Organisational strategic drivers and core competencies applied in the South African mining sector

Abstract

This paper compares the organisational strategic drivers of a South African mining house with those of industries abroad. It furthermore compares the key competencies or capabilities of the mining house with those of the overseas industries. A Delphi panel participants comprising of nine experts - with a combined experience base of over 130 years - provided the data. The strategic drivers as well as the key competencies of the South African mining house showed marked similarities to industries such as petrochemical, engineering and construction industries abroad. While safety enjoys higher priority in the South African mining environment than in comparable industries abroad, there is room for improvement in the level of prioritisation of projects that takes place within project portfolios. The degree of authorisation given to project teams within the South African mining house to execute the project strategy is lower than that in comparable industries abroad while the level of business focus and business awareness within the South African mining project teams is relatively high. The correlation between strategic drivers and core competencies was weaker than would be expected.