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

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

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    Development needs of parliamentarians at the Lesotho parliament
    (University of the Free State, 2019) Maekane, Rethabile P.; Fourie, M.
    Skills and educations are indeed the pillars that organizations need to acquire sufficiently in order to be successful. This is the case in the parliament of Lesotho, effectiveness in the functionality of the parliament can been drawn from improved performance of the parliamentarians. Education and skills when adequately acquired enhance competence and hence effectiveness is achieved. Lesotho does not have on its electoral model academic qualifications as prerequisite for one to qualify for being elected as a member of the parliament. This has brought challenges as members come with various skills sets and educational backgrounds and it impacts on their competence and effectiveness. The study is therefore aimed at assessing and scrutinizing the development needs of parliamentarians and the focus on the Lesotho legislature. The study also brought into detail different concepts such as needs analysis, capacitation and other themes that guide the researcher on how the subject matter can be comprehended. This has also helped in identifying the gaps in the current parliamentary system under study and as such opened a platform for suggested programs that cam be adopted in the light of parliamentary strengthening for effective and efficient functionality. The qualitative approach was employed in collecting, analyzing and presenting data. The researcher used interviews as a tool to collect responses from the participants.
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    The enterprise architecture leadership styles of a South African telecommunications company
    (University of the Free State, 2020) Mokhobo, Lemphane; Fourie, M.
    Purpose: Enterprise Architecture is a holistic practice used in management which covers business and information technology in order to manage organisational complexities and aid strategic decision-making. Successful implementation of Enterprise Architecture is reliant on a leader who can handle the pressure that comes with the job. Although many Enterprise Architecture leaders are highly qualified and technically skilled individuals, challenges such as communication, stakeholder buy-in and governance issues are often the core hindrances to successful Enterprise Architecture. Previous research shows that Enterprise Architecture initiatives often fail due to substantial challenges demonstrated by enterprise architects' lack of authority and leadership. Due to the technical nature of Enterprise Architecture, its relationship with soft skills like leadership is often overlooked. In this, an opportunity to research the leadership styles that exist in Enterprise Architecture avails itself. The purpose of the research is to analyse the leadership styles of a telecommunications organisation in South Africa. Research design: This research design was a qualitative non-probability purposive study with semi-structured interviews. The research sample size consisted of twelve (12) participants who are actively functioning in the Enterprise Architecture domain. The sampling strategy used was a purposive sampling strategy. The research was conducted in the Telkom Group and its subsidiaries. Each participant was asked a set of demographic questions and ten (10) predefined questions in the form of semi-structured interviews. Findings: The findings showed that the most prominent leadership styles were democratic, affiliative and pacesetting leadership styles; the most common one being the affiliative style. Each leadership style was accompanied by a communication style, the most common one being assertive communication. The findings also highlighted that the participants believed that the Telkom Group had a Level 2 Enterprise Architecture maturity level and that Telkom had not fully adopted the Enterprise Architecture mindset. The participants expressed their biggest challenges as being communication, stakeholder buy-in, leadership and vision of Enterprise Architecture. Conclusion: The enterprise architects displayed strong leadership and communication styles that have a positive impact on the environment; however, due to their limited influence, they are facing challenges that require the intervention of senior leadership. The leadership styles present in the Enterprise Architecture domain are sufficient and appropriate to deal with the challenges that come with a Level 2 Enterprise Architecture maturity; however, in order to leverage the existing leadership styles, the organisation must increase the scope of influence for the enterprise architects. The use and implementation of positive leadership and communication styles will assist in dealing with the challenges and improve the Enterprise Architecture maturity level of the organisation.
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    Motivational factors that influence employee productivity within Raubex Construction (Pty) Ltd
    (University of the Free State, 2020) Meades, Johannes Lodewikus; Fourie, M.
    The purpose of this study is to identify and rank the most important motivational factors that influence employee productivity within the construction industry, specifically focusing on Raubex Construction (Pty) Ltd. The present study contains a quantitative research design. A structured close-ended questionnaire was developed to collect data in order to rank the motivational factors that influence employee productivity in the construction industry. The questions were grouped into four types of motivational factors, including organisational factors, work-environment factors, monetary factors and facilities factors. The responses were quantified using the Relative Importance Index (RII) technique to analyse the collected data to ease the analysis and interpretation of a large number of respondents’ quantified data. The self-completion questionnaire consisted of 25 questions and was randomly sent to the 479 permanent employees of Raubex Construction (Pty) Ltd. A total of 187 complete questionnaires were returned. Respondents were asked to rate the effect and significance of all the motivational factors on a Likert Scale of 1 to 5. The five highest-ranked motivational factors were salaries which are paid on time (RII = 0.957), followed by transport facilities (RII = 0.865), job security (RII = 0.865), good work relationship with team members leading to respectable team cohesiveness (RII = 0.842), the worker’s department provides all the equipment, supplies, and resources necessary for him/her to perform his/her duties (RII = 0.837). In conclusion, monetary , facilities and work environment-related motivational factors appear to have the greatest impact on motivating employees within Raubex Construction (Pty) Ltd. However, other aspects such as company culture, communication skills and the socio-economic status of employees has an important role to play in how employees are motivated.