South African Utility Research Articles

Social wellbeing profiles: associations with trust in managers and colleagues, job satisfaction, and intention to leave.

This study aimed to determine latent social wellbeing profiles and investigate differences between the profiles in terms of trust in managers and colleagues, job satisfaction, intention to leave, and demographic variables (age and service years). Permanently employed individuals of a South African utility organization participated in the study (N = 403). The Social Well-being Scale, Workplace Trust Survey, Job Satisfaction Scale, and Turnover Intention Scale were administered. Four social wellbeing profiles were identified: socially disconnected (19.11%), socially challenged (31.27%), socially adequate (22.30%), and socially thriving (27.33%). Individuals in the socially thriving profile were significantly more inclined to experience job satisfaction and had lower intentions to leave than individuals in the other social wellbeing profiles. Two demographic variables, namely, age and service years, were associated with profile membership. This study provided a nuanced understanding of social wellbeing by identifying patterns in which social contribution, social integration, social actualization, social coherence, and social acceptance interacted within individuals in a population, which might otherwise not have been evident. The differing levels of social wellbeing among these profiles have substantial implications for job satisfaction and staff retention.

Social well-being, job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour and intentions to leave in a utility organisation

Orientation: Employee social well-being is likely to influence individual and organisational outcomes, especially in African countries where a high premium is often placed on one’s personhood being rooted in one’s relations with others.Research purpose: This study investigated the associations between social well-being, job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour and intentions to leave in a South African utility organisation.Motivation for the study: Given the history of relationships amongst diverse people in South Africa, social well-being seems to be a critical component of the overall well-being of employees. However, few studies in South Africa have focused on social well-being in organisational contexts.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used, targeting permanent employees in a South African utility organisation. Consenting participants (N = 403) completed previously validated measures of social well-being, job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour and intentions to leave. Structural equation modelling was performed to test hypotheses.Main findings: Social well-being was positively associated with job satisfaction and organisational citizenship behaviour and negatively associated with intentions to leave. Social well-being indirectly affected organisational citizenship behaviour and intention to leave through job (dis)satisfaction.Practical/managerial implications: Managers and human resources practitioners are alerted to practical ways of sustaining employees’ social well-being such as by implementing tailor-made policies that support social aspects of well-being and by ensuring the alignment of well-being programmes with changing circumstances in the modern world of work.Originality/value-add: This study illuminated social well-being associations with selected outcomes in a developing African country workplace context.

Integration of records management systems at a South African water utility company

Purpose Digital records are either stored in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) or an electronic content management (ECM) system or managed without the benefit of either. To achieve high productivity, integration of these systems is required. However, the utilisation of either an ERP or ECM system is absent in many organisations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of a framework that may support the integration of an ERP into an ECM system at Rand Water. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study used a case design with 14 interviewees from different levels in the organisation and diverse business units using ERP and ECM to perform their operational deliverables. Purposive sampling was used to select the interviewees in line with their area of work, role and level of operation. Findings This study established that the water utility company has implemented an ERP system (SAP) since 2004 and ECM systems since 1991 (Papertrail and later IBM FileNet) with only the information flow module integrated. This study suggested that to integrate ERP into ECM, human and non-human actors need to collaborate to ensure large-scale integration. Originality/value This study presents a framework for integrating ERP into ECM. It is suggested that an integration module for ERPs called extended ECM, be considered. A further study of the transfer of digital records in ECM into archival custody is recommended.

Risk management application in South African power utility construction projects

Risk management application in South African power utility construction projects

An assessment of servant leadership at a business unit of a South African power utility

Background: The South African power utility is facing several challenges with regards to providing sustainable electricity to consumers. The power utility is also currently not demonstrating adequate efficiency or productivity, with high levels of leadership turnover.Aim: The aim was to assess servant leadership, including features of servant leadership in the power utility. The assessment also aimed at examining gender and age group perspectives in order to obtain a better understanding of servant leadership in the specific business unit of the power utility.Setting: A specific business unit of the South African power utility which is situated in the Free State Province.Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study collected 771 responses from a convenience sample. Respondents completed measures of servant leadership. Statistical analysis included descriptive, reliability, validity and ANOVA calculations.Results: Servant leadership opinions indicate a lack of servant leadership features within the sample. Male respondents reported higher opinions with regards to stewardship, whilst statistical and practical differences were observed when comparing servant leadership across age groups.Conclusion: Literature indicates servant leadership can be a worthy contributor towards productivity and efficiency. The power utility has struggled to demonstrate adequate opinions of servant leadership and would require a well-formulated and well-implemented leadership development plan.

The development of a change agent identification framework for South African change agents

The main aim of this research project was to develop a theoretical change agent identification framework that could enable organisational change management specialists to identify change agents more effectively in large organisations that are undergoing change. To date, little research has been conducted into the best way to identify change agents. Change agents can play a significant role in effectively assisting co-employees to adapt to change and in eliminating resistance. The sample of change agents utilised in this research project comprised employees at a large South African utility organisation who were affected by change themselves but nevertheless helped to communicate key messages to other affected employees and supported them throughout the change process. These change agents played a significant role in helping to develop a comprehensive change agent identification framework that focuses on those elements to be taken into account when selecting individuals in an organisation to serve as change agents. A thorough 12-step empirical research process which included both a qualitative and a quantitative approach was followed. The qualitative process and results constitute the focus of this article. The literature findings contributed towards a comprehensive understanding of the role of change agents, as well as of the elements that should form part of a change agent identification framework to be used as a basis for selecting change agents

The development of a change agent identification framework for South African change agents

The main aim of this research project was to develop a theoretical change agent identification framework that could enable organisational change management specialists to identify change agents more effectively in large organisations that are undergoing change. To date, little research has been conducted into the best way to identify change agents. Change agents can play a significant role in effectively assisting co-employees to adapt to change and in eliminating resistance. The sample of change agents utilised in this research project comprised employees at a large South African utility organisation who were affected by change themselves but nevertheless helped to communicate key messages to other affected employees and supported them throughout the change process. These change agents played a significant role in helping to develop a comprehensive change agent identification framework that focuses on those elements to be taken into account when selecting individuals in an organisation to serve as change agents. A thorough 12-step empirical research process which included both a qualitative and a quantitative approach was followed. The qualitative process and results constitute the focus of this article. The literature findings contributed towards a comprehensive understanding of the role of change agents, as well as of the elements that should form part of a change agent identification framework to be used as a basis for selecting change agents

Performance evaluation of microbial desulphurization of waterberg steam coal as a pre-combustion technique

The current study evaluates pre-combustion microbial desulphurization of medium – sulphur type coal containing total sulphur (1.45 wt. %) and pyritic sulphur (≥ 0.51 wt. %) in a laboratory scale. Coal samples used in the current study were supplied by one of South African Power Utility, Eskom power station as received from the nearby Waterberg coalfield in Limpopo in South Africa... After a stipulated hydraulic retention time (HRT), the coal samples were filtered, washed, dried and analyzed for total sulphur, ash content and calorific values. The calorific value of the coal significantly improved from 20.42 MJ/Kg to 24.16 MJ/Kg on the 5th day. The process removed up to 72 % of the total sulphur content in the coal samples at an HRT of day 9th. Furthermore, ash content reduced by 16 %. This study provides a novel breakthrough of an alternative microbial desulphurization process of Waterberg steam coal as a pre-treatment technique in order to meet stringent environmental emissions standards for SO2.

‘Committed, motivated and joyful?’ Job satisfaction and organisational commitment of managers at a South African public utility

Objective: This study focuses on an assessment of managerial job satisfaction and commitment in the context of a vibrant and rapidly changing public utility from a positive organisational behaviour (POB) perspective. It aims at contributing towards an in-depth understanding of positive micro-organisational behaviour.Problem investigated: The aim of this study was to gain deeper insights into the relationship between job satisfaction (JS) and organisational commitment (OC) in terms of the ‘how and why’ at a selected public utility in the Eastern Cape Province.Design: This single case study uses a mixed-method approach within the pragmatism research paradigm.Findings: Findings show that managers across cultures share a positive organisational psychology approach on JS and OC. The JS of managers is mainly influenced by their satisfaction with working with colleagues and supervisors, and with strategies of motivation, as well as their dissatisfaction with the use of power, pay and promotion. OC was mainly influenced by positive collegial relationships, the organisation’s positive influence on the environment and on others, the enabling work environment and the location of the organisation.Originality/value: The article introduces new ideas in positive organisational behaviour research and reconstructs the image of South African organisational behaviour based on qualitative and quantitative data.Conclusion: This article shows that post-modern African organisations are opening new frontiers to building positive-oriented organisational cultures whilst creating constructive and future-orientated mindsets, which may spill over into society.

Investigation of stakeholders' awareness and adoption of Inherently Safer Design (ISD) principles in South African utility industry projects

The paper examines the level of awareness of stakeholders in adopting Inherently Safer Design (ISD) principles in the Project Life Cycle Management (PLCM) of South African Energy utility projects. It seeks to understand whether stakeholders in the latter stages of the Project Life Cycle are competent to make design change decisions on these projects. ISD principles are essentially useful for reducing risks and as such, safety experts have acknowledged it as an excellent approach in the design process. However, there are no known efforts to date that attempt to integrate ISD concepts into PLCM. This paper seeks to fill this gap. This study, through the review of extant literature establishes that ISD principles can be used in project procurement, and adopts a quantitative survey approach in obtaining information from stakeholders in the South African utility industry. Findings reveal that the principles of inherent safety are permeating into the management of South African utility projects but the level of awareness and its adoption are below optimal levels. It also emerged that there is a divergent awareness of ISD strategies amongst PLCM stakeholders and that the design engineers are better informed about the ISD approach of eliminating risks and hazards in the industrial systems studied than other stakeholders. The findings also indicate that the level of awareness of stakeholders of ISD principles is greater within earlier project phases. Based on these findings, the paper concludes that the hazards witnessed within the project execution and finalization phases could be as a result of the low levels of awareness, divergent views and lower use of ISD strategies by PLCM stakeholders. It is suggested that the level of awareness of the principles, concepts, basics and benefits of integrating ISD into PLCM be raised amongst stakeholders functioning within utility industry project procurement in South Africa and that design changes be limited to the earlier phases of utility project procurement.

A boiler feed pump success story

Low availability and reliability were common problems with boiler feed pumps 30 years ago. To address this problem, South African utility Eskom formed a partnering alliance with pump manufacturer Sulzer. Willem van der Westhuizen and Tony Cattaert of Eskom with Johan Cadle of Sulzer (SA) Pty Ltd discuss the background to the partnering agreement contract, its objectives and philosophy.

Making a case for white light-emitting diodes in the Western Cape

Within the context of the energy crisis in the Western Cape, the Provincial Government and Eskom (the South African power utility) embarked on a retrofit campaign to install 5 million compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in a desperate attempt to decrease the generation deficit. There is also increased pressure for investments in new generation capacity, with all options including the Pebble Bed Modular reactor (PBMR), the Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGT) as well as renewable resource technologies being pro-posed. Despite all these concerted efforts it is wide-ly regarded that demand-side technologies, with education programs, subsidies and research fund-ing, have greater scope for achieving success as they tackle the root cause rather than the symptom.The light emitting diode (LED) is a new energy efficient option in the lighting sector that has in recent times been deployed extensively by the City of Cape Town’s Transport Network Operations Department. The technology promises superior attributes that include a longer lifespan and higher energy conversion efficiencies, when compared to the traditional incandescents and fluorescents. This paper details the achievements of the LED in its brief history in the local traffic and signals industry as well as its projected impact on the city traffic light department’s future energy and mainte-nance budget. It is then proposed that these mono-chromatic signal LEDs, which is fast evolving into a white LED, holds the best promise in Cape Town as well as the Western Cape’s energy future if adopted for general lighting in the domestic, commercial and industrial market.

Project risk management practice: The case of a South African utility company

This paper documents the risk management practice of a utility company for its Recovery Plan project to address the risks of power interruptions due to a shortfall of supply and increasing electricity demand. The company’s corporate risk management process and its practice at divisional and project levels are discussed. The key role of stakeholders in risk identification, analysis, mitigation, monitoring and reporting is emphasised by the company and this drives its risk management practice. Despite the level of resources available within the company to use more sophisticated risk management tools, the company adopts simple risk management methods suggesting that a large size company does not necessarily use ‘state of the art’ risk management techniques. Recommendations for improved practice are made.

The Effect of Data Period Selection For the Development of Measurement and Verification Baselines for Mine Pumping Projects

The demand-side management, or DSM, program of the South African parastatal utility, Eskom, is gaining substantial ground through DSM projects being implemented on the underground pumping systems of mines. These projects aim to shift the load of the underground pumping systems out of the critical evening peak period to the other time-of-use periods of each day through the use of automated intelligent scheduling control systems. In order for the measurement and verification teams to report accurate impacts to the DSM stakeholders, we need accurate and representative baselines for each project. These baselines are developed with metering data, and the process is designed to result in baselines that give a true and accurate representation of system energy use as it was operated prior to any DSM intervention. One of the critical factors in obtaining an accurate and representative baseline is in the selection of the data period used for the development of the measurement and verification baselines. This article will briefly describe the layout and operation of a typical underground pumping system on a gold mine. The DSM activities are then described together with the purpose of the M&V activities. The use of baselines in this process is briefly discussed, together with the metering data that are typically encountered to develop the baselines. Two case studies are provided of actual DSM projects to show the effect that the selection of different data periods have on the impacts determined by the M&V team.

Safety of nuclear power reactors in the context of the South African Pebble Bed Modular Reactor—PBMR

The National Nuclear Regulator has received a nuclear installation licence application from Eskom (the South African electricity utility) for a high temperature gas cooled modular reactor making use of the so called pebble bed reactor type design (PBMR) coupled with a direct cycle gas turbine generator. In order to determine if such a design is licensable, it is necessary to clearly identify the licensing requirements for such a power reactor and to elaborate the processes that must be undertaken to demonstrate compliance with the requirements.

Recurrent neural networks for short-term load forecasting

Forecasting the short-term load entails the construction of a model, and, using the information available, estimating the parameters of the model to optimize the prediction performance. It follows that the more closely the chosen model approximates the actual physical generating process, the higher the expected performance of the forecasting system. In this paper it is postulated that the load can be modeled as the output of some dynamic system, influenced by a number of weather, time and other environmental variables. Recurrent neural networks, being members of a class of connectionist models exhibiting inherent dynamic behavior, can thus be used to construct empirical models for this dynamic system. Because of the nonlinear dynamic nature of these models, the behavior of the load prediction system can be captured in a compact and robust representation. This is illustrated by the performance of recurrent models on the short-term forecasting of the nation-wide load for the South African utility, ESKOM. A comparison with feedforward neural networks is also given.

98/00548 Experimental and numerical assessment of NO x reduction and char burnout of various South African utility feedstocks

98/00548 Experimental and numerical assessment of NO x reduction and char burnout of various South African utility feedstocks

The management of technology in a South African power utility

In a changing South Africa, there is increasing competition for scarce resources for social reconstruction, economic development and environmental benefaction. It is therefore critical that resources are optimally allocated through good management practices. Technology management is seen to play a major role in this regard. This is particularly so for a capital and technology intensive industry such as a power utility. This paper describes the technology management influences in a large power utility and discusses how these may be addressed via the application of the Management of Technology (MOT). The relevant decision making factors and organisation characteristics for effective MOT are detailed. It is concluded that MOT should be an integral part of business management in playing a major role in defining the strategic direction and business efficacy of any technology dependent organisation.

Quality circles as a means for achieving worker satisfaction - or just a healthy managerial climate? A South African sample

There is very little evidence that participative work programmes such as quality circles (QCs) improve the subjective experience of workers, either on the job, or in their lives generally. Part of the reason for such limited success is offered by literature suggesting that interventions such as QCs should reflect a general organizational philosophy of participation, rather than being the means to enforce organizational change. This study was undertaken in a large South African electrical utility, and consisted of 187 QC members and 63 non-QC members. Managerial climate was measured using a short form of Likert's organizational climate questionnaire, while worker satisfaction was measured using five different measures. Results revealed QC members scored higher on life satisfaction, self-esteem and purpose-in-life than non-QC members. Significant positive correlation was found between managerial climate and satisfaction indices. Regression analysis indicated that managerial climate variables accounted for the major share of the total variance in satisfaction indices, while participation in the QC programme accounted for relatively little: the implication is that QC participation may bring about increased worker satisfaction, but a critical prerequisite appears to be a suitably participative climate in the organization.

Forecasting system thermal efficiencies in technology importing countries

Forecasting the thermal efficiency of a set of power plants belonging to a country is important for energy, water, and environmental planning. In this article an analysis of the way in which the system thermal efficiency (STE) changes is provided, and a forecasting model for the electric utilities of technology importing countries is developed. The model is based on the identification of the speed with which technology is transferred from abroad and of the adjustment process of the system's efficiency to that of the best plant's. The application of the calculation to the South African utility shows that the STE in the year 2015 will be 20 to 25 percent higher than that in the year 1983.