https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/30856 UN SDGs Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:53:19 GMT 2026-06-10T11:53:19Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32588 Strategic management of change within the production department at the Rosslyn of Nissan South Africa Hunter, W.A. In the heart of the well-known industrial area, Rosslyn, just north of Pretoria, lies one of several formidable motor manufacturers. Nissan South Africa, (from here on known as NSA) is currently on the rise to become one of the global competitors in the global Japanese family of Nissan (Ghosn, 2005). Having excelled in the B0's, struggled in the 90's and after a global revival plan, under the direction of Carlos Ghosn, has continued through the last decade to surprise our local consumers with it's impressive line-up of luxury and sporty automobiles, receiving accolade after accolade in both manufacturing as well as after market service and support. (Ghosn, 2005). With a work force boasting 924 salaried employees, 300 temorary staff and 1590 hourly paid employees, NSA contributes around 55000 vehicles per annum combined to either the domestic market or West African export market. An unusual event took place recently at the Rosslyn plant, which was to change the face and attitude of the manufacturing team at NSA. The organisation was about to join it's competitors and roll out it's plan for a new, fully integrated ERP-system in the form of SAP. This project began in July 2003 and through some hard work and combined effort of the organisation's staff and it's IT partner, EDS (Electronic Data Services), was eventually rolled out to business on July 11th 2005. With SAP being the chosen tool, the eventual implementation and roll-out of the ERPsystem to NSA, particularly to the manufacturing division was not seen as a great success. The organisation found itself with tremendous inventory inaccuracies and as a result brought it's manufacturing facility to a grinding halt several days after the go-live date, triggering the need for emergency proposals and counter activities to take place. The resulting impact on NSA, it's marketing and sales division and ultimately it's dealer network and consumers was catastrophic. This put incredible pressure on not only NSA's executive and staff but had Japan and it's executive suddenly scrutinise their overseas market with intensive interest. This is the reason why the researcher has chosen the topic of attempting to understand the real issues that NSA were exposed to during this period of 2003-2005, and identify the root cause of the temporary cease of production within NSA's manufacturing facility. The findings were analysed from a set of data captured as a result of a survey that was presented to a sample group of employees and contractors associated specifically to the production activities and production supporting departments. Further data was captured as a result of structured interviews with a select group of individuals representing the senior executive within NSA that were particularly involved in the ERP-project as a whole. As a result of a survey which was conducted during late September 2006, areas such as resistance to change, the lack of participation, training issues and general "buy-in" from the employees within NSA during this period prior to the go-live stage of the ERP-project were explored. A review of supporting literature will be shared to determine some of the reasons why the organisation was faced with such a difficult task of implementing an ERP-solution for NSA, as well as establish typical norms within industry that contribute to failure in these areas. Furthermore, the researcher will, with the help of business models, attempt to understand some of the issues that could have been avoided, and of course focus on those areas which were seen as being unsuccessful and possible contributing factors to the lack of success of the ERP-project implementation. Areas such as lack of participation, lack of project awareness and general resistance to change were found to be significantly high during the survey conducted during September 2006, approximately 14 months after the actual go-live activity. The data will be reported and discussed within chapter 5, and made visual to the reader. The paradigm chosen for this research project is phenomenological due to the large impact on the human issues and requires both quantitative data types found in the questionnaire as well as qualitative data found during the structured interview sessions, where open ended questions were posed to the executive. Once the data was analysed and processed for understanding and presentation, a number of conclusions were then drawn to allow focus on particularly the vital few areas where the organisation can seriously understand, accept and through adapting their business can avoid a re-occurrence of this in the future. We will discuss the importance of models such as organisational learning, as well as the typical POCA-cycle, which will be explained later and with the introduction of supporting literature be able to provide the organisation with justified recommendations. These recommendations are aimed at returning to basics and are designed to be in line with Nissan's global strategic requirements and most importantly should be seen as realisticaly possible to implement. The proposed recommendations will also be a result of a number of structured interview sessions conducted with the NSA executive to determine the reality and sustainability of the management of change and transformation within NSA regarding future projects. The interview sessions will be a discussion with the executive regarding the results of the questionnaire, and their input regarding possible contributory factors to these results. Some of the recommendations include, a suggested return to basics, improved communication and a commitment from senior management to ensure that NSA follows the advice and way forward provided to us by our Japanese collegues in the form of "The Nissan way", Genba Kanri, Hoshin Kanri and Nissan's newly added V-Up methodology. Finally after recommendations to NSA's top executive, the researcher will reflect on the journey taken to get to the stage where all the models, the literature and the understanding have almost become a day to day activity of seeking continuous improvement both within it's own manufacturing boundaries as well as those of it's suppliers. This important reflection will hopefully provide guidance to future students and possibly offer areas that can be further investigated or researched. Text in English with abstract and no authors keywords Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32588 2006-11-20T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32587 The chemical industry in South Africa: strategic change resulting from economic liberalisation in 1994 Forbes, Annelie The research study was carried out in order to detennine the influence of competitive shocks on developing countries and specifically on an industry of such a country. This study focussed on the South African chemical industry in order to detennine whether it changed as a result of the competitive shock which was brought about by the first democratically elected representative government in South Africa, in April 1994, and specifically how and why it changed in response to economic liberalisation which was brought about by the competitive shock. The responses of three of the main players in the South African chemical industry were researched over a period of fifteen years, firstly from 1984 to 1993 before the onset of economic liberalisation end then for the period 1994 to 1999, five years after the onset of economic liberalisation. A third objective of the study was to detennine the South African chemical industry role in a global chemical village and to develop a sense of future competitiveness. The research study comprises six chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the study end provides a bac.kground to the study. It defines the problem statement and research objectives es well es the scope of the study, outlines the methodology used and sets out a framewont within which the study was done. In the second chapter, an overview of the theory on economic liberalisation end competitive shock is presented. Chapter 3 describes the methodology used for the research report and contains the design of the research study, the method of data collection and the method of data analysis that was used in the study. Chapter 4 contains an analysis of the South African chemical industry pre- and post economic liberalisation and uses strategic tools such as Porter's diamond, Porter's five forces and Ghemawat's predictive framewont for change in key elements of an industry structure. Chapter 5 is written in the fonn of a case study. The condusion drawn in the last chapter finds that three of the four detenninants of Porter's diamond, organisational strategy, struc:ture and rivalry; demand conditions and related and supporting industries indicate a negative influence on the South African competitive advantage. The exception was found to be fador conditions as a result of South Africa being well endowed with minerals, unskilled labour and agricultural resources and has a well developed basic infrastrudure. It was found that government's influence is significant, although mostly negative. In terms of competitiveness in the South African chemical industry it was found that changes in three of the five forces occurred during the period of the study. They were threat of new entrants, rivalry amongst competitors and baigaining pawer of suppliers. Wdh regard to threat of new entrants it was found that entry baniers were lower. Rivalry changed in terms of industry growth which has increased since economic liberalisation and is forecasted to grow into the new millennium, and in tenns of proclud differences which are evident from the strategies of players in the industry to move towards value edded dlemicals and nidle markets. Baigaining power changed since economic liberalisation as the number of suppliers increased as a result of the lifting of sanctions and the government is decreasing import tariffs in line with GATT. It has also been found that as a result of a change in strategy amongst the main South African chemical players to move towards value added products, the baigaining power of Sasol Ud, in particular, has inaeased as it is both a major player and supplier of raw materials to the market. It was found, with regard to Ghemawat's predictive framework for changes in six of the key elements of an industry, that changes had indeed occurred as a result of economic liberalisation. The six elements were entry rates, concentration levels, foreign presence and diversification in tenns of vertical, horizontal and geographical scope. It was found that entry rates have increased since economic liberalisation, in line with the predictive framework. Concentration levels also increased during the period since the onset of economic liberalisation and in this regard the C3 ratio increased fonn 56 % in 1991 to 80 % in 1996. Foreign presence also increased as predicted by Ghemawat's framework. Wdh regard to diversification it was expected in line with Ghemawat's framework that geographical scope and horizontal scope would reduce and that vertical scope would first increase and then decrease as the economy develops. It was found however, that geographical scope increased globally and reduced locally and that horizontal scope decreased in line with Ghemawet's predictive framework. However, it was also found that much of the reduction in horizontal scope resulted from a change in company strategy which happened in the earty nineties and therefore before the industry experienced the competitive shock. This was as result of a trend to focus on core competencies and which had already started during the late eighties. It also innuenced the South African chemical industry and as a result many of the main chemical players divested from non-core businesses which resulted in a reduction in horizontal scope. Lastly it was found that little change in vertical scope occurred, and that where it happened, in most cases it resulted in a decrease in vertical scope, once again often related to company strategy and not necessarily as a result of economic liberalisation. The study found that all three main players changed during the period of the study, as a result of economic liberalisation, but not solely as a result of economic liberalisation. The study also found that the South African chemical industry can successfully compete in the global chemical village, especially where players have an advantage regarding technology and local raw materials and can use this to compete globally. Lastly the study found that South African chemical players need to be pro-active in forming strong strategic alliances and joint ventures with international companies, as the wor1d chemical market is in a consolidation phase and it is viable for a multi-national company to enter the market through an acquisition of a South African chemical company, as was the case with Sentrachem being taken over by Dow Chemical Corporation. In conclusion, the South African chemical industry did indeed change as a result of a competitive shock which brought about economic liberalisation. However, it did not change solely as a result of economic liberalisation. Text in English with abstract and no author keywords Mon, 01 Nov 1999 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32587 1999-11-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32585 Exploring the effect of teacher–parent involvement as a curriculum-as-practice partnership and its influence on Grade 6 learners’ comprehension development Carstens, Rindi Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (EST), this study investigated the impact of teacher–parent involvement on learners’ comprehension development. Within contemporary Curriculum Studies, curriculum is understood not merely as a prescribed body of knowledge, but as a lived and negotiated practice shaped through interactions among teachers, learners, families, and communities. In response to this perspective, the study foregrounded teacher–parent involvement as a curriculum-as-practice partnership that influences learners’ comprehension across home and school contexts. The study adopted an exploratory research design within a pragmatic paradigm, aligning with its aim to generate evidence-based recommendations to enhance teacher–parent communication and engagement. This paradigm supported the development of practical strategies to strengthen collaboration between home and school, ultimately improving learners' comprehension and academic performance. A qualitative research approach was employed, utilising open-ended questionnaires, focus-group interviews, and narrative analysis to gain an in-depth understanding of teacher–parent collaboration and its influence on language comprehension. This approach allowed for the consideration of contextual factors such as time, place, and participant roles, ensuring a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. The literature review highlighted the importance of a holistic approach to learning and identified strategies that teachers and parents can implement to promote engagement, improve reading comprehension, and build learner confidence. However, challenges including time constraints, communication barriers, and varying levels of parental involvement were also identified. Through the application of EST, these challenges were contextualised within the interconnected microsystems of home and school, with particular attention to how mesosystem influences, such as parental literacy levels and socioeconomic factors, shape learner outcomes. Findings indicated that sustained teacher–parent engagement fosters supportive learning environments that reinforce comprehension both inside and outside the classroom. The study contributes to Curriculum Studies by repositioning teacher–parent involvement as an integral curriculum partnership rather than a supplementary practice, and by offering practical recommendations to strengthen collaboration and enhance learners’ comprehension within an ecological framework.; Met Bronfenbrenner se Ekologiese Stelselteorie ( as grondslag het hierdie studie die impak van onderwyser ouer betrokkenheid op leerders se begripsontwikkeling ondersoek. Binne hedendaagse Kurrikulumstudies word kurrikulum nie bloot as ʼn voorgeskrewe kennisbasiskennisbasis verstaanverstaan nie,nie, maarmaar asas ʼnʼn geleefdegeleefde enen onderhandeldeonderhandelde praktykpraktyk watwat gevormgevorm wordword deurdeur wisselwerkingwisselwerking tussentussen onderwysers,onderwysers, leerders,leerders, gesinnegesinne enen gemeenskappe.gemeenskappe. InIn reaksiereaksie opop hierdiehierdie perspektiefperspektief hethet diedie studiestudie onderwyseronderwyser––ouerouer--betrokkenheidbetrokkenheid asas ʼnʼn kurrikulumkurrikulum--asas--praktykpraktyk--vennootskapvennootskap watwat leerdersleerders sese begripbegrip ooroor huishuis-- enen skoolkonteksteskoolkontekste beïnvloed,beïnvloed, vooropgestel.vooropgestel. Die studiestudie hethet ʼnʼn verkennendeverkennende navorsingsontwerpnavorsingsontwerp binnebinne ʼnʼn pragmatiesepragmatiese paradigmaparadigma aangeneem,aangeneem, inin lynlyn metmet sysy doeldoel omom bewysgebaseerdebewysgebaseerde aanbevelingsaanbevelings tete genereergenereer omom onderwyseronderwyser––ouerouer--kommunikasiekommunikasie enen --betrokkenheidbetrokkenheid tete verbeter.verbeter. HierdieHierdie paradigmaparadigma hethet diedie ontwikkelingontwikkeling vanvan praktiesepraktiese strategieëstrategieë ondersteunondersteun omom samewerkingsamewerking tussentussen huishuis enen skoolskool tete versterk,versterk, watwat uiteindelikuiteindelik leerdersleerders sese begripbegrip enen akademieseakademiese prestasieprestasie verbeterverbeter.. ʼn KwalitatieweKwalitatiewe navorsingsbenaderingnavorsingsbenadering isis gebruikgebruik metmet behulpbehulp vanvan oopoop vraelyste,vraelyste, fokusgroeponderhoudefokusgroeponderhoude enen narratiewenarratiewe analiseanalise omom ʼnʼn diepgaandediepgaande begripbegrip vanvan onderwyseronderwyser––ouerouer--samewerkingsamewerking enen diedie invloedinvloed daarvandaarvan opop taalbegriptaalbegrip tete verkry.verkry. HierdieHierdie benaderingbenadering hethet kontekstuelekontekstuele faktorefaktore soossoos tyd,tyd, plekplek enen deelnemerrolledeelnemerrolle inin agag geneem,geneem, watwat ʼnʼn holistieseholistiese begripbegrip vanvan diedie verskynselverskynsel versekerverseker het.het. Die literatuuroorsigliteratuuroorsig hethet diedie belangrikheidbelangrikheid vanvan ʼnʼn holistieseholistiese benaderingbenadering tottot leerleer beklemtoonbeklemtoon enen strategieëstrategieë geïdentifiseergeïdentifiseer watwat onderwysersonderwysers enen ouersouers kankan implementeerimplementeer omom betrokkenheidbetrokkenheid tete bevorder,bevorder, leesbegripleesbegrip tete verbeterverbeter enen leerdervertroueleerdervertroue tete bou.bou. Uitdagings,Uitdagings, insluitendinsluitend tydsbeperkings,tydsbeperkings, kommunikasiekommunikasiestruikelblokkestruikelblokke enen verskillendeverskillende vlakkevlakke vanvan ouerbetrokkenheid,ouerbetrokkenheid, isis egteregter ookook geïdentifiseer.geïdentifiseer. DeurDeur diedie toepassingtoepassing vanvan ESTEST isis hierdiehierdie uitdagingsuitdagings gekontekstualiseergekontekstualiseer binnebinne diedie onderlingonderling gekoppeldegekoppelde mikrostelselsmikrostelsels vanvan huishuis enen skool,skool, metmet besonderebesondere aandagaandag aanaan hoehoe mesosisteemmesosisteem--invloede,invloede, soossoos ouerouer--geletterdheidsvlakkegeletterdheidsvlakke enen sosiososio--ekonomieseekonomiese faktore,faktore, leerderuitkomsteleerderuitkomste vorm.vorm. Bevindinge het aangedui dat volgehoue onderwyser–ouer-betrokkenheid ondersteunende leeromgewings bevorder wat begrip binne en buite die klaskamer versterk. Die studie dra by tot Kurrikulumstudies deur onderwyser–ouer-betrokkenheid te herposisioneer as ʼn integrale kurrikulumvennootskap eerder as ʼn aanvullende praktyk, en deur praktiese aanbevelings te bied om samewerking te versterk en leerders se begrip binne ʼn ekologiese raamwerk te verbeter.; Ifakwe phakathi e-Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (EST), lolucwaningo luphenya umthelela wokubandakanya othisha nabazali ekuthuthukiseni ukuqonda kwabafundi. Ezifundweni ze-curriculum zangaleso sikhathi, i-curriculum ayiqondwa njengendikimba yolwazi enqunyiwe, kodwa njengomkhuba ophilayo nokuxoxiwe ngawo owenziwe phakathi kokusebenzisana nothisha, abafundi, imindeni kanye nomphakathi. Ngokuphendula lombono, ucwaningo lwandulela ukuzibandakanya kothisha nabazali njengokubambisana kwi-curriculum, emsebenzini wokuqonda kwabafundi kuzo zonke izimo zasekhaya nezesikole. Lolucwaningo lwamukele i-design yokuhlola phakathi kwe-paradigm ye-pragmatic, ukuhambisana nenjongo yokwenza izincomo ezisekelwe ukufakazi ukuze kuthuthukiswe ukuxhumana nokuzibandakanya kothisha nabazali. Lomqondo usekele ukuthuthukisa amasu asebenzayo okuqinisa ukusebenzisana phakathi kwekhaya nesikole, ekugcineni kuthuthukiswe ukuqonda kwabafundi kanye nokusebenza kahle kwezemfundo. Kusetshenziswe indlela yocwaningo esezingeni eliphezulu, kusetshenziswa uhlu lwemibuzo oluvulekile, izingxoxo zamaqembu okugxilwe kuwo, kanye nokuhlaziya ukulandisa ukuze uthole ukuqonda okujulile ngokubambisana kothisha nabazali okunomthelela wokuqonda ulimi. Lendlela yokwenza ivumela ukucabanga kwezici nengqikithi njengesikhathi, indawo nezindima zabahlanganyeli, ukuqinisekisa ukuqonda okuphelele kwaleso simo. Ukubuyekezwa kwezincwadi kugqamisa ukubaluleka kwendlela yokufunda ephelele iphinde ihlonze amasu othisha nabazali abangawasebenzisa ukuze bakhuthaze ukubandakanywa, ithuthukisa ukuqonda nokufunda uphinde wakhe ukuzethemba kwabafundi. Kodwa-ke, izinselela, okuhlanganisa ukulinganiswa kwesikhathi, izithiyo zokuxhumana, namazinga okubandakanye abazali, nabo abatholakele. Ngokusetshenziswa kwe-EST, lezizinselela zihlanganisa i-microsystem exhumene nekhanye nesikole, njengamazinga okufunda nokubhala kwabazali kanye nezici zenhlalo nomnotho, obubumba imiphumela yabafundi. Imiphumela ibonise ukuthi ukuhlanganyela okuqhubekayo kothisha nabazali kukhuthaza izimo zokufunda ezisekela ukuqonda kokufunda kwangaphakathi nangaphandle kwekilasi. Ucwaningo luneqhaza Ezifundweni Zohlelo Lwezifundo ngokubeka kabusha ukuzibandakanya kwabafundi nabazali njengobudlelwano obubalulekile be-curriculum esikhundleni sokwenza okongeziwe, nangokunikeza izincomo ezisebenzayo zokuqinisa ukusebenzisana nokuthuthukisa ukuqonda kwabafundi ngaphakathi kohlaka lwezemvelo. Abstract in English, Afrikaans and Zulu Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32585 2025-11-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32584 The effectiveness of using digital tools to teach Grade 9 mathematics in the Ekurhuleni district Bauchoo, Ishaan This study investigated the effectiveness of the use of digital tools in the teaching of Grade 9 mathematics. Using digital tools in the teaching of mathematics could create a more positive attitude in learners and result in improved learner results. In an era of digital evolution where teenagers, like Grade 9 learners, use digital devices and digital platforms throughout the day, has meant the need for a change in school-based activities, assessments and examinations. Amending pedagogical approaches with the use of digital devices in the teaching of mathematics could engage with learners on a higher level and change the negative perception that teenagers have about mathematics. Underpinned by a constructivist paradigm, this multiple case study within a qualitative approach, sought to explore the effectiveness of digital tools in the teaching of mathematics at the Grade 9 level. Educational technology theory together with the Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge model, commonly known as TPACK, formed the theoretical framework. Data were collected via the transect walks and informal interviews, observations and focus group discussions in three selected schools in the Ekurhuleni district in Gauteng with six participant teachers. The findings revealed that with the introduction and implementation of digital tools, teacher need to incorporate technology (TK), pedagogy (PK), and content (CK) in their practice in order to ensure quality teaching in mathematics. Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32584 2026-02-24T00:00:00Z