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Theses and dissertations (Management Sciences)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/14

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Subject: search.filters.subject.System theory

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    Exploring the complexities of the relationship between political and administrative interface in Uthukela District Municipality : a systems’ thinking perspective
    (2024-05) Mkhize, Patrick Sibusiso; Hardman, Stan
    Systems theory leverages effective diagnosis and management of the complexities of politicaladministrative interface in the contemporary polycentric local governance systems. It is in that context that this research uses systems theory to evaluate the nature of the complexities of politicaladministrative interface in uThukela District Municipality and its Alfred Duma, Inkosi Langalibalele and Okhahlamba Local Municipalities. Such analysis is aimed to extract a systems model that can be adopted for diagnosing and managing such complexities not only in uThukela District Municipality, but also in the entire South African local governance system. The study is motivated by both practical deficiencies in uThukela District Municipality and its local Municipalities as well as theoretical deficiencies that characterise most of the existing studies on managing complex local governance systems. To therefore, address such practical and theoretical deficiencies, this study uses systems theory to evaluate the nature of the complexities of political-administrative interface vis-a-vis other actors in uThukela District Municipality and its local Municipalities. Through such analysis, the study aimed to identify a comprehensive systems model that can be extracted and suggested to uThukela for diagnosing and managing such complexities. The entire research process is guided by certain six critical research objectives and questions. First research objective and question evaluate and identify the critical political actors and their interactive activities in uThukela District Municipalities. Second research objective and question examine and identify the critical administrative and management actors and their interactive activities in uThukela District Municipalities. Third research objective and question assess and identify the complex networks of the other critical actors that integrate with politicaladministrative interface in uThukela District Municipalities. Fourth research objective and question analyse the complexities that arise from politicaladministrative interface vis-à-vis other actors and their impacts in uThukela District Municipalities. Fifth research objective and question examine the effectiveness of the approaches that are used for managing such complexities in uThukela District Municipalities. Sixth research objective and question sought to identify and extract a systems model that can be adopted for diagnosing and managing such complexities not only in uThukela District Municipalities, but also in the entire South African local governance system. Basing on these six critical research objectives and questions, theories revealed local governance organisations to be analogous to systems that constitute of different internal interactive subsystems and actors that also influence or are instead influenced by certain external actors. Certainly, such theoretical articulations echoed fundamental argument in this research that the use of systems approach would aid effective diagnosis and management of the complexities of politicaladministrative interface vis-à-vis other actors in uThukela District Municipality and its local Municipalities. Primary research was undertaken to analyse, compare and triangulate such theoretical articulations with empirical findings reflecting actual experiences of actual political, administrative and other actors in such complexities. Primary research was based on phenomenological ontology as the research philosophy to elicit practical views from the actual actors or participants in the political-administrative interface vis-à-vis other actors’ complexities in uThukela District Municipalities. Phenomenological ontology dictated the use of case study and exploratory research designs as well as qualitative research method. Qualitative research method entailed the use of interviews as the principal technique to elicit facts in their real natural settings and context. This aided thorough diagnosis and identifications of the points of conflicts and antagonisms in such complexities. Such research ontology, designs and methods were used to elicit views from a sample of thirty participants consisting of mayors, speakers, members executive council committees, oversight committees and all Section 54 and 56 in uThukela District Municipality and its local Municipalities. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews to permit eliciting of new insights from the participants. Obtained qualitative data from each of the thirty participants was thematically analysed. Thematic analysis was used to extract coherent common set of themes, subthemes and their associated narratives that logically and chronologically explain the critical political actors, administrative actors, other actors, such actors’ interactive activities, points of conflicts and antagonisms that induce complexities from such interactive activities. It also extracted themes and narratives on the impacts of such complexities on service delivery and the effectiveness of the approach so far used for managing such complexities. Findings imply that besides political-administrative interface, uThukela District Municipality as a “system” also constitutes of other subsystems that are reflected in the form of Alfred Duma, Inkosi Langalibalele and Okhahlamba Local Municipalities. However, as actors in such political and administrative subsystems interact with each other, they were also found to interact with certain other critical actors like certain community activists as well as business actors. To mitigate and manage these complexities of political-administrative, uThukela District Municipality was found to emphasise prohibiting political office-holders from holding municipal administrative offices and enforcement of councillors’ Code of Conduct to prevent their interference in municipal administration. Other measures were reiterated to include suggestion for abolition of speaker’s office, streamlining relationship between the mayor and municipal manager and use of relevant laws to manage collusions leading to corruption. To deal with such complexities, this study triangulated findings with theories to extract and suggest a systems model that can be adopted to comprehensively diagnose and manage the complexities of political-administrative interface vis-à-vis other actors in uThukela District and its local Municipalities. It is argued in that systems model that effective diagnosis and management of the complexities of political-administrative interface would require the application of certain six critical steps. In otherwords, the study not only suggested a systems model that can be emulated by uThukela District Municipality and its local Municipalities, but also by the entire South African local governance system. Even though through such systems model, this research enriched the existing theories on public administration and management, future studies must still assess how such a model can be scientifically tested using confirmatory factor analysis.
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    The applicability of systems thinking in Universities of Technology (UoTs) in KwaZulu-Natal
    (2021-04) Mhlongo, Patrick Mbongwa; Zondo, Robert Walter Dumisani
    Organisations in both the private and public sectors have to interact with their surrounding and volatile environments in order to survive. Hence it is critical for organisations to remain competitive under such conditions. There is a need to respond effectively to the needs of stakeholders. Universities of Technology (UoTs) are not immune to global and local challenges. For UoTs, their stakeholders include students, government, accreditation bodies and industry. The focus of the study was on exploring Systems Thinking in the context of UoTs. Systems Thinking empowers members of the organisation with the ability to think holistically in terms of how organisations operate. Given the challenges and the environment in which UoTs operate, it was critical to conduct the study to explore an alternative management approach. The study explores the Systems Thinking approach as an alternative management approach to traditional management practices. The research problem identified in this study is silo practices or functional silos in UoTs. The Systems Thinking philosophy has been identified as an effective management approach to deal with unpredictable and complex challenges in both the public and private sectors. It serves as a catalyst in terms of conditioning organisational members to appreciate the interrelations and interdependence of various departments or units within an organisation. The study adopted a mixed methods approach, investigating the applicability of Systems Thinking in UoTs as the aim of the study. Data was collected through a combination of interviews and a survey. Systems Thinking was the phenomenon being explored, thus the study was phenomenological. A Convergent approach was used as both qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously. In other words, the study was cross-sectional. Moreover, data collected was used to develop grounded theory. It was through the inductive philosophy that the study contributed to the development of a theory. Self-administered questionnaires and unstructured face-to-face interviews were used to collect data from the participants. Qualitative and quantitative data were necessary to achieve the objectives of the study and also to answer the formulated research questions. Permanent employees of the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) participated in the study. The population comprised staff from both the administration and academic sectors. Stratified sampling and simple random sampling were used to select manageable sample from the population. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse quantitative data, whilst Nvivo was the computer software used to analyse qualitative data. A response rate of 73% was achieved. The findings indicated that there was a lack of an institutionalised and internalised overarching Systems Thinking in the UoTs. Participants also felt that there was a strong culture of functional silos in the UoTs. The study showed that the focus of employees was more on departmental or faculty goals, instead of broader institutional goals. Participants were optimistic about opportunities for the application of Systems Thinking in the UoTs. Resistance to change was one of the factors identified as a challenge in terms of the implementation of a Systems Thinking philosophy in the UoTs. The study makes a theoretical contribution and provides necessary insights to improve processes and practices in UoTs. The significance of the study is that it identifies a phenomenon that has received no attention from previous researchers. The study deals with the gap in the existing literature as the focus has been more on Systems Thinking in the context of the corporate sector. The significance of the study is that is provides insights that should be considered during decision-making and strategy formulation processes in UoTs. Systems Thinking empowers decision-makers with the ability to consider all relevant variables of the situation.
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    Improving the efficiency and performance of the supply chain in the construction industry
    (2020-04) Tsuro, Lewis; Hardman, Stanley George
    The interconnectedness of the supply chain, project management and leadership are key to an operational model being developed in the supply chain of the construction industry. There are numerous challenges that are said to inhibit the smooth operation of supply chains in construction projects; however, considered through the lens of systems thinking and a soft systems methodology (SSM), the definition or cause of a problematic situation is often not clearly defined. The aim of this study was to apply SSM in relation to the supply chain processes of a construction site in Rosebank, Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province of South Africa critically, in order to determine how to make possible changes for incremental improvement of the efficiency and performance of the supply chain processes. A descriptive research framework was performed, where purposive sampling was used to recruit a sample of managers, subcontractors and workers involved with supply chain tasks on the chosen construction site. To gather the necessary data, open-ended questions were presented through face-to-face interviews with the sample; after which, the data was analysed in two stages: Phase One involved the qualitative thematic analysis of the interview transcripts, and Phase Two required performing SSM on the data. A wide spectrum of themes was deciphered from the study, following the SSM analysis, which confirmed that the definition and cause of a problematic situation is often not clearly defined; and indeed, there is often not even consensus on whether a problem exists to begin with. A key example of the ‘messiness’ of the supply chain of this project was observed in the case of aspects such as handling, scheduling, procurement, storing and safety, where despite the numerous comments describing their strengths in the project’s supply chain, these aspects were also noted by numerous individuals to be problematic in the supply chain as well. In deciphering exactly why the project’s management was failing to overcome the challenges on the project supply chain, this research ascertained how the soft characteristics of the project managers (PMs) had limited the effectiveness of the supply chain on the project. Specifically, it was found that issues with the vision, risk-taking, emotional intelligence, trust, selfawareness, supportiveness, communication and motivation to the subcontractors and workers had limited the effectiveness of the supply chain on the project by causing worker-related problems; manager-specific problems; and reduced project efficiency. The results of this study therefore concurred with the literature that there was a need for the PMs on the site to employ a more worker-centred style of management, to be able draw the most from the workers. It was argued here, though, that while suggestions in the literature call for a PM to be a ‘servant’ of the worker, the priority for this project should instead have been more towards striking a balance between the current principles of client focus, and Servant Leadership. It was also argued here that PMs clearly needed to improve communication skills to enhance the efficiency of the project, or to make future undertakings more efficient and smooth running. Finally, at the culmination of the SSM, a model for change was developed to help cope with the numerous internal and external inhibitory factors surrounding the project site; whereby, changes that were noted that were the most feasible changes, requiring the least effort and producing the most benefit, were for the management to negotiate a later hand-over time for the project; and to have the workers work over-time to strive to complete the project faster. It was also recommended that equipment efficiency should be increased; to recycle the space on the site; for aspects of the site management to become less autonomous; for the management to check work quality and ensure work adherence; to provide earlier communications on delivery; for the management to ensure work understanding across the site; and for the management to perform more forward planning. Indeed, such changes should, theoretically at least, be immediate changes that could be made on this, or any construction project, and would tentatively draw instant tangible results without requiring considerable financial outlay, stakeholder buy-in, or managerial approval. Consequently, SSM has proven to be a powerful means of measuring the supply chain processes of a new office construction project in Rosebank, Johannesburg.