Doctoral Degrees (Business Management)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Business Management) by Author "De Villiers, J. C. (Jacobus Christiaan)"

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    Strategic alliances between communities, with special reference to the twinning of South African provinces, cities and towns with international partners
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011-10) De Villiers, J. C. (Jacobus Christiaan); De Coning, T. J.; Smit, E. van der M.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Business Management.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The international relations of regions, cities and towns include a variety of activities of which the phenomenon of twinning, or the establishment of a relationship with a community in a foreign country, is normally the most prominent and long lasting. Twinning originated in the aftermath of World War Two in Europe and the concept soon spread to America, where it was defined as a new form of “citizen-to-citizen” diplomacy. Twinning has since evolved through three distinct phases: the reciprocal phase; the associative phase; and the commercial exchange phase, and an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 cities and towns globally are involved in such relationships. This study, which aimed to identify and assess the extent of international twinning relations of South African provinces (regions) and local communities (in cities and towns) and to establish guidelines for twinning success, was conducted in an interdisciplinary manner and had to cover a wide terrain as the field of twinning worldwide is under-researched. The twinning between two communities in different countries was defined as a strategic alliance, and the bodies of literature on strategic alliances in the private sector as well as on the factors that lead to twinning success were investigated. A systems approach was followed and the twinning phenomenon was investigated from a macro perspective by investigating the context, content and process of the phenomenon worldwide; from a meso perspective by investigating the context of twinning in South Africa; and from a micro perspective by investigating the content and process of South African twinnings. The literature study revealed duplication and confusion in the terminology used to describe twinning and its related concepts, and conceptual clarification was necessary to develop a common terminology for the future. In this study, therefore, an important distinction is also made between the twinning of municipalities, and the twinning of communities. From the literature study, success factors for twinning were identified. Based on these, a conceptual model of twinning was developed which embodies the best-practices content and process elements of twinning, and this model was used to construct the primary research questionnaire. Elements of the conceptual twinning model were subjected to significance testing. It was confirmed that similarities of the personalities on both sides, partner commitment, understanding, cultural sensitivity, positive partner attitude, community awareness of the twinning, existence of a business plan, quality of management, management commitment and active marketing relate significantly positively to alliance success. The primary research conducted amongst all provinces and municipalities in South Africa, combined with secondary research sources, revealed the number and extent of the twinnings of South African communities and municipalities with foreign partners. Altogether 35 relationships were identified that have lapsed, 130 current relationships exist, and 41 new ones are in the process of being concluded. Another 60 relationships exist on the provincial level. These twinnings represent non-central-government-level linkages with 45 foreign countries, but only a few of these relationships are successful in meeting their original objectives. Some of the key findings of the study are that twinning is becoming more important globally as multilateral organisations acknowledge the importance of international relations at the local level and that twinning can play a big part in local economic development and promoting unity on the African continent, but is lacking in South Africa due to an absence of back-up and support, a lack of coordination and synergies between the three spheres of government, a lack of marketing, a lack of municipal capacity at local level, and the non-compliance of municipalities with official policy. The main positive outcomes of South African relationships were reported in the areas of knowledge sharing and training, and financial benefits. Key recommendations are that on the macro level, global coordination and assistance schemes for twinning be improved and that community ownership of twinning be put back at the centre of the focus of twinning; on the meso level, an organisation be formed to facilitate South African twinnings and to provide support; and at the micro level, alternative sources of funding be sought and that the process model developed in the study be used to increase the possibility of twinning success.