Browsing by Author "Hildbrand, Sandra."

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Exploring changes in the membership of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
(2014) Ramakhetheng, Nthabiseng Lineo.; Hildbrand, Sandra.; Bozas, Alexander Robert.
Post 1994, chambers of commerce have gone through transformation as they adapted to new laws that were implemented with the new democratic government. Many policies were adjusted, impacting business but as a result specifically affecting the chambers. As an example the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), lost a high number of its members since the changes in policies. In 1999 the DCCI had 7000 paying members, but in 2014, it has about 2800 to 2900 members and this decrease in membership threatens the sustainability of the DCCI. Furthermore, while the DCCI manages to attract Small and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs), it struggles to attract larger companies and new members or to retain current members. This study was set out to explore the dynamics behind the changes in membership numbers and patterns and the negative impact to the development of the DCCI. Furthermore, it explored opportunities to increase membership numbers by attracting large companies as well as SMMEs. It also re-evaluated some of the services and programmes that the DCCI offers. A qualitative research design was chosen to explore peoples' experiences through the process of change. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff and members of the DCCI. In addition observation and secondary data was used. The data was analysed by means of thematic analysis. The findings of this study reveal clearly the main challenge for the DCCI is to retain members. This is because of the lack of services and DCCIs battle to adapt to the changes that came with a ‘new’ South Africa. This study further makes some suggestions to the DCCI leadership, managers, staff and members regarding the handling of the challenges that came with the changes. It also informs the chamber on how they can improve their services to increase their relevance for current members and on how to better meet the needs of their members.
Researching job satisfaction of employees in Durban.
(2014) Buthelezi, Mirriam.; Hildbrand, Sandra.; Bozas, Alexander Robert.
Business invests time and money to recruit, select and retain people who are a valuable business resource. They also strive to create good working conditions. Where employees are dissatisfied they resign, thus the organisation loses talent. In the light of the need to attract and retain skilled employees, organisations need to provide a good working environment. The perceived problem is that there are many employees who are not satisfied with their working conditions and environment and as such this research explores ways to retain employees by improving job satisfaction levels. By identifying reasons why people are not satisfied at work, this study will be of value to employers as it will help them retain scarce skills. This study investigated the impact of four dimensions which are assumed to influence job satisfaction; these are the physical environment, remuneration, team morale and career development opportunities. The target population consisted of one hundred employees, in various positions, based in the city of Durban. The questionnaires were distributed via email and some were hand delivered. The quantitative method was used to gather and analyse the data. The findings of this study conceded that physical environment and career development opportunities affect employee job satisfaction. Individuals accept employment from different institutions with an intention to grow both intellectually and to satisfy their esteem needs. It is true that money is needed to satisfy basic needs and ensure comfort; however people become cautious of the effect of the environment they are expected to endure on a daily basis on the quest to get money. The recommendations will be that management and employers must ensure comfort of the physical environment in terms of noise and the availability of equipment and amenities. Moreover management should ensure that on the job training, coaching and mentoring is encouraged so that employees stay abreast with technological adjustments brought about by globalisation.
The role of leadership in academic professional development.
(2015) Singh, Raisha.; Hildbrand, Sandra.; Proches, Cecile Naomi Gerwel.
Leadership is one of the most comprehensively researched topics of the 21ˢᵗ century; as it plays a vital role in student learning and whole school improvement, effective leadership is critical to student achievement. Academic staff morale at Mnambithi TVET College is low as the disjoint between the leadership and academic staff is evident. The throughput rate is very low and absenteeism among the learners registered at the College is very high. This research was based on the premise that in order for the College to perform better, a greater investment with regard to academic professional development has to be made in the lecturing staff to ensure success. Only with a motivated and committed workforce will the College be in a position to deliver improved pass rates and better articulation of students. The aim of the research was to determine the role of leadership in academic professional development. The leadership at the College is directly responsible for training and development, therefore it was necessary to gain an insight into their role to ensure that effective training is taking place. The objectives of the research were to determine whether academic professional development is taking place and if this development is adding value to the organisation; to determine the role and involvement of leadership towards academic professional development; to establish if there are any opportunities or any issues hindering academic professional development at the College; and to identify strategies that could be introduced to improve academic professional development. A qualitative research approach was taken as this helps to understand exactly how people feel or think about a particular topic or question. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the 15 management staff at Mnambithi TVET College and data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the research revealed that academic professional development is imperative to student success, however due to ineffective leadership, training and development has been neglected at the College. The recommendations made are for leadership to put in place various systems such as the revival of the training committee, to employ additional staff in the human resource division, to increase funding for training and development, and to establish partnerships to improve academic professional development at the College.
Systemic approaches to improvement in sugarcane production and supply : Umfolozi and Felixton Mill areas.
(2013) Hildbrand, Sandra.; Bodhanya, Shamim Ahmed.; Bezuidenhout, Carel Nicolaas.
Within the South African sugar industry, several possibilities for performance improvement exist. Present inefficiencies arise largely from the complexity of integrated sugarcane production and supply systems. Research has mainly concentrated on technical, hard aspects, such as mill and transport efficiency and sugarcane quality in an attempt to optimise these systems by optimising their parts. Soft issues, like communication, trust, and values have been neglected. This study considers sugarcane production and supply systems more holistically and places a particular focus on soft and leadership issues. Two systems methodologies, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and the Viable System Model (VSM) were applied to investigate the complexity of two large sugarcane production and supply systems in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in the Felixton and Umfolozi milling areas. These methodologies were combined with a qualitative approach which facilitated a thorough exploration of crucial soft and leadership issues. The outcome of the empirical work showed that a core issue challenging both milling areas and the entire sugar industry is the presence of fragmentation. Factors that contribute to fragmentation and suggestions for its handling are presented. SSM and VSM fostered an in-depth understanding of the studied system, yet their ability to suggest improvements was not confirmed. Since it is argued that this was largely impeded by the conditions of the study, the thesis overall supports the suitability of both methodologies in the sugar industry context and encourages their further use. The thesis emphasises the necessity to adopt a holistic approach and pay attention to soft issues when dealing with sugarcane production and supply systems. By implication, systemic approaches in general seem significant in this context. Neither SSM nor VSM were previously utilised to investigate a sugarcane production and supply system, hence this thesis makes a meaningful contribution to the existing body of SSM and VSM knowledge. It highlights the strengths and shortfalls of these systems methodologies in the applied context and presents derived methodological lessons. These lessons broaden the knowledge of employing SSM and VSM and support their application in practice.