Ounongo Repository (Namibia Univ. of Science and Technology)
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Out of the blue sky...?: Gender based violence and murder revisited.
No full textNamibia is swept up in an unprecedented wave of gender based murder. We seem at a loss of how to react effectively to this phenomenon. Individual responses like “bury them alive”, “this carnage has to stop…immediately”, “reintroduce the death penalty” reflect a high degree of helplessness. It is important to note however, that the incidence of gender based murder is perceived as something which is a more recent phenomenon, something which was not there two, three generations back. This is a contention which is extremely difficult to prove for a number of reasons which cannot be explicated here. But it is a contention which provides leverage with those who profess it, because it allows us to bring society back into the equation. It implies (a) that the root cause of the problem is not situated at individual level, (b) that the problem has been in the making for a long time, a problem which did not fall out of the blue sky, and (c) that it is intertwined with the continuous evolution of our social structure. If this is so, punishment as a means of specific and general deterrence will not to help much. The instrumental effect of punitive action as a deterrence is small, and for the symbolic meaning of increased public censure to become functionally integrated in the mind/self of members of society, of actual or potential criminal actors, in other words to take effect at individual level, with a measurable effect at aggregate level (incidence), it needs to be systematically backed up in and throughout the social. Punishment as deterrence satisfies our need for action, but like in most other instances of raising punitivity levels (e.g. Stock Theft Act), the effects are barely measurable, and action becomes activism
Remarks by the CEO of NSAF at the signing ceremony of the Memorandum oif Agreement (MOA) between NSFAF and NUST.
No full textMemorandum of Understanding, NUST and Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) (2014 April 22: Windhoek
Online business marketing for SMMEs in low-resource communities: A step by step process for setting up an online interactive environment. Paper presented at the 1st Namibia Customer Service Awards & Conference, 2014.
No full textNamibia Customer Service Awards & Conference (1st: 2014 Nov.: Windhoek)The rise of entrepreneurship has led to the development of small businesses. These developments have also been witnessed in low resource areas. As a result, the continuous increase of small business creates stiff competition among businesses. Some entrepreneurs have opted to utilise ICTs to improve their businesses. The use of ICTs has enabled the application of e-business services such as e-commerce, e-marketing and online negotiation. In this paper we used the rural entrepreneurs as the case study. The main challenge that these entrepreneurs face is to reach the customers and sell widely. An online business platform is developed to satisfy the needs of the entrepreneurs. The proposed application offers the following functionalities: shop owners to upload products online, customers to get points for buying online and to negotiate by making offers online. The paper presents a step by step process of setting up an online platform. The paper educates the existing and emerging entrepreneurs on the online marketing technical process and functionalities
Welcome remarks by Prof. Tjama Tjivikua, Vice Chancellor, NUST, on the occasion of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the NUST and the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF), on 22 April 2014, 11h30, NUST Hotel School.
No full textMemorandum of Understanding, NUST and Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) (2014 April 22: Windhoek
Speech/graduation address by Ms. Evelyn Breuer, Chairperson, NUST Council, at the occasion of the 19th Graduation Ceremony of the NUST, Safari Court Hotel, Windhoek, on 11 April 2014
No full textGraduation Ceremony (19th: 2014 April 11: Windhoek
Investigating the relationship between aggregate savings and investment in Namibia: A causality analysis.
No full textThe discussion concerning the link between savings and investment in the literature is quite extensive. Most of the past studies concerning this relationship are cross-sectional in nature. The obvious difficulty with such studies is the homogeneity assumption that is usually made across the countries under investigation. Therefore,
country specific studies are necessary to shed light on the savings-investment nexus. For Namibia, such studies are very scarce. In light of this, the study tried to fill this gap in some ways by attempting to investigate the causal relationship between savings and investment in Namibia using relevant econometric techniques. The
evidence arising from the study suggests that, savings and investment are not co-integrated. In other words, there
is no reason to suspect either a long-run or equilibrium relationship between these two variables. This could also be interpreted to imply the existence of high capital mobility. Furthermore, a unidirectional causal relationship between savings and investment in Namibia running from savings to investment was observed. In light of these
results, some policy measures were put forward
The impact of the logistics gap on customer service in southern Africa: Evidence from Namibia and the Republic of South Africa. Paper presented at the 1st Namibia Customer Service Awards & Conference, 2014.
No full textNamibia Customer Service Awards & Conference (1st: 2014 Nov.: Windhoek)Logistics is essential for the development of trade (& therefore potential wealth) in southern Africa. To enable this to succeed it is crucial that the industry provides good (international) standards of customer service. Therefore, it is important to understand the current level of service provision as well as: what influences it, which skills are required and thus the impact of any skills gap. Within this context, this paper addresses the question: “What is the impact of the logistics skills gap on customer service in southern Africa” drawing its evidence from Namibia and the Republic of South Africa.
Previous research strands investigated skills requirements and shortages in the logistics industry of South African, determined stakeholder views on barriers to logistics development in Namibia as well as understanding of the service levels that are offered. This study uses the findings of these research strands, supported by additional data from literature as well as by stakeholder and academic feedback from conferences, workshops and publications. It gave a nuanced view of the probable extent and magnitude of the skills gap in the southern African logistics industry and evaluated the impact that this may have on the future service provision in the two countries and, in outline terms, the region as a whole. It identified differences and similarities between the two countries’ industries and established a base-line for future research in the SADC / SACU area. The work provides an independent view on logistics skills capability and the progress in capacity development, which is vital for the future development and welfare of the region. It emphasises the need to cultivate people related skills in parallel with infrastructure development to ensure that the serviceability offered is adequate to ensure that any predicted benefits are achieved
Engineering Research for Economic Advancement in Namibia
No full textThe aim of this special issue of the Open Journal of Applied Sciences on Engineering Research for
Economic Advancement is to articulate the relevance of applied engineering research in driving
the economic development and sustainability, and addressing national and regional needs of the
“small economies”. The research focus areas covered in this issue include renewable energy, water
resources management, manufacturing systems, and sustainable mining practices. The focus areas
are also relevant in addressing the global change challenges relating to sustainable production
and consumption of natural resources for provision of basic services at national and local level
The teaching and learning of poetry at postgraduate level: a cognitive stylistics approach
No full textAssociate Professor, Department of Communication, PoN (NUST), Windhoek, NamibiaThe major purpose of this research was to enhance the methods for the teaching and learning of
poetry at Adama Science and Technology University (Ethiopia) through a cognitive stylistics
practice. The study was pursued with the conviction that the poetry writing skills of postgraduate
learners can be enhanced through a cognitive stylistics method.
The research was conducted on the basis of an experimental research design which was started in
2013 and ended in 2014. A total of 20 postgraduate students participated in the study. These
students were again classified into an experimental group (10) and control group (10) randomly.
The students in the experimental group took the course through a cognitive stylistics method.
Areas in the cognitive stylistics unit included: verbal irony, cognitive metaphor, image–schema,
figure and ground, implicature, contextual effects, relevance and aboriginal poetry. Active
learning methods (ALM) were also integrated into the cognitive stylistics framework so that the
students could vigorously dominate the learning and teaching of poetry. However, the students in
the comparison group took the same course with a traditional teaching method. Prepared notes
and lectures on themes, techniques, figures of speech and literary elements were given. The
teacher-cum-researcher often dominated the teaching and learning process. Each group was
given similar pre- and post-tests, designed specifically for this research purpose. Before the
classroom experiment was carried out, a pilot study was conducted in 2013 with a different group
of postgraduate students. The selection of the poems and the revision of the tests were finalized
after the pilot study was completed.
After the completion of the course, both sample groups took a test out of 20. As the mean pretest
score showed, both the control and experimental groups performed differently in their creative
writing pretest. The experimental mean score which was 9.88 was a little higher than the control
mean score of 9.31. But, the t-test result for the pre-test showed that there was no significant
difference between the mean scores of both the experimental and control groups. However, the tvalue
of the cognitive stylistics post-test was 15.168 and 9.726. The table value of t-critical was
2.10 with 18 degree of freedom and at a significance level of 0.05. Because the t-value of 15.168
was much greater than the t-critical value of 2.10 for two tailed test, at 0.05 level of significance
for 18 degree of freedom, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, the cognitive stylistics
method enhances poetry teaching and learning in a tertiary context in Ethiopia. It was then
recommended that poetry teachers can integrate the cognitive stylistics method while teaching
poetry at postgraduate level
An investigation of strategy implementation in a local authority: Case study, Local Authority Council.
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.The literature review reveals that strategy implementation is a critical phase of
the holistic strategic management process. There is inter-connectivity between all the
strategic management phases and therefore if one phase is not correctly addressed, it
has a bearing on the remaining phases. Various authors identified barriers and drivers of strategy implementation. The purpose of this study was to assess the characteristics of strategy implementation of a specific Local Authority Council (LAC).
Through a mixed research methodology (semi-structured interviews and questionnaires), data was collected from the Management Cadre (inclusive of Councillors) of the specific LAC. A response rate of 87.5% was achieved.
After the analysis and interpretation of the results it was concluded that: Strategy implementation is important however difficult to implement from a pragmatic point of view. Addressing barriers of strategy implementation requires commitment and a concerted effort both at a process and behavioural level. Various barriers i.e. leadership commitment, organisational culture, organisational structure, communication, strategy formulation and incentives impedes strategy implementation. The study agrees with the literature that these factors are truly inhibiting strategy implementation in organisations and equally in the identified LAC. Understanding of strategy and effective communication is a barrier both locally and internationally.
Political interference was identified as an additional barrier that poses unique
challenges to the context of Local Authorities. Drivers of strategy implementation were identified and discussed in the literature and leadership was described as a key driver of strategy implementation. In the study, leadership did not emerge as the most significant driver for successful strategy implementation, but rather effective communication and appropriate incentives as leading catalysts, followed by leadership and availability of resources. Many strategy implementation studies which exist are predominately based on private corporations, local firms’ and multi-national firms. However it lacks
implementation perspectives from state-owned or public sector organisations. In addition to the above, the literature reveals that few models of strategy implementation exist, as well as how the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is adopted as a tool for measuring effectiveness of strategy implementation in public organisations. The following recommendations are made in respect of this study, namely: It has been stated that there has been no studies comparing similarities and differences of strategy implementation among private corporations and state-owned
enterprises, or amongst local firms of multi-national organisations. No comparative
literature exists of strategy implementation in local authorities and private
organisations. The specific differences in these organisations have not been explored,
and pose an avenue for future research.
A further area of future research could be the fact that literature indicated that a
few models on strategy implementation exist. It is recommended that a model be developed to guide strategy implementation in Local Authorities. From the various survey data it is evident that the LAC is challenged with
leadership (Councillors and Senior Management) issues, the understanding of strategic management and specifically strategy implementation. LAC’s should focus on the aspect of implementing strategy in their leadership development interventions.
The areas of communicating strategy and the alignment of incentives to strategy
implementation are definite areas where improvements are needed in LAC’s and where
future attention and resources should be allocated towards.Supervisor: Dr. Rudi Koekemoer; Co-supervisor: Dr. Grafton Whyt