Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The lack of skills and capacity has been cited as one of the key reasons for organisations failing to recruit staff, with 81% of companies in South Africa experiencing recruitment challenges. More specifically, the problem of low skills and capacity has had an impact on the ability of the state to meet its goals and objectives in a variety of public service areas. In fact, in 2006, a question time session in the National Assembly revealed the enormity of the problem. The President, while being questioned on the crisis arising from a lack of suitably qualified people in the Public Service, referred to a skills audit conducted in 2004. The audit, conducted across 284 municipalities, revealed the number one challenge in the context of service delivery as that of a lack of skills. In this context, the City of Cape Town has adopted an ambitious Human Resource Strategy. One of the Human Resource initiatives is the Skills Development Strategy .This broad strategy provides for the implementation of various interventions that facilitates the development, capacity and retention of local government officials in the City. This notwithstanding, it would seem that the City’s remedial action in terms of skills development and retention is not meeting the prescribed intentions of its HR strategy.The study was guided by the following assumptions:The skills development strategy of the City is aimed at appropriate training and development of local government officials that will facilitate career planning and retention of staff.The City’s broader HR strategies will create an enabling environment in achieving the strategic objectives of the various interventions aimed at skills development and retention.The skills development strategy will enhance employee motivation and loyalty towards the City and hence reduce employment turnover.Successful implementation of the City’s skills development strategy is dependent on effective and innovative human resources policies and interventions aimed at developing the talent pool of the City.The primary objective of the study was to critically examine the strategic aims of skills development strategy as adopted by the City of Cape Town in 2007.In this regard, secondary objectives include:critically examining the legislative and regulatory framework for skills training and development in South Africa, critically examining the policy and regulatory framework that informs the management and development of human resources in the City Of Cape Town,contextualising the need for more rigorous training and development interventions within the City of Cape Town,identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the various interventions put in place to facilitate the implementation of the skills development strategy of the City, and finally proposing recommendations to overcome the implementation challenges. The research relied on theoretical research methodology to collect data for the study. Primary and secondary sources of data were used. Secondary sources included books, journals, and government policies and documents. Primary sources included interviews and personal observations.

Magister Curationis - MCur / The clinical Skills Laboratory Method (SLM) is currently utilised at some universities in South Africa. This is an innovative clinical teaching and learning strategy that allows learner nurses to set their own goals and take responsibility for their learning. In 2007, the method had been introduced to the new first-year learners and subsequently the second, third and fourth year student levels followed. The skills laboratory method consists of five phases: orientation, visualisation, guided practice, independent learning, and assessment. It allows learners the opportunity to observe, practise, and develop their clinical skills in a safe and risk-free environment. In addition, it might assist learners with developing their critical thinking, critical reasoning, and decision-making abilities. As a clinical facilitator at a university, the researcher observed that certain problems occurred in relation to the implementation of the phases. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe learners’ perceptions of the manner in which the facilitators implemented the SLM and to describe guidelines for facilitators to improve the comprehensive implementation of the SLM of an undergraduate nursing programme. A quantitative, explorative, and descriptive research design was used to investigate how learner nurses perceive the skills laboratory method and to what extent the phases of the method were implemented. The accessible population (N = 980) consisted of learner nurses who were enrolled for a Bachelor of Nursing degree at a university in the Western Cape Province. In this study systematic stratified random sampling were used because class lists of all registered learner nurses from first to fourth year were available. The researcher identified every fourth learner (k = 4) of the four years respectively (n = 276). The researcher collected the data personally by means of a survey questionnaire with closed-ended questions that required responses to be indicated according to a 5-point Likert scale. It took approximately 15 - 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and a factor analysis were performed to reduce the data with the purpose of making it more interpretable. Data was analysed with the assistance of a statistician who used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 21 (SPSS). For interpretation purposes, the researcher presented the statistical information in tables and figures. Twelve factors emerged from the factor analysis: (i) information received during orientation, (ii) introduction during orientation, (iii) orientation to resources in the skills laboratory, (iv) facilitator interaction during visualisation, (v) progression of demonstrations, (vi) authenticity of simulation, (vii) progression of guided practices, (viii) facilitator feedback during guided practice, (ix) encouragement during independent practice, (x) support during independent practice, (xi) planning of assessments, and (xii) facilitator’s role during assessments.The findings indicated that although facilitators did implement the phases of the SLM, some facilitators omitted or did not fully adhere to all the steps in each of the five phases. Factors such as the information and organisation during the orientation phase, knowledge and behaviour of facilitators throughout the phases, teaching strategies used by facilitators during demonstrations, and feedback to learners during assessments required attention. Twelve guidelines were described from those findings with the aim of improving the comprehensive implementation of the SLM and it was recommended that facilitators implement those factors to ensure positive learning experiences for learner nurses. The researcher ensured validity and reliability during the study and adhered to ethical considerations.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Digital inclusion, through the development of appropriate e-skills, is widely recognised as an essential means of capitalising on the opportunities presented by the information age for social and economic advancement. However, South Africa has not yet clarified its policy of digital inclusion. It has only just begun to tackle the challenge of developing an e-skilled society. As yet there is not an enabling e-skills framework and national implementation strategies are still at an early stage. The conceptual framework for the delivery of e-skills for digital inclusion specifically in the Western Cape of South Africa, which was developed as part of this study, could therefore make a substantial contribution to local research. Certain areas surveyed in this study have been overlooked, underestimated or have yet to be explored by local researchers, while existing research on related areas is generally fragmented and studied in isolation, despite the high interrelationship between the various areas. The conceptual framework that has been compiled offers a coherent holistic perspective, and depicts the logical flow from digital exclusion to inclusion in the Western Cape context. It identifies: (i) the groups most in need of focused inclusion efforts; (ii) significant barriers to inclusion; (iii) specific e-skill clusters for digital inclusion; (iv) guidelines for delivering these e-skills; and (v) the objectives of digital inclusion that the Western Cape should strive to attain. Each of these research areas has been investigated in the context of an on-going provincial e-skills for digital inclusion initiative, focused on training (largely marginalised) community e-centre employees. The qualitative research used semi-structured interviews with ten recently trained individuals, as well as three programme facilitators. Overall, digital inclusion in the Western Cape is conceived as a gradual process, initially concerned with achieving relatively basic objectives such as enabling citizens to access information and increasing the use of ICT in the province. It is envisioned that these short-term outcomes will eventually translate into longer-term advantages for individuals as well as the larger society. Having the appropriate knowledge and attitudes is as important for digital inclusion as having skills. Therefore the term ‘digital competence’ is preferable to ‘e-skills’. The competence areas include combinations of technical and cognitive abilities, the latter being more relevant to the broader inclusion impacts, yet more challenging to instil. These findings, which have been combined with strongly learner-centred guidelines, are presented in the conceptual ‘Digital Competence for Digital Inclusion’ framework. It is hoped that curriculum developers will give serious consideration to this framework and the recommendations contained in this study. It could form a useful basis for the development of digital inclusion throughout the country and e-skills related academic research.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Background: Mental illness has become more common than many other diseases such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes. Aggression or violence by patients towards psychiatric nurses is a global issue. These nurses, therefore, face the huge challenge of providing nursing care to aggressive psychiatric patients. Without the necessary knowledge and skills, the nurses are vulnerable to all kinds of injuries, given the time spent managing aggressive patients. Purpose and objectives: The purpose of the study was to determine the level of knowledge and skills that professional nurses possess to manage the aggression of psychiatric patients. The objective of the study was to ascertain whether the knowledge and skills of professional nurses were sufficient to manage aggressive psychiatric patients. Method: A quantitative approach and descriptive design was used to conduct this study at a Psychiatric Hospital in the Western Cape, South Africa. The target population consisted of 149 professional nurses employed at the Psychiatric Hospital. The sample for the study was all-inclusive i.e. all professional nurses employed at the hospital. Only 70 participants were available for the study. Structured questionnaires were distributed to the participants for data collection and the response rate was 77% (n=54). Data analysis was done with the aid of a statistician using a Statistical Package for Social Science, version 22, and nominal as well as ordinal data was analysed using descriptive analysis. The process and purpose of the study was explained to the participants, who gave their consent, prior to the distributing of the questionnaires. The researcher obtained permission from the necessary authorities before commencing with the study. Findings: The study found that nurses were more likely to be exposed to verbal aggression as opposed to sexual aggression. It also revealed that nurses with less years of experience had more knowledge than their counterparts who had more years of experience in same position. Furthermore, the study revealed that those who had training in aggression management reported that the training did not meet their needs. Overall, the findings revealed that nurses had a fair knowledge of managing aggressive psychiatric patients. The overall findings also revealed that professional nurses had the required skills to manage aggressive patients. Recommendations: There is a need for on-going in-service training and refresher courses in the management of aggression. There should also be a needs analysis before commencing with these training courses which should be made compulsory for all staff to attend. Further studies should be conducted on the different categories of nurses, and other disciplines within nursing, to ascertain their knowledge of the management of aggression. Qualitative studies should also be conducted on nurses‟ experience of aggression in different settings.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Pursuing a career as a professional athlete has become a viable option for talented athletes to pursue. However, in their pursuit of athletic excellence many athletes neglect their academic, work and post sport career planning. To help athletes with participation, educational, development and lifestyle issues many countries have developed athlete assistance programs. To achieve the objective of a Winning Nation and help talented South African athletes develop and perform at a higher level the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) plans to establish a national academy system. The role of the academy system is to assist in addressing the demographics of the national teams by accelerating the development of talented athletes particularly those from the disadvantaged groups. To ensure that a holistic approach is taken towards athlete development one of the services that will be provided is life skills training. To develop a successful life skills program, it is essential to identify the important life skills to include. Aim The aim of the study was to explore and identify the life skills necessary for inclusion in Life Skills programs in South African elite sport focusing on the development of adolescent athletes to enable them to grow up competent, healthy and reach their full potential. Design A pure qualitative research design was employed using thematic analysis. Data was analysed through the lens of Positive Youth Development (PYD) theory. Moreover, a semi-structured interview guide, consisting of open ended questions, was developed utilizing the 5 C’s of PYD as themes to facilitate the interview process. Nine current adolescent elite South African athletes, on the MacSteel Maestro’s program, participated in the study. A purposive sampling procedure informed the sampling process and a thematic coding framework was developed to analyse the interview data. Results Findings of the research provided a contribution to the literature in two ways. First, it provided a South African perspective of the life skills needed by elite adolescent athletes. Secondly, it identified the life skills elite adolescent South African athletes deemed important for their holistic development to include in life skills programs in South African elite sport. Time management and self - esteem / self – confidence skills were identified as the crucial life skills to be developed. Conclusion In general it can be concluded that the participants have benefitted from being on the MMP, and that the participants exhibited characteristics of competence, confidence, character, connection and caring / compassion both in and out of sport. / CATHSSETA

The thesis compounds three views on the Key Account Management (KAM). Firstly, KAM is defined from a theoretical perspective. Secondly, a practical example of KAM is described within the international organization AIESEC; including feedback from a client. Finally, there are suggestions in order to improve KAM in terms of soft skills of Account Managers.

Many of today's children find themselves with an unprecedented amount of freedom to choose what sort of life to pursue. A corollary of this freedom however is the burden of sorting through the many options which life offers. Without some guidance in wading through this values-minefield, some children simply become stuck, unable to choose or to choose well. What is a good life? What sorts of goods in life ought we to pursue? These questions motivate the present project but they are not ones which I attempt to answer. Instead, I examine the kinds of tools that could help students to answer such questions in a thoughtful, intelligent and caring way. In order to live a good life, we need to choose well regarding what is valuable. In this thesis I argue that such a process, choosing well about what is valuable, is the result of wisdom. Wisdom is that set of characteristics which allows us to live well. This thesis is the development and justification of this conception of wisdom. It explores how wisdom is related to three key concepts: knowledge, value and morality. I do not argue that this is the only way to think about wisdom. However, it is a way of thinking about wisdom which could usefully and justifiably find a place in the educational system of a liberal democratic state. This thesis is an attempt to understand how educators can teach for the most important goal in life: how to live well. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Project SCORE: Life Skills for Future Success, is a structured, 20-lesson curriculum, designed to help students develop academic and life skills, as well as self-responsibility, commitment, optimism, respect, and excellence. The curriculum was presented during 36, 90-minute class periods over the fall semester of the students' freshmen year. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Project SCORE at improving grades, learning strategies, self esteem and coping skills with freshmen students at an inner-city high school. In order to evaluate the program, students completed paper-pencil surveys at the beginning and end of the semester in which they were enrolled in the Project SCORE class. In addition, teachers completed evaluations on their perceptions of each student's peer relationships, classroom behavior, mood, and activity level. All teachers and students involved in the course were asked to complete an evaluation to determine their level of satisfaction with the course and areas in need of improvement. Lastly, information pertaining to grades, discipline and standardized test scores were used to determine the impact of SCORE. Participants were 333 9th grade students at a large 4A high school in Texas. Findings suggest that SCORE had a positive effect on coping resources, study skills and grades during the semester students were enrolled in the course. Specifically, students reported significantly higher levels of school self concept and improved coping resources at the end of the semester long course. Lastly, students and teachers believed SCORE to be helpful in easing the transition into high school and at teaching the various life and study skills.

Purpose: The primary aim of this research study was to establish whether a relationship exists between the visual-motor integration subtest when measured with the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration, 4th edition, and the copying and eye-hand coordination subtests, when measured with the Developmental Test of Visual Perception, 2nd edition. The secondary aim of this research study was to establish whether handedness and gender have an effect on the relationship between these three perceptual-motor skills. Method: This retrospective cross-sectional study used retrospective data collected over a four-year-period, between 2009 and 2012, at a private occupational therapy practice in Tshwane East. The total sample size consisted of 106 participants that were referred for occupational therapy evaluations during the time period. The sample was divided into subgroups for grade, handedness and gender. Multivariable regression analysis was used to establish whether a relationship exists between visual-motor integration, copying and eye-hand coordination. Random-effects generalised least squares regression analysis was used to establish the effect of handedness and gender on the relationship between visual-motor integration, eye-hand coordination and copying. Results: Results indicated reasonable agreement between the subtests of visual-motor integration and copying. Poor agreement was established between the subtests of visual-motor integration and eye-hand coordination, and the subtests of copying and eye-hand coordination. Statistically significant relationships were established between visual-motor integration, eye-hand coordination and copying for the total sample and subgroups of Grade R and Grade 1. Shared variance of 52.1% was established between the visual-motor integration and the copying subtest. The relationship between visual-motor integration and eye-hand coordination weakened for Grade 1 participants. This was also observed in the relationship between copying and eye-hand coordination. No statistically significant results were obtained for handedness and gender with regard to the relationships between visual-motor integration, eye-hand coordination and copying. Conclusions: The results of the study indicated the importance of using all three subtests during occupational therapy evaluations. In view of the statistically significant relationships that were found to exist, the tests proved mutually supportive during occupational therapy evaluations. The negative relationship between visual-motor integration and eye-hand coordination for Grade 1 participants may be related to handwriting competency. Handedness and gender differences could not be related to the three perceptual-motor subtests. Limitations: Firstly, the study population and study setting posed limitations toward generalisability. Secondly, the retrospective study design proved some limitations pertaining to the measurement instruments, data collection tools and re-scoring of the measurement instruments. Recommendations: For more meaningful interpretations the study population should include children without developmental or school-related difficulties. This would aid toward better generalisability. A retrospective study design should be selected with caution. KEYWORDS: Perceptual-motor skills, visual-motor integration, eye-hand coordination, copying, handwriting, handedness, gender, Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration 4th edition, Developmental Test of Visual Perception 2nd edition. / Dissertation (MOccTher)-- University of Pretoria, 2016. / Occupational Therapy / Unrestricted

The dawn of Technology Age was marked by the mainframe. The tipping for lock stock societal change has been The Internet.This Technological progress has changed everything in business since. Information Technology has fed the winds of the Schumpeterian Gale, increasing the rate of creative destruction and upending business models are rate never seen before.Now more than ever the importance of managing an organisations technological capability is critical for business survival. Organisations require their Chief Technology Officers to go further, creating competitive advantage through astute technological management.The purpose of this study was to ascertain the strategic responsibilities of a Chief Technology Officer and what skills are required to meet these responsibilities.The findings of this research are underscored by the works of respected scholars and explored through the development of a Skills and Responsibilities Matrix developed through the research. This research highlights the importance of the CTO role as an executive of the business and the importance of having the correct individual. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted