Organizational Environment. The organizational environment is largely affected by the external business environment. After a decade of economic weakness, there are positive signs that the economy has begun to gain lost ground, which bodes very well for Mintek. The policy inertia and uncertainty that have constrained investment and confidence especially for the mining sector have begun to lift. Government finalised the new Mining Charter last year and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy has signalled that the amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (2002) are in keeping with the policy intent. These policy pronouncements have brought some confidence in the mining sector and as such there are hopes of better mining growth in the coming MTEF period. Mintek revenue is generated mainly from three revenue streams, i.e. state grant, sale of products and services (P&S) and contract research. The work undertaken under the P&S and contract research streams is also collectively referred to as commercial revenue and mainly comes from the sector through the deployment of our technology and providing consulting services based on the technical expertise of Mintek. Mintek aims for a balance ratio of 50:50 when comparing state funding and commercial research and this ratio is currently 70:30 in favour of state funding. Even though state funding in the form of MTEF has increased over the years, commercial revenue has sharply decreased. The Mintek revenue in real terms has not been growing in the previous five years. In fact, our baseline has been decreasing while additional funding on specific projects has been increasing making it difficult for the organisation to plan in the long term. This negative growth even further exacerbated by the ever increasing operational expenditure of which employee compensation is the main contributor. The positive outlook of the mining sector is expected to end the over a decade decline in Mintek commercial revenue but this is also expected to be met with a decline in state funding arising from the fiscal constraint and changing priorities of government. It is therefore important that our research priorities are aligned to government priorities in order to maintain or attract other government related funding. The Mintek of the future therefore requires the right balance of skills to attract state funding and support efficiency and new investments in the minerals sector. With respect to organisational capacity, Mintek’s is currently en...
