that capacity in the Ministry, in terms of skills and technical expertise, are among the main causes of delay in the implementation of capital projects, particularly in the region and in the Ministry in general. The research found that lack of technical expertise in the Ministry and the limited capacity of those responsible for capital projects initiation and implementation, especially at the District and Regional level, have a substantial influence on most of all the weaknesses observed in the system. In this regard, specific recommendations were made regarding the prioritization of the necessary posts and building capacity at the operational level. / South Africa

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / The aim of this research study was to assess the existence and impact of career barriers on women in a municipal environment and to understand whether career salience explains some of the differences in the perception of career barriers. To answer the research hypothesis, permission was obtained from the municipal management to embark on the study and the respondents were notified in writing of the purpose and benefits of the study. A cross-sectional, convenience sample of 89 female employees in post levels one to ten was used. The survey questionnaire consisted of a demographical questionnaire, The Career Barriers Inventory-Revised (CBI-R) (Swanson, Daniels & Tokar, 1996) and a career salience scale. The statistical analyses included descriptive, inferential statistics and analysis of variance. The data was also subjected to a Scheffe’s test to determine the differences in perceptions. The results (N = 89) of this study do not support the hypothesis that there is a significant difference between age and women’s experiences of sex discrimination as a career barrier. The first and second hypothesis, which meant to prove a significant relationship between career salience and career barriers and a significant difference in women’s perceptions of career barriers based on their career salience, was partially accepted

Magister Public Health - MPH / In response to the increasing burden with regard to treatment of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, the Ministry of Health has developed a national strategic plan for HIV and AIDS. This provided for broader access to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) by decentralizing and integrating ART services into the essential services provided at the primary care level. In keeping with this initiative,medical technicians are now responsible for first-line ART prescription and management at primary-level care health centres in the country. The ART programme was introduced in Mozambique in 2003 alongside other health services offered in hospitals; it was decentralized to PHC health centres in 2006.This study aimed to explore the experiences and perceptions of medical technicians regarding the decentralization and integration of ART services into PHC health centres in Beira. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. A sample of 15 medical technicians was distributed across two focus groups for the purpose of discussion. In addition there were four in-depth individual follow-up interviews with four medical technicians, drawn from the two focus groups. Three key informant interviews were also held to collect data. The data was analysed using content analysis.The study revealed that the decentralization process was viewed by many of the medical technicians as a very positive initiative for the country. However a number of operational and managerial issues need to be addressed to ensure the effectiveness of the comprehensive approach that was institutionalized and adopted by all PHC health centres. Key amongst the issues that needed to be addressed were the workloads of the health care personnel, and of medical technicians in particular. Their workloads have increased without any corresponding increase in the health workforce needed to manage the patient load. The medical technicians felt that this adversely affected the quality of care they were able to provide to patients, and specifically to those requiring ART medication. The recommendations that emerge from the study are intended to promote the development of policy that will improve of working conditions and assist medical technicians to provide a better service to their patients.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / Knowledge is recognised as a crucial resource in the knowledge-based economy; and it is believed to drive sustainable success in organizations. Knowledge management (KM) helps organizations identify, create, organize, distribute and transfer vital knowledge among employees within and across organizations. The underlying premise is that good KM leads to efficiency and effectiveness, which in turn, influences the total performance in an organization. Therefore, this study investigates the role of KM practices as they relate to projects in a South African government organisation. The problem was dwelt with by establishing research questions and objectives. In order to answer the research questions, a literature search was conducted in the area of KM to establish the KM enablers, barriers, and processes known to facilitate or hinder successful KM in organizations. This led to the identification of five enablers, including organizational culture, structure, technology, strategy and leadership, as well as the resources believed to be fundamental in the success of KM practices. Barriers to KM were identified as individual, organizational and technological. The study established four KM processes: acquisition, conversion, application and protection that were found to concur with good KM practices. A conceptual model was developed around these areas. The model assisted in developing qualitative and quantitative questions. In order to investigate the proposed research questions, the study identified a single directorate within the department of public works that is directly involved with the delivery of health infrastructure. The methodology used, which was mainly qualitative research, was conducted by using multiple-data evidences, namely: semi-structured interviews, document review; these were sourced from primary and secondary sources, as well as similar organizational best practices in KM. A total of nine interviews were conducted with individuals in managerial positions. A total of 7 of the 30 e-mailed questionnaires were completed and the data were used to supplement the qualitative data. This study used the Content-Analysis Technique approach to analyse the text data obtained from the interviews. It was established that successful KM implementation requires the promotion of an enabling environment. The results from the findings revealed that organizational culture, structure, leadership and strategy, ICT, as well as KM resources form, a foundation for the KM environment. KM processes, such as knowledge-retention, creation, capture, transfer and iv sharing, were found to be fundamental for KM practices to occur. Barriers to effective KM occurred largely due to the lack of awareness and time. To capitalize on knowledge, an organization must be prepared to balance its KM enablers and processes. The existing challenges impeding KM success should be identified and dealt with, in order to realize the KM benefits. The study, therefore, proposes a KM conceptual model to be integrated with the decision-making framework, as an implementation strategy for KM in the public sector. This would ensure an embedded knowledge-intensive environment in the Department, and hence the improvement of infrastructural delivery. This study is limited, since only a single case was used, which plainly suggests that there is a possibility that the results cannot be generalized beyond the researched organisation – without conducting any further study. It is recommended that for future research, this study be replicated through several other directorates, or even departments at various government levels (e.g. national, provincial). Also, quantitative analysis, together with qualitative analysis, should be used to create a triangulation between the two approaches.

Objective: Public projects are used to deliver policy objectives. From a financial perspective, the Major Projects Authority (MPA) estimated a whole life investment of £488 billion for 199 major projects in 2014, only a small subset of the total number of public projects. Given the financial exposure, the impact of endemic public project failures could put the economic health of the nation at risk. This thesis studies the challenges facing public projects. It applies an organisational capabilities lens to investigate projectification, when organisations shift away from functional-based organising (FBO) toward project-based organising (PBO). Research Design: This study adopts an interpretivist research paradigm, with a constructionist epistemology and an idealist ontology, and employs an abductive research strategy. Structurally, it follows the Cranfield Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) methodology, with a linking document that summarises three complementary research projects: a systematic literature review (SLR) followed by two empirical studies that investigate the Department of Health (DoH) during the early phases of the Next Stage Review Implementation Programme (NSRIP). The findings are derived from over 250 academic literature sources, 100 government publications and 41 semi-structured interviews.

The implementation of public policies continues to be a serious challenge for the South African public service. Giving the overarching demands for quality public service delivery from the citizens, there is a serious need for the public sector to accelerate implementation of public policies which aimed at promoting the development of society. The primary objective of the research for this study is to critically analyse the policy implementation issues in the provincial government, the special reference is on the social assistance grant policies in the North West provincial government. Subservient to the primary objectives of the research is to highlight and emphasise the pivotal roles of the theory and practices of policy formulation, policy analysis and policy implementation to promote understanding on the factors which contribute towards the effective and efficient formulation and implementation of policies that are aimed at improving the lives of the people in general and those with special needs in particular. The complexities of policy development can be identified as one of the reasons for the delay and complete failure of policy implementation. Failure of policy can also largely be attributed to issues of poor implementation of policies. In addition, it has proven that sometimes policies are set out to achieve too ambitious targets which ultimately fall short of their desired outcome. Absence of policy analysis skills and practice in the provincial governments are also major impediments to the implementation of policies. The poor policy implementation in the North West provincial government is influenced by lack of reliable data and adequate information upon which to make decisions which is a consequence of an inadequate management information system. Moreover, poor policy implementation in the provincial government is as a result of and ascribed to a lack of financial resources, inadequate trained staff, poorly framed policies, target group opposition and underdeveloped bureaucracies which are unable to formulate and plan systematically. The other recurring criticism of poor policy implementation in the North West province is that policy implementation is the orientation towards centralisation. This means that most of the policies and plans are developed in the national government with little consultation with the final implementers. Policies often fail to capture the subtleties of initiatives at grassroots level. The distance of policy makers from practice not only causes problems for the managers of the policy but also creates a lack of harmony among the different elements of the same policy and among machinery of governments which are used to alleviate poverty such as Social Assistance Agency. The imposed national policies and directives to the provincial government without regards to their specific circumstances and without assessing the human and financial resource capacity of the provincial government led to waist of money and a complete failure of the implementation of policy in the province. So to ensure that policy is successfully implemented, there is a need for a guide to the implementation in the form of a public policy implementation variables and policy implementation model in the provincial governments in general and the North West province in particular. Proper policy implementation which include sufficient resources like finance and human resource and effective policy translation, management of policy implementation processes which include accountability and control and human capital development will all ensure a great deal of improvement and success in the policy implementation. Copyright / Dissertation (MAdmin)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

The subject of my final thesis is to emphasize the importance of communication and the usage of communicative tools in towns (by municipal authorities). The theoretical part is focused on the principles of communication and municipal marketing in relation to the public sector. The practical part is devoted to the evaluation of communicative strategies of the town Třebíč aimed at chosen age groups. The reason why I have chosen Třebíč for this analysis of communicative activities is its wide variety of communicative tools which the local municipal authorities use. In the conclusion there are suggestions for the future usage of communicative tools by the town (Třebíč municipal authorities).

Diploma Thesis deals with the comparison of public finances of the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany from 2000 to 2014. It focuses on the period of financial and economic crisis after 2008. This thesis aims to identify the impact of the financial and economic crisis on the sustainability of public finances of both countries. It also identify the reasons for the different development of public finances in both countries. The practical part is divided into three chapters. The first chapter deals with the period of 2000-2010. The second chapter focuses on consolidation of public finances in the years 2010-2014. The last chapter deals with the current development and sustainability of public finances of both countries.

PPP is a generally accepted way of ensuring public services or public infrastructure on the basis of long-term contractual relationship, where public and private sectors share mutual benefits and risks resulting from the effort to secure the public infrastructure or public services . According to the current financial crisis, I think that the issue of PPP projects will be more important not only in the area of the Czech republic, but also in the whole world. The public sector is for the private partner reliable contractual partner. In a situation where is a lack of orders, we can expect that implementation of PPP projects will increase. Any PPP project was successfully completed in the Czech republic, the reason can be insufficient information, political and legislative support.

The paper deals with specifics which are typical of marketing in the public sector and which are different from marketing in the private sector. On the example of the governmental agency, CzechInvest, it aims to generalize how marketing in the public sector works. It poses question whether marketing in the public sector can apply the same principles as marketing in the private sector. The paper deals with the fact whether public sector uses the same marketing tools as private sector. It observes how marketing in the public administration is efficient and what factors have influence on the efficiency of the marketing in the public administration agencies. Finally, the paper comes with recommendations that should lead to bigger efficiency of marketing done by state institutions.