Browsing by Author "Brown, Mercy"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Assessing the South African Brain Drain, a Statistical Comparison
    (2000-07) Meyer, Jean-Baptiste; Brown, Mercy; Kaplan, David
    For several decades the analysis of the so-called brain drain has been hampered by measurement problems. It is now recognised that the official figures significantly underestimate the extent of the brain drain phenomenon and its increase since the political changes in the mid-1990's. This paper, using data from various reliable sources, provides new statistical evidence on the size of the brain drain from South Africa.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    The diaspora option : a viable solution for the brain drain?
    (1999) Brown, Mercy; Meyer, Jean-Baptiste
    The phenomenon of skills mobility has become quite a topical issue, not just in South Africa, but worldwide. The reason for this is that in today's knowledge and skills-based economy the loss of highly qualified human resources is a critical issue for any country and especially for developing countries. Strategies have been implemented during the last three decades to counteract the brain drain, but these have not been very successful. A new and promising strategy is now emerging, this is referred to as the "diaspora option". The diaspora option seeks to mobilize highly skilled expatriates of a country to contribute to the social and economic advancement of their country of origin by finding ways of setting up links and connections between these highly skilled expatriates and the country of origin The distinguishing feature of the diaspora option is that expatriates don't have to return to the country of origin, they can stay in the host country, but contribute their skills and knowledge to their home country from wherever they are in the world. The diaspora option is quite a recent phenomenon and no systematic research has been done on the number of countries that have actually gone the diaspora route. The aim of this project was to identify and study the experiences of countries that have set up scientific/intellectual diaspora networks and to assess the success of the diaspora option. Through systematic and rigorous searches on the Internet 35 networks were identified. However, because not all of them could strictly be classified as scientific/intellectual diaspora networks, only twelve networks were chosen for analysis. After careful investigation of the information available on these networks, it is concluded that the diaspora option, although not without potential pitfalls, is indeed a viable solution to the brain drain.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Private sector role in community development: a case study on Martin & East (Pty) Ltd approach to "responsible business"
    (2017) Damon, Linley Cara; Brown, Mercy
    Given persistently high levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa and the government's apparent inability to meaningfully address these, the role of the private sector to provide additional interventions to assist in achieving social support through sustainable community development initiatives is imperative. The case study unpacks Martin & East (Pty) Ltd's (M&E's) approach to Responsible Business (RB). Winfield's (2015) argument for what RB is, lies within the unique contractual relationships that exist between the business enterprise and its stakeholders. It is within the identification of the business' relationships with various stakeholders and in particular, for the purpose of this research, the community as a stakeholder, that we realise the sphere of influence that the business has to possibly affect social change. In order to understand M&E's RB approach in a particular community the case study is further focused on the City of Cape Town project: 216Q/2014/15 Construction of Link Road (City of Cape Town, 2014) to establish the status quo and any opportunities for improvement which may exist. The dissertation draws on semi-structured interviews to understand the interaction of M&E with project stakeholders, identified as the Project Management Team (PMT) and the affected Community. The findings are interpreted through the goals of RB and Community Development (CD) established to evaluate the quality of the relationships created through the project. I argue that there is evidence of achieving these goals. However, the responsibility of CD still lies wholly with local government and the strategies that it puts in place by the setting of Community Participation Goals (CPGs) on its infrastructure projects. It is with regard to their strategy in achieving these CPGs where M&E's RB approach plays a significant role in truly achieving CD in the way that the PMT had intended. M&E's intrinsic values prompted its Project Team (PT) to engage in informal training, treat labour well and abide by contractual obligations as stipulated in the Contract Document governing their roles and responsibilities. Recommendations for M&E business practice include ensuring that the well thought through strategy for their internal community, through the implementation of the Isidima Trust and involvement in education programmes, is translated to the temporary community in which it often finds itself.