The use of career development planning as a strategic tool, a case study within MTN SA

Abstract

This is a research report on a case study conducted on the use of career development planning tool. The case study was conducted within MTN SA, one of the two leading telecommunications companies in South Africa. The purpose of the study was to explore this in order to motivate for the adoption of career development planning as a strategic tool, shifting the paradigm from how it‟s currently viewed. The thesis of the study is centered on the current ineffectiveness of career development planning and was further broken down into sub-problems that delve deeper into the different elements of career development planning. There were four objectives of the study, which aimed to answer the research problem. Literature review was conducted on this topic in order to lay the foundation of the study through the understanding of what other researchers and authors have written about this topic. The literature raised a lot of pointers which were then used in developing the study. A robust process was put in place for conducting the study, the process is discussed under chapter 3, which gives a detailed account of the nature of the study, sampling techniques and methods, data collection, measurement and analysis methods, etc. This research design served as blueprint of how the study were to be conducted. Data was collected using survey and interview questionnaires and from these a lot of findings have emerged. Overall the key finding is that MTN needs to change the way it views career development planning from being operation to being strategic. If not for any other reasons and benefits that will be discussed in the report, for enablement of the implementation of the strategic pillar of “skills development” which has been listed under the vision statement as being important for taking MTN forward into the future.