Masters Degrees (University of the Free State: Business School)

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11660/179

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (University of the Free State: Business School) by Advisor "Crous, M. J."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Centralised versus decentralised administrative resource allocation in the Faculty of the Humanities at the University of the Free State
    (University of the Free State, 2015-11) Coetsee, Marica; Crous, M. J.
    At present, universities find themselves in an environment of increasing competition for scarce resources in the public sector at large. Being in a competitive environment, universities might lean towards a centralised management control system (on the one extreme) to improve coordination, monitor quality and reduce costs, but still allowing academic decision-making to take place at departmental level (decentralised on the other extreme). Due to the increasing tension between these polarities, universities tend to opt for a more hybrid option by adapting the best of both practices in order to optimise the allocation of scarce resources. Furthermore, external audits and quality control mechanisms increase the accountability on the universities’ side, forcing them to implement transparent resource allocation procedures. The problem facing Faculties of the Humanities is the ability to identify the best form of an administrative framework in order to optimise resource allocation and improve service delivery in academic administration. The primary objective of this study is to propose an administrative framework for Faculties of the Humanities in order to improve service delivery in academic administration. Various qualitative research methods were used to gather data. These included the investigation of possible administrative structures available to the Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS by comparing it to the administrative structures of Humanities faculties at other universities. The recent restructuring of academic support structures in the office of the Dean in the Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS will also be analysed in an attempt to identify further optimisation of service delivery to students. Data collection took place through semi-structured interviews; informal interviews; focus-group observation and texts and electronic resources. Through process and activity analysis, the recent restructuring of academic administrative processes in the Dean’s Office in the Faculty of the Humanities was used as a basis for possible adjustments and improvements in order to identify the optimal administrative structure. Demographic change; rapid advance of digital technology; political atmosphere, and the professionalisation of university administration are all factors forcing the university and the Faculty, to adapt in order to provide their students with the best possible service. Within the Faculty, the challenge of adequate human resources is complicated further with the constant underlying tension of costs incurred for administrative staff versus academic staff. In conclusion, it is advised that the Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS adopt a hybrid administrative framework, capitalising on the strengths of both the centralised and the decentralised models. On a central level, clear guidelines through policies and procedures will provide a solid framework as reference for the Faculty to build its processes around. In turn, this will provide the Faculty with the necessary room for flexibility on a decentralised platform to make its own decisions and to respond more promptly to any external changes that might have an impact on the Faculty. Through a hybrid administrative system, collaboration between the Faculty and the central administration will be emphasised and the isolation of any of the two units from the institutional goals will be prevented.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Employee engagement in strategy execution at the South African Army Infantry Formation
    (University of the Free State, 2015-11-16) Pholoba, Keatlegile Masilo; Crous, M. J.
    The primary purpose of this study is to determine how employees in the South African Army Infantry Formation (SAAIF) can be engaged in the execution of organisational strategies. The problem is that employees in the SAAIF are not adequately engaged in strategy execution processes, and as a result have trouble in understanding strategic plans, objectives, accepting strategic roles and focusing their actions on being committed to the execution of organisational strategies. This study was conducted at SAAIF headquarters in Pretoria. The empirical part of the study was conducted in July 2015. Data for this research were collected from a sample of 140 respondents. Additionally, the subjects of this study were randomly selected from a population of SAAIF employees at the headquarters in Pretoria. A questionnaire was distributed to respondents in the presence of the researcher and responses were made on a 5-point Likert scales ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The results suggest that employee engagement levels of the SAAIF are significantly higher when compared to the global and national workforce engagement results, however, as a military organisation, the level of disengaged employees in the SAAIF is a cause for concern. In addition, the study identified a number of barriers and hindrances towards employee engagement and the successful execution of strategies in the SAAIF. Furthermore, the study shows that there is a significant positive correlation between employee engagement and strategy execution. Based on the results of this research, it can be concluded that, employee engagement affects how organisations are able to execute strategic plans, which ultimately affects the performance of organisations.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Guidelines for developing social media policies within institutions of higher learning
    (University of the Free State, 2014-11) Grobler, Danie; Crous, M. J.
    The growth and significance of social media especially with institution of higher learning have brought many new opportunities for marketing, interacting and communicating with all stakeholders. Unfortunately with the many opportunities and advantages that social media brings it also brings along many disadvantages and risks. Institutions of higher learning need to have social media policies in place to protect the institution as well as the employees and the students from the risks of social media. The problem is the lack of guidelines to assist in the development of social media policies. This dissertation aims to propose guidelines that can be used by institutions of higher learning when developing social media policies. This was done through a qualitative research methodology in a semi-structured interview where after a thematic analysis was used to decode the data. The findings first explored the various advantages as well as disadvantages and risks of social media. The findings further explore how social media policies can help to maximise the advantages of social media while at the same time mitigate the risks and disadvantages of social media. The last chapter proposed social media policy guidelines that can be used by institution of higher learning to develop social media policies.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Spiritual intelligence, the underpinning of leadership in Indwe risk services: a case study
    (University of the Free State, 2014-11) De Villiers, Adriaan Daniel Pieter; Crous, M. J.
    As from 2010, the application of the King III principles has led to a paradigm shift in businesses in that they had to move away from the traditional “bottom line” to a sustainable “triple bottom line” (TBL). This paradigm shift has been problematised by the concurrent global ecological crisis, an economy of scarcity, a rapidly changing world and a capitalistic system that is destroying itself. In short, it can be said that the paradigm shift involves moving away from greed to altruism. Businesses need to be all the more innovative and stronger emphasis needs to be placed on leadership in order to realize this sustainable TBL. With the introduction of multiple intelligences by Gardner in the 1980s and the fact that various research results show that cognitive intelligence is responsible for only 20 to 30 % of professional success, leaders and researchers are compelled to delve into the potential of other intelligences for maximal leadership development. One such intelligence is spiritual intelligence (SQ). Wigglesworth (2011:4) defines SQ as follows: “The ability to behave with Wisdom and Compassion, while maintaining inner and outer peace (equanimity) regardless of the circumstances.” Core concepts in this definition are compassion, peace and wisdom. Although some authors are sceptical about this type of intelligence, there is ample evidence that SQ is a reality. Indwe is one of the businesses that have maintained sustainable TBL since its establishment in 2006. In this case study, the investigation focused on sustainable TBL at Indwe, the leadership of its CEO - Giel Muller - and whether this leadership is founded on SQ. The main objective of this study was therefore to determine whether SQ played a role in the leadership of Indwe en route to a sustainable TBL. The secondary objectives involved a theoretical overview of the phenomenon of SQ, a definition for SQ and determining the hallmark of SQ. The type of leadership needed for a sustainable TBL was also investigated. All four goals were covered in the theoretical overview. In the case study it was determined that Indwe reported a TBL during the period under discussion and that the leadership of Muller can be described as transformational leadership built on SQ. This case study thus strengthens the findings of Christ-Lakin (2010) and of Gieseke (2014).