Kai-Ying Chan

The role of supervisor support in predicting employee job satisfaction from their perception of the performance management system: A test of competing models in engineering environments

Past studies of performance management systems (PMS) have focused more on designing the framework and less on the effect it has on employees. Moreover, employees in developing countries may not be knowledgeable or familiar with PMS. This paper proposes two competing statistical models to examine the roles that supervisor support (SS) has in engineering organisations. It was found that SS is a mediator, but not a moderator, in the relationship between PMS and employee job satisfaction. In other words, SS partially explains why employees have positive perceptions of their jobs based on their evaluation of the current PMS; SS thus enhances the PMS in engineering organisations.

EXPLAINING MIXED RESULTS ON SCIENCE PARKS PERFORMANCE: BRIGHT AND DARK SIDES OF THE EFFECTS OF INTER-ORGANISATIONAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER RELATIONSHIPS

In the recent past, several researchers explored the added-values of Science Parks. On the basis of empirical research, some questioned the assumed benefits of the science park model, whereas others reported positive outcomes. As a result, mixed findings regarding the benefits of science parks for firms can be observed. These mixed empirical findings require a theoretical explanation. This paper argues that different levels and types of knowledge exchange behaviour of science park firms could be one of the theoretical explanations for these mixed findings. The literature on networks mainly stresses the benefits of networking in general, and networking between firms located on science parks in particular. This paper proposes that networks can have both positive (knowledge sharing) and negative effects (opportunistic behavior and knowledge spillovers) for firms located on science parks. When the latter occurs, location on a science park might produce negative effects. A conceptual model is developed that summarises our theoretical arguments. OPSOMMING Verskeie navorsers het in die onlangse verlede die waardetoevoeging van Wetenskapparke ondersoek. Empiriese navorsingsresultate dui enersyds daarop dat die voordele van Wetenskapparke bevraagteken moet word, maar andersyds dat daar positiewe uitkomste ook is. Dit is dus nodig dat hierdie teenstrydige resultate verder ondersoek en teoretiese verklarings daarvoor gevind moet word. In hierdie artikel word geargumenteer dat verskillende vlakke en tipes kennisuitruil gedragspatrone van firmas wat in Wetenskapparke gestasioneer is, een van die teoretiese verklarings vir bogenoemde teenstrydige bevindings is. Die algemene literatuur oor netwerke le hoofsaaklik klem op die algemene voordele van netwerking tussen firmas binne Wetenskapparke. Hierdie artikel argumenteer dat netwerke beide positiewe (kennisdeling) en negatiewe (opportunistiese gedrag en kennisoorspoeling) effekte vir firmas binne Wetenskapparke kan inhou.

Does regulation have an impact on project success? : an empirical study in the construction industry in South Africa

South Africa’s administration of construction procurement has changed drastically since 2000 when the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) was established. Contractor selection in the past was mainly based on the lowest priced tender only, which often led to project failure due to tender under pricing as the contractors did not have the required experience. However, the CIDB regulations ensure that a contractor is only awarded a tender for which they qualify for according to their grading. The CIDB regulations evaluate a contractor according to their work and financial capability. It has, however, not been investigated if there is a relationship between CIDB regulations and project performance. Research results indicate that contractors who are not registered with the CIDB tend to complete projects over budget. This investigation also revealed that the years of experience of the respondent has more impact on project success than CIDB registration. This investigation indicates that the current requirement for CIDB registration is ineffective in ensuring a successful project therefore, public sector clients need to re-assess the necessity of having such a requirement and perhaps explore other requirements for the procurement of contractors.

FACTORS THAT IMPACT KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION IN PROJECTS

Knowledge dissemination, as part of the knowledge exchange process, is particularly challenging in any project environment due to the temporary nature of projects. Although several studies in the earlier literature studied the factors that influence knowledge exchange, very few examined them from the ‘knowledge push’ perspective. This study aims, therefore, to highlight the critical factors that impact knowledge dissemination in a project environment. This empirical research found ten critical factors, such as individual experience, trust, source credibility, shared understanding, motivation, and articulability. These individual factors seem to have a dominant influence on knowledge dissemination from the view point of the knowledge source.

The perception of innovative organisational culture and its influence on employee innovative work behaviour

The role of innovation within an organization is undeniably important. An organizational culture that embraces innovation is one that will encourage employees to behave innovatively. This investigation is set out to explore the determinants of innovation within an organization that will prompt employees to behave innovatively. The investigation suggests that when employees perceive a positive innovative culture, they are likely to show innovative behavior in specific stages of innovative work behavior. These stages are: opportunity exploration, idea generation, idea championing and idea realization. The investigation identified ten determinants, namely: autonomy, external contacts, communication, collaboration, risk taking, decentralized structure, reward, resource, participative leadership and strategy. We proposed ten hypotheses to test the impact of these ten determinants on employee innovative behavior. Based on the findings, some of the determinants are found to have a high support to innovative behavior and these vary according to the specific innovation behavior stages.

Factors for electronic media selection in project communication

Knowledge transfer in projects are more complex and challenging than such transfers in normal operations due to the temporary nature of project teams in which team members often do not see the capturing and transferring of knowledge across projects as important for long term benefits to the organization. Understanding how and why different communication media, computer-mediated or otherwise, are used in organisations becomes essential to prescribe and to predict sound rationale organisational investments in different media choices. Although a lot of research has been done on factors that influence media selection as a knowledge transfer tool, organisations are becoming more dependent on using the electronic media for communication and further advancement in the electronic media necessitate continued research. This study investigates the key factors that influence the selection of electronic media in projects communication focussing on the engineering sector as well as identifying factors which are more dominant that others. The communication factors which were identified during the study were grouped into four groups: system characteristic factors, task factors, organisational factors and people factors. The study investigated the influence of the communication factors on the following forms of electronic media: e-mail, internet, intranet, extranet, electronic bulletin boards, television networks, audio recordings, video conferences, tele conferences, instant messaging, telephonic systems and multimedia presentations. Results showed that the top ten key factors which influence selection of electronic media consisted of; six system factors, three task factors, one organisational factor and one people factor. Systems factors were more critical than the other factors in influencing the choice of electronic media.

The relationship between project management office maturity and organisational project management maturity: an empirical study of the South African government infrastructure departments

The Project Management Office (PMO) has been associated with organisational project management competence. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support this perception. This study examines the relationship of PMO maturity and the nine knowledge areas that describe Organisational Project Management (OPM) by collecting data from 129 PMO executives, staff, and project managers in South African Government Infrastructure Departments (SAGID) using a structured questionnaire. The results show that a PMO’s ‘strategic’ maturity has the highest impact on all nine areas of OPM. It is thus recommended that public organisations need to accelerate the strategic maturity of their PMOs to benefit from them.

A multivariate analysis of success factors for Six Sigma deployment: The South African mining industry as a case

Accepted 7 May, 2012 The Six Sigma continuous improvement methodology has been successfully deployed in many organisations on a global basis. This has resulted in significant reduction in cost and increases in revenue as a result of the improvement in operational excellence associated with improved business practices, the removal of variance in systems and processes and the reduction in waste generation and poor product quality. By virtue of the financial meltdown in 2007/2008 Lonmin PLC, which operates within the South African Mining Environment, embarked on a restructuring and reorganisation initiative and decided to transform its Six Sigma deployment from a centralised centre of excellence approach to one where the core competencies and drive behind the deployment programme (black belts and master black belts) are re-integrated into the line functions of the organisation. This transformation has provided the opportunity to analyse the differences between the two approaches and to explore the factors which are critical to a successful deployment. The empirical results have identified twelve success factors within the operational context of the Six Sigma deployment undertaken by Lonmin PLC. Practical recommendations are made regarding the approach to be followed based on these factors during a Six Sigma deployment.