Ounongo Repository (Namibia Univ. of Science and Technology)
Ounongo Repository (Namibia Univ. of Science and Technology)Not a member yet
826 research outputs found
Sort by
An evaluation of the strategic management process of Namibian Correctional Services and its relevance to the Windhoek Correctional Facility.
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.This study investigates the problem of dysfunctional processes in formulating,
implementing, monitoring and evaluating a strategic management plan of the Ministry
of Safety and Security and the National Correctional Services in Namibia using a case
study of the Windhoek Central Prison. The main objective is to evaluate how
participation of staff in the planning influences the extent to which strategic planning
has been used to create efficiency and effectiveness in the Ministry and Department of
Correctional Services. Therefore, the thesis is geared to explore answers to this
research question: To what extent has the strategic plan in the MSS and successive
NCS strategic management plan been used to create efficiency and effectiveness in
the Ministry?
It was found that the Ministerial strategic plan 2009-2014 and NCS strategic
management plan 2011-2014 were unknown documents at the WCF, which is an
indication that participation of staff in the process of formulation, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of the strategic plan was minimal. It was also found that
although the ministerial strategic plan cascaded to the departmental strategic
management plan, it ended there without cascading down to annual plans as proposed
by the OPM. The thesis recommends that the MSS and NCS should improve on their
planning method to ensure that it is participatory and all employees are involved at
every stage of strategic planning. The strategic plan should also be translated into
annual action plans to effect achievement of the objectives being set in the five year
strategic plan of the Ministry.Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Niikondo. Co-supervisor: Dr. Rosemary Townsen
Pirates on the high seas: Destabilised supply chain efficiency and performance - the case of SIDS (Small Island Developing State) Seychelles.
No full textThe period over the past 5 years, 2006 to the present day, has seen a dramatic change to the pre-existing levels of security and safe passage for sea-going vessels in Seychelles waters. In 2006, for example, there were no reported incidents of pirate activity in Seychelles waters. However, this has rapidly changed over these past 5 years, to one where the EUNAVFOR European Union Naval Force Operation ATALANTA now defines that entire north west Indian Ocean as
Suez to the north, 10 degrees south (northern tip of Madagascar) and 78 degrees East (Cape Comorin, India). This is a massive sea area, and encompasses the entire Seychelles EEZ Economic Exclusion Zone which is in itself extremely large measuring 1,393,000 square kilometres. By comparison the western European countries of France, Germany, Italy and UK altogether total 1,450,000 square kilometres. The task of successfully patrolling and policing the entire NW Indian Ocean is an enormous undertaking akin to ‘looking for a needle in a haystack', giving an idea of the logistical challenge anti-piracy work entails. Armed ships, convoy running, well trained crews and extreme diligence, are just some of the ways to try and face this modern-day scourge on the high seas
An empirical study of the planning and implementation of competency based education and training in vocational education training centres in Namibia: The case of Namibia Training Authority.
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.Namibia is currently undergoing a dramatic reform of its overall development strategy through its national statement, Vision 2030. As part of the response to make Vision 2030 a reality, the government came up with an Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP), which represents the education and training sector’s response to the call of Vision 2030. Its key purpose is to substantially enhance the sector’s contribution to the attainment of strategic national developmental goals and to facilitate the transition to a knowledge-based economy.
The emphasis, according ETSIP, is on enhancing the quality of life for all and that calls for the intended rapid economic growth to be accompanied by equitable social development, according to Vision 2030. These twin goals of growth with equity are to be pursued within a broader strategic framework of transforming the economy into a knowledge-based economy (ETSIP, 2006).
However, a critical impediment to the acceleration of growth, according to ETSIP, is the sluggish and sometimes even declining productivity in some of the sectors. This could be ascribed to the shortage of skilled workers on various levels and of various areas within industry. Without acceleration of economic growth, it is difficult for Namibia to create jobs to curb the current 51% unemployment rate, especially jobs that signal productivity growth, reduce poverty and attain equitable social development. Employers note the shortage of qualified artisans and technical staff as a constraint on increasing their productivity (ETSIP, 2006). One way of addressing this burning issue of skills shortages and unemployment, by the Namibian government, was the establishment of The Namibian Training Authority (NTA) under the Vocational, Education and Training Act (2008), with the aim of taking over management and direction of Vocational Education Training (VET) in Namibia. One of the strategic objectives for the restructuring is to improve the quality of VET, by establishing a Competency Based Education and Training (CBET) Programme (NAMCOL, 2011). The purpose of this case study was thus, to uncover the perceived (understood) effectiveness, of the transformation process of developing and implementing the CBET Program as a method of training in vocational training centres in Namibia by the NTA. An interpretive philosophical overview with a qualitative approach was found suitable for this study. The research design was a case study; and the specific research method for data collection was semi- structured interviews that were conducted at the research site; the NTA. A non-probability sampling technique was chosen and participants were selected purposively. The unit of analysis were those managers directly involved in the transformation process. Data were organised, categorised and interpreted in such a way that it would reflect the issues covered by the data obtained from the six subjects, which can then be adequately summarised in order to draw conclusions, for the purpose of making relevant recommendations.
Looking at the change management strategies utilised (or not) by NTA in the transformation process, will hopefully, promote an understanding or inform practice in similar situations. It could, furthermore, be useful for investigating how an individual or programme changes over time, perhaps as the result of certain circumstances or interventions. The results could be used as a guiding tool to inform others of some of the realities that could be expected and how these realities can be dealt with when going through a process of change. It could also put other change agents at ease knowing that, there are companies out there experiencing similar obstacles as those faced by them and yet they were able to pull through successfully.
The effectiveness could only be determined in terms of the research questions formulated by the main research question. From the findings, it can be deduced that the implementation of the new system was not totally ineffective, but also not a hundred percent effective. Research question four was not achieved at all, meaning that in the absence of a proper change management model or strategic plan the implementation was not really successful. Recommendations were given by the participants themselves on how to improve the effectiveness there off.Supervisor: Prof. Frank Witt. Co-supervisor: Prof. Grafton Whyt
Assessment of farmers' perceptions and the economic impact of climate change in Namibia: Case study on small scale irrigation farmers (SSIFs) of Ndonga Linena Irrigation Project.
No full textThis paper examines perceptions of small-scale irrigation farmers (SSIFs) with regard to climate change and their adaptation strategies in terms of its effects. The The Multinomial Logit (MNL) and the Trade-Off Analysis models were applied. Farm-level data was collected from the entire population of 30 SSIFs at the Ndonga Linena Irrigation Project in February 2014. Results from the MNL reveal that the gender, age and farming experience and extension services, yield and mean rainfall shift, are significant and positively related to the level of the farmers' diversification strategies. Trade-off analysis for multi-dimensional impact assessment (TOA_MD) model results project that climate change will have a negative economic effect on farmers, with 17.5, 25.95, 41.15 and 3.76% of farmers set to gain from climate change across 20, 30, 40 and 50% physical yield reduction scenarios respectively. Farm net return and per capita income are also expected to decline across all scenarios in future, while the poverty level is expected to rise. This study will have certain policy implications in terms of safeguarding the farmers' limited productive assets. Policy should target diversification
A critical assessment of the impact of organisational culture on sustainable leadership development: A case of the Government Institutions Pension Fund in Namibia.
No full textThesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Leadership and Change Management , in the Harold Pupkewitz Graduate School of Business, at the NUST.Organisational culture and leadership are elements in a company that work in conjunction with one another toward organisational success. The main objective of this study was to critically analyse, evaluate, and assess the impact that organisational culture could have in successfully sustaining leadership development within the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) in Namibia. Both culture and leadership influence how the company will function and the extent to which its goals will be achieved. There seems to be a two-way relationship between organisational culture and leadership: organizational culture will either determine how leadership functions or leadership will transform the culture to make it support the organisation's values. The two aspects of this relationship are mutually reinforcing. This study, therefore, examined the extent to which the interplay between these two aspects has succeeded in promoting strong leadership within GIPF. A questionnaire was used to collect information from a sample of 50 respondents. The findings showed that the mutually reinforcing interplay between organisational culture and leadership has produced capable and sustainable leadership that has become the key driving force behind the success of GIPF in reducing employees' turnover and increasing financial investment.Supervisor: Prof. Samuel Mensa
Quality assessment: Student perspective and reality
No full textSouthern Africa Association for Educational Assessment conference(8),Safari Windhoek 16-18 June 2014.Our research focuses on the student perception of plagiarism, the extent to which they truly understand what is meant by the term, and sincerity with which they address the issue in their studies and written assignments. Whether they feel that they have received sufficient input and training from the institution in terms of being able to avoid plagiarising others works. All of which, has a direct impact upon the quality of academic assessment and output in the institution. The OED defines plagiarism as: "…to take and use as one's own, the thoughts, writing or inventions of another", for academic purposes this is better expressed by the Hong Kong University as: “…the unacknowledged use, as one’s own, of work of another person, whether or not such work has been published”, and it is with reference to this definition of plagiarism that we focus this research.2 Our investigations will carry out questionnaire based research on groups of NUST students, ensuring equal weighting of students from the different Poly Faculties to provide the necessary primary research findings for our paper. It is a timely and important piece of research as we transform into a university, and our paper will help to highlight some of the challenges faced by students in terms of their ability to comprehend and address quality and specifically plagiarism issues in their studies, as well as the degree of assistance that they perceive they receive from the institution and staff. Research findings will be both qualitative and quantitative
African hybrids: Exploring Afropolitanism in 'Ghana Must Go'.
No full textThis article explores the representation of Afropolitanism in Taiye Selasi’s debut novel Ghana must go (2013). The purpose of the article is to explore Afropolitanism using Selasi’s (2005) essay “Who is an Afropolitan?” as a benchmark. Selasi blends the words ‘Africa’ and ‘cosmopolitan’ in her essay, which discusses the fashion, dance style, and nationality of the Afropolitan, but she does not discuss themes in literature. She coined the term because she was never satisfied with the answers she gave when she was questioned about her identity. This article draws on two main theoretical approaches, the first being the diaspora and transnationalism theory, addressing concerns of people who have re-patriated in search of self-development through work or studies; the second theoretical approach is the hybridity as creolisation theory, which addresses the concerns of people born in Europe or the West to purely African ancestors or with one of the parents of a different ethnicity. The article reveals the following themes that pertain to Afropolitanism in Ghana must go (2013): cultural hybridity, careers, identity formation and an African bond, thus demonstrating that Afropolitanism does not relate only to fashion, dance style and art, but its exploration is also relevant in literature. This article contributes to knowledge of the world as a global village, but more specifically the international integration of cultures as expressed in literature, not only in the African diaspora, but in Africa as well
An investigation into the effectiveness of the decentralisation process as a means of integrating staff into Regional Councils: A case study of Ohangwena Regional 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 objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of
decentralisation as a means to integrate central government seconded staff into
Ohangwena Regional Council. The study highlights the knowledge of decentralisation
in Ohangwena Regional Council, the delegated education diVice Chancellorate and maintenance
section; the planning and co-ordination of the two delegated function’s activities
between a regional council and delegating line ministries, the management of central
government seconded staff in terms of induction, training and recruitment, the
readiness of Ohangwena Regional Council for devolution and the level of integration
of central government seconded staff in Ohangwena Regional Council. The main findings of the study are that central government seconded staff are not well integrated into Ohangwena Regional Council. The level of integration is found to be moderate. This study reveals that there are several challenges that contribute to this low level of integration .The lack of capacity in the decentralisation policy at operational level comes out as one of the key contributing factors. This study argues that the Ministry of Regional and Local Government Housing and Rural Development provided training on decentralisation at the
beginning of the decentralisation program and is currently focusing on conducting
sensitisation workshops to ensure that the decentralisation policy is understood well
by all, especially at sub-national government as the key implementer. This study will then serve as a source document for key stakeholders to the decentralisation process in addressing key issues impacting on the effective integration of central government seconded staff in regional councils.Supervisor: Dr. S. B. Lwendo. Co-supervisor: Dr. G. Whyt
Welcoming remarks by Prof Tjama Tjivikua, Vice Chancellor, NUST of Namiba, at the launch of the National Disability Council of Namibia Capacity Building programme, 13 February 2014, NUST, Hotel and Tourism School, Windhoek
No full textLaunch of National Disability Council Capacity Building programme (2014 Feb. 13: Windhoek
Entropy generation analysis in a variable viscosity MHD channel flow with permeable walls and convective heating.
No full textThis paper examines the effects of the thermodynamic second law on steady flow of an incompressible variable viscosity electrically conducting fluid in a channel with permeable walls and convective surface boundary conditions.The nonlinear model governing equations are solved numerically using shooting quadrature. Numerical results of the velocity and temperature profiles are utilised to compute the entropy generation number and the Bejan number.The results revealed that entropy generation minimization can be achieved by appropriate combination of the regulated values of thermophysical parameters controlling the flow systems