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Faculty of Management Sciences

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Executive ability--South Africa

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    Distributed leadership at a South African university of technology : a multi-stakeholder model
    (2019-11) Haniff, Naseem; Daya, Preeya
    Leadership has been an area of interest for millennia, but never more so than within a 21st century VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world. Globalisation, massification, rapid socio-economic changes in tandem with the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are all challenges faced by higher education institutions internationally. South African higher education has not escaped these leadership challenges, but in addition faces its own unique issues, post-apartheid. The country’s democratic dispensation required that institutional governance and leadership be shared and participative, which aligns well to a distributed leadership stance. However, more than two decades later, events such as # FeesMustFall national campaigns, the strident student discourse and the rising clamour for transformation, questions if real change has actually taken place. This study examined the issue of university transformation by assessing multi-stakeholder participation in leadership and governance at a South African University of Technology. Taking cognisance of the multiplicity of issues facing higher education institutions it was important to utilise robust research methods, hence, the paradigm choice of a systems thinking worldview and complexity sciences. This study used multi-method research employing the Viable System Model (VSM) with the rich picture technique of the Soft System Methodology (SSM). Data was collected through qualitative interviews, respondent observation and archival data and examined using thematic analysis. Using the VSM as a diagnostic tool, enabled weaknesses and strengths of the institution to be identified, which informed the building of an institution specific model of distributed leadership. The findings of this study demonstrated institutional viability, albeit, in a hierarchical, bureaucratic manner. It nevertheless highlighted weaknesses of ‘soft’ or people-centred issues. Other identified concerns was that the university was more inward focused, on the ‘here and now’, often ignoring the ‘outside and then’ that is, the external environment and could imply that the institution is not well placed to handle national and global stressors. The model of distributed leadership addresses this deficit. This study established the appropriateness and applicability of using a systems thinking approach namely the VSM as a diagnostic tool to assess institutional shortcomings. In this way, it enabled appropriate recommendations and suggestions to improve the institutions viability to address the complexities facing 21st century higher educational institutions
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    An investigation into organisational leadership for the development of community arts centres
    (2017) Zulu, Lungani Innocent; Chetty, Gopalkrishna
    Modern human resource management practices have the potential to ensure successful businesses and organisations. This is more so where the most significant resource in the organisation are people. This study seeks to examine the leadership and managerial style that ideally could be useful in promoting and developing sustainable businesses with the focus of the study being in community arts centres. This study may be able to contribute to identifying and/or developing future entrepreneurs who may have an interest in opening their own community arts centres and businesses. The results of successful art centres may result in a proliferation of such centres and ultimately offering alternative careers and the opportunities for growth and development for the young South African. This may result in the creation and development of a more robust creative art and drama industry. While it is acknowledged that various other resources are critical for a business to develop including finance, the focus on the management of people forms the basis of this research. The Department of Arts and Culture has identified cultural industries as one of the drivers of economic growth and job creation. Early indications are that the cultural industries are already making a significant contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product. The Department of Trade and Industry estimates that the craft sector alone contributes about R2-billion (about 200 million Euros) or 0.14% to South Africa’s GDP annually (Department of Arts and Culture 2013). Community art centres could be the seeds for the growth of the cultural industry. The study included 101 participants, made up of eight (8) centre managers, 69 administrative staff members and 24 centre users. The key findings in this study covered the identification of the leadership, managerial qualities and attributes needed by owners and employees to successfully run/manage a business such as community art centre; to determine whether there is leadership development taking place as a strategic intent so that the next level of managers can head up these centres as well as encouraging some staff to pursue the entrepreneurial route and finally examining human resource principle, processes and practices that are useful when leading and managing a successful community arts centres.