Abstract
M.B.A.
It is universally accepted that HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest threats facing mankind. It
has a profound effect on humanity from a social, political and economical perspective
and its effect can be catastrophic.
Many research studies have highlighted the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS on people
and society irrespective of geography albeit that the impact of HIV/AIDS varies from
place to place. Further it has a profound impact on the economical well being of an
individual, an organisation and for that matter an entire economy.
Building blocks of economies throughout the world, in the developed and developing
world, are people. People make up the labour force that organisations draw on in the
various economies. Anything that upsets the productive labour force has a profound
impact on the success and sustainability of these economies. In laymen terms an
economy is based on individuals and grouped into structures that are organisational in
nature. Organisations are essentially made up of a collection of people brought together
to work in a collaborative manner and achieve an overall organisational objective.
Therefore the impact of HIV/AIDS on the productive labour force affects the organisation
directly which in turn has a casual effect on the entire economy.
Organisations are therefore a critical stakeholder in the redressing of HIV/AIDS.
Although a substantial amount of research has been conducted highlighting the impact
of HIV/AIDS to an organisation there has largely been apathy by organisations in
addressing HIV/AIDS. This has however improved over a period of time as the impact of
HIV/AIDS on an organisation has been documented with greater accuracy and the
analytical tools, methodologies and monitoring mechanisms have improved.
This dissertation attempts to determine to what extent an organisation, Organisation X,
is successful in the positive maximisation of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP)
with regard to HIV/AIDS considering that many academics and industry specialists have
expressed that to address the HIV/AIDS problem one has to focus on KAP. Organisation
X was chosen since it is acknowledged by its industry peers, government and nongovernment
organisations as having made considerable success in addressing
HIV/AIDS from an organisational perspective.