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Grade 10 science learners’ behavioural intentions related to good practices of solid waste management in Vosloorus, Gauteng
Get PDFThis research explored the behavioural intentions of Grade 10 science learners towards solid
waste management. The research relied on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to
determine such intentions and determine if the intentions affect their behavioural practices
regarding solid waste management. Currently, South Africa Environmental Education (EE) is
integrated into the CAPS curriculum from Grade R to Grade 12. EE is meant to encourage
positive attitudes among learners towards caring for the environment and create
environmentally responsible behaviour. With this goal clearly stated, it is expected that learners
implement EE knowledge to care for the environment in schools and within the larger
community. Studies have shown that school students generally have poor waste management
practices worldwide. Several studies have investigated the link between poor waste
management practice and personal factors such as awareness, attitude, and knowledge.
Previous researchers have discovered that learners show little or no concern about the negative
impact of disposing of litter inappropriately; they continue to litter at school and home
surroundings. Studies have found that human behaviour is a complex entity; hence, it takes
extensive research to understand why school students are reluctant to care for the environment.
The main aim of the research was to determine the nature of behavioural intentions of the grade
10 science learners, identify their behavioural practices, and then determine the extent to which
behavioural intentions relate to good practices regarding solid waste management. Purposeful
sampling was used to identify learners to be included in the research. The research was
designed as a mixed-method inquiry that used both qualitative and quantitative methods of
collecting data. Data was collected through questionnaires that the learners completed. These
were closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires. By including open-ended questionnaires,
the researcher hoped to understand better the high school learners’ behavioural intentions
towards solid waste management.
The findings of the research reveal that behavioural intentions among learners are positive.
Behavioural beliefs were significantly positive among the six TPB constructs used to explore
learners’ preferences, followed by normative beliefs and perceived behavioural control.
Attitudes towards the behaviour and control beliefs are moderate. The lowest among these are
subjective norms. The findings imply that learners are willing to embark on environmentally
responsible behaviour. In determining behavioural practices, it was discovered that practices
are lower than behavioural intentions. The percentage for behavioural practices is lower than
behavioural intentions. The results may imply that although learners have positive behavioural
intentions, they are not as committed to behavioural practices as expected. When behavioural
intentions are compared to behavioural practices, it emerged that the learner’s intentions do
affect their behaviour but not to a large extent. The learners have positive behavioural
intentions, and their behavioural practices are positive but not as high as their intentions. Their
behaviour is affected when they have to go around picking up litter in the school. The results
show a need to design behaviour change interventions to help learners adopt positive
behavioural practices.M. Ed. (Environmental Education)Science and Technology Educatio
IZANDLA EZIHLE ZABAZALIKAZI
No full text1. Umfazi wamashumi asithandathu anesithandathu (Mother number 66) (animation still 100cm x 100cm) - animation of text messages to children from mothers, and the artist performance shouting stance condemning GBV, femicide and child molestation.
2. Transcription and translation of the artist’s voice message of the performance
3. Two-dimensional image of Mother number 66 Front view
4. Two-dimensional image of Mother number 66 Back view
5. Umzimbha wam uyabila ayandisinda’ mabali (my body is boiling the stories are heavy on me) Animated QR Codes with women’s Stories
6. 65 Women’s Stories - QR codes.
7. Abafaz’ abakhokhelwe sisimisane bavelelwandle (women led by a pregnant one from the ocean) (120cm X 180cm) digitally edited photograph.
8. Izandla Zabazalikazi (Hands of motherhood) (62cm x 74cm) Reduction colour lino-cut print on paper 1/10.
9. Ingwe idla ngamabala (The Tiger prides in its colour/spots) (88cm x 88cm) digitally produced print on paper.
10. Izandla zethi ziyasisebenzela (Our hands are working for us) (240cm x 240cm) a Mandala digitally produced and printed on vinyl.
11. Amarhoqololo kaKim season 2 (1) – (120cm X 350cm) digitally produced print on fabric.
12. Amarhoqololo kaKim season 2 (2) – (120cm X 350cm) digitally produced print on fabric.
13. Amarhoqololo kaKim season 2 (3) – (120cm X 350cm) digitally produced print on fabric.
14. Amarhoqololo kaKim season 2 (4) – (120cm X 350cm) digitally produced print on fabric.
15. Izandla zikasathana: SikhumbuluTshegofatso Pule (1) (Davil’s hands: Remembering Tshegofatso Pule (88cm x 110cm) Black and white wood cut print on paper 1/10.
16. Izandla zikasathana: SikhumbuluTshegofatso Pule (2) (Davil’s hands: Remembering Tshegofatso Pule (88cm x 110cm) Black and white wood cut print on paper 1/10.The exhibition “Izandla Ezihle Zabazalikazi” meaning “beautiful hands of motherhood” was activism for single parenting motherhood presented through actionism artistic discourse. It sought to present the argument that single parenting motherhood is a by-product of Gender Based Violence (GBV), a scourge destroying our moral fibre which is of concern to all South Africans. The featured works presented stories from 65 mothers who single parented or are parenting their children without fathers from six African countries including South Africa. These stories were told verbatim but anonymously and in their original voices via QR codes to capture the viewers’/listeners’ attention. The stories are accompanied by messages from the participating mothers to their daughters and sons advising them about life in general and issues surrounding domestic abuse and GBV. The messages were not only meant to be a therapeutic process for these mothers, but to also encourage dialogue between mothers and their children to come naturally, and not be regarded as a taboo. This is because most mothers usually hide issues surrounding the absence fathers from their children sometimes out of shame and or believing to be protecting the children.
During the collection of the stories from the participating women their hands were photographed and used forming various art pieces featured in this exhibition. Some of these hands were transformed through printmaking and some are portrayed and arranged as mark-making unedited giving authenticity in an unpretentious manner. HANDS were problematised to epitomise freedom, authority, responsibility, giving, intervention, submission, caring, action, acceptance, solidarity and wisdom. They also were referencing the Indian Goddess Maa Durga who is considered in Hindu religion to represent the feminine epitome of strength, power, determination, and wisdom as the mother protector similarly to the single parenting mothers. The artwork entitled “Umfazi wamashumi asithandathu anesithandathu” (woman/mother number 66) a performance captures the image of the goddess Maa Durga, depicting the artist wearing an amour on her back with 64 arms shouting stance condemning the acts of GBV, femicide and child molestation. The 66 arms including the artist’s two arms each represent the 65 women who participated in this study and the artist. This performance represented a monumental sculpture in honour of single parenting motherhood. This was necessary because these mothers tolerate unspeakable deeds, and in some cases their children, for whom they sacrificed their happiness are sometimes the source of unhappiness. Thus, this exhibition was a campaign not only to bring about social change, but to honour single parenting mothers for their tireless caring and unconditional love for their children despite the difficulties that surround their lives. Its main objective was to provide a healing platform for the participants through journaling. According to Gladding (2001) “journaling can provide clients with new insights into problems they are already working to resolve”. This is because most people when experiencing difficulties usually think that their circumstances are bad, but when listening to other people’s stories realise that those are worse than theirs. I believe that sharing our stories in this manner lead to some healing allowing a release of painful emotions, initiating an acceptance, and righteously honouring our difficult responsibility towards mental and emotional wellness. The stories told in this exhibition came with lots of weeping, discharging painfully shared experiences, hence I believe this platform contributed to healing.
In addition, the participants were from different socioeconomic classes, such as women working in professional jobs, and those in less formal or less paying jobs like domestic servants and hustlers. I choose to title my exhibitions and featuring works in isiXhosa my mother tongue to strengthen the theme of advocacy/activism, and extending the visual narratives making them accessible to the ordinary people I am advocating for. The title “beautiful hands of motherhood” is symbolic of the good and genuine intentions that all mothers universally have for their children. The unfortunate part is that mothers have no control over what their children become as they (children) also have responsibility to make the most from the opportunities and resources provided by their parents. Finally, the exhibition was to send strong message to young generation about single-parenting issues, while allowing the participants to accept the phenomenon as something beyond their control, and do their best.Art and MusicN
The role of uncertainty in the information seeking behaviour of first year students at Tshwane University of Technology, Polokwane Campus
Get PDFText in English with keywords and abstracts in English, xiTsonga and SepediThe purpose of this study was to investigate the role of uncertainty in the information-seeking
behaviour of first-year students at the Polokwane Campus of the Tshwane University of
Technology. Many students in South Africa, particularly those who come from rural
backgrounds, enrol at universities and other institutions of higher learning without the requisite
information-seeking and searching skills. Students experience the library and other academic
information resources for the first time at a university or an institution of higher learning.
A comprehensive literature review revealed that due to a lack of experience and knowledge,
feelings of uncertainty arise, which in turn causes anxiety and a lack of confidence. Literature
further suggests that uncertainty and anxiety in information seeking is the reason students
submit work that lacks a theme, perspective and a particular point of view.
The study was guided by the Information Search Process (ISP) model of Kuhlthau (1991;
2004), as well as the four levels of information needs that were identified by Taylor (1968).
Fifteen students with a background of a dysfunctional school system that does not provide
libraries and other academic information resources and systems participated in this study. Data
was collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that the participants, due
to their uncertainty-associated feelings, would submit work without a perspective or a point of
view.
Due to a lack of the required skills to search for information effectively, the participants
experienced feelings of uncertainty and discomfort. The Internet and Google emerged as a
platform for students to deal with their uncertainty. In addition to uncertainty, three information
barriers that affect students who had no prior experiences of using academic information were
identified. These are a lack of knowledge, information systems and cognitive information
barriers. Through this study, a model that could be used as a framework for institutions to
minimise the affective aspects of uncertainty that students experience during their information seeking and searching activities could be developed. The envisaged application of the model
could assist students and other researchers in enhancing their information-seeking and
searching outputs.Xikongomelo xa ndzavisiso lowu i ku lavisisa hi ndzima ya ku kala ntiyiseko hi matikhomelo
ya ku lava vutivi eka machudeni ya lembe ro sungula eKhempasi ya Polokwane ya Tshwane
University of Technology. Machudeni manyingi eAfrika Dzonga, ngopfu ngopfu lama ya
humaku eka tindhawu ta le makaya, ya tsarisa etiyunivhesiti na le ka tiinstituxini tin'wana ta
dyondzo ya le henhla, handle ka ku na vutivi lebyi lavekaka lebyi faneleke na swikili swa ku
secha vutivi. Machudeni ya hlangana na tilayibrari na swihlovo swin'wana swa vutivi ro
sungula eyunivhesiti kumbe eka instituxini ya dyondzo ya le henhla.
Ku hlaya hi vuenti literechara kumbe matsalwa swi kombise leswaku hikokwalaho ko pfumala
ntokoto na vutivi, ku va na tintwa to kala ku tiyiseka, leswi swi vangela ku karhateka no
pfumala ku titshemba. Literachara kumbe matsalwa ya tlhela ya pimanyeta leswo ku kala
ntiyiseko na ku karhateka hi ku lava vutivi i xivangelo lexi endlaka leswo machudeni ma
nghenisa ntirho wo kala nhlokomhaka, mavonelo na tipoyinti to kongomisa miehleketo ko
karhi.
Dyondzo leyi ya ndzavisiso yi leteriwa hi Information Search Process (ISP) modlele ya
Kuhlthau (1991; 2004), xikan'we na tilevhele ta mune ta swilaveko swa vutivi leswi swi nga
voniwa hi Taylor (1968). Machudeni ya khume ntlhanu lama ya humaku eka swikolo swa
sisteme leyi yi nga tirheku kahle, leswi swi nga hava tilayibrari na swihlovo swin'wana swa
vutivi na tisisteme, ma nghenele dyondzo leyi ya ndzavisiso. Ku hlengeletiwe vutivi hi ku
tirhisa ti-semi-structured interview. Vuyelo lebyi kumekeke eka vakhoma-xiavo, hikokwalaho
ko kala ntiyiseko, leswi fambelanaka na tintwa, va nghenise mitirho ya vona leyi nga hava ku
langutana na mavonelo yo karhi ku nga perspective kumbe tipoyinti ta mavonelo yo karhi ku
nga point of view.
Hikokwalaho ko pfumala swikili leswi lavekaka ku secha vutivi hi mfanelo na hi ndlela ya
vuyelo lebyi tirhekaka, lava nga va na xiavo va ve na tintwa to kala ntiyiseko na ku ku va nga
khomeki lahle. Inthanete na Google swi vonake swi ri platfomo ya machudeni ya ku langutana
na ku kala ntiyiseko ka vona. Na le henhla ka sweswo swa ku kala ntiyiseko, ku ve na
swihingakanyi swinharhu eka vutivi leswi swi nga khumba machudeni lama a ya nga ri na ntokoto wo tirhisa vutivi bya xiakhademiki leswi swi nga voniwa. Leswi i ku kala noleji,
tisisteme ta vutivi na swihingakanyi swa vutivi bya miehleketo. Hi ndzavisiso lowu, modlele
lowu a wu ta tirhisiwa tanihi rimba eka tiinstituxini ku hunguta swiyenge swa nkala ntiyiseko
leswi machudeni ya hlanganaka na swona eka nkarhi wa ku secha vutivi na migingiriko ya ku
secha swi nga hluvukisiwa. Ku tirhisiwa ka modlele loku ringanyetiwaka hi xa mundzuku, ku
nga pfuna machudeni na valavisisi van'wana eka ku entswisa vuswikoti bya vona bya ku lava
vutivi na vuyelo bya ku secha ka vona.Maikemišetšo a dinyakišišo tše e bile go nyakišiša tema yeo e kgathwago ke go hloka bonnete
ka maitshwarong a go nyaka tshedimošo ga baithuti ba ngwaga wa mathomo ka Khamphaseng
ya Polokwane ya Tshwane University of Technology. Baithuti ba bantši ka Afrika Borwa,
kudukudu bao ba tšwago dinagamagaeng, ba ingwadiša ka diyunibesithing le ka dihlongweng
tše dingwe tša thuto ya godingwana ba hloka bokgoni bja go nyaka tshedimošo. Baithuti ba
itemogela bokgobapuku le methopo ye mengwe ya tshedimošo ya tša thuto la mathomo ka
yunibesithi goba ka sehlongweng sa thuto ya godingwana.
Tekodišišo ya dingwalwa ka bophara e utollotše gore ka lebaka la tlhokego ya maitemogelo le
tsebo, go tšwelela maikutlo a go hloka bonnete, gomme ka go le lengwe maikutlo a a baka
letšhogo le go hloka boitshepo. Dingwalwa di tšwela pele go šišinya gore go hloka bonnete le
letshogo ge go nyakwa tshedimošo ke lebaka leo le dirago gore baithuti ba romelele mošomo
wo o hlokago morero, dikgopolo le maikutlo a moithuti.
Dinyakišišo tše di hlahlilwe ke mokgwa wa Tshepedišo ya go Nyaka Tshedimošo (ISP) wa
Kuhlthau (1991; 2004), gotee le magato a mane a dinyakwa tša tshedimošo ao a utollotšwego
ke Taylor (1968). Baithuti ba lesomehlano bao ba tšwago dikolong tšeo di bego di sa šome
gabotse tšeo di hlokago makgobapuku le methopo ye mengwe ya kabo ya tshedimošo ya thuto
ba kgathile tema ka mo dinyakišišong. Tshedimošo e kgobokeditšwe ka go diriša dipoledišano
tšeo modiradinyakišišo a sego a ngwala lenaneo la dipotšišo. Dikutollo di utolla gore
bakgathatema, ka lebaka la maikutlo a bona a go hloka bonnete, ba tla romela mošomo wo o
hlokago dikgopolo le maikutlo a bona.
Ka lebaka la tlhokego ya mabokgoni ao a nyakegago a go nyaka tshedimošo gabotse,
bakgathatema ba itemogetše maikutlo a go hloka bonnete le go se lokologe. Inthanete le Google
di tšweletše bjalo ka mafelo ao baithuti ba ka rarollago maikutlo a bona a go hloka bonnete.
Godimo ga go hloka bonnete, makala a mararo ao a šitišago go hwetša tshedimošo ao a amago
baithuti bao ba hlokago maitemogelo a peleng a go šomiša tshedimošo ya thuto a utollotšwe.
Wona ke lepheko la tlhokego ya tsebo, la mananeo a tshedimošo le la go kwešiša tshedmošo.
Ka mo dinyakišišong tše, mokgwa wo o a šomišwago bjalo ka motheo wa dihlongwa wa go
fokotša diabe tša go hloka bonnete fao baithuti ba itemogelago gona ge ba nyaka tshedimošo
le ge ba nyaka mešongwana o ka hlangwa. Tirišo ye e lebeletšwego ya mokgwa wo e ka thuša
baithuti le banyakišiši ba bangwe go maatlafatša bokgoni bja bona bja go lebelela le go nyaka
tshedimošo.D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)Information Scienc
Collaborative and corroborative semantic web service monitoring
No full textService Oriented Computing has emerged as a promising computing paradigm
for Internet-scale distributed applications built around services as primary
building blocks. Such Internet-scale computing relies heavily on the connectivity
infrastructure because existing business functionalities could be made
accessible through this infrastructure. Furthermore, the services, as building
blocks of these Internet-scale applications, may be developed and managed
autonomously by enterprises. Different organizations may provide similar
functionalities and it therefore becomes a matter of differentiation to support
negotiable quality of service characteristics such as response time, cost,
throughput, among others. Service consumers consider these non-functional
characteristics of the published services when selecting which service to use;
so there is an economic aspect to quality of service (QoS). The negotiated
QoS characteristics often involve penalties, making it absolutely critical for
the service provider to detect and correct any deviations from the agreedupon
service behaviour.
The need to detect potential failures has resulted in several research activities
dedicated to service monitoring, specifically, Semantic Web Service
Monitoring. Monitoring entails detecting and signaling whether the participating
services behave consistently with the expected functionality and
non-functional service properties. Monitoring may further entail enacting
corrective mechanisms when there are failures or breaches to agreements
by contracted services. Many approaches for both the service-consumer-side
and service-provider-side monitoring have been proposed, including the use of dedicated monitoring infrastructure. Contemporary monitoring approaches
rely on the service performance data being collected separately by the service
provider for service-side monitoring and the consumer for client-side
monitoring.
As of this writing and according to our knowledge, no monitoring approach
had been developed that facilitates the collaborative and corroborative
exchange of monitoring information by both the service consumer and
the service provider. The exchange of monitoring information is significant
because: (1) the service consumer and the service provider may have different
perspectives of the same QoS parameter and collaboration can help develop
consensus, (2) enables the support for a flexible quality-based pricing model,
which is a potential competitive advantage for service providers, (3) it has
a built-in self-checking mechanism so that there is no need for costly incentive schemes to encourage honest reporting, (4) there is no need for costly
dedicated infrastructure for monitoring by surveillance because service consumer
and service provider exchange their context-dependent monitoring information
directly. Having made a case for a collaborative and corroborative
monitoring approach, this study hypothesizes that collaborative and corroborative
monitoring of semantic web services is a viable alternative approach
to client-side, service-side and 3rd-party/dedicated monitoring infrastructure.
Therefore, the main objective of this study is to investigate, design,
develop, and evaluate a collaborative and corroborative monitoring technique
for Semantic Web Services. Design Science Research (DSR) methodology is
adopted as it is particularly suitable for research studies that, like this study,
aim to design an artefact. The significance of this work is underpinned by
the critical importance of effective monitoring for the practical application
of Service Oriented Computing technologies, specifically the Semantic Web
Services. This study is critical because it purports to introduce a novel and
practical approach to Semantic Web Service monitoring that is corroborative
and collaborative between a service consumer and a service provider.
In pursuance of the collaborative and corroborative monitoring, the study
developed a Generalized Response Time Metric (GRTM), a consensus-based
generalized metric for response time QoS parameter. The study further developed
a technology-agnostic Monitoring Information eXchange (MIX) protocol
to facilitate the exchange of performance data which is described in
terms of the GRTM. The study also found, and demonstrated, that the support
for, and implementation of collaborative and corroborative monitoring
for Semantic Web Services is technically feasible. This is made possible by implementing a monitoring information exchange mechanism based on the
MIX protocol.
The proposed solution has been evaluated in terms of its technical feasibility.
There were no other implementations of collaborative or corroborative
monitoring of Semantic Web Services at the time of the execution of the research
and consequently, there was no need for comparative analysis. The
study demonstrated the technical feasibility of the proposed collaborative
and corroborative monitoring technique for Semantic Web Service. This was
achieved through a reference implementation of the MIX protocol.
Finally, the study makes three recommendations for consideration as future
research work and these are based on the identified limitations of the
study. Firstly, developing the correct syntax for the semantic description of
the mathematical expressions of all the parameters that characterize the performance of a Semantic Web Service such as latency, response time, throughput,
and error-rate. An expressive ontology model for Semantic Web Service
performance needs to include the logical expressions of these performance
parameters; the study focused only on response time. Secondly, a Semantic
Web Service Monitoring tool based on the MIX protocol should be developed
further to provide extensible interfaces that software engineers can implement
to support MIX functionality. The third recommendation is for software engineers
and researchers to explore possible Service Level Agreement (SLA)
negotiation strategies and implement these as part of the post-execution processes
of the MIX protocol.Ph. D. (Computer Science)School of Computin
A global meta-analysis of woody plant responses to elevated CO2: implications on biomass, growth, leaf N content, photosynthesis and water relations
No full textAbstract
Background
Atmospheric CO2 may double by the year 2100, thereby altering plant growth, photosynthesis, leaf nutrient contents and water relations. Specifically, atmospheric CO2 is currently 50% higher than pre-industrial levels and is projected to rise as high as 936 μmol mol−1 under worst-case scenario in 2100. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of elevated CO2 on woody plant growth, production, photosynthetic characteristics, leaf N and water relations.
Methods
A meta-analysis of 611 observations from 100 peer-reviewed articles published from 1985 to 2021 was conducted. We selected articles in which elevated CO2 and ambient CO2 range from 600–1000 and 300–400 μmol mol−1, respectively. Elevated CO2 was categorized into 700 μmol mol−1 concentrations.
Results
Total biomass increased similarly across the three elevated CO2 concentrations, with leguminous trees (LTs) investing more biomass to shoot, whereas non-leguminous trees (NLTs) invested to root production. Leaf area index, shoot height, and light-saturated photosynthesis (Amax) were unresponsive at 700 μmol mol−1. However, shoot biomass and Amax acclimatized as the duration of woody plants exposure to elevated CO2 increased. Maximum rate of photosynthetic Rubisco carboxylation (Vcmax) and apparent maximum rate of photosynthetic electron transport (Jmax) were downregulated. Elevated CO2 reduced stomatal conductance (gs) by 32% on average and increased water use efficiency by 34, 43 and 63% for 700 μmol mol−1, respectively. Leaf N content decreased two times more in NLTs than LTs growing at elevated CO2 than ambient CO2.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that woody plants will benefit from elevated CO2 through increased photosynthetic rate, productivity and improved water status, but the responses will vary by woody plant traits and length of exposure to elevated CO2
The strategic management processes of churches in Gauteng
Get PDFNo modern organisation is immune to the desire to grow and succeed. Social entrepreneurship has been seen as a means of embraced entrepreneurial activities, including churches, as they are conducted professionally, similar to business enterprises. Among other leading institutions, a church has always occupied positions of influence. Therefore, research suggests that all modern institutions must strategise to respond to the needs of their current environment. As a not-for-profit organisation, church needs to be strategic in its approach. This reality seemed to heighten the significance of strategic management regardless of the type or size of the organisation involved. Thus, this study explored the strategic management processes churches employ in Gauteng. Both the Adherents and Protestant churches were the units of analysis. Church managers constituted units of observation. Qualitative research methods in the form of interviews, document analysis, and first-order observation were employed. Mainly, five regions in Gauteng Province: Ekurhuleni, Greater Johannesburg, Sedibeng, Tshwane, and West Rand were covered, where 26 participants were interviewed, and 12 church policy/strategic documents were obtained and analysed. Data were analysed using the Atlas.ti software, the thematic and narrative analysis. The findings of the study indicate that strategy continues to play an important role within churches. Among others, recommendations are that the church and its managers still require capacity development in management, strategy, governance, and entrepreneurship education. As part of the contribution, the study proposed a strategic management process framework. It further makes a significant theoretical and practical contribution to strategy and not-for-profit organisations, more so in church context. A Strategic Management Process Framework for Churches and NPOs, and SEs are proposed.D. Phil. (Management Studies)Business Managemen
The impact of internal restructuring on the organisational culture within a banking institution in South Africa: a middle management perspective
No full textBanking institutions constantly face the challenges of having to adapt to the environment in which they operate and to constantly be ahead of their competitors. Restructuring processes have become common responses that organisations implement to survive the challenges in the environment and to remain viable in business. The current study focused on internal restructuring, which involves changes to the structures, strategies and ways of conducting business. The aim of the study is to answer the primary research question: “What is the impact of internal restructuring on organisational culture within a banking institution in South Africa?”
The current study adopted a qualitative approach to gain the insight of middle managers within the focal banking institution with regard to previously implemented restructuring processes. The study was conducted in September 2021 at the head office of a selected bank. Through the use of purposive sampling, 12 middle managers from the banking institution were selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and analysed through coding and content analysis.
The key findings of this study indicate that the internal restructuring processes that were implemented were considered ineffective as a result of poor communication, lack of change management processes and lack of involvement of middle managers. A number of negative effects were observed by middle managers, namely, anger, anxiety, burnout, fear, stress, uncertainty and unhappiness. Overall, from a culture perspective, it was found that the implementation of internal restructuring affects elements of organisational culture, such as values, traditions, beliefs, trust, communication, and employee motivation. The results show that lack of communication and transparency processes interfered with team values, trust, interaction between employees and ways of working.M. Com. (Business Management)Business Managemen
Caregivers’ satisfaction with cervical cancer care in Ethiopia
Get PDFBackground and purpose Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among African women, following breast cancer. Palliative care is among the standards of care in cancer management. While caregivers play key roles in palliative care, their satisfaction with the care influences treatment outcomes and patients’ quality of life. This study evaluated caregivers’ satisfaction with the care provided to patients with advanced cervical cancer. Method A cross-sectional evaluation of caregivers’ satisfaction with patient care was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia. The study tool included the 20-item family satisfaction with advanced cancer care (FAMCARE) and caregiver stress index (CSI). Using binary logistic regression, we identified factors associated with caregivers’ satisfaction. Result A total of 360 caregivers were interviewed. Most of the caregivers were male (58.1%), below the age of 35 years (60.8%), and educated to the high school level or less (64.4%). The average FAMCARE score was 77.7 out of the maximum 100. High satisfaction was observed among subscales “availability of treatment and care” and “psychosocial care,” while low satisfaction was observed with “physical patient care” and “provision of information.” Caregivers’ stress and time dedicated to the caregiving were associated with caregivers’ satisfaction. Conclusion Overall, high satisfaction with advanced care at the tertiary hospital was documented. However, the caregivers also bore high burden of strain. Management of caregivers’ strain, prompt treatment of patients’ symptoms, and provision of adequate information to the caregivers could further improve caregivers’ satisfactionCollege of Human Science
Teachers’ Perspectives on the Effects of Free Primary Education Policy of the Kingdom of Eswatini on Education Quality in Public Schools
Get PDFThis article offers an analysis of the perspectives and experiences of teachers from the Kingdom of Eswatini in the Ka-Bhudla Primary School concerning the effects of the Free Primary Education policy (FPE) on the quality of education in public schools. The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of the FPE policy implementation in the quality of education. The article employs a qualitative research paradigm in terms of a case study method. Semi-structured interviews were held with one school principal and eight primary school teachers. These interviews were complemented with unobtrusive research methods in terms of a conceptual and documentary analysis by way of a literature review. The findings revealed the emergence of adverse consequences following the implementation of the FPE policy in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The quality of education at the Ka-Bhudla Primary School declined drastically as a result of increased learner enrolments and a lack of support from the Eswatini government.Public Administration and Managemen
Usage of library electronic resources by students at North West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, South Africa
Get PDFAcademic libraries provide print and electronic resources for their users. Librarians have to market and train their users in how to access electronic resources (e resources). The purpose of this study was to examine the usage of library e-resources by students at the North-West University (NWU) – Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) (NWU-VTC). To attain this purpose, six objectives were formulated: to find the level of knowledge of students in using e-resources, to understand students’ motives for using e-resources, to identify the particular e-resources used by students, to find out which methods are used by library staff to inform students about the availability of e resources, to pinpoint the issues faced by students when accessing e-resources and to recommend measures to enhance students’ utilisation of e-resources. The target population of the study was students registered at the NWU-VTC for the 2018 academic year. The study used the quantitative research approach and the descriptive survey research design was employed. The study also adopted probability sampling with the simple random sampling technique. The total population of registered students was 7 821. According to the sample size calculator, the sample size for this study was 365. The data were obtained via a questionnaire, and the statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study discovered that most respondents had knowledge of using e-resources and most preferred to use e-resources, as they were easy to browse and navigate. From the findings of the study, it could be seen that the NWU-VTC library users did not use e-resources adequately, as most of the students were inexperienced in using e-resources. The study recommends that, during the orientation of new students, librarians should conduct seminars aimed at training the students to have abilities such as computer and information literacy, information retrieval and digital literacy skills.M.A. Information ScienceInformation Scienc