Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / Communication is the basis of all relationships. Be it personal or professional, people cannot do without healthy and effective communication especially, when it comes to business. Good communication skills are of vital importance. While most countries do speak English, which is the globally accepted ‘business’ language, there are still big challenges with language as well as cultural differences. This study aimed to investigate the role of interpersonal communications in manag- ing South African – German business relationships. The objective of this study was, firstly, to identify which communication channels South African business organiza- tions use to communicate with German businesses and, secondly, to explore the associated problems experienced by South African business people. Based on the investigated problems, recommendations were provided on the technical level and the personal level as to how communication can be made more effective to improve South African and German business relationships. In order to accomplish the objectives of the study, a quantitative study was con- ducted by means of self-administered e-mail based questionnaires. In addition, a qualitative study was conducted using self-administered interviews based on the quantitative results of this study. In both cases, the respondents were purposively selected. Conclusions and recommendations were thereafter drawn from the findings of the study in comparison with the literature review. The results showed that effective communication in business is not as easy as it of- ten seems. There are problems in business communications between South African and German business partners mainly based on the cultural differences. The report recommended that companies should invest more in training and work- shops in order to help communication partners to understand cultures abroad and to understand the communication habits of overseas business people.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Affirming or positive family communication is an important aspect in helping families and individuals protect themselves against various life challenges (Greeff & Du Toit, 2009; Greeff & Van der Merwe, 2004; Norman, 2000). According to Barnes and Olson (1985), affirming family communication plays an important role in an adolescent’s development. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between affirming family communication and family functioning. The relationships between family functioning and the quality of communication between the adolescent and the father and mother respectively were also investigated. Then, as the main focus of the present study, affirming family communication was explored qualitatively from the perspective of the adolescents. A quantitative survey research design was combined with an exploratory, qualitative design. The quantitative data was collected with self-report questionnaires, while the qualitative data was gathered by recording a discussion of affirming family communication in focus groups. The participants were first-year Psychology students of the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. A total of 83 females and 17 males took part in the quantitative component of the present study (N = 100). Fourteen of these 100 students also took part in the focus group discussions. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed a significant positive correlation between affirming family communication and family functioning. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation was found between family functioning and openness in communication between the adolescent and the mother and father respectively. The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that openness in communication with the mother, affirming family communication and problems in communication with the father were important predictors of family functioning. Three core categories (with sub-categories) emerged from the content analysis of the focus group discussions on affirming family communication. These core categories were verbal affirming communication, non-verbal affirming communication and functional affirming communication. The findings of the present study highlight the importance of affirming family communication, especially in families with adolescent children, while also providing a description of affirming family communication from the adolescents’ perspectives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Bevestigende of positiewe gesinskommunikasie is ’n belangrike aspek wat gesinne en individue in staat stel om hulself teen verskeie lewensuitdagings te beskerm (Greeff & Du Toit, 2009; Greeff & Van der Merwe, 2004; Norman, 2000). Volgens Barnes and Olson (1985) speel bevestigende gesinskommunikasie ’n belangrike rol in die ontwikkeling van ’n adolessent. Hierdie studie het gepoog om die verhouding tussen bevestigende gesinskommunikasie en gesinsfunksionering te bepaal. Die verhoudings tussen gesinsfunksionering en die kwaliteit van kommunikasie tussen die adolessent en elk van die ouers is ook ondersoek. Laastens is bevestigende gesinskommunikasie, as die hoof fokus van hierdie ondersoek, op ’n kwalitatiewe wyse vanaf die adolessent se perspektief ondersoek. ’n Kwantitatiewe opname-navorsingsontwerp is gekombineer met ’n eksploratiewe, kwalitatiewe ontwerp. Die kwantitatiewe data is met behulp van selfrapporteringsvraelyste ingesamel en die kwalitatiewe data is ingesamel deur ’n opname te maak van ’n bespreking van bevestigende gesinskommunikasie in fokusgroepe. Die deelnemers was eerstejaar Sielkunde-studente van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch in Suid-Afrika. ’n Totaal van 83 vroue en 17 mans het aan die kwantitatiewe komponent van die ondersoek deelgeneem (N = 100). Veertien van hierdie 100 studente het ook aan die fokusgroepbesprekings deelgeneem. Pearson korrelasiekoëffisiënte toon hoogs beduidende korrelasies tussen bevestigende gesinskommunikasie en gesinsfunksionering. Verder is daar ook hoogs beduidende korrelasies gevind tussen gesinsfunksionering en openheid in kommunikasie tussen die adolessent en die ma en pa onderskeidelik. Die resultate van die meervoudige regressieontledings het getoon dat openheid in kommunikasie met die ma, bevestigende gesinskommunikasie en probleme in kommunikasie met die pa belangrike voorspellers was van gesinsfunksionering. Op grond van die fokusgroepbesprekings oor bevestigende gesinskommunikasie het drie kernkategorieë (met subtemas) deur ’n inhoudsanalise na vore gekom. Hierdie kernkategorieë is verbale bevestigende kommunikasie, nie-verbale bevestigende kommunikasie en funksionele bevestigende kommunikasie. Die bevindinge van hierdie ondersoek beklemtoon die belangrikheid van bevestigende gesinskommunikasie, veral in gesinne met adolessente kinders, terwyl dit ook ’n beskrywing bied van bevestigende gesinskommunikasie vanuit die perspektief van adolessente.

The aim of this study is to determine whether the targeted university students have a more equal picture regarding Africa than what the Swedish society in general has, which by Sida’s researches has shown to be an oldfangled picture. The research is based on a quantitative method in terms of a survey that in total reached out to 286 responding students at the Linnaeus University in Växjö. The theoretical framework is based on the Digital Divide, Diffusion of Innovation and The model of Newsworthiness. The research discusses the oldfangled picture of Africa that remains within the Swedish society, why it remains and what different characters that is to be blamed for the formation, as well as it presents optional efforts that could be used to update the picture of Africa. The result from the survey shows that neither do Swedish students at the Linnaeus University possesses a more updated picture, even though they are said to belong to a privileged group in the society, in the manner of access to information from both media, education, Internet and other diverse sources. We conclude that there is a gap in the information distribution regarding Africa, what information that is available for the Swedish society is mostly negative and oldfangled. What can be argued to be an optional solution to this remaining problem is a closure of the digital divide, which would provide an important interpersonal communication channel that is missing today. This is further explained in the thesis with support of earlier researches together with theories and result.

This thesis explores age differences in the ability to decode basic social cues from the face and, in particular, the eye region. Age-related declines in complex aspects of social perception, such as forced choice labelling of emotional expressions and theory of mind reasoning, are well documented.  However, research, to date, has not assessed age differences in more basic aspects of social perception such as eye-gaze detection, joint attention, or more implicit responses to emotional cues.  The first two experimental chapters of this thesis report a series of studies investigating age-related changes in gaze processing.  Both the ability to detect subtle differences in gaze direction and to subsequently follow the gaze cues given by others was found to decline with age. Age-related changes were also found in the integration of gaze direction with emotional (angry, joyful and disgusted) facial expressions, when making emotion perception and approachability judgements (Chapters 4 and 5).  Age differences in responses to happy facial expressions are further investigated in Chapter 6 by assessing sensitivity to discriminate between enjoyment and non-enjoyment smiles.  Findings indicated that older adults demonstrated a greater bias towards thinking that any smiling individual was feeling happy.  They were also more likely than younger participants to choose to approach an individual displaying a non-enjoyment smile.  The final experimental chapter explores whether the age of the face influences age-related changes in gaze following.  Age-related declines in gaze following were greatest when following the gaze cues of younger (vs. older) adults, highlighting the importance of closely matching age of stimulus and participant when investigating age differences in social perception.  Perceptual, neuropsychological and motivational explanations for these results are evaluated and implications of these research findings for older adults’ social functioning are discussed.

The correlation between social style and career satisfaction among emergency physicians was investigated. An e-mail survey was sent to a random sample of 1,000 members of the American College of Emergency Physicians in practice for at least three years; 707 had valid e-mail addresses. A twenty-item behavioral style survey instrument and a five-item career satisfaction scale were used. The study incorporated prenotification and reminder e-mails. Valid responses were obtained from 329 physicians (46.5%). No correlation was shown between social style and career satisfaction. Problems with both survey instruments were discovered. Survey respondents were unhappy with their careers, with an average satisfaction of 4.03, 1 being very satisfied, 5 very dissatisfied. Areas for future study include redoing the study using different survey instruments.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between ease of discussion of sexual likes and dislikes with a sexual partner and religious, expressive, and affectional influences in the family of origin.

This thesis examined student-participants' self-reported use of romantic relational maintenance strategies and their partners' reports of relational satisfaction. Additionally, individuals outside the romantic relationship reported on student-participants' general communicator style. The research proposed that general style reports would be predictive of relational maintenance strategy usage and of romantic partners' relational satisfaction. The study found that general style behaviors may not be indicative of relational maintenance strategy usage or romantic partners' relational satisfaction. Tests of sex differences revealed that females' expression of various relational maintenance strategies and style behaviors are associated with male partners' relational satisfaction; however, no results were obtained indicating specific behaviors expressed by males result in female partners' relational satisfaction.

This thesis examined 199 college students' reported use of relational maintenance strategies and their reports of the occurrence of sexual communication strategies within the relationship with their partners' reported relational satisfaction.

Sixty-six people who had recently experienced the death of a parent or a spouse completed a questionnaire packet to assess their current grief symptomatology and some characteristics of the relationships within their family. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire 4-5 weeks after the death and then again six months later. The present study compared two competing models to explain whether the grief process affects the characteristics of relationships within the family system or that family characteristics affect the experienced grief symptoms.

Using an analogue format, the present study evaluated the viability of relationship and interactional concepts that have been applied to the physician-patient interaction to the field of organ donation by examining the donation request process between procurement coordinators and simulated families. Interpersonal processes were assessed using behavioral ratings by independent observers. Procurement coordinators were viewed as being more submissive than dominant and more friendly than hostile. Family members were viewed as being more hostile than friendly, more dominant and hostile than submissive or friendly, disclosing slightly more personal information than medical information, and engaging in slightly more shared decision making than providing medical information. Procurement coordinator gender and ethnicity and family ethnicity influenced interpersonal behavior. Several interpersonal variables were associated with measures of the “decision to donate” obtained from raters and simulated families. Implications for the field of organ donation and the training of procurement coordinators are discussed.