Competitive Productivity in the South African Renewable Energy Procurement Programme

Sammanfattning: Title: Competitive Productivity in The South African Renewable Energy Procurement Programme Level: Final assignment for the Master Programme in Business Administration Author: Paul Frick Supervisor: Dr. Daniella Fjellström Date: 2020 – 01 Aim: The aim of the study is to examine the concept of Competitive Productivity (“CP”) in the context of the renewable energy independent power producer procurement (“REIPPP”) programme in South Africa, as the case study, which consists of private public partnerships and to understand how the actions of government have an influence on the competitiveness of the procurement programme. Method: The research follows an epistemological perspective using a mixed method. The position of ‘interpretivism’ is used by conducting structured and semi-structured interviews with industry experts to understand the interplay between the private sector (Firm CP) and government (National CP). The interviewee responses were thematised according to the CP framework in order to identify which factors of the CP framework were most relevant in a FCP – NCP relationship. The research further uses the position of ‘positivism’ by performing quantitative analysis on renewable energy procurement programme data to understand the competitive environment. Result & Conclusions: The empirical research findings indicated that non-financial factors such as trust through consistent and transparent government policy as well as a pragmatic attitude on the part of government, increased competition and ultimately resulted in a productive procurement process. The three constructs of Culture, Benchmarking and Performance were found to have the strongest influence out of the six constructs of the CP model. The research therefore adds to the development of the concept of CP. Suggestions for future research: Future research suggestions include an extension of the current research to compare South Africa against similar renewable energy programmes in neighbouring countries in Africa. Contribution of the thesis: The research directly contributes to a “Call for papers” in the relatively new area of strategic management, CP, and adds to the underrepresented field of International Business research in Africa. Additionally, the research contributes to future policy development in Africa where many other African governments are following the REIPPP model in order to develop their underdeveloped energy grids. Key words: Competitive Productivity, Trust, Pragmatism, Renewable Energy Procurement Programme.