Faculty of Management Sciences
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Item Embedding the advancement practice in South African universities : lessons from the Kresge Inyathelo Advancement Initiative (KIAI)(2024-05) Sedumedi, Mosimanegape David; Hardman, StanThe South African Higher Education academic enterprises are besieged with multiple challenges that threaten its viability. Both the government and academic leadership bemoan the dwindling fiscals and turbulent economic markets as factors contributing to this undesirable trajectory. This manifested in 2015, following the October student uprising over increases in student fees. Their main grievance was a call for zero-percent fee increase for the sector. The call later gravitated towards a demand for free education. Universities on the other hand, lament their dire need for student fees to augment the government funding to keep afloat. The impasse brought about by the students’ demand for free education on one hand, and the University’s quest for sustainability on the other, brought the South African Higher Education institutions’ viability model into scrutiny. Notwithstanding government’s obligation to public funding in a South African context, Universities are challenged to develop their own Advancement capacity to to mobilise resources from alternative funding sources. Advancement in this instance refers to a systematic and integrated approach to building and managing the external relationships with key constituencies and stakeholders thereby positioning an organisation to attract support (Inyathelo, 2015). This research is therefore aimed at contributing towards institutional Advancement body of knowledge, positioning it as a possible viability strategy. The study employs Stanford Beer’s (1981) Viable Systems Model’s diagnostic capability to analyse the Advancement practice to the end of informing organisational self-knowledge.Item Leadership capabilities for improving financial management ineffeciencies in the public sector(2023-06) Ntuli, Leanett Fanyana; Hardman, Stanley GeorgeA sound public financial management system is a precursor for the enhancement of service delivery and poverty reduction in an independent, democratic South Africa. The government has, through various Acts, closely regulated financial management in public institutions to ensure sustainable resource management for future generations. However, complex challenges related to leading and managing such institutions have continued to monopolise the realities of public financial management in towns and cities. Basic amenities such as water, electricity, and roads remain in a deplorable state, more so in disadvantaged communities. A volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous socio-economic landscape has exacerbated overspending and further widened the budget deficit gap. Legislators and public office bearers spend most of the time debating and aligning policy instruments towards compliance with standard procedure. They have not considered the relationship between convectional management and their leadership capabilities and its effectiveness in enhancing proper financial management and the resultant service delivery. Thus, an appreciation of the dynamic nature of how various institutions interact with policies and procedures, and inherent values, societal beliefs, as well as ethics, in effective management of finances is key, with this option enabling a robust approach in the management of public financial systems. Essentially, the research applied a multi-methodology research approach, which used a combination of System Dynamics, Soft Systems Methodology and Critical Systems Heuristics. The study revealed that if the Municipalities could recruit competent staff, the level of irresponsibility in the accounts or finance department would reduce inefficiencies and accountability will improve. This research unearths how systems thinking can develop and enhance leadership capabilities in an environment that allows for continuous learning. The outcome of the research is pertinent to public financial management practitioners, managers, and politicians, on how to enact sustainable public financial management.Item An investigation into the complexities of simultaneously being an accounting academic and a researcher – a Durban University of Technology (DUT) case study(2021-05) Ramsarghey, Anchal; Hardman, Stanley GeorgeAn investigation into the complexities of simultaneously being an accounting academic and a researcher – a Durban University of Technology (DUT) case study The purpose of the study is to provide insights into the contextual relevance of research expected of accounting academics in their pursuit of new knowledge. Accounting academics are aware that the theoretical underpinning of their discipline is regulated by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and thus, restricts accounting research. Capacity to undertake accounting research becomes a major concern. “what can I research and what is it going to do for me and my students?” is a very common question. Research is intended to generate new knowledge in a discipline but can be a means of reviewing and improving existing practice. Research reveals evidence-based methods of performing tasks efficiently. The research results should then feed directly into curriculum reform and design, thereby ensuring that what is being taught in future is relevant. Thus, research is informing teaching and learning. Graduate attributes will be enhanced resulting in students who are able to cope with real life accounting problems. This leads to a quest for further research, and the process begins anew. A Systems Thinking lens was used throughout the ethnographic study using Soft Systems Methodology predominantly. The Viable System Model and System Dynamics diagramming and modelling techniques are also used to unravel the problematical situation, with a view to construct a framework of enquiry for the study. A living theory paradigm with the aim of improving my practice was maintained throughout the study by the practitioner-researcher using action research. This study was intended to explore the teaching-research nexus using systems thinking to develop leadership capacity. In this context, leadership capacity was the change agency to enhance research output and curriculum reform. The results indicate that the factors that inhibit research are identifiable to develop a strategy to mitigate those factors using Soft Systems Methodology’s learning cycle. Recommendations for possible research areas that fall outside the realm of “technical knowledge” to address the complexities brought about by additional legislated practices to the profession have also been recognised. The results are the design of a framework for accounting academics to utilise to maximise their research productivity.Item Follow me, I’m right behind you : leading from a complexity viewpoint(University of Reading, UK., 2008-11) Mason, Roger BruceThis paper is based on the premise that businesses and their environments are complex adaptive systems (CAS), and are therefore too complex to be ‘managed’ by a single leader. The literature suggests that CASs are self-organising systems and that effective direction and guidance emerges from such self-organisation. Thus, the traditional view of a leader as a decision-maker, instructing and controlling the organisation is inappropriate in a complex/turbulent environment. A qualitative, case study method was used to investigate the leadership activities in four companies, two each in a turbulent industry (computers) and in a stable industry (packaging). Depth interviews were conducted with 31 respondents. Interview transcripts were analysed using NVIVO, and then compared with field notes and documentary analyses. The objective was to identify if a self-organising leadership approach was prevalent in the more successful company in the turbulent industry, and if bureaucratic management was more prevalent in the more successful company in the stable industry. In other words, is self-organising leadership more effective in a turbulent environment? The study has value as it is based on theories not common in the management literature. It is also of value to educators, as many management courses are still based on the assumption of the manager as all-knowing planner and controller. Furthermore, it will be of interest to practitioners who are under pressure from environmental changes, and from societies that are demanding more from their organisations. The findings showed that both the more successful companies, and the less successful computer company, operate via considerable self-organisation principles. Company activities and performance emerge from the interactions amongst the managers, staff and customers, with little direct instructional management from the CEOs. The less successful packaging company managed via the traditional bureaucratic model. These findings and their implications are discussed, and recommendations for further research are made.Item Complexity theory and leadership for turbulent environments(Kamla-Raj, 2013) Mason, Roger BruceBusinesses and their environments are complex adaptive systems, and are therefore too complex to be ‘managed’ by a single leader. Thus, the traditional view of a leader as a decision-maker, instructing and controlling the organisation is inappropriate in complex/turbulent environments. A qualitative, case method, using depth interviews, investigated leadership activities in four companies, in a country with a turbulent environment, to identify if self-organising leadership is more effective in turbulent environments than traditional bureaucratic management. The findings showed that self-organising leadership appears superior in turbulent environments. These findings and their implications are discussed, and recommendations for further research are made.Item Word of mouth as a promotional tool for turbulent markets(Routledge, 2008) Mason, Roger BruceWord-of-mouth advertising involves activities to encourage consumers to talk about a product or company to friends and neighbours, setting in motion a chain of communication that could spread through a whole market. Each activity, itself small and relatively unimportant, could escalate through word of mouth to create strong, positive brand images and beliefs. A major characteristic of chaos theory, sensitive dependence on initial conditions (the butterfly effect) is at work in word of mouth. This paper reviews word of mouth literature from a chaos/complexity theory perspective. Using a multiple case study approach, the significance of word of mouth in turbulent markets is assessed. It was found that more successful companies tended to use word of mouth proactively, and that it is an effective marketing tool for turbulent environments. Furthermore, chaos theory is shown as a good lens through which to view word of mouth. This paper is important because word of mouth has had little attention from the academic community, with the exception of electronic or Internet based word of mouth. Furthermore, it suggests an academic theory to underpin word of mouth that has not been considered before. In addition, it is important because, in South Africa and possibly in other under-developed and developing countries, word of mouth is critical to marketing to less sophisticated or literate markets.