Martinus Theunis Steyn de Wet

A Multi-Methodology System as IT Project Management Approach in South African Banking. After seven years of involvement in IT and operations in banking, always with the goal of improving processes, a study was undertaken with a focus on IT project management methodologies. The summary of the study, presented at the SA Institutre for Industrial Engineers Conference, won the best-paper reward. South Africa’s major banks – Absa, Capitec Bank, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank – have implemented significant changes to their information technology project management approaches and methodologies over the past decade and will likely continue to do so. Whereas these changes require significant investment and change-absorption, the benefits do not materialize as expected. Furthermore, a growing project management approach and methodology dogmatism is prevalent among practitioners and stakeholders of information technology projects in South African banking. In response to this situation, the possibilities and needs for the development of information technology project management approaches and methodologies were investigated. Following the investigation, a Multi-Methodology System as an approach to information technology project management in South African banking was proposed as the possible and needed developmental direction; and the design requirements for the Multi-Methodology System were developed and validated. The Multi-Methodology System was designed to adhere to systems thinking principles relating to Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety and incorporating the controllable adaptability presented by Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model. The Multi-Methodology System presents a useful addition to the study and practice of information technology project management in South African banking as it relates to the interpretation of the large, complex project, and with regards to the selection, tailoring, and hybridization of IT project management approaches.

Our MSc Finance (Economic Policy) programme has been principally designed to help you work on economic policy in government, central banks, public organisations, and international institutions. The programme will increase your understanding of the principles, applications and context that underlie economic policy, focusing on the financial aspects of policy making. Additionally, you will acquire sound understanding of theories in finance and of the workings of financial markets. The MSc Finance (Economic Policy) enables you to deepen your understanding of financial markets, banks, and their relation to economic performance. It provides a sound platform for advancing your career in finance and policy. (CeFiMS, SOAS) Modules: • Macroeconomic Policy & Financial Markets • Risk Management: Principles & Applications • Public Financial Management: Revenue • Microeconomic Principles & Policy • Bank Financial Management • International Finance • The IMF and Economic Policy • Banking & Capital Marke

This is a programme for self-motivated, forward-looking people who are keen to exercise leadership by their lucid thinking, and to apply such thinking within the reality of present-day organisations. (SA Study) Major Modules: • Decision-making and Values Studies • Economics • Political Sciences • Philosophy