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Faculty of Management Sciences

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    Investigating the imperatives of research transformation at a University of Technology in South Africa
    (2022) Jinabhai, Chandrakala Daya; Bodhanya, Shamim
    This case study investigated the imperative of research transformation amongst academics at the selected Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) in South Africa, considering its low ranking of research output amongst 26 public higher education institutions (HEIs) by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training. The research problem for this case study was designed to investigate the main mitigating factors and barriers that inhibited academic careers of staff at this institution to transform to become productive researchers from a system dynamics perspective. Hence, the significance of this study was to address one of the three pillars of HEIs in terms of its research transformation and research productivity at this institution. Furthermore, this case study established how environmental dynamics holistically influenced academic staff to engage or not engage in research transformation. This was despite lucrative financial benefits offered, namely, research funding and study leave including other concrete incentives associated with research transformation. This was initiated for academic staff to inter alia, improving staff qualifications towards Master’s and Doctoral qualifications, conference presentations, technology transfer and knowledge production, and publications in accredited journals to produce the anticipated measured research output. Whilst there are a few prolific researchers within a few departments, it is alarmingly short in its endeavour towards attaining DHET research output goals and research transformation holistically at MUT. The aim of this study was to explore and develop an original system dynamics causal loop model with various components underscored by critical systems thinking and its impact of the holistic study per se. The research design for this study adopted a qualitative interpretative paradigm linked to system dynamics and the variables of the Causal Loop Diagram Model with an Interviewing Schedule. Thus, data was collected using a semi-structured interviewing schedule with open-ended questions in sync with a qualitative research design. Individual interviews were conducted with five academic staff members from each of the three faculties. Additionally, interviews with a focus group of six participants with similar interests were also included for the interviews. The key variables of the Causal Loop Model were tabulated and linked to research transformation from the participants at MUT. The data analysis collected from the interviews and policy documents were analysed under each of the research questions. Both participants’ reflections and institutional factors were also assimilated for the data analysis, vis-à-vis, research transformation at MUT. The findings revealed several individual and institutional factors contributing to low research transformation at this institution, namely, a small number of academic staff with PhDs, an uneven staff to student ratio, heavy workloads on teaching staff with limited time to engage in research productivity, unawareness of available incentives, lack of retention strategies of talented staff, poaching of academic staff, the interpretation of sabbatical leave and mentoring and supervision support initiatives. Furthermore, the study found several enablers aligned to research capacity building initiatives and critical factors to support a research culture at this institution. The main recommendations suggested were, inter-alia a buy-into research transformation by Executive Management and academic staff, improvement of vertical qualifications, supplementing academic support staff and tutors, employment of additional retired research professors, offering of structured mentoring and supervision assistance, specific training related to research productivity, review of the teaching workloads, implementation of sabbatical leave and retention policies. Finally, this case study has shown empirical evidence for further research opportunities related to research transformation in the higher education sector that could interface with the perceptions of research productivity and accelerate research outputs in peer reviewed accredited journals.
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    Exploring inequality in institutional marketing : access to higher education by marginalised communities
    (2018) Ramrathan, Sathishah; Maharaj, Mandusha; Reddy, Karunanidhi
    In South Africa widening participation in higher education is located within a transformation discourse that sought to change the demographics of the student population in public higher education institutions. Current literature on public higher education participation demographics suggests that the transformation agenda of increasing the participation of previously disadvantaged population groups have been met in terms of headcount. There are, however, concerns raised about equality of opportunity to access public higher education institutions, especially with regard to potential students from deep rural contexts and who have attended school education in impoverished communities. In attempting to address these concerns, higher education institutional marketing became one of the communication tools through which higher education studies were promoted across the country. Although, higher education institutional marketing at Universities of Technology has been well established within South Africa, the marketing recruitment strategy employed was largely intended for the urban and sub-urban contexts. This study focuses on this challenge within a social justice and equality discourse. The study, therefore, engages with the literature on higher education transformation, marketing, social justice, equity and equality to show the complexity of higher education institutional marketing and highlights the inequalities in current marketing strategies and practices that continues to disadvantage marginalised communities from accessing higher education studies. The primary aim of this study is to explore the inequalities in current higher education institutions’ marketing processes to recruit potential students from geographically marginalised communities, with a view to reducing these inequalities. The study explored the marketing strategies employed by a University of Technology to understand the experiences and concerns identified by learners and teachers of deep rural schools in accessing higher education. The case study approach to methodology required a mixed method for the data collection from stakeholders (grade 12 learners and educators) of three secondary schools in three different deep rural contexts. A survey was conducted using a questionnaire to obtain information from grade 12 learners. In addition, the Life Orientation educators of these three schools were interviewed. In order to obtain a holistic perspective of the institutional marketing efforts, current first year university students from deep rural contexts were interviewed to explore their experiences into higher education. The analysis of the data revealed that learners in deep rural contexts were aware of higher education studies, but the information received about accessing and studying at a higher education institution was inadequate to make informed decisions. The study also found that there was a mismatch between what was marketed by higher education institutions and the needs of the learners and the community. Furthermore, the needs and resources for the potential students from disadvantaged communities were identified. Therefore, a customised recruitment strategy is proposed with regard to the promotional materials and processes to encourage and support aspiring higher education students. The findings proposes a marketing strategy that is located within a social justice, equity and equality framework that aligns institutional marketing with the needs of the communities located in deep rural and impoverished contexts. In other words, a strategic community engagement action plan between the university and the department of education is suggested. The study, therefore, makes recommendations to higher education institutions about marketing strategies that would be relevant to a diverse target market, particularly to marginalised or rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal. In addition, the study makes recommendations to address inequalities in institutional marketing that could lead to views about substantive equality needed for higher education transformation within the current South African context.
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    The role of internal communication in the transition process at the Durban University of Technology (DUT)
    (2015) Govender, Vaneshree; Rampersad, Renitha; Ramlutchman, Nisha
    The Southern African Higher Education system in the post-apartheid period had to respond to the various discriminatory practices that existed during the apartheid era. This entailed responding to inequalities in the education system at various levels. As far as higher education was concerned there was a need to serve society based on the principles of equality, equity and inclusivity. One such response was to merge higher education institutions such as ML Sultan Technikon and Technikon Natal to form the Durban Institute of Technology now referred to as the Durban University of Technology (DUT). The merger process revealed numerous challenges one of which was the human resource issue that underpinned the merger of staff between the two technikons which differed in practice. The rationale for this study was that staff at DUT were experiencing alienation; mistrust and a lack of shared purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of internal communication in the transition process of the merger at the DUT. The objectives were to examine existing organisational communication tools; to evaluate staff perceptions of the current methods of communication utilised in the internal communication process; and to determine how internal communication has contributed to the transition process. The study used a quantitative research method; this enabled an evaluation of the role of internal communication in a higher education setting during a transition process. The sample population was 400 administrative and academic staff from across the seven campuses. Staff were assessed via a survey questionnaire. The data was analyzed using SPSS. The study found that living and coping with change in the work environment is a fact of life for organisations and individuals. The success of any change programme depends on the organisation’s ability to communicate effectively with its employees; therefore internal communication plays a pivotal role in any change programme. Staff at the DUT had limited communication from Management during the change phase. They were of the opinion that effective internal communication could improve productivity in the workforce.
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    The transformation of the South African higher education sector through mergers - the case study of the Durban University of Technology
    (2010) Chetty, Gopalkrishna; Wallis, Malcolm Alan Henworth
    Since the advent of democracy in 1994, South African society has been undergoing a rapid transformation. By the time the second democratic elections had come around, the focus had turned to transforming and restructuring the higher education sector. Mergers became an instrument in the hands of the Government to restructure and configure the higher education landscape. Mergers are not new and have been used by many countries to transform or restructure their higher education sector. However, comparison with higher education mergers in other countries would point to the most ambitious change programme ever undertaken in recent times, especially given the large scale of mergers and incorporations that were planned for the South African higher education sector. The Durban University of Technology merger which took place in 2002 preceded the main wave of the Government decreed mergers that took place in 2004 and in 2005. This thesis focuses on contributing to the knowledge of higher education mergers by investigating higher education mergers in South Africa from a micro as well as macro perspective. At a micro level the study undertaken is a case study of the Durban University of Technology (DUT), the first merged higher institution in the country, while from a macro perspective, an examination into the impact that mergers have had on the transformation of the higher education sector. This second part has been undertaken through a perception survey of staff at merged institutions. The emphasis is on providing a detailed analysis of DUT merger in terms of its problems, pitfalls and peculiarities. It covers an examination of the processes, procedures, practices and trials and tribulations when two or more higher education institutions merge. This study is guided by two central research questions. The first is: What can be learned about higher education mergers as examined through the Durban University of Technology (DUT) case study? The second question, whether higher education mergers have been successful or otherwise in South Africa? In particular this question seeks to elicit whether the broader goals and objectives of higher education transformation have been or are being achieved or accomplished through mergers in the sector. The literature review emphasized a conceptual understanding of higher education mergers, merger processes and steps. The review also touches on the limitations and gaps in higher education literature when examined from a iv South African perspective. In particular a detailed study of the South African merger policy development was undertaken. The DUT merger experience allows one to draw a distinction between what is termed the technical merger issues and the soft issues. Technical aspects of a merger would simply be those aspects that have to be done to ensure the physical merger of two or more institutions. In a sense it is the soft issues which shape the merger process. These soft issues largely relate to people, the consultation with stakeholders, the negotiations and the cultural dimensions. Despite the assumption that voluntary mergers are generally easier to negotiate and execute because of the perceived greater involvement of stakeholders, the DUT case provides no evidence to support this position. If anything, the DUT merger although voluntary was at best difficult and beset with people and human relations problems. The findings from the case study point to the following: Government initiated mergers (forced mergers) are less likely to failure because of a greater national agenda; that an all new embracing style of leadership is needed when institutions undergo great changes such as through a merger; that where trade unions exist they will become powerful forces if people management issues are neglected or dealt with poorly during the merger. A genuinely co-operative and consultative process is the way to go; that to overcome past cultural differences a new cultural identity must be established early in the merger by sharing the new vision and mission of the new entity; that mergers could be understood and managed in three distinct phases, which are, the pre-merger phase, the integration phase and the consolidation phase. Equally there are a number of merger steps. By reviewing the processes, procedures and practices of the DUT merger, a model has been developed to understand how mergers take place. In respect of the perception survey of merged institutions, respondents saw some benefits accrue to the academic goals and there were some efficiency gains. More students came into the higher education system. Not many were complementary about their state of physical resources including teaching and learning facilities. Some even felt that teaching and learning were set back during the merger period and this is backed up by key statistics for example like pass rates and dropout rates. Given the difficulty with the softer issues in mergers, much of the blame seems to have been directed at Management and Leadership. Nearly 50% of respondents felt that mergers did not result in high quality Management, while a slightly lower percentage of 42% thought that v mergers did not help establish high quality Councils. Many thought that their governance structures and systems were also weakened. Mergers are complex and it invariably affects the entire institution. It requires careful planning and preparation, inclusivity and a developmental approach to mergers. It also requires effective leaders to manage change of such magnitude. These are the ingredients to ensuring successful higher education mergers.
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    The development of universities of technology in the higher education landscape in South Africa
    (2010) Perumal, Richard Isiah; Wallis, Malcolm Alan Henworth
    To face the challenges of the 21st century, institutions need to address problems experienced by the modern world. The nature of modern work is changing and continually increasing, with knowledge, information and education. As we move further into the information and knowledge age, the workforce will require sophisticated education and training to sustain competitiveness and responsible development. In response to this challenge the DOE restructured Higher Education to make it relevant to the needs of society and industry. In terms of the National Plan Higher Education (2001) many Technikons were either converted to Universities of Technology (UOT) or merged into universities and became Comprehensive Universities. The Traditional University made up the third type of university. As a result three distinct types of institutions emerged, namely UOTs, Comprehensive Universities and Traditional Universities. In this configuration previous Technikons were reclassified as a UOTs and were able to offer degrees also. This research studied the development of UoTs and its evolution to “University” status. After being classified as Universities of Technology, it soon became clear that these universities lacked a philosophy. Its attributes were not clearly formulated by the DOE. It was left largely to the UoTs in South Africa to develop a set of attributes. This study developed an underlying philosophy, attributes, and performance indicators to guide the strategic direction and development of UoTs in creating a unique personality for itself. Five universities were studied in UK, Germany and Switzerland to develop a set of characteristics/attributes and performance indicators that can be adopted in South Africa. Five local UoTs were also studied, together with the South African Technological Network in building a set of common attributes. A Balanced Score Card was designed as a management model. Each attribute was linked to drivers and each driver was linked to performance indicators. The model included the various perspectives and components, which illustrated the interaction and cause and effect relationships. The philosophy of a Learning Organisation was adopted and its principals underpinned the interaction and relationships. This model will ensure that South African UoTs are able to comply with both national and international benchmarks. UoTs pride themselves by ensuring that they produce and apply knowledge to solve real world problems. These universities see themselves as part of the greater society and therefore partnerships are critical to its functioning. Technology transfer and leadership in technology is a key strategic goal in determining its unique position in the Higher Education landscape. The Balanced Score Card was used to develop a management model which is a tool in establishing a UoT with benchmarks, performance indicators and drivers.