Browsing by Author "Zincume, Philani Nduna"

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    A Front-line supervisor effectiveness model for engineering team-based organisations
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-10-05) Zincume, Philani Nduna; Jooste, J. L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: While there has been a significant focus on management research, the role of front-line supervisors has often been neglected. Studies tend to focus on senior management or treat management as a homogenous group. The problem with this limited focus on senior management is that the front- line supervisors make an essential contribution to the success of an organisation and form an important link in the chain of management command. In the context of engineering organisations, the complexity of the processes followed and the products that are manufactured or services that are delivered often require the use of work teams and the effectiveness of these work teams determines how successful the organisation is. Such a context requires a high level of technical interdependence which necessitates team-based systems. These team-based systems improve effectiveness in engineering organisations because they allow work teams to address problems systematically over an entire process. The increasing introduction of team-based systems in the engineering world has posed a challenge for the management of such organisations to provide work teams with an organisational environment that supports their needs. The literature covering the management and supervisory outcomes of these work teams is limited and is primarily based on case studies in manufacturing plants, and the available studies often do not differentiate the type of teams in question. Therefore, this study identifies an opportunity to make a unique contribution in the field of Engineering Management by conducting research focused on front-line supervisory personnel and developing an effectiveness model that conceptualises the front-line supervisor effectiveness in an engineering team-based environment. Although the front-line supervisor role has been somewhat explored in literature, studies attempting to empirically examine the exact responsibilities that constitute the role and the determinants that lead to supervisor effectiveness in the engineering team-based organisations are scarce. Furthermore, literature shows an evolution in the front-line supervisor role which suggests an ongoing need for theoretical and empirical development to understand the role of the front-line supervisor and its effectiveness determinants. Based on the evolution of the front-line supervisor role and the sparsity of literature that addresses this role in the context of engineering team-based organisations, this study develops a model that identifies, describes, and quantifies the determinants of front-line supervisor effectiveness in engineering team-based organisations. The research takes pragmatism as its main philosophical worldview and utilises the systematic literature review approach and semi-structured interviews to identify five front-line supervisor effectiveness determinants and associated interrelationships to construct an effectiveness model specific to engineering team-based organisations. The structural equation modelling techniques are used to empirically evaluate the resultant model. The model aims to provide insight into the determinants of front-line supervisor effectiveness in engineering team-based organisations and can be useful for refocusing the front-line supervisors' development initiatives, improving front-line effectiveness and for candidate selection for front-line supervisor roles.
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    The reliability of commuter rail service in the City of Cape Town : a grounded theory approach for identifying the factors affecting the provision of a reliable commuter rail service
    (South African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2018) Zincume, Philani Nduna; Ryan, Tom; Shaw, Corrinne
    The 2013 survey conducted by the National Household Travel Survey found that the majority of the commuter rail service users are dissatisfied with the quality of the service due to the lack of reliability characterised by the increase in the percentage of train cancellations and delays. This paper uses the Grounded Theory as its main methodology and develops the theory of commuter rail provision using Systems Archetypes and presents it in the form of a Causal Loop Diagram. The developed theory is then used to recommend a solution loop that seeks to improve the quality of commuter rail service.
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    Validation of supervisor effectiveness determinants for engineering team-based organisations
    (Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2020-11-11) Zincume, Philani Nduna; Jooste, Wyhan
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to identify, validate, and describe the determinants of supervisor effectiveness in the context of engineering team-based organisations. Five supervisor effectiveness determinants were identified through the use of the systematic literature review methodology, and validated using semi-structured interviews. This paper presents the validated supervisor effectiveness determinants using the input mediator output framework.