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Municipalities are faced with poverty, unemployment and inequality, to the detriment of growth and development. As specified in the South African Constitution (1996), municipalities are obligated to advance Local Economic Development (LED). Municipalities cannot accomplish this task alone; therefore, participation of all stakeholders is required. The aim of this study is to investigate bridging the urban–rural gap in facilitating LED within uMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu–Natal in understanding this phenomenon. The district is made up of seven urban and rural local municipalities. Using a qualitative research method through an interpretive paradigm, data were collected from purposely selected participants through in-depth open-ended interviews. Collected data were analysed through induction using thematic and content analysis. Results revealed gaps in understanding LED planning, facilitation and implementation, including gaps in resource planning and provision. The study revealed numerous stakeholders were relevant in facilitating LED within the District. It is recommended that the District improves rural service delivery and infrastructure provision enabling access of opportunities and creating platforms for stakeholder engagement, with inclusion of traditional leaders driving LED facilitation. Priority areas for enhancing LED initiatives are suggested, with LED viewed as a good initiative in achieving sustainable development in district municipalities.

Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa in 1994, numerous changes have occurred at tertiary institutions to enable greater access for people of all backgrounds and increased graduate throughput to fulfil the needs of the labor market for engineers. Widespread changes in the size and composition of successive undergraduate engineering cohorts have occurred. Simultaneously, the needs of industry have undergone significant changes due to the information age, globalization, the rapid increase in technological advances and access. This study attempted to assess the alignment between the expectations of engineering graduates, the expectations of engineering employers and reality. A mixed methods research was developed. The study firstly surveyed engineering graduates at a South African University using a questionnaire developed for quantitative analysis. Convenience sampling and a positivist approach were used. Graduates’ needs, study approaches, employment and workplace expectations were determined, analyzed and interpreted through the lens of two frameworks, namely Biggs’ study motives and strategies and Bloom’s taxonomy. Secondly, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with all engineering discipline academic leaders at the University, within an interpretivist paradigm using deductive thematic semantic analysis. Academic leaders were used as a proxy for industry opinion and questioned on a number of themes including graduate and employer expectations, positive or negative trends, graduate training programs, further training and postgraduate study, exit-level outcomes (ELOs) and graduate attributes, the reality of misalignment and what the University can do to limit it. Responses were collated and compared quantitatively and qualitatively where appropriate. A number of issues and mis-alignments were identified together with their causes. Mis-alignment was identified in salary, growth and guidance expectations, confidence, software and niche proficiencies and innovation expectations. Key causes included language barriers, lack of engineering hobbyist backgrounds, workload and study strategies, assessment changes and personal responsibility. Findings were discussed within the theoretical frameworks mentioned above and summarized in light of the objectives of this study. Recommendations for the University in mitigating many of the issues and mis-alignment were provided, along with recommendations for any possible future research in this area.

The aim of this study was to investigate and delineate the perceived challenges of implementing an integrated talent management strategy at a South African tertiary institution. The study was conducted at a relatively new university that opened its doors on the 1st of January 2015. Since the inception of the university under study, the institution has grown considerably but without proper policies and strategies in place to ensure its competitiveness and sustainability within the current Higher Education and Training sector in the country. A qualitative research methodology in the form of semi-structured interviews conducted with a convenience sample of 10 participants was employed to execute the study. The sample was drawn from the population of directors and official representatives of administrative, academic and support staff. The inclusion of these participants was premised on the idea that by virtue of their job description, they would be most exposed to talent management issues. Results of the study indicate that the major challenges experienced in implementing an integrated talent management strategy at the university include lack of management commitment and budget, as well as unionism and resistance to change amongst staff. As such, the primary recommendations of this study are for demonstrated commitment by university management towards accessing adequate finances to facilitate the implementation of a sound talent management strategy that will assist in promoting both the quality and longevity of the tertiary education institution in question.

It is well documented that road infrastructure is an important catalyst of the South African economy because of the interchange of people, goods and services which are dependent upon transport. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived impact of public sector leadership on road infrastructure service delivery. A qualitative methodology approach was employed using a purposive sampling technique. Twenty in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with respondents from both the public and private sectors. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and the findings of this research indicate that public sector leadership is ineffective in driving road infrastructure development. The results also suggest that the lack of accountability and corruption hinders the delivery of infrastructure. Keywords: accountability, corruption, engineering, government, South Africa. JEL Classification: L3, L92, H11

Purpose Organisational culture is increasingly being recognised as a critical determinant of the success or failure of organisational change efforts. A power utility company in Africa was undergoing planned change driven by its ambitious vision of becoming one of the top five performing utilities in the world. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the organisation’s culture was impacting on the change initiatives of one of the organisation’s operating units. The study also sought to investigate the robustness of the change model employed to inform the change process. Design/methodology/approach The study employed qualitative research methods for data collection, sampling and analysis. Ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with managers, supervisory and non-supervisory staff in the operating unit. Data analysis was by means of thematic analysis. Findings Organisational culture was found to be impacting the operating unit’s change efforts. According to the participants, cultural analysis to determine organisational readiness for change was not adequately undertaken. The cultural factors of, among others, communication, feedback, involvement, and consultations negatively impacted the change efforts. The participants’ perceptions were that leadership failed to connect employees to the vision. Originality/value The paper provides insight into the importance of leadership’s understanding and consideration of organisational culture in change initiatives. Cultural analyses before embarking on change assists leaders in identifying and then strengthening or changing cultural tenets implicated by the change initiatives.

Sagaren Govender, Cecile N Gerwel Proches, Abdulla Kader Graduate School of Business and Leadership, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa Background: Four public hospitals in South Africa, which render both specialized and nonspecialized services to thousands of patients, were examined to determine the impact of leadership on health care service delivery. These hospitals were inundated by various problems that were impacting negatively on health care service delivery. Purpose: This research study aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges, complexities and constraints facing public health care in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and to examine leadership as a strategy to enhance healthcare service delivery with a particular focus on four regional hospitals in the KZN Province. Methods: The mixed-method research approach was utilized. Purposive sampling and stratified random sampling were employed in the research setting, and in-depth, semistructured interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using the Nvivo computer software package for in-depth interviews and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for the quantitative analysis. Results: The research findings showed that the current leadership framework adopted by the health care leaders in regional hospitals in KZN is weak and is contributing to poor health care service delivery. Conclusion: This study, therefore, aimed to address the current challenges and weaknesses that are impacting negatively on health care service delivery in regional hospitals in the KZN Province and made recommendations for improvement. Keywords: health care service delivery, public hospital, leadership, South Africa

This research describes and analyses a methodological approach, known as Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). SSM was applied in the sugar industry, which is characterized by diverse stakeholders who have multiple and often competing objectives. SSM is a methodology that was developed in response to the limitations of the systems engineering approach. It uses a flexible, yet organized process to bring about action to improve problematical situations. A qualitative research approach was used. Interviews and SSM workshops were held with growers and the miller, and other stakeholders. Interviews were conducted with the focus on identifying the goals of the various stakeholders in the mill area, and how communication, trust, and overall efficiency were perceived by the stakeholder groups, on their own and as a whole. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Purposeful activity models were created after an analysis of the interview transcripts, and rich pictures were constructed by stakeholders in a SSM workshop. Stakeholders were invited to a second SSM workshop where they were presented with SSM tools that were constructed. Participants then chose to work on a model and engaged in debate about how the model compared to the real world, and considered how to take action to bring about improvement. The research illustrated the value of applying SSM in the sugar industry by bringing together diverse stakeholders to identify and address the multiple perspectives held about the overlapping problems. Through the SSM process, various problematic aspects of the sugar industry were uncovered and presented to stakeholders to bring about action. SSM facilitated the identification of the various objectives that the stakeholder groups were individually pursuing, and also created space for discussions into how to jointly create a desired future that could benefit all stakeholders. This collaborative methodology enabled meaningful and systemic interaction between the researcher and participants, by providing an opportunity for respondents to share their multiple and valid perspectives about the problems, challenges and opportunities in the mill area. Through the use of the SSM tools, further insight was gained into the roles, goals, values, power, and culture of the study context.

The aim of this study is to identify challenges in multi-stakeholder relationships and to provide recommendations on how to manage complexity within these complex systems. The sugar industry under investigation is composed of diverse stakeholders who pursue various objectives, and complexity arises from these multiple interactions. Complexity theory is used here to analyse stakeholder relationships in a mill area in the sugar industry. The qualitative research approach is used. In-depth, semi-structured interviews are conducted with various stakeholder groups who are able to provide insight into the challenges in the mill area—and how these can be addressed. Thematic analysis is used. An analysis of the interactions reveals that stakeholders face overlapping problems, increasing demands, and an uncertain future. Relationships are characterised by a lack of trust and transparency, and are further strained by organisational structures, control and bureaucracy. The study highlights a dire need for cooperation and for a collectivist culture to achieve a competitive edge. It reveals that stakeholder interaction contributes to systemic awareness, shared strategy and expertise, collective learning, and system-wide goals which in turn impacts positively on performance. Important factors which are found to influence stakeholder interaction include the capacity for change, information, transparency, distributed leadership, flexible organisational structures, and the capacity of stakeholders to contribute. This study provides a significant contribution by presenting conceptual models to better understand multi-stakeholder scenarios.

The Marine Living Resources Act (Act No. 18 of 1998) came into effect to provide for the protection of marine living resources. This policy was essentially a form of change management, which would ...

"Applied research in complex integrated settings should be recognized as an endeavor that requires transdisciplinary and multisectoral stakeholder interactions. The problems faced in society are quite complex, requiring participation and knowledge from diverse aspects of society, including different disciplines (academia), communities, civil society, and government. Successful applied research relies on nurturing these key stakeholder relationships and interactions. This paper explores the key challenges of stakeholder interaction in applied research in three disciplines in the South African context, based on literature and the experience of authors in their disciplines. The three disciplines include information and communication technology for development, town and regional planning, and natural resource management. We attempt to also compare and contrast these challenges across the disciplines, to identify any commonalities and differences. After considering the mutual challenges and adaptive solutions to address these challenges in the different disciplines, we identify that all three areas in relation to stakeholder interaction appear to exhibit characteristics of complex systems, hence motivating to view applied research as a complex system. In this sense, complexity theory may provide a common language between the different disciplines examining transdisciplinary stakeholder interaction in applied research from a shared perspective."