Browsing by Author "Beekman, Jan F"

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    A theory of corporate planning applied to the Cape Provincial Administration
    (1981) Sides, Denis Barton; Beekman, Jan F
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    Hospital administration
    (1978) Kane-Berman, Jocelyne Denise Lamrie; Beekman, Jan F
    The Administrator of a hospital, particularly of a teaching hospital, is faced with the task of organising increasingly complex and specialised, high technology institutions, under constant pressure to improve patient care and community services, training of health personnel, and to seek new knowledge, therapies and techniques. In addition, acute general hospitals are being forced to re-examine their goals and functions in the light of greater competition from other health and social services for scarce resources - and of changing environmental circumstances. These activities must be undertaken in the context of new theories of management with greater emphasis on the psycho-social aspects of organisation, decision-making processes and advances in information-processing techniques. To be equipped for this task the hospital administrator must also acquire new knowledge and skills. It was therefore frustrating to discover that no training courses for hospital administrators, medical or otherwise were available in this country and that there was a dearth of literature with specific reference to the Republic. Thus, it was as a measure of desperation that this thesis was embarked on, in order to satisfy a personal need to learn about the theory of administration and to meet the need for basic research into, and documentation of, hospital administration in South Africa. In view of the necessity to study virtually every aspect of the subject and the fact that so little research had been done on the management of South African hospitals, it was felt that hospital administration should be examined as a totality rather than selecting any single aspect of the subject. General Systems theory which views any open system as a whole, in constant interaction with its environment, provided an appropriate conceptual framework for the general study of hospital administration. The Groote Schuur Hospital Group provided a suitable model within which to l examine the application of general systems theory; for analysis of the environment, resources, organisation and products of a hospital; and upon which to base some general conclusions regarding the administration of hospitals, recommendations for change and for further research. This thesis which is presented in eight chapters with a short summary of the contents at the end of each chapter has examined one teaching hospital group as a whole system. No attempt has been made to study any aspect of hospital administration in great detail, but rather to identify areas where immediate changes can be implemented to improve the effective and efficient utilisation of resources, and those where further research is essential to find better ways of achieving these goals and meeting societal needs. In the words of Tenon - The hospital is the conscience of a civilisation whose worth, in the end will be measured not by articles of faith and lofty doctrines but by the way it nurtures life; succours distress, rights injustices and transforms misery, frailty and want into hope, dignity and sufficiency.
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    Metropolitan municipal government for greater Cape Town
    (1982) Craythorne, D L; Beekman, Jan F
    The idea of this thesis was conceived as a result of experiences with the deprived areas of Greater cape Town. It is difficult to have regard to the social, financial and economic problems of a great many of the inhabitants of this area without giving some thought to what should be done to improve conditions and to create a better and more secure life for all the people of the area. Political and structural reform of local government may seem to some to be an incongruous starting point for the objective outlined above but yet, when the matter is considered, it will be realised that local government is a form of government which is closest to the people, and because it renders a range of services directly to people, it is in a good position to know and understand their needs. Likewise, the representative functions of councillors are important in conveying up to higher government levels, those needs which cannot be met locally. It can be said that South Africa is at a cross-roads in regard to political and structural governmental reform. The riots of 1976 and 1980 point in a direction which will be unacceptable to the majority of South Africans, irrespective of colour. If reform is to come, then a strong, vigorous and truly representative local government system will do much to make that reform successful.
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    Planning education for accelerated national development in third world countries : a case study of Malawi
    (1983) Winter, Carolyn; Beekman, Jan F
    The objectives of the research undertaken was to assess the role of education in stimulating 'accelerated development' in the poor countries, with particular reference being made to Malawi. The effectiveness of various educational planning models, when applied to manpower planning problems in Malawi were reviewed and evaluated. An assessment was made of early approaches to educational provision and manpower growth as evidenced in Conferences such as the Addis Ababa Conference (1961), the Ashby Report on Nigeria (1960), in addition to a reappraisal of educational planning measures which occurred in the 1970s. The structure and provision of educational facilities in Malawi was reviewed in the light of the existing severe shortages of skilled and trained manpower being experienced by the nation. Such shortages of manpower have been found to pose considerable hindrances to the development process. An assessment and review of the available educational planning frameworks was undertaken, with particular attention being given to the Manpower Planning Framework, this being the approach employed in Malawi to assess projected shortfalls and increasing demand for skilled manpower. The Thesis points to a number of limitations in the Manpower Planning approach as implemented in Malawi, and in view of such limitations, recommends the application of a Benefit Cost Analysis to educational planning, stressing the flexibility it permits in the planning process. The Benefit Cost approach was applied, in illustration, to the problem of determining how to overcome the projected shortfalls in manpower requirements experienced in one occupational sector of the economy, notably the shortages which exist in the engineering sector. The statistics utilised in this illustration were derived primarily from the Malawi National Statistical Office, in addition to the findings of a series of A.I.D. Reports on the matter. In conclusion, the Thesis pointed to the importance of co-ordinated long-term planning, and the adoption of educational planning frameworks. It was deduced that the differing educational planning approaches, in particular the Manpower Planning Approach and the Benefit Cost Analysis Approach, are rightly complementary in their application, not competitive as is commonly assumed. Hence, it is proposed that increased flexibility be built into the educational planning process.
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    The role of the town clerk in municipal government in South Africa
    (1977) Craythorne, Donald L; Beekman, Jan F
    The purpose of this thesis is to study the role the Town Clerk plays in South African municipal government and to suggest what that role could be. The thesis is not concerned with politics as such but with public administration, although because of the structure of local government, the Town Clerk is involved with politics in the sense that the lay-administrators he works with are politicians. It is stressed that politics does not mean party politics. Furthermore, while the Town Clerk forms the central theme of the thesis, his role cannot be discussed in isolation from the local government system within which he operates.
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    South African Airways : state - or public enterprise?
    (1977) Surdut, Ben-Zion; Beekman, Jan F
    South African Airways, the National Airline of the Republic of South Africa, is but one of the five transport services owned by the State, and operated and controlled by the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a division of the Ministry of Transport. This thesis, traces the administrative and organizational development of the Railways and Harbours Administration, and particularly the establishment of South African Airways, as a departmental undertaking within the Railways and Harbours Administration; examines other airline ownership possibilities, and submits that the government department as an administrative unit is unsuitable for the entrepreneurial activities of an airline organisation; that consequently, South African Airways should extricate itself from the Railways and Harbours Administration, which is primarily concerned with surface modes of transportation within the Republic; and that ownership and control thereof, vest rather in a public corporation, an organizational device of some importance in South Africa, even for major public enterprises, and enjoying significant advantages.