Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Master of Business Administration, Business Studies Unit, Durban University of Technology, 2008. / South Africa is fast becoming the powerhouse of the African continent, due to its
great technological advances in manufacturing, its rich diverse culture, sound
business developments and stable economic policies that have seen the country
shed the chains of apartheid that had plagued it for more than half a century.
The need has become even greater in current economic times, for businesses to
find new and innovative ways to improve production and their bottom line. Major
corporations are investing heavily in upgrading the skills of their workforce in order
to have a more productive workforce.
Government legislation has now made it necessary, that all companies
acknowledge the previously disadvantaged race groups and make sure that their
workforce is fully represented as per the demographics of the country. The term
affirmative action is being used more regularly in South African businesses and
employees who do not comply with current legislation that seek to redress past
disparities, are slapped with hefty fines.
This study investigated the preferred as well as the existing culture and employee
commitment levels at a South African company. The research reviewed the
various types of culture, how culture is created and ways in which culture can be
sustained or changed. Ways to cultivate employee commitment and retain skilled
employees are also closely explored in this research study.
The key results of the research findings revealed that there is a strong
achievement culture prevalent at the company, with a good mix of the other culture
types like, role culture, power culture and support culture. The employees at
Riverview Paper Mill also strongly prefer an achievement and support type,
culture. Employee commitment is very low and employees stay with the company
out of necessity.
Recommendations to improving the culture and commitment levels are also
presented in this study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:dut/oai:ir.dut.ac.za:10321/475 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Naicker, Nadaraj |
| Contributors | Govender, Jeevarathnam Parthasarathy |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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