Ounongo Repository (Namibia Univ. of Science and Technology)
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Evaluating reasons for non-payment of key services in Oshakati town, Namibia.
No full textMini-thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Leadership and Change Management in the Harold Pupkewitz School of Business, NUST.Local authorities face a general problem of having huge debts. This
suggests that self-generated revenue is no longer sufficient for municipalities to
undertake their service delivery activities. This study addressed three research
questions. What are the possible reasons why some consumers are failing to pay
for services? What are the contributing factors for non-payment of services on
service delivery? What strategies exist to encourage and maintain the payment
for services? The study used a multi-method that combined quantitative and
qualitative data so that there would be depth to the findings. The major findings
of the research were as follows. There is a performance gap between the
expectations of the customers and the service delivery by municipality on
problems pertaining to refuse collection, customer service and attending to
storm water drainage systems. This indicated poor service delivery. The
recommendations included a practical approach is needed to deal with floods
rather than wait for floods to take place and become reactive. Furthermore, there
is a great need to employ chartered accountants to manage financial statements.
Disconnections for revenue collections should be a last resort and should be used
as a tactic. Outsourcing complicated debts should be encouraged. Revenue collection strategies should be set in place to serve as a revenue collection guide.Supervisor: Prof. Grafton Whyt
A User Awareness Model for averting Computer Threats
No full textOne of the major reasons why systems are susceptible to threats in many ways or the other is the lack of the know-how and a follow up system for the education rendered to users, who in most cases are the weakest point for any perpetrated system attacks. Security awareness should be viewed as a gyratory exercise, as the attackers of systems never cease to explore on better and easier ways to penetrate organisational systems. This paper presents a user awareness model based on a case study done in one of the corporate environments in Namibia. The proposed model is a product of the different key facets that are perceived to be detrimental to system security in any average organisational setup. One of the major contributions of the User Awareness Model (UAM) is a systematic and procedural assessment tool of the user practice towards computer systems security, which can be applied to any organisational environment with the flexible option to vary the combination of security needs variables
Anti piracy disaster risk management for sea cargo logistics in the south east Atlantic and Benguela coastal area.
No full textPiracy in the south east Atlantic is an increasing challenge for shippers and freight forwarders, especially in the Gulf of Guinea. At the coast of Nigeria, Benin and Togo 63 per cent of piracy acts involved vessels are tankers carrying refined petroleum products. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) the official number of annual successful attacks in this region is approximately 50. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) concedes that the real number of pirate attacks is at least twice this figure (UNODC, 2014). The Namibian newspaper The Namibian reported on Thursday 11 July 2013 about the expanding plans of Namibias biggest port in Walvis Bay (Namport). It has been reported that Namport will increase its container handling ability up to one million TEU’s a year. It also will have one of the largest gas and oil supply bases in the region (Hartmann, 2013). Due to this, there will be a higher traffic of oil tankers and other cargo ships along the west coast of Africa. This situation could attract pirates to conduct attacks in the Benguela coast region. The Angolan air force and navy were already hunting suspected pirates after an oil tanker went missing near Luanda (BBC, 2014). Angola is a direct neighboring country to Namibia. Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) like South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia already exercise techniques and procedures to coordinate anti-piracy operations. More than 700 soldiers were involved in the Operation Welwitschia in 2013 (Nkala, 2013)
Introducing BYOD in an organisation: The risk and customer services viewpoints. Paper presented at the 1st Namibia Customer Service Awards & Conference, 2014.
No full textNamibia Customer Service Awards & Conference (1st: 2014 Nov.: Windhoek)With the recent technology advances and the rapid adoption of tablet computers and smartphones, it has become increasingly common for employees to use their own personal devices to perform various tasks in their work-place. This phenomenon is better known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). This new concept is seen as twofold: as not that simple to handle and, at the same time, many organisations are quickly adopting BYOD as it has been shown that it offers many positive effects such as increased job satisfaction, employee morale, better productivity and consumer services. However, permitting employees to utilise their own device of preference in the work-place also brings some risks often associated with the loss of control over organisational data. Hence, this study set to determine and assess the risk of introducing BYOD in an ICT organisation. The Case Study approach elicited that the secure use of the BYOD requires the introduction of mixed measures: technical (e.g. Mobile Device Management - MDM) and non-technical (e.g. ICT or BYOD security policies). This study also explored the customer services view related to the BYOD initiative and suggests that use of this initiative can leverage services. The contribution of this study, aimed at practitioners and academics, is seen as threefold as it can help organisations to successfully manage the introduction of BYOD for employees and customers satisfaction, create and implement appropriate policies and also assist the individuals to learn about the risks related to the use of BYOD in an organisation
Exploring key drivers enabling skills based graduates and artisans to take up entrepreneurial initiatives in Namibia: A case study of Windhoek.
No full textMini-thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in International Business, in the Harold Pupkewitz School of Business, NUST.Over 8,000 skill based graduates and artisans were trained during 2011-2012 from various Vocational Education and Training (VET) Centres in Namibia. Despite the skills gained and government spending of more than N$270mill during the 2012 /13 financial year, graduates fail to start businesses.
The overall objective of this research study was to establish which factors influence skills based graduates and artisans to start a business, by answering three questions. This study assessed thirteen factors based on four themes aligned to the metacognitive model of mind set and utilised quantitative research methods following a positivist approach. A pre-coded self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 118 skills based graduates and artisans operating SMEs from the City of Windhoek and Namibia Development Corporation (NDC) incubation centres and industrial stalls in Windhoek. Data was captured using MS Excel, analysed through SPSS, IBM 20, and One Way ANOVA test used to verify the significance of factors. The research found that four factors are critical drivers in influencing skills based graduates and artisans to take up entrepreneurial initiatives namely: Subject choices and initiation, access to funding, making the right decisions at crucial moments as a reason for business success and relevance of skills gained. The study concluded that entrepreneurial initiatives among the younger age group (18 to 25 years) is mainly dormant due to difficulties in accessing funding, lack of incentives and lack of programs to consciously inculcate entrepreneurial mind-sets. Continuous consultation and curricula review is essential to satisfy the skills requirements of the changing labour market.Supervisor: Mr. Tafirenyika Sund
An investigation of the supply chain challenges faced by small scale crop farmers at Etunda Irrigation Farm in Namibia.
No full textMini-thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in International Business, in the Harold Pupkewitz School of Business, NUST.The investigation of the supply chain challenges faced by small scale farmers at Etunda irrigation farm is the core of this study. The main rationale for the investigation is the fact that Green Scheme projects, of which Etunda is one
of them, is one of the key economic development and diversification focus areas
highlighted in Namibia’s fourth national development plan (NDP_4). The farming operations at Etunda are heavily dependent on logistical services for production inputs and post-harvest and marketing activities. The Government of the Republic of Namibia continues to make tremendous investment in the Green Scheme’s production, logistics and marketing infrastructure, yet, the small scale farmers are struggling to transform from subsistence to fully commercial farming practices. This study found that the high
cost of inputs, lack of inputs, limited flow of inputs, lack of suitable storage
facilities and transportation services, lack of market access, lack of management
skills, and lack of training are the main supply chain challenges faced by small
scale farmers at Etunda irrigation farm.
The findings are of qualitative nature and thus not meant to provide the quantifiable results which can be better attained by a qualitative study or else the combination of both qualitative and quantitative studies. Nevertheless, the study addresses the key research objective which is simply to identify the supply chain challenges as observed and experienced by the stakeholders.
Furthermore, it emerged that, the effects of these challenges transcend down the food chain and therefore should not be addressed in isolation because they are of a supply chain nature. The case-study research method backed up by semi-structured interviews were used to gather the empirical data in the Etunda supply chain.Supervisor: Prof. Grafton Whyte. Co-supervisor: Heikky Amwel
The SASSCAL/MAWF Weather Stations Network in Namibia: Overview of equipment and data transfer.
No full textReport compiled by Dr. B. Strohbach of the School of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences, NUST.Through the BIOTA project (2000 - 2009) 21 high end weather stations meeting WMO standards have been bought for deployment in Namibia. Some of these stations are replacing older equipment at the BIOTA observatories (Jürgens et al., 2010), while some are / will be placed in new strategic
localities. These 21 stations update their readings hourly on the web via the cell network or satellite communication. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) supported this project with 17 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) on their research stations. In addition, 14 other weather stations of different technical standard are currently operated by private individuals and primarily tourism lodge operators across the country. Data from these stations is displayed on the web under
the Namibia Weather Network. The Namibia Meteorological Service runs a number of automatic and manual weather stations. The World Meteorological Organizations lists 127 rainfall stations for Namibia
Small-scale irrigation farming system situational analysis in Namibia: Case study from Ndonga Linena Green Scheme, Kavango West Region.
No full textThis study forms part of a broader regional project, namely the Southern Agricultural Africa Inter-Comparison and Improvement Project (SAAMIIP) on integrated regional climate assessment.The aim of this paper is to examine the perceptions of small-scale irrigation farmers (SSIFs) with regard to climate change and their adaptation strategies in terms of its effects. This study forms part of a broader regional project, namely the Southern Agricultural Africa Inter-Comparison and Improvement Project (SAAMIIP) on integrated regional climate assessment. In analysing the SSIF farm situation, meta-analysis was the selected methodological application. Farm-level data was collected from the entire
population of 30 SSIFs at the Ndonga Linena Irrigation Project in February 2014. The findings reveal the key challenges of the project to be the level of entrepreneurship
and creativity, management practices (including irrigation management, marketing, financial management and risk management), sustainability practices, transportation,
storage facilities, high input costs and low output prices. The study consequently suggests that diversification via horizontal and vertical “line extension” and integrated
farming systems would be the most suitable means of mitigating climate-induced risks. In doing so, it is essential that government, nongovernmental organisations and
training institutions support the SSIFs in adopting the suggested model in order to ensure profitability and sustainability
Welcoming remarks by Prof. Tjama Tjivikua, Vice Chancellor, NUST, at the 19th Graduation Ceremony, 11 April 2014, 09h00, at Safari Court Hotel, Windhoek.
No full textGraduation Ceremony (19th: 2014 April 11: Windhoek
A critical analysis of stakeholder engagement in skills development in Namibia.
No full textMini-thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Leadership and Change Management in the Harold Pupkewitz School of Business, NUST.In recent years, stakeholder management is increasingly been discussed at national
and international levels, primarily due to the many corporate failures across different
services. Furthermore, companies are being held responsible for participation in
broader social functions that extend beyond their normal routine responsibilities.
This study investigates stakeholder engagement practices in skills development in
Namibia, in view of the position of the Namibian Training Authority (NTA) as the
custodian of skills development in Namibia. The study explores a number of challenges experienced in the process of stakeholder engagement ending with the recommendation for change. Furthermore, the research findings indicate that the current stakeholder engagement process is inclusive of a variety of stakeholders, however, the process is identified as having a number of challenges. The Level of Engagement model by Arnstein (1969) was used to determine the level of stakeholder engagement by the NTA, this found that a consultation approach was the most common. To improve the practice, it is proposed that the level of stakeholder engagement should be nurtured and progressed
to the level of partnership, where all key players are recognised to play their part in
determining what is fit for purpose. It was found that the current practice of
stakeholder engagement at NTA varies from one activity to another and from one
stakeholder group to another, leaving the process of engagement un-satisfactory for
many stakeholders. A number of engagement challenges were identified by the study ranging from lack of recognition of stakeholders needs, lack of communication with stakeholders and poor involvement of stakeholders in skills development activities. The study also recommends a number of changes required to mitigate these situations. These include the recognition of stakeholders’ inputs and commitment to skills development by all parties involved in the process.Supervisor: Prof. Grafton Whyt