M.A. (Communication) / The daily press in several Western countries is subjected to certain market, psychological and economic inspired changes that threaten its very existence. This assumption is manifested in the fact that the total circulation of daily newspapers in most Western countries does not seem to be keeping pace with the ever increasing growth in population. In fact, in the last ten to fifteen years, there has been a decline in the circulation figures of some daily newspapers in the West resulting in many closures. For example, in South Africa, more daily newspapers were sold in 1975 than in 1985. This study attempts to analyse the crisis facing the present day daily press, with a more pertinent emphasis on the daily press in South Africa. Several factors that gave rise to the said crisis are identified and expounded on. This was done from the supposition that there are certain factors threatening the function, content and structure of the daily press. In the first instance,"the study is based on the uses and gratification theory, and secondly, on the agenda-setting theory. For the purposes of this dissertation these two theories are combined and used as such. The factors identified as having a profound influence on the daily press are inter alia: alienation and resistance, information overload, the emergence of a vibrant local press and free sheets, the electronic media, and the pertinent financial aspects...

M.Com. (South African and International Taxation) / Value-added tax (hereafter referred to as VAT) is an „indirect tax‟. Clegg, D (2006: 1) explains this to mean that: “the person who bears the tax is assessed not directly by the SARS but indirectly through the taxation of transactions into which he enters”. The name „value-added tax‟ is the difference between the output tax collected and input tax paid. This is, essentially, tax on the value added before the product or service is received for final consumption. The SABC became a registered VAT vendor when VAT was introduced in 1991. There has been a contentious battle for many years between SARS and the SABC on whether or not a „renewal notice‟, issued to potential television licence holders by the SABC, as a reminder to licence holders to renew their television licence, serves as an invoice for the purpose of determining the tax liability payable by the SABC in terms of the Value-Added Tax Act No 89 of 1991, as amended (hereafter referred to as the VAT Act).

M.Comm. / The South African Police Services (SAPS) undertake to provide security and safety for the South African public. This study seeks to find out the causes of motivation and demotivation within the SAPS, in order to contribute towards improving services rendered to the public. The researcher worked in the SAPS and observed lower ranked police officers as being demotivated - leading to an interest in, and an exploration of, the causes of this demotivation. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of rewards as motivation for members of the SAPS in the Polokwane Police Station in the Limpopo province. This study was conducted in the SAPS with the population of police officers at lower ranks (constable to inspector) in order to survey what effectively motivates them. The variables surveyed were monetary-based rewards (promotion, pay progression and incentives), and non-monetary rewards that include internal systems and human resources practices. There were 115 respondents from a pool of 288 police officers. Human resources managers can use rewards to motivate employees to be more productive and rewards are generally viewed as an important motivational tool for any organisation. According to two noted experts in this field, Fred Luthans and Robert Kreitner, whether employees maintain high productivity depends on how they perceive the consequences of their efforts. If they believe high productivity will be rewarded, they will be more likely to work to achieve it. For this reason, organisations should place considerable emphasis on rewards that employees perceive as desirable (Sherman & Colander, 1992). The objective of the study is to determine how successfully the rewards on offer motivate police officers at lower ranks in the Limpopo Province to perform their functions effectively. Although this is mainly a quantitative study, two types of research methods were used, namely qualitative and quantitative. A qualitative pilot study was conducted in order to refine the main questionnaire that is quantitative. The research findings illustrate that the rewards are not having the intended impact as police officers are dissatisfied with the monetary-based rewards and ambivalent towards the internal systems and human resources practices. There were statistically significant differences between the various biographical characteristics in the sample. The measuring instrument yielded an overall Chronbach Alpha coefficient of 0. 79 thus yielding internal consistency in the measuring instrument. The study was limited to police officers of the Limpopo Province at lower ranks and the results should not be generalised. It would be interesting to do a broader study that included more senior ranking officers. Since police officers form the frontline of the criminal justice system, improving their work through motivation has crucial implications. A motivated police officer will perform his or her work with vigour and passion and the significance of motivating employees' growth cannot be over-emphasised.

The aim of this study is to analyse selected episodes of the locally produced television programme Generations, in order to identify specific ways in which the programme seeks to forge a South African identity, and in so doing, 'flag' our nationhood as South Africans. These elements of 'South Africanness' are broadly defined as connections to a South African way of life, context, values and experiences. Generations is a programme produced under South African broadcasting local content provisions. These provisions arise out of the need, inter alia, to reflect the identity and multi-cultural nature of South Africa in order to foster 'national identity' and 'national culture'. These elements of 'South Africanness' are extracted through a genre and ideological analysis of selected sample episodes, taking into consideration the theoretical frameworks of the politics of representation and identity. The production context of, and representations made, in Generations, are found to be situated largely within the context of the South African discourses of the ‘rainbow nation', 'African renaissance' and 'black economic empowerment'. The analysis concludes that through the various categories of representations of 'South Africanness' in the selected episodes of Generations, specific instances of identity, that of national culture and national identity are formed.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / In order to classify South African Sign Language as a signed gesture, five fundamental parameters need to be considered. These five parameters to be considered are: hand shape, hand orientation, hand motion, hand location and facial expressions. The research in this thesis will utilise Deep Learning techniques, specifically Convolutional Neural Networks, to recognise hand shapes in various hand orientations. The research will focus on two of the five fundamental parameters, i.e., recognising six South African Sign Language hand shapes for each of five different hand orientations. These hand shape and orientation combinations will be recognised by means of a video stream captured on a mobile device. The efficacy of Convolutional Neural Network for gesture recognition will be judged with respect to its classification accuracy and classification speed in both a desktop and embedded context. The research methodology employed to carry out the research was Design Science Research. Design Science Research refers to a set of analytical techniques and perspectives for performing research in the field of Information Systems and Computer Science. Design Science Research necessitates the design of an artefact and the analysis thereof in order to better understand its behaviour in the context of Information Systems or Computer Science. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

The financial meltdown that started in 2008 has had a severe influence on financial institutions worldwide. Financial sectors, and especially banks, were impacted severely due to bad debts that reached record highs. During this period, it became clear that banks will have to review their client-service strategies, as well as the way that income is generated from their clients. One way is to increase the income earned from existing customers by cross-selling more products to these clients. To increase the income earned from clients by improving the amount of products sold to clients, banks need to retain their client base. In most South African business banks, a customer relationship management (CRM) process is followed. CRM has become an important part of relationship banking; and it plays a significant role in customer acquisition and maintaining a profitable business relationship. Despite much research on cross-selling and satisfaction, no study seems to provide a clear indication on the role of CRM in providing customer satisfaction and cross-selling in the South African business-banking sector. This study will attempt to determine the role of CRM in satisfaction and cross-selling in business banking. For this purpose, the client base of a commercial bank in South Africa will be utilised. The study will focus on business clients in the small, medium and large sectors of the bank. The purpose of this research is to determine the role of multi-level CRM in satisfaction and cross-selling in the business-banking segment. The research objectives driving this research are: • To determine whether those segments serviced through different CRM processes experience different levels of satisfaction; • Investigating whether those segments with higher levels of satisfaction show more cross-selling; • Discovering whether those customers exposed to CRM over longer periods of time have higher levels of satisfaction; • Assessing whether those segments serviced through higher levels of CRM result in higher levels of cross-selling; • Determining whether customers exposed to CRM over longer periods of time demonstrate a higher cross-selling propensity; • To investigate whether customers with high levels of cross-selling have a greater likelihood to recommend their bank to others; • To determine whether a higher likelihood to recommend within segments shows higher levels of cross-selling; • Assessing whether segments differ in their likelihood to recommend their bank to others; and • Investigating whether customers with a longer bank relationship have a higher likelihood of recommending their bank to others. To execute the research, relevant secondary databases need to be sourced. The first database was from a research company, which conducts research for the bank in scope; while the second database would be from the bank in scope’s warehouse. After evaluating the databases for the relevance and quality of the data, the databases were combined into a final dataset – for the purpose of data mining – to address the research objectives. The population for this study consists of small, medium and large business clients of one of the banking groups in South Africa. The results indicated the existence of significant differences between these business segments in terms of their satisfaction experienced; and they confirmed an association between the length of a customer’s relationship with the bank and his/her level of satisfaction experienced. When considering cross-selling and the likelihood to recommend, the results also demonstrate that a positive relationship exists between customers as regards their cross-selling ratio and the likelihood to recommend their bank. The findings from the study should guide managers to distinguish between the satisfaction experienced and the cross-sales generated by the CRM structures used in specific segments in business banking. The study should contribute to the body of knowledge in CRM and cross-selling by adding to the literature knowledge base. / Thesis (DCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Marketing Management / unrestricted

Introduction: Epidemiological studies suggest that at least 1 in 29 South African women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Breast cancer is not a single disease. The heterogeneity of breast cancer results in four distinct molecular subtypes including aggressive human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (Her-2) positive, where Her-2 receptors are overexpressed. Trastuzumab (Herceptin®), is a recombinant, humanized, anti-Her-2 monoclonal antibody that specifically targets subdomain IV of the extracellular domain of the Her-2 receptor and has dramatically altered the prognosis of Her-2 positive breast cancer. Trastuzumab is, however, associated with problems such as primary and acquired resistance, which has prompted investigation into improving its efficacy. Aim: To investigate the ability of selected therapeutic agents to alter in-vitro cell viability, cell cycling, apoptosis and Her-2 expression in models of Her-2-positive and oestrogen receptor positive, Her-2 negative breast adenocarcinoma and bring about an alteration in the efficacy of trastuzumab. Methods: MCF-7 cells which retain the ability to process oestrogen, and SK-Br-3 cells which overexpress Her-2 gene products were used. Cells were exposed to trastuzumab, aspirin, calcipotriol, doxorubicin, epidermal growth factor (EGF-human), geldanamycin, heregulin-β1 and β-oestradiol as single agents and in combination with trastuzumab. Research methodologies included tetrazolium conversion assay for cell viability, AMC-substrate cleavage and annexin-V for apoptosis, propidium iodide staining for cell cycle analysis and anti-Her-2 affibody molecule for relative Her-2 receptor density. Results: Cell survival of 95.39% (±2.69) for MCF-7 cells and 74.17% (±1.60) for SK-Br-3 cells was observed following trastuzumab (100 μg/ml) exposure. Trastuzumab resulted in statistically significant G1 phase accumulation in MCF-7 cells at 72 hours and in SK-Br-3 cells from 24 hours. Furthermore, trastuzumab decreased relative Her-2 receptor density in SK-Br-3 cells by approximately 35% by 24 hours but had no effect in MCF-7 cells. The anti-proliferative effects of trastuzumab were abrogated by EGF, a Her-1 ligand and heregulin-β1, a Her-3 and Her-4 ligand. Most agents altered distribution throughout the phases of cell cycle to a certain degree, with the G1 phase accumulation observed for trastuzumab being potentiated in some combinations. Most of the agents, with the exception of doxorubicin and geldanamycin, did not promote apoptosis and appeared instead to be anti-proliferative. Geldanamycin had the greatest effect on Her-2 receptor density (approximately 80% by 24 hours) followed by EGF, heregulin and trastuzumab, with the biological molecules in combination with trastuzumab producing a further significant reduction. Conclusion: Endogenous Her-receptor ligands (EGF and heregulin) differentially altered the viability parameters for trastuzumab which could play a role in the emergence of clinical resistance to targeted therapy. Doxorubicin with concurrent trastuzumab significantly reduced cell viability compared to each single agent in both cell lines. Furthermore, the cytostatic and cytotoxic abilities of each of the other agents either mimicked trastuzumab alone or the selected agent alone when exposed concurrently. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Pharmacology / Unrestricted

A preliminary review of the literature on cultural or expatriate adjustment with regard to the spouses of diplomatic personnel, such as the military attaché, clearly indicated a gap in the existing knowledge scholars have of the adjustment experiences of spouses of expatriate managers. The aim of this study was exploring and describing one South African expatriate’s wife’s authentic experiences of expatriate adjustment to India. A modernist qualitative methodology with symbolic interactionism as theoretical framework and interpretivist constructivism as research paradigm was employed. The case study was used as qualitative research strategy and the life history was used as the qualitative research technique. Purposeful sampling was employed. Plummer’s (2001) critical humanism was included to reflect the flavour of the diversity of frameworks available to life history researchers. Data were obtained from solicited and unsolicited sources. This yielded a life history with rich descriptive data that were systematically analysed with the grounded theory technique proposed by Strauss and Corbin (1990, 1998). A conceptual framework was compiled and used to substantiate the finding by means of a literature review, the identification of the core category, and finally the development of a substantive theory called: a transitional theory of spousal expatriate adjustment. Guidelines proposed in the literature were followed to ensure the authenticity, trustworthiness and credibility of the study. The findings provided some understanding of how wives of military attaché’s experience the process of expatriate adjustment. Recommendations were made to improve current practice. The study also made a methodological contribution to the local study of Industrial and Organisational Psychology and in particular International Human Resources Management. Recommendations are made for future research. / Prof. Willem Schurink

M.Tech. (Operations Management) / This study entails and discusses the concepts of quality and performance management in the postal and related services. Quality and Performance Management fundamentally form part of critical strategic objectives and goals every organization set itself to successfully achieve; the practice of quality has been around for a very long time and has become a widespread phenomenon interpreted and implemented differently in the industry while performance management emerged in the 1970’s and grew to be appreciated with time bringing measures to quantify individual and organizational results. This study was aimed at determining the current and past scenarios in the South African Post Office (SAPO) with regards to the organization’s Quality and Performance Management efforts with the view of recommending improvements to be adapted and implemented for strategic business growth. The study was conducted at Capemail and Securemail which are two of other SAPO’s operational divisions that processes and conveys large volumes in clients’ mail and parcels. SAPO is in the process of organizational transformation where a number of projects are being implemented including Change Management, ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, Total Operations Management Solutions, Productivity Engineering and others where most of these projects failed to yield the intended value. The techniques deployed for the study involved conducting observations in both Mail Centres, conducting informal interviews and distributing questionnaires for data collection; data was further scrutinized and analyzed with Statkon’s consultancy and statistical techniques were exploited to analyze it into meaningful information. The actual statistical tools used for analysis involved descriptives, factor analysis, normalities, comparisons and correlations; these were suffice to produce reliable and accurate data for the results of the study. The objectives of the study was achieved in that management need to seriously pay attention on factors such as empowering employees, enforcing and emphasizing the culture of good quality practice, adapting advanced project implementation frameworks benchmarking with industry competitors, standardizing processes and activities, encouraging the culture of continuous improvement, provision of support to operational requirements financially and otherwise, upgrading technology, viewing performance management from a holistic perspective and linking it directly with day to day activities of the organization and objectives.

M.Comm.