A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Organisational Psychology), 2017 / The aim of the present study was to utilise a mixed methods design as a means of investigating the relation between job demands, job resources, safety, and burnout in Air Traffic Management (ATM) technicians. It was also of interest to determine participants’ perspectives on the job demands and resources that may be present in their occupational environment, their participation in safety behaviours, and their perceptions regarding their work and safety performance. Non-probability, convenience sampling was employed to acquire the participants of the present research study. Participants included 33 ATM technicians (50.77% response rate) who took part in the quantitative component of the research study and 14 ATM who took part in the interview process. Participants’ ages ranged from 27 to 55 years (M = 38.91; SD = 8.76) and 90.1% were male (n = 30). Jackson and Rothmann’s (2005) original Job Demands-Resources Scale was used for the assessment of the job demands and resources sixteen items were also added to the original JDRS scale. Sixteen items were added to incorporate the possible job resources and demands experienced by ATM technicians, which were separated into the following sub-scales: shifts, weather conditions, travel, and equipment. Schaufeli, Leiter, Maslach, and Jackson’s (1996) Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBIGS) was used to assess ATM technicians’ burnout. Safety behaviours were assessed through the integration of items found within two safety behaviour scales developed by Neal and Griffin (2006) and Hofmann and Morgeson (1999). A semi-structured interview process consisting of open-ended questions was used to discuss the following issues: job tasks, job demands, job resources, burnout, job safety, work-family spillover, and job performance. The findings depicted a weak, positive correlation between the perception of job demands and the experience of burnout (r = .376, p < .05) and a weak, negative correlation between the perception of job resources and the experience of burnout (r = -.383, p < .05). Job resources significantly predicted the experience of burnout (β = -.494, p = .002), as did job demands (β = .489, p = .003). A moderate, positive correlation between the perception of job resources and safety behaviours was obtained (r = .514, p < .01). The participants’ perceptions of job resources explained 26.5% of the variance in safety behaviours, (R2= .265, F(1, 31) = 11.16, p < 0.05. ATM technicians took part in the following safety behaviours: they consistently communicated with both management and air traffic controllers as a way of knowing exactly what the problem is before they went to a site, they took part in training programs as a means of keeping up to date with the latest technological knowledge, attended safety meetings, always communicated with management on how to increase safety, and made sure that a first aid kit was always available. ATM technician’s safety and performance appeared to be heavily influenced by their own personal understanding of the occupation’s risks, the weather conditions that take place on each specific site, the safety equipment that is worn, the knowledge of the possible repercussions that may arise from making any mistakes, and their own individual mood or disposition. / XL2018

The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, the International Federation of Air Traffic Control Associations, the International Air Transport Association and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation agree that professionals in the Air Navigation Services Provider Sector require successful organisational leadership to facilitate and manage transformation within the highly regulated Air Navigation Services Provider Sector. Detailed organisational leadership requirements and associated leadership training and development needs are, however, not specified by the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation. An opportunity therefore existed to investigate leadership traits and behaviours within a specific context. This research project is contextualised within a safety-conscious, highly regulated and technology-driven industry (the South African Aviation Industry), a safety-critical sector (Air Navigation Services) and specifically the Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company. It was found that little academic research has been done to address the role of followers in the leadership process and to determine what followers expect and require from their leaders. The research problem statement, in response to this research necessity, is: “How can follower experiences and expectations of leadership behaviours in a safety-critical commercial environment be collected, analysed, understood, structured and utilised to aid leadership development?” An ethnographic research case study approach allowed the researcher to investigate the multifarious phenomena that constitute the current views (experiences and expectations) held by followers with regard to leadership behaviour qualities. A mixed methods approach was followed. Data collection was facilitated by means of individual interviews, focus group interviews, field notes and a structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were inductively analysed to identify the recurring patterns and common themes and quantitative data were deductively analysed to assess the nature of existing conditions and relevance. Data and method triangulation was implemented to determine whether multiple sources of data agreed, and to obtain better, cross-checked insights. Findings from this research study provided academic, industry, process and methodology insights into views held by followers regarding leadership and followership constructs. Definitions and perspectives held and reported by followers regarding leaders and leadership, characteristics of preferred and undesired leadership styles, relational and emotional bonds between followers and their leaders acknowledged the presence, value and influence of follower mental models. In this case followers contextualised leadership roles and responsibilities and suggested a transformational leadership style as a desired state. Findings also emphasised a need to appreciate the importance of the social exchange and social contingency theories of leadership in order to create a better understanding of leadership by emphasising the importance of context when studying leaders and leadership from a follower perspective. Obtained follower insights resulted in a structured leadership training and development needs analysis process framed within the specific context. Future research efforts in this regard may be aimed at determining the necessity to educate followers to critically appreciate and evaluate leadership performance and creating a better understanding of how followers’ mental models internally represent complex, dynamic systems and how these representations change over time. / Business Management / DBL

The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, the International Federation of Air Traffic Control Associations, the International Air Transport Association and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation agree that professionals in the Air Navigation Services Provider Sector require successful organisational leadership to facilitate and manage transformation within the highly regulated Air Navigation Services Provider Sector. Detailed organisational leadership requirements and associated leadership training and development needs are, however, not specified by the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation. An opportunity therefore existed to investigate leadership traits and behaviours within a specific context. This research project is contextualised within a safety-conscious, highly regulated and technology-driven industry (the South African Aviation Industry), a safety-critical sector (Air Navigation Services) and specifically the Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company. It was found that little academic research has been done to address the role of followers in the leadership process and to determine what followers expect and require from their leaders. The research problem statement, in response to this research necessity, is: “How can follower experiences and expectations of leadership behaviours in a safety-critical commercial environment be collected, analysed, understood, structured and utilised to aid leadership development?” An ethnographic research case study approach allowed the researcher to investigate the multifarious phenomena that constitute the current views (experiences and expectations) held by followers with regard to leadership behaviour qualities. A mixed methods approach was followed. Data collection was facilitated by means of individual interviews, focus group interviews, field notes and a structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were inductively analysed to identify the recurring patterns and common themes and quantitative data were deductively analysed to assess the nature of existing conditions and relevance. Data and method triangulation was implemented to determine whether multiple sources of data agreed, and to obtain better, cross-checked insights. Findings from this research study provided academic, industry, process and methodology insights into views held by followers regarding leadership and followership constructs. Definitions and perspectives held and reported by followers regarding leaders and leadership, characteristics of preferred and undesired leadership styles, relational and emotional bonds between followers and their leaders acknowledged the presence, value and influence of follower mental models. In this case followers contextualised leadership roles and responsibilities and suggested a transformational leadership style as a desired state. Findings also emphasised a need to appreciate the importance of the social exchange and social contingency theories of leadership in order to create a better understanding of leadership by emphasising the importance of context when studying leaders and leadership from a follower perspective. Obtained follower insights resulted in a structured leadership training and development needs analysis process framed within the specific context. Future research efforts in this regard may be aimed at determining the necessity to educate followers to critically appreciate and evaluate leadership performance and creating a better understanding of how followers’ mental models internally represent complex, dynamic systems and how these representations change over time. / Business Management / DBL