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An article by Professor Pieter Steyn, published in “Management Today” and “ProjectPro”, April 2001. Introduction Globalisation and the information age have impacted heavily on the way organisations are organised and managed. Superior strategic leadership has become an important competitive tool and is the basis on which leading organisations provide services or goods better than their […]

What is your leadership style and do your employees respond to it? There are countless leadership approaches that can be used to define your particular style of leading a team. If you are a still looking for a leadership approach that suits you and your team, this article can help you arrive at that decision […]

The benefits of Systems Thinking are often overlooked. Looking at the bigger picture instead of agonising of the details can be the solution your company needs. Systems Thinking is a branch away from more traditional forms of organisational analysis and involves looking at the “bigger picture” and organisational dynamics, instead of focusing on singular issues. […]

Are you an entrepreneur who needs to learn how to write a business plan? Maybe you have a product that you believe will “go big” but you are not sure how to properly get it “out there” or “to market”. A key element when writing a business plan is to begin with the need and […]

When it comes to starting a small business, an entrepreneur may worry about how to successfully run an organisation from the ground up. It is not simply a matter of walking into an office space, pitching out a few ideas and expecting them to work. It is far more than that, as you will soon […]

When managing your business strategy, a good place to start is to assess what you are not doing and what you would like to do with the company going forward. The essence of any strategy development should be about coping with the competition. “Sound strategy starts with having the right goal,” says Michael Porter, Founder […]

Organisational culture refers to a system of shared meaning amongst an organisation’s members. More simply, with employees spending 40 hours or more at their workplace, certain practices and environments can be observed.   How does the organisational culture affect an employee? An organisational culture refers to ideologies, values and norms that become the ‘social glue’ […]

An entrepreneur is defined as: “a person who undertakes a wealth-creating and value-adding process through developing ideas, assembling resources and making things happen”. It is a well-established fact that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) are engines of economic growth since they create between 65% and 70% of new jobs in the economy annually. The importance […]

Dr Pieter Steyn (South Africa) and Dr Brane Semolic (Slovenia)  

Principal of Cranefield College, Prof P. Steyn; Chairperson and members of our Governing Council; Cranefield management, all lecturers and staff Graduands; Proud parents, partners and relatives of the graduands; Ladies and gentlemen,   Welcome to the 2017 graduation of Cranefield College, it is an honour and a privilege for me to address you today on […]

Authors: Prof Dr Pieter Steyn and Prof Dr Brane Semolic This article in PM World Journal Volume VI, Issue 3 March 2017 – http://pmworldjournal.net/article/collaboratism/ Globalisation has dominated economics and trade for decades. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines globalisation as: “the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and […]

Dr Pieter Steyn (South Africa) and Dr Brane Semolic (Slovenia) Introduction In order to be competitive organizations are progressively adopting strategies that focus on their core business. They consequently build their internal capacities based on core competencies, while partnering with other organizations for non-core components that constitute their final products and/or services. In this way […]

Organisational Dynamics in Complex Environments: Changes taking place in the first decade of the 21st century post-industrial age are causing major adjustments in every industry in every sector of economy. The competitive environment, the primary source of opportunities and threats, is becoming more and more dynamic and disorderly, and its high volatility transpires into the […]

Climate Commitment Relationships: This investigation was carried out within an international financial services organisation. The executed survey comprised a climate and commitment research study, involving a sample of 129 respondents. In conducting the literature survey, it was found that there is no universally agreed-on definition for the concepts of ‘organisational climate’ and ‘organisational commitment’ (otherwise […]

For many educators, technology is now a key tool in their practice, and in some cases even shapes the way they teach. So I thought it would be useful to round up some of the key trends in educational technology to look out for in 2015. PERSONALIZATION Greater availability of data and the use of […]

Advertorial Knowledge management Business success through project and programme management excellence Cranefield College is a registered private Higher Education institution. It provides strategy-centred leadership and management education that enables organisations to progress towards a learning culture and knowledge management excellence.

Project Management Out with ‘jobs for pals’ ‘Companies need leaders who can improve efficiency and create a culture of learning’, writes Primarashni Gower Although several government departments and companies are sending their staff on intensive project management courses to equip them with skills to implement strategies, nothing will change if the top management is weak […]

In difficult times and changing economies, employees look to leadership for direction and motivation Leadership Written by Dr Stanley Mpofu The underlying attributes of strategic leadership are vision and influence, focus on the company’s people, implementation of a vision, integrity, stretching employees to deliver higher performance, being an agent of change, and remaining focused on […]

According to Professor Organisational collaboration and creation of innovative value chain is becoming one of the most critical dimensions of new business models. A knowledge-based economy needs high levels of technological literacy. To have rapid access to knowledge centres and replicate the knowledge through quick response is a critical factor of modern organisational performance. A […]

-A paper delivered by Professor Pieter Steyn of Cranefield College (www.cranefield.ac.za) at the Eskom Project Management Forum on 25 March 2008. Eskom Customer Needs Eskom customers have risk management programmes that are important for sustainable operations.  These risk management programmes involve considering the improbable and measuring the intangible.  Sustainable electricity supply is part of customer […]