The application of information communication technologies (ICTs) in records management in many organisations underscores the need for the assessment of e-records readiness. This provides a useful guide in benchmarking, gauging progress and comprehending e-records management. This study examined e-record readiness in labour organisations with a view to proposing a framework for labour organisations in Botswana. The study was largely guided by a quantitative paradigm and used a survey research strategy. This was complemented by methodological triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. All the 50 registered labour organisations in Botswana were surveyed, 45 of which responded, representing a response rate of 90%. Data was obtained through structured questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, document review and observations. The study established that e-records readiness in labour organisations in Botswana was evident, low and evolving, evidenced by the slow adoption of ICTs; inadequate records management standards and practices; and low integration in the national e-readiness framework. The study confirmed that most labour organisations had embraced the utilisation of ICTs in their work; exhibited some form of records management function and acknowledged the existence of national policy directives and strategies on e-readiness. However, traditional ICTs mainly the fax and telephone, were more prevalently adopted and used than newer ones such as e-mail and the Internet. The use of social media technology (Web 2.0 - Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter) was yet to be explored. The management of both paper-based and electronic records was not satisfactory and fell short of best recognised records management standards and practice. The integration of labour organisations into national e-readiness initiatives as espoused in key policy proclamations within the context of the pursuance of a holistic knowledge and information society was slow and remained challenging. In order to foster successful e-records readiness in labour organisations, several recommendations were advanced that underscored effective ICT adoption and use, implementation of best records management practices and rigorous integration of labour organisations into the information and knowledge society in Botswana. In addition, an integrated framework for examining and understanding e-records readiness in labour organisations was proposed and documented. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Text in English / Global and South African business challenges necessitate an increased focus on the need for effective leadership. The leaders of South African public listed organisations need to investigate new business solutions to enhance and sustain organisational effectiveness. Public listed South African organisations on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) were selected as the organisation type for this study. This study was motivated by the need for public listed South African organisations to explore organisational leadership as a means to assist in differentiating their organisations from competitors, thereby enhancing organisational competitiveness. The primary research objective of this study was to investigate and establish an organisational leadership brand concept model for public listed South African organisations. The discussion of the literature covered the global and South African business context, the concepts of the nature of organisational leadership, brand and organisational leadership brand, and emminated in an exploratory conceptualisation of organisational leadership brand for public listed South African organisations. The pragmatic paradigm was used as the foundation of this study. The study adopted an exploratory, sequential mixed methods research approach, combining a qualitative emphasis and supportive quantitative research approach to conduct the exploratory research. The qualitative findings proposed the concepts: the nature of organisational leadership and organisational leadership brand, including stakeholders and these concepts served as the basis for designing the quantitative survey questionnaire. The quantitative results indicated reliable questionnaire items, and based on the exploratory statistical analysis of the multivariate linear regression equation, described the organisational leadership brand (OLB) concept exploratory model with the best fit. An integration of the qualitative findings and quantitative results provided the empirical support to achieve the primary research objective. The OLB concept model integrates the concepts of organisational leadership and organisational leadership brand. The study contributed across the methodological, theoretical and practical domains as follows: the nature of organisational leadership for South African public listed organisations was conceptualised; the elements comprising the concept of OLB for public listed South African organisations was described; the OLB concept model for public listed South African organisations describes the development of organisational leadership brand equity through four levels of organisational leadership brand equity development; and the OLB concept model for public listed South African organisations may assist by providing guidance for the senior leadership of organisations in establishing organisational leadership brand equity. Furthermore, the study’s research approach provides support for the use of a mixed methods research approach in the study of organisational leadership within the pragmatic context of business organisations / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Consulting Psychology)

Defence organisations have now significantly developed and in the process they have applied various measures to sustain their progresses and encourage innovation. One of those measures is by embarking on KM programs. KM in military is seen as a strategic approach to achieving defense objectives by leveraging the value of collective knowledge through the process of creating, gathering, organizing, sharing and transferring knowledge into action. It is through proper knowledge management practices that an organisation embraces and manages its knowledge generation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge organisation, knowledge storage, transfer, knowledge sharing, and knowledge retention. The purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge management practices in the Department of Defence (RSA). The objective of the study was to find out how the department appreciates, understands, interprets and handles its knowledge. This study employed triangulation method to present trustworthiness of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches using positivist research design. Questionnaires, interviews and document analysis were employed to collect data. In order to arrive at the number of participants who received the questionnaires, a probability sampling method called stratified random sampling was used as well as purposive sampling. When setting up a study, it was essential to review the research identified in the literature review and to determine whether there is anything relevant to the research design of the proposed study. The study found that knowledge management was hardly understood generally in the department and was not an approach used and institutionalised for the benefit of the organisation. However there was embedded knowledge management appreciation from a few staff members in the department, only managing their own knowledge regarding learning, capturing and storage. Additionally there is a significant number of staff members who believe knowledge management is a way to go in the future and strongly believe their Defence Department needs to adopt a comprehensive and inclusive KM approach. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

A community development project involving the tribal leaders, civic organisations and the aged action group had been completed in 1994 in Rathoke, a rural area in the Mpumalanga Pre ince. In the process, the reseacher observed tension built as a result of the refusal of people in authority like tribal officers, civic organisation members and individual professionals to acknowledge that aged people can take a lead in articulating their needs and alternative solutions. Assumptions prevailing among them are that: 1. Old and rural people need help. 2. Have no potential for leadership development. 3. Are dependent on existing leadership structures and 4. Their needs are not a priority. On the bases of these assumptions, the reseacher undertook to do a case study based on the analysis of community development process reports kept for the project.There have been a number of learnings which can be of benefit to people interested in the leadership concept in the field of community development. / Social work / M.A. (SS) (Mental Health)

The investigation contributes to a broader understanding of the hegemonic role of teacher organisations and their relation to the dominant structures in society. It also contributes to educational theory since it extends the traditional assertion of an individual teacher who acts as an agent of capitalism and who serves to foster the interests of the State, to teachers who operate through an organisation which becomes more powerful in articulating this hegemony. The historic evidence shows that for much of the period under investigation these teacher organisations have either endorsed, or else have failed to challenge in significant ways, the use of education by the State to ramify the ideology and practice of apartheid. In addition these organisations have had no power to compel action from political and educational authorities. Decades of compliance with State policy, or unwillingness to forcefully articulate the obvious injustices of that policy, have inevitably led to a position whereby established teacher bodies became inward looking. Ultimately, these teacher bodies could not offer a fundamental critique of the apartheid education system and therefore could not empower their members to transform society as they worked within a structural-functional and liberal framework. However, the research also shows that teachers as a collective group became capable of resisting dominant ideologies, especially during the post-1984 period. Progressive teacher organisations, fuelled by the labour movement and African nationalism convicted many conservative teacher bodies to eschew ethnicity and agitate for a unified, democratic non-racial, non-sexist State with a single Ministry of Education. This period saw an escalation in the struggles of resistance by teacher organisations against a newly established Tri-cameral parliamentary system. These empowered members effectively resisted the increasing bureaucratisation and political interference in education through which the State sought to control teachers. The study offers a new way of perceiving teacher organisations as they become involved in long term struggles of transformation which incorporates the reconstruction of a post-apartheid society. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (History of Education)

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe Kenya Power employees’ perceptions of their adoption and implementation of online internal communication tools as a means of creating and managing long lasting relationships among all employees in the organisation. The theoretical point of departure for this study was framed within online internal communication and relationship management while principles of e-government were also considered. A single case study design was adopted for the study which combined both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques while data was triangulated using an online self-administered questionnaire, focus group moderator’s guide and an interview schedule. The results guided by the theoretical criteria indicate that the implementation of online internal communication tools was done at Kenya Power without considering the internal stakeholders’ needs and preferences. The consequence is that employees have developed negative perceptions about internal online communication resulting in low adoption for relationship management activities. The findings of this study could be useful for other public sector organisations in that it will help them to positively change employees’ perceptions as well as enhance the implementation and adoption of internal online communication tools for the purposes of relationship building which could result in better internal communication and public sector services. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

The delivery of psychosocial support (PSS) services to children living with HIV and AIDS (CLHA) by PSS service providers, such as community-based organisations (CBOs) in resource-poor settings, ensures the availability of consistent and sustainable support to children living with HIV and AIDS. These children face various psychological and social challenges associated with living with HIV and AIDS, such as drug adherence to HIV medication, stigmatisation and distress, among others. This qualitative study explored the critical factors that influence the delivery of community-based PSS services to CLHA younger than 15 years of age in a resource-poor setting by a community-based organisation. Multiple data-collection tools were adopted. The findings revealed the critical factors that contributed to the delivery of community-based PSS services to CLHA, and also ways in which these important services could be improved. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Denna avhandling hade två syften. 1. Att i ett organisations-, professions- och pedagogiskt samverkansperspektiv studera några förskollärares möjligheter och hinder för utvecklingen av en genusmedveten pedagogik. 2. Att bedriva kvalita-tiv forskning utifrån antaganden om forskning för social rättvisa, som ett bidrag till metodologiutveckling. Följande frågeställningar belyste dessa syften: Hur skapar förskollärare utrymme för reflektion och kunskapsprocesser över tid; vil-ka individuella och kollektiva handlingar utför förskollärare över tid; vilka bi-drag till verksamhetsutveckling kan en studie av detta slag göra? Med feminis-tisk pragmatism som vetenskapsteoretisk grund tillämpades feministisk aktions-forskning som satte förskollärarnas frågeställningar i centrum. Under tre års tid ägde regelbundna träffar rum för gemensamma reflektioner, utvärderingar och planeringar av pedagogiska handlingar. Enskilda och gruppintervjuer, deltagande observationer samt en stor mängd mejl-, telefon- och brevutbyten kompletterade datainsamlingen. Den analytiska forskningsberättelsen växte fram under åter-koppling till förskollärares handlingar och i ljuset av förskollärares diffusa pro-fessionstillhörighet. Handlingarna tolkades utifrån de i feministisk aktionsforsk-ningsmetodologi inneboende principerna vad, vem och kritiska händelser över tid. Organisations- och professionsteoretiska analyser visade att förskollärarnas handlingar varken erkändes som professionella av den kommunala arbetsgivaren eller föräldrarna. Förskollärarnas behov av professionell erkänsla var stort, men när den uteblev, visade sig det långsiktiga utvecklingsarbetet vara av stort värde, därför att förskollärarna lyckades åstadkomma pedagogiskt sett meningsfulla förändringar, vilket understryker den temporala aspekten av organisatoriska för-ändringar underifrån. Förskollärarnas kollektiva handlingar började rota sig i en gemensam värdegrund. Formen av utvecklingsarbetet - att samarbeta med en al-lierad utifrån - var avgörande för skapandet av utrymme för reflektion och kol-lektiva handlingar. Kollektiva handlingar möjliggjordes i hög utsträckning tack vare enskilda deltagares mod att bryta tystnader om orättvisor i den egna verk-samheten. En slutsats är att det är möjligt att åstadkomma organisatoriska för-ändringar över tid genom en radikal öppenhet för agency. Transformativa kun-skapsprocesser kan åstadkommas om erbjudanden till ett genuint deltagande i ett förändringsarbete lämnas och mottas. Genom en problematisering av termer som handling, deltagande, emancipation, social rättvisa och kunskap gjordes ett me-todologiskt bidrag till feministisk aktionsforskning. / This doctoral thesis had two purposes. 1. To study some preschool teachers’ possibilities to develop a gender aware pedagogy by applying theories of organisation, profession and collaboration. 2. To do qualitative research by drawing on principles of research for social justice, as a contribution to the development of methodology in feminist educational action research. The following research questions helped elucidate these purposes: How do preschool teachers create space for reflection and knowledge processes over time? What individual and collective actions do preschool teachers take over time? How can this study contribute to organisational development? Feminist pragmatism served as the philosophical underpinning for feminist action research (FAR) as a methodology and method. The preschool teachers were regarded as agents for change in their own pedagogic and organisational practices. Over a three-year period meetings were conducted on a regular basis. One-on-one interviews, group interviews, numerous emails, telephone calls and some observations completed the data collection. The analytical research narrative emerged by linking the preschool teachers’ actions to their ambiguous professional status. Actions were interpreted by applying the principles inherent in FAR, what, who and critical incidents over time. The absence of professional recognition from the municipal employer and parents for the preschool teachers was evident. Since the preschool teachers needed professional recognition, they experienced the collaborative nature of this study of great value as it conferred legitimacy for their professional development. There emerged meaningful pedagogic change over time, which emphasised the temporal aspect of organisational change from the bottom up. Collective actions began to take root in a shared value system. The design of the project – to collaborate with an outside ally – was decisive in regard to creating space for reflection and collective actions. Collective actions were possible due to the courage of individual participants who dared break silences surrounding organisational injustices. In conclusion, it can be stated that organisational change over time is indeed possible by practising radical openness for agency. Transformative knowledge processes can be achieved provided that genuine offers of participation are issued and well received. By elaborating on terms such as action, participation, emancipation, social justice and knowledge, a methodological contribution could be made to feminist action research.

Ce triptyque d’essais présente le caractère versatile et évasif du concept moderne de capital social à plusieurs niveaux – global, national et régional, ainsi que dans le présent et dans le passé. Le premier article conteste l’hypothèse prédominante selon laquelle il y a une cohabitation entre l’engagement civique et la démocratie. Malgré sa validité au niveau général, la relation n’est pas confirmée si les catégories hétérogènes sont désagrégées. Pour les pays post-communistes de l'Europe, la relation entre le type de régime et la tendance de s'associer ressemble à celle des démocraties latines consolidées si la participation dans les associations volontaires est choisie comme mesure de la vitalité du capital social. Par conséquent, la vie civique moins intense ne prédit pas de difficultés pour la démocratie. Le deuxième article est une compilation originale de plus de 100 organisations classifiées selon les standards contemporains et une collection de présentations d'une douzaine d'organisations bulgares, les plus populaires depuis le XIXème siècle. Cette contribution importante à l’historiographie de la vie associative bulgare jusqu’à 1944 est le résultat d'un travail qui combine des entrevues avec des historiens et une recherche dans les archives. Le panoptique organisationnel sert de réfutation empirique de l’hypothèse qui attribue la faiblesse organisationnelle présente du poste-communisme à la pénurie de vie organisationnelle développée par le passé. ii Les mérites du troisième article sont doubles. Au niveau empirique on démontre que l’organisation culturelle la plus importante en Bulgarie a apparu comme une institution nationaliste imitant les organisations similaires des autres pays Européens. Elle s’est développée graduellement par une adaptation des expériences étrangères aux conditions locales. La collection des références bulgares est unique et représente le produit d’un travail méticuleux sur les documents et les entrevues. Au niveau abstrait, on confirme l’applicabilité de la théorie du transfert de la politique publique à un cas historique existant avant la théorie elle-même. Finalement, l’analyse détaillée des précurseurs du cabinet de lecture bulgare représente une contribution à la sociologie politique de l’histoire de la lecture. Mots clés: Europe de l’Est, poste-communisme, démocratie, société civile, engagement civique, organisations volontaires, troisième secteur, affiliation, transfert d'idées, apprentissage organisationnel. / A triptych of essays presents the versatility and the evasiveness of the trendy concept of social capital on several planes – global, national, and regional, as well as in the present and in the past. The first article challenges the influential hypothesis that there is cohabitation between civic engagement and democracy. While valid at a general level, the relationship is not confirmed once heterogeneous categories are disaggregated. For the European post-Communist countries, the pattern of the relationship between the regime type and the propensity to associate closely resembles the one in Latin mature democracies, provided that membership in voluntary associations is chosen as a measurement of social capital. Less intensive civic life does not bode for predicaments in democracy. The second article is an original compilation of more than 100 organizations classified according to contemporary standards and a collection of narratives about a dozen of the most popular organizations in Bulgaria since the 19th century. This invaluable contribution to the historiography of Bulgarian associational life until 1944 is the result of field work which combined personal interviews with historians of the organizations and archival research of original documents. The organizational panopticon serves as an empirical refutation of the hypothesis inferring that present organizational weakness of post- Communism is due to the lack of developed organizational life in the past. The merits of the third article are twofold. On empirical level it is demonstrated that the most important cultural organization in Bulgaria emerged iv as a nation-building institution modeled initially by imitating similar ones in other European countries and later by adapting foreign experiences to the local specific conditions. The collection of original Bulgarian references is unique and it is again a product of meticulous work with documents and personal interviews. On a more abstract level it confirms the applicability of the voluminous and unstructured theory on policy transfer to a historical case existing before the appearance of the theory itself. Last, but not least, the overview of the major European precursors of the Bulgarian reading club represents a modest tribute to the less known field of political sociology of history of reading. Keywords: Eastern Europe, post-Communism, democracy, civil society, civic engagement, voluntary organizations, Third sector, membership, transfer of ideas, lesson-drawing.

La présente étude a analysé l’évolution de l’Administration Canadienne de la Sureté du Transport Aérien (ACSTA) depuis sa mise en place jusqu’aujourd’hui, ainsi que les acteurs individuels ou institutionnels impliqués dans ce processus. L’ACSTA gravite dans un champ organisationnel ‐ensemble d’organisations qui constituent un domaine reconnu de la vie institutionnelle (DiMaggio et Powell, 1983)-­ au sein duquel agissent différents acteurs qui ont influencé non seulement sa création, mais qui ont continué à jouer un rôle important tout au long de son évolution. Nous avons défini le champ de la sûreté aérienne et au sein de celui‐ci, nous avons analysé les mécanismes institutionnels, tout en identifiant et définissant le rôle des différents acteurs en présence. Il ressort de nos analyses que principalement deux types de contraintes institutionnelles (DiMaggio et Powell, 1983) ont influencé la création et le développement de l’ACSTA. Premièrement, mis à part les contraintes coercitives émanant de la règlementation internationale de l’Organisation de l’Aviation Civile Internationale, il apparait que d’autres contraintes du même type proviennent du gouvernement américain, par le biais de pressions visant à la mise en place de mesures sécuritaires, tant au moment de la création que tout le long de l’évolution de l’organisation. Il est à noter, cependant, le rôle du terrorisme et des tentatives d’attentat comme provocant de telles contraintes. Deuxièmement, nous avons identifié des contraintes du type normatif, c’est-à‐dire celles qui proviennent des valeurs, des normes et du bagage professionnel lié à la sécurité et à la sureté aérienne. Il apparait que les contraintes normatives agissent constamment alors que les contraintes coercitives surgissent ponctuellement tout au long de la période analysée. / This study analyzed the evolution of the Canadian Air Transport Security Administration (CATSA) since its creation up to today, as well as the individual and / or institutional actors implied in this process. CATSA gravitates in an organizational field ‐the group of organizations that constitute a recognized area of institutional life (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983)- in which different actors, who not only influenced its creation, continued to play an important role all along its evolution. We have defined the air transport security field and within, we have analyzed the institutional mechanisms while identifying and defining the role of the different actors. Our analysis suggests that mainly two types of institutional isomorphisms (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983) have influenced the creation and the evolution of CATSA. Besides the coercive constraints coming from the International Civil Aviation Organization’s international regulation, it appears that other similar pressures emanate from the government of the United States by the means of coercive isomorphism, aiming the establishment of security measures all along CATSA’s evolution. It should be noted, however, the role of terrorists and their attempts to attack, as the catalyst actors and events of such coercive isomorphism. Second of all, we have also identified normative pressures originating from the values and standards from the professional network, or branch, linked to air transport security. It appears that the normative pressures appear regularly, while the coercive pressures emerge punctually all along the analyzed time period.