GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS NAME: ANOLD DHLIWAYO REGISTRATION NUMBER: M193122 CONTACT DETAILS: +263779108222 / +263718108222 MODE OF ENTRY: CONVENTIONAL DURATION: NOVEMBER 2022 – AUGUST 2022 BACHELOR OF COMMERCE HONOURS DEGREE IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS JUDICIAL SERVICE COMMISSION MASVINGO HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABWE SUPERVISOR: MRS GEZAH F +26377 339 7918 WORK - RELATED LEARNING REPORT ONE GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY i TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................. iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 ORGANISATION BACKGROUND ................................................................................................... 2 Core business values and objectives ...................................................................................................... 3 Company Organogram ........................................................................................................................... 3 Organisational Structure ........................................................................................................................ 4 Departments and Functions ................................................................................................................... 5 Principal services, market serviced and characteristics ...................................................................... 6 Work Roles, Tasks and Responsibilities ............................................................................................... 7 Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF PLACEMENT ........................................................................... 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 8 Work Related Learning Objectives ....................................................................................................... 8 Analysis of Organisation’s operations ................................................................................................... 9 Successes and Challenges ....................................................................................................................... 9 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 11 CHAPTER THREE: PERFOMANCE CRITERIA AND TARGETS SET FOR WORK RELATED LEARNING PROGRAM ................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER FOUR: THE COMPANIES CORE BUSINESS .......................................................... 14 CHAPTER FIVE: EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT .............................................................. 15 Gap Analysis .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 18 CHAPTER SIX: DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STUDENTS ................................ 18 CHAPTER SEVEN: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION .......................................... 22 CHAPTER EIGHT: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 26 GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY ii ABSTRACT This report gives a detailed explanation of the student’s experience during industrial attachment with the Judicial Service Commission, at High Court of Zimbabwe. This report was done as a partial fulfilment of the requirements of Great Zimbabwe University’s syllabus for Information Systems program. This report contains the cooperate /organizational analysis, including the historical development of the Judicial Service Commission, Legal, its vision, mission statement and core values, organizational goals, operation analysis, services provided and financial arrangements. It also provides the structure of the organization, SWOT analysis as well as a brief comment on the organization’s relationship with other sta keholders. There is also a part that shows activities undertaken and their relation to the work plan and modules covered in the program giving recommendations to the JSC. Lastly there is the summarization of the whole report. An industrial attachment report submitted to Great Zimbabwe University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Information Systems in the department of Accounting and Information Systems GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I want to thank the Almighty for his grace in seeing me through the first semester and giving me the strength to persevere despite the challenges that I face; he has been my guide throughout this semester. My thanks also go to my Industrial Attachment Employer and ICT Officer, Mrs Mahachi (HR) and Ms Dengende, for the help, direction, collaboration, commitment, devotion, counsel, and encouragement I received during my work-related learning time. Finally, I'd want to convey my thanks to Great Zimbabwe University, my department, and my lecturers for their guidance, generosity, and vital encouragement, as well as the opportunity to pursue work in a field that I'm passionate about. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS JSC - Judicial Service Commission PSC - Public Service Commission GZU - Great Zimbabwe University IT - Information Technology MOJLA - Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs RM - Records Management CJ - Chief Justice PR - Public Relation HC - High Court SC - Supreme Court LC - Labour Court AC - Administration Court SAP - System Application Programme GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION This report provides an analysis of the day-to-day experiences of the student at Judicial Service Commission. It is divided into chapters whose thrusts are the acknowledgement, foreword, introduction, organisational overview, student/employee participation and organisational analysis. The introduction does clearly guide us into second dimension of the report which is organisational overview. This section thoroughly and clearly explains the mandate of the JSC by outlining its historical background, administrative structure, and its core business, funding mechanism, coordination of mission statements and objectives of the organisation on a day-to- day basis. It also explains the organisation’s local relations with other organisations, the community and the media. Student’s participation and observation is a rather qualitative dimension of the report that seeks to ascertain the student’s knowledge, skills and developments gains the studentship tenure at GZU and as an employee at JSC. It also tends to answer questions like, was the work-related period beneficiary to the student and the organisation? - If yes, how? It also discusses her interaction with personnel in and outside the organisation. The student is also given room to suggest possible solutions to grey areas in the GZU curriculum and what can be done by the organisation to improve its service delivery. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 2 ORGANISATION BACKGROUND As one arm of the state, the JSC is established in terms of Section 90 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. It has a constitutional mandate to provide advice on the appointment of judges and certain other constitutional appointees administer the discipline; and set service conditions in respect of magistrates and other non-judicial staff. The Judicial Service Act (7:8) gives effect to this administrative mandate. The JSC is duly and accordingly the employer of all magistrates and non-judicial staff scattered across the country. Before the commissioning of the JSC, management of the justice delivery in Zimbabwe used to fall under the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs (MOJLA) up until 2010. In order to enhance independence between the three arms of the state, the JSC was brought into life in 2010 with the custodianship of managing the judiciary and headed by the Chief Justice. Prior to this effect, the general administration of the courts used to fall under the Ministry of Justice with the Magistrates being employed directly by the PSC. Vision To promote and facilitate the delivery of world class justice Mission To provide administrative support to the judiciary in the promotion and maintenance of a justice delivery system that inspires public trust and confidence in the rule of law. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 3 Core business values and objectives The JSC has adopted the following core values, being an expression of the philosophy that guides and inspires the JSC in all its internal and external relations. Company Organogram The organization has a structure that is divided into two arms, one for the Support staff, headed by the Deputy Secretary Support Staff, and another for judicial staff, headed by the Deputy Secretary Court Services. The two deputy Secretaries all report to the Secretary of the Commission. The Commission comprise about 2099 staff members, including both judicial and non-judicial staff. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 4 The organogram of the JSC is clearly shown by the organisational structure below: Organisational Structure Fig 1 GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 5 Departments and Functions 1.4.1 The JSC is legally administered through the Judicial Services Act, and other various statutes that bear an influence, direct or indirect on the Commission. In order to perfectly administer the delivery of justice, the JSC has various departments, some of which are still in the process of being set up. The departments fall into one of the two wings; the Court Services department or the Support Services department. The Court Services is headed by a Deputy Secretary who reports to the Secretary of the Commission. The Support Services is also headed by a Deputy Secretary. It has various departments headed by Departmental managers, and these are: The Information Technology and Research and Development, The Finance The Human Resources; and The Administration The student falls under the IT department at The High Court. This department is charge of the day to day running operations of the Court. It is one of the busiest departments. The department is in charge of offering internet at the court. Also, this department makes sure that all pleadings and new files are scanned and captured in the JSC system. The department offers technical support whenever there is need. Sending of files via email to the Registrar is also done in the IT department. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 6 Principal services, market serviced and characteristics JSC Leadership and Management Style As part of the corporate governance charter, the JSC will review the management style and other leadership considerations with a view to ensuring that the Core values and the Founding principles are solidly entrenched in the leadership of the Judicial Service. Fig 2 GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 7 Work Roles, Tasks and Responsibilities Networking Data Capturing IT Support Scanning Any other duty assigned by senior officials Summary The JSC is a newly established arm of the government (the judiciary) according to the Constitution of Zimbabwe with its aim, mandate and vision being embedded in the underlying legislation and the Constitution. The commission lies on the heart of justice delivery and it has accordingly crafted measures to achieve its objectives, the various courts that fall under the direct supervision of the commission acts as the justice machinery. Judiciary independence may not exactly be independence without technology independence. The IT department under which the student falls is one that has the mandate of management for the JSC through various measures. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 8 CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF PLACEMENT Introduction This chapter will focus on the general and specific observations and recommendations to the Commission and the University. The observations were noted as having a bearing on the student’s work or career. Work Related Learning Objectives The objectives of the Work-Related Learning were to: 1. Familiarise students with the structures, operations, and integration of many functional areas such as networking, web development, data capturing and so on. 2. Afford the students the opportunity to develop hands on experience in the world of work and its intricacies, hence making the students employable and become fully productive immediately after arriving at the work place. 3. Expose students to the internal and external behaviours of businesses and to motivate them to the productive while training future information systems specialists. 4. Put students’ theoretical tools obtained in the first two years of the course to the test in the real-world operations of accounting systems and the management of businesses. 5. Encourage children to have realistic expectations about the real world. 6. Play the part of an employee and learning what it takes to operate in a usually structured settings with authority and accountability. As a result of the mentioned goals, it is important to create a report that can be used as a benchmark to assess if the industrial attachment objectives are being met. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 9 Analysis of Organisation ’s operations The student observed the following about the employer: Majority of employees are not motivated hence become less productive. There are inadequate resources to use in order to carry out the required assignments in which case the Administration department is not left out. The records and information systems are not fully computerised. Job enlargement is not being carried out effectively. Professionalization of related fields - Most employees in the civil service still have to acquire the required qualifications to qualify for the newly introduced professionalization of the civil service. This has not improved much in the accounts section where qualified personnel leave the civil service for better paying jobs in the private sector. Majority of employees who finish their studies sometimes are not given the anticipated recognition from the employer, thus forcing them to leave for greener pastures. Successes and Challenges Successes The fact that the JSC is established by the Constitution and legislation of Zimbabwe gives Commission power to influence government units like the COPAC to incorporate full independence of the judiciary. The mandate under the Judicial Service Act to deal with the entire court system Separate Budget-these are efforts by the JSC to enhance financial independence which is strengthened through having full autonomy over the resources, also being able to source external funding without need for consent from MOJLA GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 10 JSC also has a potential of retaining 100% of all court fees collected so as to increase the operational capital base. Challenges Human resources management challenges that range from low staff morale, understanding and inadequate skilled staff with no structured staff development. Lack of adequate funding from both the donor community and from local sources. Lack of specialisation to improve the quality-of-service delivery. Poor working conditions as a result of poor funding. Lack of infrastructure and equipment. Insufficient Case Management System, leading to delays and insufficiencies in the case handling. This goes hand in glove with the computerisation of the judiciary system. Lack of resources for capacity development. Poor funding has resulted in poor service delivery in some cases and huge backlog of unfinished programmes. As an arm of the government, there is inherited poor publicity locally and internationally. Insufficient independence from other line ministries including the MOJLA among others. Communications and linkages across programmes within the JSC are considered poor. Adverse macroeconomic environment prevailing in the country compounded by poor management is affecting the performance of most government departments. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 11 Summary At first the attachment period was not enjoyable since the student had to familiarize with both work mates and the work environment, as time went by it turned out to be fruitful. So much experience and skill were gained. There were a lot of things that I could not perform before attachment that I can now do on my own for example Networking as well as some useful IT tasks. The student learnt to appreciate theory without practise, to be patient and tolerant. The student is now a better person due to attachment experience both at work and personally. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 12 CHAPTER THREE: PERFOMANCE CRITERIA AND TARGETS SET FOR WORK RELATED LEARNING PROGRAM Judicial Service Commission has a set of goals that must be met in accordance with its fundamental beliefs. As a result, the organization established performance goals and targets for the work-related program, which the students must take into account during their attachment term. The following are some of the factors that interns must consider: Prioritise Quality The student was required to provide excellent service to his or her clients, which included consumers and other members of the staff. The major goal of Velocity IT Solutions is to provide high-quality IT services on a daily basis. Teamwork The student has also assessed their capacity to collaborate with co-workers. It is teamwork that ensures the organization's seamless functioning. Teamwork is important for everyone in the organization since it motivates personnel, which leads to effective results and provides a high degree of service efficiency. Creativeness The student was also measured the ability to come up with new solutions in solving problems and new aspects to be introduced on where there is need for improvements this also helps the department to provide service in efficiency and effectiveness. Professionalism The student's ability to deal with problems at work was also assessed. In addition, this assessed a student's capacity to handle challenges in a professional manner. The student's capacity to communicate was used to determine his or her level of professionalism. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 13 Communication Skills The student has also measured her communication skills in terms of communicating with clients in any circumstances. Corporate Culture The attitudes and behaviours that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle outside commercial dealings are referred to as corporate culture. The way a corporation conducts its daily operations is referred to as its culture. JSC’s culture is based on the following corporate culture: Teamwork: This is an important aspect within the company since it promotes collaboration and togetherness among personnel. The organisation relies heavily on communication, respect, and meetings. The organisation places a high importance on working together and sharing challenges and risks, as well as celebrating successes. Customer responsive: JSC are tasked to respond to the queries of their clients concerning their services ie filing of documents. Confidentiality: Employees at JSC are not allowed to disclose the company’s confidential information. Punctuality: Employees are expected to be at the workplace at the specified timetables. Dress code: Workers are expected to wear formal outfits and no jeans and T-shirst are allowed unless if there are some specified functions or programmes. GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 14 CHAPTER FOUR: THE COMPANIES CORE BUSINESS The company’s GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY 15 CHAPTER FIVE: EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT 5.1 Introduction This chapter serves to take a look at the relation of what was learnt and what was practically done at the organisation. It portrays if the WRL was useful or either the theory lessons. 5.2 Comparison of Modules Studied versus organisational Operations The student appreciates the knowledge acquired from the Institution thus far, as it proved highly beneficial during the work-related period. The acquired knowledge so far can never be over emphasised as it empowered me in the application and interpretation of Information Technology concepts and other relevant expertise. Thus, the general and specific background knowledge given on the IT framework, communication theories, management practices, quantitative skills; among others was relevant in the field. Communication and management skills gained in modules like Business Communication groomed the student socially and linguistically hence empowering her to execute her duties diligently. Communication is essential to any organisation for the fulfilment of its goals. This is achieved through the use of appropriate communication skills; which are crucial for both internal and external communication. At work, it is part of the student’ s duties to attend to civilians and other interested stakeholders in the Government and outside. This was not going to be any better had it not been for the skills acquired from this module. Imparted knowledge through this module