Browsing by Author "Esau, Michelle Vera"

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    An exploration into the understanding of Leadership Ethos and Critical Success Factors in public management: The case of the Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa and the Ministry of National Economy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
    (University of the Western Cape, 2017) Ndalamba, Ken Kalala; Esau, Michelle Vera
    This dissertation assumes an explorative and descriptive approach rather than a comparative approach. It aims at offering the concept of Leadership Ethos (LE) and its inherent Critical Success Factors (CSFs) as a paradigm in the quest to secure organisational efficiency and effectiveness in public management, with a particular focus on the public policy implementation process. It begins by presenting the background to the study, providing relevant information about the problem and the methodology followed. It then introduces the context of the problem of the study, sketching the context of civil service leadership before the advent of democracy in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and prior to independence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). These two countries serve as the case study through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Ministry of Economy (ECONAT) respectively. This is followed by the presentation of the theoretical framework of the study, defined within the context of compliance-based and integrity-based approaches to leadership, resulting in discussions on leadership theories. This leads to an examination of public administration reforms (PARs) in the context of LE, illustrating how PARs have resulted in a change in organisational focus and culture of the public sector. The study examines relevant economic policies in the RSA and the DRC with a view to illustrate the effects of LE and its subsequent CSFs on performance in public management, in particular, with respect to the implementation of public policies. Data were then presented and analysed with the purpose of probing the understanding of LE and its inherent CSFs. It considers how LE enhances organisational efficiency, which in turn will enhance social transformation, by guaranteeing the successful implementation of economic policies. The study then presents a summary of the main findings in both case study research areas. In its conclusion, the study proposes recommendations towards a LE that contributes to more effective public policy implementation processes.
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    Family political socialisation and its effect on youth trust in government: a South African perspective
    (Taylor & Francis, 2018) Esau, Michelle Vera; Rondganger, Carol Hilary; Roman, Nicolette V.
    Current debates on citizenship and democracy highlight the salience of cooperative relations between government and its citizens. Scholars observe that governments and its institutions function better where there is cooperation and trust. However, evidence suggests that political interest is waning and trust in government, dwindling. More especially, concerns about the effects of youth disengaging from political life are increasing. This phenomenon is more worrying in young democracies, where democratic traditions and principles are still evolving. This study examines the effect of family politicisation on youth trust in government. This quantitative study used a cross-sectional correlational research design. A two-level approach was adopted. At the first level we examined the prevalence of political discussions in the home and the trust attitudes of the family (as indicators of family politicisation) and youth towards government. At a second level we conducted a regression analysis to determine relationships between parent-adolescent communication and youth trust in government; family trust in government and youth trust in government; and finally, parent-adolescent communication and family trust on youth trust in government. The results suggest that a combination of parent-adolescent communication and family trust in government in a model, significantly positively predicts youth trust in government.