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Faculty of Management Sciences

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Human capital

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    The impact of educational attainment on household poverty in South Africa : a case study of Limpopo province
    (Informa UK Limited, 2019-07-29) Wanka, Fru Awah; Rena, Ravinder
    The provision of education in South Africa during the apartheid regime was poor, particularly for the African population and especially those living in the homelands. This has hindered those lacking the required skills from obtaining lucrative employment and earning prospects. The Income and Expenditure Survey data conducted by Statistics South Africa, for the period 1995, 2000, 2005/06 and 2010/11 were used to carry out this investigation. The official absolute income poverty lines of R3864 (lower bound) and R7116 (upper bound) per annum in 2000 prices were used. In order to establish the relationship between education and poverty status of an individual, a probit regression model was used. This model helped to determine the relationship between the head of a household’s level of education and the poverty status of the household. The results obtained reveal that there is a strong tendency for lower educational attainment to be associated with a higher prevalence of household poverty. This study aims at investigating the impact of a household head’s educational attainment level on the poverty status of the individual household in South Africa, using Limpopo province as a case study. This study seeks to establish whether education has an effect on poverty alleviation in Limpopo province.
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    Investigating factors that influences employee turnover in the hospitality industry : a case study at Durban Marine Theme Park (Ushaka Marine World)
    (2020-04) Nyezi, Nokuthula Thandeka; Viriri, S.
    Employee turnover has become an important area of research from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. It is important from a theoretical perspective, in understanding how the underlying causes of turnover can provide insights into how to control the phenomenon. However, from a practical standpoint, learning how to minimize the turnover of skilled employees is crucial in reducing employee replacement costs. A decreasing employee turnover keeps knowledgeable and experienced employees working in the organization. A large portion of the employee turnover problems that we have seen in the recent past can be directly linked to the fact that jobs were plentiful and employees were scarce, considering overall unemployment was at or near a 30-year low. In this study, the researcher reviewed a variety of published literature dealing with employee turnover in general and some more specific to employee turnover in the retail industry. Employees who transfer to other positions within the same organization are not considered in the calculation, as well as those who retired, had their job phased-out or were terminated due to downsizing. Turnover rates for employees can be measured and compared over time and across companies, using what is commonly referred to as the employee turnover index. The main aim of this study is to investigate factors that influence employee turnover and their impact on employee performance at Durban Marine Theme Park. The objectives of the study, to investigate the causes for the high employee turnover in the hospitality industry, examine what are the consequences of the high employee turnover in hospitality industry, determine factors that contribute to employee turnover and propose possible solutions towards the reduction of employee turnover. The research design used in this study will be quantitative study, structured questionnaires. 100 respondents will be selected none randomly, hence the use of non-probability technique. The researcher selected the non-probability sampling design method and purposive sampling for this study to confine to a specific group of people who would able to provide the necessary information. The study can be beneficial in addressing problem of high employee turnover at Durban Marine Theme Park.
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    Sustainable human capital strategy for White youth in a transformed South African Navy
    (2022) Kubu, Asiel Elias; Pillay, S.S.
    On its inception to power, the Government of National Unity inherited a society marked by profound social and economic inequalities as well as serious racial, political and social divisions. In forging ahead with the process of national reconciliation, reconstruction and development, the public service was expected to play a very critical role as an executive arm of the state. The public service thus needed to transform into a coherent, representative, competent and democratic instrument in line with the Constitution to fulfil this role effectively. Human capital refers to the accumulation of competencies, knowledge and skills to perform a task. To a degree, the effectiveness of an organisation depends on the quality and effectiveness of its employees. Without a high-quality workforce, an organisation is destined for mediocre performance. The Human Resource Strategy of 2010 of the Department of Defence aims at ensuring the availability of the right number and quality of personnel in the right place and at the right time. The SA Navy as part of the department is also governed by this strategy. Since the integration of the seven armed forces in the South African National Defence Force, the SA Navy being the least service that benefited from this process, implemented an aggressive recruitment strategy to ensure representativeness of all groups in the organisation. Before the democratisation of the republic, the SA Navy consisted of predominantly white people as blacks were debarred from joining the organisation in the past. The recruitment strategy post-1994 saw the number of whites declining annually and currently, less than what is prescribed in the Defence Review of 1998 and the Navy Review of 2002. The reported intakes from 2015 to 2020 in the SA Navy also confirm the continuous decline of white youth joining the organisation. The study established possible reasons for the decline of white youth in the SA Navy. The demographic representation in the Republic contributes to the problem. Blacks, in particular Africans, increase annually and the 2007 to 2016 community survey confirms this impasse. The subsequent Mid-term community surveys of 2018 and 2020 depict the same trend. However, without an aggressive recruitment strategy to attract white youth, the declining percentages will continue to increase even outside the demographic representation of the Republic. The qualitative and quantitative approaches undertaken during the research propose an interactive intervention on the part of the SA Navy to attract and retain white youth in the organisation.
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    The synergy between human resources and operations commitment at a selected car rental company
    (2021-11) Sing, Sudheer; Dlamini, Bongani Innocent
    Due to high staff turnover of the front line staff appointed as Rental Sales Agents, it has been established that this creates disharmony in the work place for the remaining employees that have been in their roles over a long period of time. From observation, employee morale is affected, due to stress, longer working hours and other related factors due to being short of manpower in the relevant business unit. A study by Zheng (2017), asks: Does Staff Turnover Affect Productivity? Zheng (2017), states that in the Corporate World of Business, each company’s productivity is complex and measured differently, but the one factor that remains constant and always hurts productivity is employee turnover. “When employees are constantly moving, it is difficult to maintain the level of output; that’s mainly because new employees need time to train and to get used to the work, before they reach full productivity”. The researcher has confirmed that the organisation in this study is a reputable brand that is a leader in the car rental service industry. It can therefore be argued that in order to remain a leader in the industry, it requires the appropriate resources in order to be able to stay ahead of its competitors. One of the key resources identified in this study is, Human Capital. Human Capital should be equipped with the requisite skills to be able to assist the customer fully. This will enable operations to successfully achieve its goal through its people which is the main function of an effective HRMS, defined as Human Resource Management System. It is alleged that synergy between the Operations and Human Capital Department is not cohesive and is therefore impacting on productivity, satisfaction and organisational commitment at the selected Car Rental Company. In order for this organisation to be in line with its vision, which is to exceed customer expectations at every Interface, it has been established that employee commitment, as brand ambassadors has to be aligned and re-enforced for maximum productivity which can be maintained, hence, according to Dattagupta (n.d), “organizational effectiveness points towards effective, prudent and strategic use of all the organizational resources, namely, Human, Financial and Technological resources for creating a competitive advantage. The organizational effectiveness also calls for creating sustainable growth and development by taking care of not only the senior shareholders' expectations, but also the expectations of the junior stakeholders. It also means that Management makes the right ethical decisions in the interest of all the stakeholders, which includes all the employees of the organisation”.
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    Assessing the effects of inadequate human capital affecting brand image of the hospitality and tourism industry
    (2018-11) Pitso, Adelaide Rethabile Motshabi; Agbenyegah, Albert Tchey
    The demand for educated, trained, professional and skilled employees in the hospitality and tourism industry (HOSTI) has grown drastically. HOSTI is one of the biggest industries in the world; World Tourism Organisation estimated that one in ten jobs depends on the HOSTI. (CTH 2016:3). Yet, literature still reveals inadequate human capital (HC) in the HOSTI. Inadequate HC may be influenced by how people perceive the industry. How people perceive the industry affects the brand image. The aim of this research was to assess the effects of lack of HC on HOSTI brand image. Identifying the effects will assist the entire HOSTI to avoid negative impact of lack of HC for lasting improvements in the industries. Qualitative design was employed to carry out this research through non-probability particularly purposive sampling. Thus, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted. To gather relevant information hospitality and tourism DUT students and lecturers were interviewed. 61 individuals were interviewed and 4 FGDs were conducted. This research gathered an empirical data that went through a thematic process of data analysis. This research used thematic framework as a guide of semi- structured interviews and FGDs. Empirical outcomes of this research revealed that both DUT hospitality and tourism students and lecturers agreed that lack of qualified personnel in the industry exists. They further stated that HOSTI is a very attractive industry even though family and friends do not regard it as a professional career. The research recommended few strategies that employer’s may use to enhance the HOSTI brand image. Recommendations included that frequent auditing of employees qualifications and skills level should be an ongoing process. In addition, employers should change all negative attributes towards the industry. The research also recommended further research should employ a larger sample and other institutions.
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    Expatriates and knowledge transfer : a case study of a power plant constructed in Africa
    (The Clute Institute, 2015-03) Ravu, S. Y.; Parker, Kudayja Mahommed
    This paper outlines aspects of a broader exploratory study on the management of skills shortages at a leading energy utility in Africa. Specifically, the paper examines the opinions of local and foreign personnel employed on a power plant construction project on the nature of skills shortages experienced at the energy utility, the organizations short-term strategy of dealing with the shortages by employing expatriates and the latters role in knowledge transfer. Various human resources approaches were explored to provide appropriate theoretical structure to the research including intellectual capital and human capital models. A sample of highly skilled personnel defined as key job families according to the Kaplan and Norton (2004) human capital model were purposively selected for the study. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. International research on expatriates impact on knowledge transfer within the public sector environment is very scarce; this is the first research of its kind to examine these issues at a public power plant. Preliminary results indicate that the type of knowledge, willingness to learn and share on the part of both expatriates and locals, and national culture are some of the factors impacting the success of knowledge transfer from expatriates to locals.
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    A theoretical framework for four key selected determinants of Municipal financial performance
    (MCSER, 2014-12) Nzuza, Zwelihle Wiseman; Lekhanya, Lawrence Mpele
    The aims of this study are twofold: to identify factors influencing the success of municipal financial performance and to design a model for key selected determinants of municipal financial performance. The study was cross-sectional and quantitative in nature and the questionnaire was an instrument used for data collection, and was distributed to only one municipality in the Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) Province. The sample consisted of 82 respondents, selected using a census sampling method. The proposed theoretical framework was designed following a literature review. The factors that fitted to the best were then selected as the basis for the proposed model. The results indicate a significant relationships of stock requisition (p=.000), procurement understanding (p=.007), human transparency (p=.000), and understanding of information communication technology (ICT) (p=.000) with municipal financial performance. The study recommends that other researches to test and validate a proposed model could be conducted with large sample sizes.