| Summary: | Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM) falls within the category of local government, a sphere of government and being part of public sector management. The South African public sector management is affected by factors of globalization and finds it in competition with the private sector. Competition of this nature is about best practices and how to apply management systems, methods and standards that were successfully applied in the private sector and public sector institutions throughout the world. It is within this context that the study focuses on ways and means to address the inefficiencies, duplication of resources and wastages in SDM exacerbated by the silo approach between different clusters and departments. All of these have a negative effect on quality service delivery. Government has created an enabling environment through the enactment of legislation as well as adoption of policy frameworks to allow the public sector to pursue management theories such as Total Quality Management (TQM).
Literature review on TQM and business process mapping techniques is in abundance and attests to the usefulness of these techniques with practical examples. It is acknowledged that the concentration of TQM implementation is in relation to the product other than the service. The public sector is distinct from the private sector as the one is caring, developmental and democratic, whereas the other is profit driven. The ideological discourse on TQM and the perception that was created around it by labour, require further engagement in order to address mutual concerns. Stakeholders form an integral part of the public sector environment. The literature review draws a distinction between the citizen and the customer. Amongst the many examples, one is the implementation of TQM in the Japanese economy and the turnaround that it brought about, especially when applied in the manufacturing industries. Another example is the introduction of TQM and business process management in the Iranian public sector. Furthermore, the literature review highlighted contrasting views of TQM between labour and the private sector, which find themselves from time to time at loggerheads. Labour is protecting the workers from downsizing as a result of the implementation of TQM.
TQM and strategic business process mapping management techniques were identified in the hypothesis to improve quality in service delivery. Empirical research conducted which involved key municipal role players both internal as well as external endorsed the literature review. Research methods applied assisted in arriving as the following findings:
• Strategic business process mapping and TQM are mutually inclusive. Most of the responses received confirmed that top management is ready to embrace TQM as a management philosophy. They further demonstrated a profound sense of knowledge to the business process re-engineering within the TQM context. Silo-ism was evaluated and it can be overcome with the implementation of continuous improvement methods .. Many of the respondents responded favourably towards managing processes qualitatively, which can only be achieved through the application of strategic •business process mapping as an enabling tool. Strategic business process mapping bring about coherent and integrated processes, reducing inefficiencies and increasing effectiveness. Continuous improvement and customer orientation were rated equally high by respondents and therefore addressed the hypothesis as outlined above. All the variables associated with the assessment on awareness contribute towards improved service delivery.
• Incoherent public sector practices were illustrated in the form of the existing organizational culture. Of the participants who responded to questionnaires, some are of the view that the municipality subscribes to business organizational excellence and others not.
• SDM leans strongly towards strategy, which is a good sign in delivering on a quality-based strategic plan. The organization is becoming a learning organization that can align its vision and mission and strategic objectives to the TQM philosophy.
The study ends with recommendations for management action by the Executive Mayor and the Municipal Manager of Sedibeng District Municipality. === Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010
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