Factors that Undermine Service Delivery by Civil Engineers in South African Local Municipalities

Zeleke Bekele Worku, Reginald Legoabe

Abstract


The objective of study was to identify and quantify key predictors of job satisfaction among civil engineers working in South African local municipalities. The design of study was cross-sectional, descriptive and evaluative. The study was conducted against the background of shortage of suitably qualified, adequately motivated and skilled civil engineers working in local municipalities. The degree of job satisfaction of respondents was assessed by using a composite index developed by Turkyilmaz, Akman, Ozkan and Pastuszak (2011) for conducting a similar study. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analyses were used in the study. As part of the quantitative aspect of study, data was collected from a stratified random sample of size 250 civil engineers working in various South African local municipalities. As part of the qualitative aspect of study, individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 37 civil engineers working in various local municipalities. Four focus group interviews were conducted as part of the study. Data was collected by using a structured, pretested and validated questionnaire of study. Quantitative data analyses were conducted by using methods such as frequency tables, cross-tab analyses (Pearson’s chi-square tests of associations) and binary logistic regression analysis. The results showed that 171 of the 250 respondents who took part in the study (68.40%) were satisfied with the job that they were performing in the various local municipalities, whereas the remaining 79 of the 250 respondents in the study (31.60%) were not satisfied with their jobs. Based on results obtained from cross-tab analyses at the 5% level of significance, the degree of job satisfaction of civil engineers at the workplace was significantly and adversely affected by too much workload, poor working conditions, lack of budget for construction projects, low salary and remuneration, lack of training opportunities, lack of cooperation and appreciation, too much bureaucracy and red tape, short duration of service, and poor relationship with supervisors, in a decreasing order of strength. Results obtained from binary logistic regression analysis showed that the degree of job satisfaction of civil engineers at the workplace was significantly and adversely affected by 3 factors. These 3 factors were too much workload, poor working conditions, and lack of budget for construction projects in a decreasing order of strength. Results obtained from individual and focus group in-depth interviews led to similar findings.


Keywords


Civil Engineers; Municipal Service Delivery; Job Satisfaction; Logit Analysis.

References


South African Council for the Built Environment. Baseline study on transformation in the South African Built Environment Profession. 2016: Groenkloof: South African Council for the Built Environment.

Alinaitwe, H., R. Apolot and D. Tindiwensi, Investigation into the causes of delays and cost overruns in Uganda's public sector construction projects. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 2013. 18(2): p33-41.

Watts, K. S. and J. A. Charles, Building on fill: Geotechnical aspects. 2015: London: IHS BRE Press.

Barfield, W. and T. A. Dingus, Human factors in intelligent transportation systems 2014. New York: Psychology Press.

Sadie, Y., L. Patel and K. Baldry, A comparative case study of the voting behaviour of poor people in three selected South African communities. Journal of African Elections, 2016. 15(1): p113-138.

South African National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (SANDCGTA). Annual report for 2014/2015. 2016: Pretoria: National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (SANDCGTA).

South African Institute of Civil Engineering (SAICE). A Succession Plan for South African Civil Engineering Professionals. 2015: Midrand: South African Institute of Civil Engineering.

Pillay, M. and R. Watermeyer, Strategies to address the Skills Shortage in the Delivery and Maintenance of infrastructure in South Africa: A Civil Engineering perspective. South African JournaI of Civil Engineering, 2012. 20(5): p46-56.

Turkyilmaz, A. A., G. Akman, C. Ozkan and Z. Pastuszak, Empirical study of public sector employee loyalty and satisfaction. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 2011. 111(5): p34-39.

Kitchen, R., The real-time city? Big data and smart urbanism. Geo Journal, 2014. 79(1): p1-14.

Campbell, J. L. Why would corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 2007. 32(3): p946-967.

Halbesleben, J. R., J. P. Neveu, S. C. Paustian-Underdahl and M. Westman, Getting to the “COR” understanding the role of resources in conservation of resources theory. Journal of Management, 2014. 40(5): p1334-1364.

Abbas, M., U. Raja and D. Bouckenooghe, Combined effects of perceived politics and psychological capital on job satisfaction, turnover intentions and performance. Journal of Management, 2014. 40(7): p1813-1830.

De Been, I. and M. Beijer, The influence of office type on satisfaction and perceived productivity support. Journal of Facilities Management, 2014. 12(2): p142-157.

Whitfield, L. and L. Buur, The politics of industrial policy: Ruling elites and their alliances. Third World Quarterly, 2014. 35(1): p126-144.

Murray, M. Corporate social responsibility in the construction industry. 2013: New York: New York: Routledge.

South African Auditor-General. Annual report for 2014/2015. 2016: Pretoria: South African Auditor-General.

Institute of Directors in Southern Africa. The King IV Codes of Good Corporate Governance. 2016: Johannesburg: Institute of Directors in Southern Africa.

South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Annual report for 2014/2015. 2016: Pretoria: South African Local Government Association (SALGA).

Alden, C. and M. Schoeman, South Africa in the company of giants: The search for leadership in a transforming global order. International Affairs, 2013. 89(1): p111-129.

Ofori, G., Nature of the construction industry, its needs and its development: A review of four decades of research. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 2015. 20(2): p115-135.

Khale, S., Assessment of the quality of municipal services in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. Journal of Corporate Governance and Control, 2015. 13(1): p678-695.

Edoho, F. M., Entrepreneurialism: Africa in transition. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, 2015. 6(2): p127-147.

Marivate, S. P., The impact of entrepreneurial skills on the viability and long-term survival of small businesses: A case of the city of Tshwane, South Africa. European Journal of Business, Economics and Accountancy, 2014. 2(2): p53-72.

Rasool, F. and C. J. Botha, The nature, extent and effect of skills shortages on skills migration in South Africa. South African Journal of Human Resource Management, 2011. 9(1): p1-12.

Watson, V. African urban fantasies: Dreams or nightmares? Environment and Urbanization, 2014. 26(1): p215-231.

Pooe, S., Z. Worku and E. J. Van Rooyen, The impact of tailor-made skills based training programmes on the performance of municipalities: The case of the City of Tshwane. Journal of Risk Governance & Control: Financial Markets and Institutions, 2016. 6(4): p24-30.

Khale, S. and Z. Worku, Benefits of good corporate governance principles: A study of the City of Tshwane, South Africa. Journal of Corporate Governance and Control, 2015. 13(1): p753-770.

Seeletese, S. M. Common causes of small businesses failure in the townships of West Rand district municipality in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. African Journal of Business Management, 2012. 6(44): p10994-11002.

http://www.serviceseta.org.za/Publications/SECTOR%20SKILLS%20PLAN%202016.pdf

Koma, S. B., The state of local government in South Africa: Issues, trends and options. Journal of Public Administration, 2010. 45(1): p111-120.

Badat, S. and Y. Sayed, Post-1994 South African education: The challenge of social justice. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2014. 652(1): p127-148.

Human Science Research Council (HSRC). Impact Assessment of National Skills Development Strategy. 2016: Pretoria: Human Science Research Council (HSRC).

Hair, J. F., W. C. Black, B. J. Babin and R. E. Anderson, Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective. 2010: London: Pearson.

Hosmer, D. W. and S. Lemeshow, Applied Logistic Regression Analysis. 2013: New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Worku, Z., The impact of service quality on the viability of start-up businesses. Journal of Corporate Ownership and Control, 2016. 13(3): p518-522.

Barg, J. E., R. Ruparathna, D. Mendis and K. N. Hewage, Motivating workers in construction. Journal of Construction Engineering, 2014. 3(2): p21-35.

Tsai, C. J., Human resources Management in SMEs: Homogeneity or heterogeneity? A study of Taiwanese high-tech firms. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2010. 21(10): p1689-1711.


Full Text: PDF

DOI: 10.28991/cej-030955

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




Copyright (c) 2018 Zeleke Bekele Worku

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
x
Message