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Browsing KovsieJournals by Author "Adendorff, Chris"

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    Financial implications for built environment consultants working at risk in South Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2012) Adendorff, Chris; Botha, Brink; Van Zyl, Angelo; Adendorff, Gillian
    English: Consultants in the built environment of South Africa are facing financial risks due to clients’ expectations of completing certain portions of work at risk. Thus, consultants would complete projects at risk in return for the possibility of remuneration in the long run. A descriptive survey was conducted among various professional consultants working within the built environment in South Africa. The findings include that a large percentage of work was expected to be completed at risk. Once work was completed at risk, a relatively small percentage continued to a stage where the actual consultant received remuneration. As a result of the current global economic climate, the amount of work required to be completed at risk increased and the percentage of work continuing to a stage of remuneration has also decreased. A greater percentage of clients therefore expected more work to be done at risk than the actual amount of work for which consultants are remunerated.
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    Strategic management: an Eastern Cape construction SME case study
    (University of the Free State, 2011) Adendorff, Chris; Appels, Gaynor; Botha, Brink
    English: Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs) fulfil an important role in the long-term growth and development of the economy of the country. The development and growth of construction SMEs are important for all countries, as a strong SME base has the capacity to produce a high-quality infrastructure for the country. However, research has revealed the high failure rate of small businesses within the first five years of their existence in South Africa. In addition, research also indicated that lack of long-term planning and lack of strategic thinking are major contributing factors to the failure of most SMEs. For instance, despite the considerable growth in the industry in the past decade due to government’s considerable infrastructural spending occasioned by the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the majority of construction SMEs failed to use the opportunities gained in this period to develop into established construction entities. This study investigates how strategic management can be applied to address the problems faced by construction SMEs, and to explore techniques and tools of strategic management that can make a significant contribution to their growth and development. The research findings, based on a literature review and a qualitative research approach, suggest that, although many construction SMEs perform poorly, some have the potential to grow and develop into more established entities by proactively managing their firms strategically. In addition, the findings indicate that SMEs that practise strategic management perform better, and that there are many advantages for SMEs that adopt strategic management principles at the organisational level.
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    Successful transformational change in revenue management among beneficiary communities of South African renewable energy construction companies
    (University of the Free State, 2018) Amansure, Ric; Adendorff, Chris
    English: Transformational change is the second of three sub-models that resulted from the splitting of the original model following the data analysis as part of a thesis entitled A theoretical model for successful management of revenue for beneficiary communities of renewable energy companies in South Africa. The sub-model provides specific guidance for project managers dealing with transformational change in communities to stakeholders, industry experts and community development practitioners in the renewable energy sector. The aim of the research was to promote a localised understanding of education, social interaction, social cohesion, infrastructure improvement and sharing to ensure success in managing the revenue for beneficiary community projects by renewable energy construction companies. A literature review of relevant literature on transformational change factors was conducted and used to develop a structured questionnaire distributed to national and international population of project management practitioners who were conveniently sampled in South Africa. Using an electronic measuring instrument, the empirical findings established four factors that were reliable and valid for transformational change in communities, namely education, infrastructure development, human development, and change management. Using these factors and constructing a path diagram of the independent variables (education, infrastructure development, human development, change management) and subsequent intervening (good governance) and dependent variables (perceived success of revenue management), appropriate hypotheses were developed to test the model. The hypotheses were analysed and tested empirically using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Determinants were identified as elements of transformational change that influence the success of revenue management for beneficiary communities for South African renewable energy companies. These included the use of education, infrastructure development, human development, change management, and good governance.