https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/19909 2026-06-11T18:56:16Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32599 The sustainability of the South African catalytic converter industry in the face of local and international pressures Elfick, Robert John The primary objective of this research is to assess whether the success and continued sustainability of the Catalytic Converter industry is critically dependent on a legislative regime. • The secondary objectives of the research are to: • Document the origins, history, growth and current structure of the industry • Look into the impact that the rapid growth of the South African catalytic converter industry has had on the International Catalytic Converter Industry. • Detail the short and long term prospects of the industry as seen by all the relevant role players, including identifying the risks facing the industry from, amongst others, legislative changes. • Determine the key factors required to ensure the industries on going success and long term sustainability in South Africa. • The intention of the Research Report is to be very focused on the industry in question. The strategy would therefore not be to look for possible impacts on other areas of the economy or the possibility of a replication of this industry growth in another field. • Factual research for this project was done by taking extracts from newspaper and magazine articles to supplement the information gathered during the interviews. Structured interviews and questionnaire responses were completed by top management of South African catalytic converter companies, members of the catalytic converter interest group and other relevant bodies. • The information collected from the respondents was collated into a tabular format wider specific headings to allow it to be analysed to in order to gam an widerstanding of the importance placed on each point by the participants. • The responses allowed for the origins of the industry to be identified and its history to be traced in conjwiction with information from other more formal sources. What was abundantly clear from the respondents was that without any action the catalytic converter industry as it stands now would cease to exist. • The main ideas that came forward as regards what must be done to ensure the sustainability of the catalytic converter industry in South Africa can be divided into two broad categories being: • The governments involvement • The corporate strategies that are needed. • The ways in which the government could get involved included: Replacing the Motor Industry Development Program with another scheme in the form of something like: Reduced income taxation rates International transport assistance General Export Incentives Scheme Low interest working capital loans Local government assistance Productive Asset Allowance Scheme Foreign Exchange Earnings Incentive Scheme Foreign Direct Investment Scheme Reduction of crime in the country Increasing stability in the country and its neighbours Negotiating with large corporates to increase their involvement in the local economy • The corporate strategies needed include: o o o o o o Reducing their reliance on the MIDP rebates Increasing the world market share of this industry Local government assistance Training and motivating labour Enhancing the links with the international technology suppliers Merging canners to get a sound customer base. There was no doubt in the minds of the people approached that the catalytic converter industry is extremely important to the South African economy. • Just as certain however is that if this industry is to survive into the future, then it is going to take and immense effort from the government and the industry role players to ensure that all the good work done is not destroyed in as short a time as it was set-up. 2000-11-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32598 Towards understanding information technology contribution in South African organisations Redaeli, Roberto This research develops a framework, which can be used by organisations to ensure that the contribution of IT in these organisations can be maximised. A literature survey, South African IT service providers, together with a single CIO case study were used as inputs. Triangulation was used as the basis to validate the study findings. Senior IT executives in top performing IT service provider organisations were interviewed by questionnaires distributed via email. The CIO was interviewed in person. The findings indicated that there are critical success factors for ensuring effective IT contribution in an organisation. These results were used in the development of the framework. The framework consists of components that help in achieving effective IT contribution in organisations by reducing uncertainties, and building a capable delivery engine within an IT department. The components considered in the framework include, the external environment, IT strategy, processes and capabilities and core policies and standards. 2000-11-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32597 An evaluation of error management in transmission Reddy, Collin Sagren There have been a number of interventions internationally in managing error but they are generally piecemeal (Reason and Hobbs, 2003). Transmission, a division of Eskom Holding Ltd have experience a large number of human errors similar to that of the aviation and medical organisations. The purpose of this research study is to provide a holistic error management model that could be applicable to the Transmission Division that incorporates all the facets of error management and not be piecemeal. The objectives were to get the perception of the experts on human error, identify the causes of human error and investigate if learning from human errors is taking place. The research methodology was based on a mixed qualitative analysis. Through a series of expert interviews, review of current literature and case studies, a number of themes, findings and recommendations emerged. Some of the primary themes that resulted from the study included leadership and commitment. learning's, investigations, reporting, risk assessments, and error management systems. The researcher found that even though there were pockets of excellence, no plans existed to systematically reduce human error risks in Transmission and that no individual or group seemed to have the accountability for driving human error reduction across the business units. There is no safety or error management system that embodies continuous risk reduction criteria and methodologies. The lack of a holistic system to promote continuous error reduction as lead to buzz words with no action plans. 2007-12-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32594 The social and ethical responsiveness of a South African Platinum mine towards women in mining Vaughan Townsend, A.B. Mining companies throughout the world have been attempting to introduce a sustainable development and empowerment program for women for more than a century with very little success. Numerous countries, including South Africa (SA), had legislation prohibiting the employment of women underground until as recently as 1995. South Africa has subsequently used the Beijing Platform of Action as a reference to the compilation of a number of enabling legislation such as the Mining Charter and other policies in an effort to create positive intervention in the empowerment of women. Barriers to the introduction of women in the mining industry are numerous and need to be managed if a sustainable diverse workforce is the future objective. This purpose of this research was to attempt to identify barriers and potential solutions which can be applied as best practice and in so doing, improve the chances of sustainable success for this industry initiative. A typical SA hard rock mine has been chosen for the research. A random sample of 46 women employed at Impala was selected to participate in a semi structured interview with the researcher. The findings were them scrutinised and categorised to expose any obvious themes or patterns. The research findings did not disclose any unusual or unexpected SA issues but actually confirmed the international experiences to a large degree. The researcher has made a number of recommendations regarding the challenges that were raised during the research and interview process. Essentially it was confirmed that SA women have a desire to be independent, a yearning for self development and the drive to want to make it happen to prove to themselves and everyone else that they too can add value and make a difference. If anything, they are prepared to work in hazardous environments and carry out arduous physical work if that is what it is going to take to get to the top. In conclusion it is noted that companies should learn from others mistakes and not reinvent the wheel every time a new challenge is put on the table. Further research is recommended as this research was conducted during the infancy stages of implementation and the views of the participants could vary as time passes. 2006-11-01T00:00:00Z