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Faculty of Management Sciences

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    Business leadership competency for innovative strategies post COVID-19 among small and medium enterprises in Gauteng Province, South Africa
    (2023) Mugivhisa, Fulufhelo Lindelani; Ogulu, Christiana
    The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to South African business leaders, such as optimising hybrid teams, attracting and retaining workers with needed capabilities, and making the most of scarce competencies. Current and complex challenges require leadership with the necessary skills. Besides COVID-19 challenges, business organisations and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) must deal with economic downfall, social unrest, and corruption. Leadership plays an important role in ensuring business competitiveness amid these challenges. This study investigated the business leadership competency required for innovative strategies required post-COVID-19 among SMEs in Gauteng Province, South Africa. This involves identifying leadership competencies and proposing a framework for innovative leadership. A sample size of 384 respondents was drawn from owner/managers of SMEs in Gauteng Province. A mixed-method approach was adopted using both structured interviews and a closed-ended questionnaire through an online survey. The results showed that most of the SMEs agreed that COVID-19 challenged SMEs with several difficulties. The research highlighted business leadership competencies for innovative strategies post-COVID-19. The main findings revealed that training and developing employees play a pivotal role in shaping and influencing business performance, which is critical to the success of a business and ensuring innovation. Furthermore, the survey results showed that most SME owners/managers prioritise the competency of setting targets, reviewing and improving financial performance. Results also indicated that adaptability, flexibility, and resilience are necessary to meet changing market conditions. Furthermore, the study highlighted the importance of building diverse and expansive networks. Additionally, findings show that SME Leaders must be willing to take calculated risks for the business to emerge successful.
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    The influence of strategic planning on the growth posture of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the infrastructure sector in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal
    (2023) Zuma, Goodman Zwelihle; Kankisingi, Gustave Mungeni
    The purpose of the research was to examine whether there is a correlation between the use of strategic planning and the sustainable growth of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose was achieved through an empirical investigation that was based on a quantitative study and used a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from owners of 239 SMEs in the infrastructure sector. SMEs are a key factor in improving the growth posture of the South African economy. However, despite their significant socio-economic contribution, the failure rate among SMEs in South Africa remains significantly high. The challenges that are facing the SME sector cannot be ignored by any country that takes economic growth seriously, since SMEs are proven to be key in improving the growth posture of the country’s economy. The strategic planning process, which leads to the formation of a company's strategy, was one of the aspects examined in the study. The Study assesses the impact of strategic planning on the growth posture of small and medium-sized enterprises in the infrastructure sector in South Africa, eThekwini Municipality. The process of developing a strategic plan has been controversial in the literature due to the several perspectives offered by scholars. The main debate concerning the nature of the strategic planning process is about how the process should be approached, which stems from conflicting views concerning the strategic planning process, even though strategic planning is a widely adopted process in many organisations, as it is viewed as the activity that leads to the strategy’s success. The study’s findings prove that most small companies do not follow a strategic process to develop their strategies and for those which do not follow a structured strategic process experience low levels of business growth compared with those that follow a strategic process. These findings have an enormous potential to theoretically contribute to the research body while making practical contributions to governmental policymakers, future researchers, and small business owners. The managerial implications are that a strategic process for developing a firm strategy had a considerable favourable impact on the growth posture of such a firm regardless of business size or resources.
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    An assessment of crisis communication at selected car manufacturing companies in Gauteng, South Africa
    (2022-04) Khuzwayo, Talent Sinenhlanhla; Hussain, Sameera Banu; Isheloke, Byelongo Elisee
    South Africa has several car manufacturing companies or plants, referred to as open systems. Due to their nature as open systems, crises are inevitable. Crises have the potential of inducing grave consequences for the organisation’s reputation and, ultimately, its survival. Being prone to conflicting situations necessitates that each organisation have an effective crisis management plan that details the crisis management and crisis communication steps in great detail. However, implementation of crisis communication and crisis management always comes with challenges for the crisis management teams. Increasingly, in the car manufacturing industry, car recalls are being made as certain models tend to have potentially fatal defects. This increase in car recalls is the reason behind the development of this qualitative study. Therefore, the researcher undertook a case study approach, utilising semi-structured interviews to obtain the required data. The value of qualitative research lies in its ability to provide answers to the questions ‘why’ and ‘how.’ Thus, broadening the understanding of crisis management as a phenomenon and the experiences and feelings of the crisis management teams at car manufacturing companies. The research participants were four car manufacturing companies (Companies A, B, C and D) with their head offices in Gauteng, South Africa. The crisis management teams were selected as the target population because they actively attempt to remedy the crises and interact with various organisational stakeholders when a crisis situation occurs. The findings identified gaps in crisis communication planning and implementation, given the ever-changing business and public relations environments in which organisations operate. As a result, the researcher made recommendations that will assist public relations and communications practitioners today and in the future to handle various crises effectively in the motor industry. Ultimately, car manufacturing companies will benefit by improving the protection of their organisations and their stakeholders from reputational and livelihood threats and further reducing those threats’ negative impacts.
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    Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of business operational strategies that enhance competitive advantage for facility management companies : a case study of ten (10) facility management companies in Gauteng, South Africa
    (2019-08) Naidoo, Povendran
    The South African facilities management (FM) industry has seen increased operational strategy complexity from single-site contractors providing basic janitorial services to highly integrated and bundled FM service providers. Despite these major changes, very little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of current operational strategies in meeting FM business goals, particularly in developing market competitiveness. The lack of research in this area motivated this study which aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of business operational strategies that enhance competitive advantage for FM companies. This included conducting a SWOT analysis of current business operational strategies utilised by FM companies, determining the nature and extent of FM operational strategies evaluation and determining the extent to which clients of FM companies are satisfied with the business operational strategies of the FM companies they employ. The study applied a qualitative methodology that was supported by a quantitative methodology. A sample of 10 Gauteng based FM companies was purposively selected from the SAFMA register of FM companies operating in Gauteng. In this sample, 6 of the companies were classified as large corporates and 4 as SMEs. From the sample of companies, a sample of 10 directors and 10 managers were conveniently selected. A further sample of 10 directors from companies that utilise the services of the FM companies (hereafter referred to as client companies) was also selected. Three different semi-structured interview schedules that were specifically designed for each group of sample elements were used to collect data from the respondents. The collected data was analysed using thematic content analysis and descriptive statistical methods. In the research framework, it was accepted that the operational strategies that are applied by FM companies are a function of the internal and external environments that they operate in. It also emerged that the FM industry relied on models that were designed for strategic management purposes in the evaluation of operational strategies because it did not have industry specific evaluation tools. From the SWOT analysis, SAFMA membership, a strong brand reputation, a high BBBEE rating, pricing advantages and intact operational policies, systems and processes were considered as major organisational strengths for the FM industry. From the primary research, the following challenges emerged with regards to the evaluation of operational strategies: disagreement on evaluation ratings between FM companies and clients, the use of outdated evaluation models and non-industry specific models reduced strategy evaluations to a mere formality as opposed to a developmental process and the manipulation of evaluation models by managers and supervisors to increase scores. The major reasons for engaging the services of FM companies were to reduce operational costs and share or transfer risks. Clients were not satisfied with the process of service level evaluation conducted by the FM companies. Clients of FM companies generally agreed that they were able to realise certain benefits from utilising the services of a FM company. However the benefits derived differed amongst clients and from one FM company to another. It was recommended that FM companies must maintain their registration with SAFMA as this enhances their reputation. FM companies must invest in branding, training of staff and in technology. FM companies must attempt to improve their BBBEE rating considering the importance of the government as a client to the FM industry. FM companies must regularly evaluate their operational strategies as this is necessary for identifying weaknesses and implementing measures that capacitate employees to adapt to the changing market conditions.