Masters Degrees (Graduate School of Business and Leadership)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/7378

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A study into prospective changes in consumer behaviour and buying patterns of graduate millennials due to COVID-19 in South Africa.
(2021) Lakman, Ushir.; Pelser, Theunis Gert.
The purpose this study is to determine the prospective changes in consumer behaviour and buying patterns of graduate millennials post COVID 19 in South Africa. To this end, a quantitative research project has been undertaken. Primary data was collected via a survey. Several theories were discussed such as consumer behaviour models, the buy decision process and dynamic consumer journey to gain a better understanding of the research that was conducted. Additionally, technology adoption models such as the TRA, TPB, TAM, ETAM and in particular MOCA is discusses as the study is seeking to determine behavioural movement toward online purchasing because of the pandemic. Research was conducted on the pandemic as well as the economy of South Africa as these are important consideration when conducting a study on consumer behaviour. This study seeks to contribute to the existing knowledge on technology adoption and consumer behaviour, particularly to determine whether the switch to online purchases during the pandemic is a permanent development or just as a result of consumers being forced to due to the pandemic. These findings may prove valuable to retailers and developers. It could provide a new lens with which to inform their marketing decision as well as development plans for the future.
An investigation of sustainable leadership practices of port executive in the Port of Durban.
(2021) Zungu, Nontobeko Londiwe.; Kanyangale, MacDonald.
Ship and port activities in a port such as Durban in South Africa are key in ensuring sustainability and growth of the economy in acceptable ways that meet the needs of industries and all citizens. While the practices of sustainability by strategic leaders of a port are critical in ensuring sustainable operations in every part of port activity, little is known about what members of the port executive actually do when it comes to leading sustainability at the port of Durban in South Africa. The objective of this qualitative study is to explore the sustainable leadership practices of Port Executives at the Port of Durban in South Africa. This exploratory study was conducted using qualitative in-depth interviews with nine experienced members of the port executive to explore their day-to-day practices of sustainable leadership in the port environment with multiple stakeholders whose activities have various environmental impacts at societal level while others relate to organisational sustainability of the port of Durban. The participants in this study were selected using purposive sampling technique because they are involved in shaping the strategic direction of shipping and port activities which affect sustainability and operations in the long term. Data were gathered using semi structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis to get dominant themes depicting sustainable leadership practices, practices of reinforcing green management, challenges of becoming sustainable leaders and key competences of sustainable leadership of a hybrid port. Results reveal a variety of four sustainable leadership practices by port executives at the port of Durban. These include prioritisation of environmental sustainability, commitment to strategic partnerships, strategic thinking about the business and people, and community building and corporate social responsibility. The key gaps in the sustainable leadership practice of port executive include silo behaviour, poor communication and strategic failure to develop green human capital. Port executives enforced green management practices by driving and reinforcing waste management practices and green innovation. However, this was predominantly operational, weak, but also poorly strategized to create and develop a lasting sustainability culture at the port. More importantly, lack of sustainability literacy within the upper echelon and sustainability expertise among employees undermined the practice of sustainable leadership by Port Executive. The study has proposed a framework of sustainable leadership competences for a port and also areas of future research.
Effects of digital transformation on employee morale in the business banking department of a financial organization.
(2023) Dookie, Deepak.; Chummun, Bibi Zaheenah.
Abstract available in PDF.
Exploring the sustainable leadership of the top managers at Ermelo regional hospital.
(2021) Bodibe, Oupa Phillip.; Kanyangale, MacDonald.
Sustainability as a megatrend is influencing the leadership of different organizations in the world, including hospitals to maintain and improve the quality of their services. Despite calls in the literature for guidance on sustaining interventions regarding sustainability in hospitals, there is a dearth of research on leading and implementing sustainability in a hospital setting. The primary objective of this qualitative study was to examine the practices of Sustainable Leadership adopted by the Top Management Team at Ermelo Regional Hospital in Gert Sibande District in South Africa. Purposive sampling was utilized to identify and select 8 members of the top management team who participated in face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth, and audio-recorded interviews to collect data. Thematic analysis was used to identify recurring patterns which depict practices that enable or impede practices of Sustainable Leadership by members of the Top Management Team. The study’s limitation is that it only included a small sample which makes it not possible to generalize the findings. The key results of this exploratory study are that Ermelo Regional Hospital’s Top Management has got various practices of Sustainable Leadership that they use. These include staff development through training, encouraging leaders at all levels to be part of the organizational effort towards sustainability, flexible working and favourable labour relations which creates a sense of shared responsibility. However, succession planning was found to be influenced by nepotism and corruption while staff management is mostly crippled by the prevalence of autocratic leadership. The need for engaging the employees often through regular meetings to provide up-dates and share hospital performance were also emphasized as critical as they result in a work setting where effective communication becomes the norm and challenges are timeously addressed. The study concludes that while Ermelo Regional Hospital’s Top Management Team is trying in terms of skill development, the leadership style is less supportive of inclusive, sustainabilityrelated practices. Furthermore, the pillars of sustainability such as the environment and community are not given enough attention by the Ermelo Regional Hospital leaders, which adds challenges to practice effective Sustainable Leadership in a hospital setting. A few recommendations are provided as well as potential research areas.
Impact of coronavirus on the motivation and performance of the sale team within a petroleum company in Southern Africa.
(2022) Govender, Thirumoney.; Mutambara, Emmanuel.
The unanticipated spreading of the Coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) has had a devastating impact on the world, including South Africa. South Africa was susceptible to this impact as government enforced strict regulatory lockdowns, which required new ways of working in a workforce that was used to faceto-face business interaction. This study focused on retail sales employees within a petroleum company and the adaptation of their characteristics to drive work performance during the Coronavirus Pandemic. The main characteristic that this study focused on, was the motivational factors that influenced the employee’s lives for better or worse. The retail sales employees (Territory Managers) are responsible for the business development of service stations. Their roles include monitoring of fuel sales, convenience store sales, safety and regulatory compliance of the service station, environmental and disaster management of the site, routine corporate contractual monitoring of the equipment and infrastructure, and housekeeping of the site. Qualitative research was conducted via semi-structured interviews to 12 Territory Managers, from the perspective of the employees, to gain a better understanding of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The non-probability purposive sampling method was used. The research methods consisted of secondary research from existing academic and corporate literature, as well as primary research from the interviews that were conducted with the retail sales employees. The research found that the impact of the pandemic touched every person’s life in some way or the other. Whilst some people found ways to cope with the pandemic, others gave in to the stress which impacted on their physical and mental wellbeing. The research also pointed out the gaps in the company’s support system for employees and the company’s readiness to deal with the impact of the crisis. This study's main goal was to offer suggestions to the business, to help decisionmakers support employees’ productive ability, so that the employees remain inspired and performanceoriented during times of crisis.
Leadership challenges facing the Ladysmith Provincial Hospital.
(2022) Mzimela, Innocent Khethukuthula.; Mutambara, Emmanuel.
Leadership is critical in any organisation. In the healthcare fraternity, the main reason for the existence of health care facilities is to serve human life, meaning that the management of these public institutions have a bearing on the services that get delivered to the public. However, there remains some gaps, with regards to how leadership in public healthcare facilities affect the quality of care given to the public. This study thus investigated the leadership challenges facing Ladysmith Provincial hospital. The main objectives of the study included to identify the current leadership challenges facing the Ladysmith Provincial Hospital, to assess the impact of the challenges on healthcare service at Ladysmith Provincial Hospital’s performance, as well as to critically analyse the factors that affect the execution of effective leadership practices at Ladysmith Provincial Hospital. The qualitative approach was adopted, whereby ten purposively selected participants were drawn from the various departments of the organisation, including the management. The main findings of the study indicated that the participants were particularly concerned about the high turnover rate in the institution, and essentially, the fact that the vacant positions do not get filled on time- thereby leaving a void in the operational processes of the organisation. The participants bemoaned financial challenges, human resources issues, as well as ineffective leadership in their organisation, noting that their leadership lacked the qualities of a good leader, while others did not possess the required qualifications for the positions that they occupied. Overall, the challenges identified have huge implications on service delivery. In view of these findings, some recommendations were made: the need to improve the leadership’s competencies through refresher courses, workshops and some form of training- to enable them to demonstrate the personal qualities of good leadership. It was indicated that the institution needed to put in place a more strategic and effective succession planning approaches across the board- in order to avoid the unnecessary challenges being faced in the absence of qualified personal to take up certain leadership positions. The poor infrastructures call for an urgent need to replace the broken equipment- through baseline support, so that the healthcare workers can execute their duties effectively.
Strategic leadership and change management imperatives in a volatile era: a case study of Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital.
(2022) Zungu, Knowledge Lungisani.; Ngwenya, Tony Charles Simphiwe.
The South African public healthcare system plays a critical role in rendering care to the majority of the population. Public healthcare is one of the democratic government’s key priorities, reflected in the constitutional commitment to providing accessible and quality healthcare efficiently and sustainably to all citizens. To realise this commitment, leadership and management of public healthcare facilities play a significant role as they can influence the success or failure of delivering quality and efficient healthcare services. Primarily because it is the responsibility of leaders to render healthcare sector demands efficiently and effectively. Strategic leadership is one of the effective tools for efficient management. Its effect on managing complexities, shocks, and various forms of turbulence and its efficiency is well documented in the literature. As a country heavily burdened by socio-economic development challenges such as the increasing poverty and unemployment rate, the number of people relying on public healthcare continually increases. With increasing healthcare demands and the burden of disease, public hospitals and clinics as institutions operate in challenging, complex and dynamic environments. Additional to an already turbulent environment prone to change and instability, public healthcare institutions in South Africa operate under the globally experienced volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environment. Therefore, the assessment of leadership styles, practices, and their impact is of performance in of great importance. Given such a state, the literature points to the importance of strategic leadership being a vital requirement for healthcare management and leadership. The wide range of strategic leadership competencies enables leaders to adapt continuously to change and the fast speed of innovation. This is because strategic leaders are visionary; they have the capacity to innovatively and creatively navigate organisations through volatility to improve performance. This study aimed to investigate the role of strategic leadership and change management at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital. Through a qualitative inquiry, an interview schedule of sixteen questions was administered to fifteen participants in leadership positions within the hospital. Questions probed to unearth the strategic activities and successfully captured experiences and viewpoints on the impact of strategic leadership in managing change and the hospital's performance in this era of unpredictable constant change. The findings of this study pointed out that Mshiyeni hospital operates in a complex and demanding environment with constrained human and financial resources. The hospital tackles extensive responsibilities of regional and district hospital services in an overly populated location dominated by socio-economically challenged communities. Results further showed that keeping the hospital operational at a satisfactory level has been achieved through strategic leadership approaches designed and actioned by the leaders at the hospital level. As access and delivery of quality healthcare is a constitutional mandate in SA, the commitment to deliver efficient and effective healthcare service is cited as one of the main priority objectives of the department of health. However, the financial provisions for public healthcare facilities seem not to match the service demands in a manner that can enable public hospitals to deliver their service sufficiently. It is recommended that future research probe into this matter at an executive level within the health department. This recommendation will aid in getting an idea of how the health department idealises its public institutions to execute its services in the context of the existing constrained resources state.
The impact of remote working in Engen Petroleum Limited, South Africa, emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic.
(2022) Mohan, Sudhir.; Yalezo, Bhasela.
This study examines the impact of remote working during the COVID 19 pandemic on employee retention and work-life balance at Engen Petroleum Limited South Africa. South Africa had the most reported cases in Africa resulting in the South African government declaring one of the strictest lockdowns in the world on 23 March 2020. Developments in cloud technology and globalisation have given rise to new flexible work arrangements known as remote working which became prevalent in many organizations, allowing employees to perform work away from the traditional office environment. Due to a lack of stable internet connectivity in some areas in South Africa, remote working was a challenge. Only 53 per cent of South African’s use the internet and people with the least connectivity live in poorer rural areas. To prevent the spread of the virus, many organizations implemented remote working. The advent of remote working in South Africa seriously impacted the informal sector of the economy. The study adopted a quantitative approach. Data was collected via an online survey that was distributed to employees of Engen Petroleum Limited South Africa that were working remotely. A total of 67 respondents were received from various departments within the organization. The data was analysed using statistical software to test the impact of remote working on the constructs of employee retention, work-life balance, productivity and job satisfaction. The study found that remote working had an overall positive impact on employee retention, work-life balance and job satisfaction with productivity either increasing or remaining unchanged. Management needs to invest in a substitute for “water cooler conversations” and similar social interactions that are lacking in the remote working environment. The study recommends that the building of trust between managers and employees will assist in determining the effectiveness of remote working. The manager team need to explore innovative ways of improving communication that will ensure that remote workers are included in the activities of the organization. The organization needs to have an awareness of the setup that remote workers have at their homes to provide the required human resource support.

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Graduate School of Business and Leadership) by SDG "SDG3"