This research is a primary exploration of the relationship amongst culture, ethnicity and practises of leadership development in South African organisations. The need and significance of this research stems from the fact that in a diverse South African workforce a poor leadership style may have undesirable consequences for an organisation. Amongst these consequences could be a loss of market share and competitive advantage. In order to determine the approach South African organisations are taking towards leadership development, the researcher first sought the opinions of potential future leaders (ie. First Year MBA and MBL students) by means of a questionnaire survey and then interviewed a number of persons responsible for the leadership development programmes in a number of organisations regarding their leadership development initiatives. The primary contribution this study makes to the body of knowledge is that the relationship amongst culture, ethnicity and practises of leadership development in South African organisations has not been explored previously in any depth. This study has delved into these relationships. The conclusion of this study is that culture and ethnicity do not play a major role or have a major influence on the approach organisations take to leadership development, nor to the selection of candidates, or in the formulation of leadership development programme content. / Business Management / DBL

In a survey conducted, as part of this research, 83,33% of participating South African diplomats indicated that the effects of cultural diversity and culture shock are underestimated. As South African diplomats are expected by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to work effectively in a crosscultural environment abroad, the psychological disorientation caused by culture shock could have a negative effect when working and living abroad. Severe culture shock could cause a high level of strain, which could influence the ability of diplomats to adapt effectively abroad, including spouse or partner dissatisfaction resulting from culture shock depression. This could lead to a diplomat requesting to return to his or her home country, with the associated high financial costs. Cultural diversity training is defined by various authors as one aspect that could assist in minimising culture shock since training provides knowledge, insight and skills to deal with the negative effects of culture shock when deployed abroad. Furthermore, the South African Public Service Act [1994] requires that human resource managers within government departments, such as DIRCO, have the responsibility to ensure that staff are effectively utilised and trained. The question that subsequently directed this research was the following: What should be included in the curriculum of a training programme aimed at minimising culture shock among South African diplomats? The research assessed the current culture shock training programme at DIRCO against international best practice, and it was found that a cultural diversity training programme in culture shock should comprise specific fundamentals, components and defining attributes relevant to definitions and explanations on culture, culture-specific information, cross-cultural skills, conflict resolution and dealing with culture shock in terms of cultural diversity, which has the potential of reducing culture shock among South African diplomats effectively. This research also found that there appears to be a gap in the scholarly literature and knowledge within the field of Public Administration on the defining attributes of a cultural diversity training programme with the potential of reducing culture shock among diplomats. Ongoing research is encouraged and recommended in this particular field of study within the public sector. / Public Administration / D.P.A.