Governance is one aspect of university restructuring that in the last 20 years has become ubiquitous worldwide. The restructuring is in part a response to calls for improving governance in higher education. Keller (1983), for example, describes governance in higher education as limiting the capability of universities to make critical strategic decisions. Higher education researchers are seeking to understand governance restructuring. A few studies have been conducted in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. However, developing countries in the Western World have also recognized the limitations of traditional higher education governance and have restructured their systems. This has prompted a need for research on higher education governance restructuring in developing nations. In the English speaking Caribbean, governance restructuring occurred in 1984 and 1996 at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and occurred again between 2004 and 2008. The purpose of this study was to examine the most recent governance restructuring at the UWI. The focus was on exploring three dimensions of organizational change: the antecedents or the factors that prompted the change in governance, the content of the change, and the change process. Three categories of antecedents were discovered: organizational, environmental, and relational antecedents. The organizational antecedent had two sub-themes: performance aspiration and institutional coherence. The environmental antecedents were global competition among nation states, competition from other tertiary education providers, and stakeholders' demands for greater access to higher education. The relational antecedent was a desire to strengthen the relationship with external stakeholders. Four themes related to the content of restructuring emerged from the data: (a) incremental change; (b) corporate/managerial decision-making approach; (c) university-wide strategic planning; and (d) responsiveness to stakeholder demands/needs. Using an archetype approach, the analysis revealed that although the UWI retained the collegiate archetype tradition, elements of another archetype were infused with the collegiate model creating a hybridized governance system. The process of the restructuring revealed three broad stages: initiation, negotiation, and the implementation stage. Collectively, the results suggest that UWI is moving, albeit slowly, away from collegiate governance towards a managerial model. More research is needed to explore the long-term impact of this shift. / Ph. D.

Brand activism is an increasingly significant theme in business and marketing research. The purpose of this study was to explore consumers' perceptions and expectations of authentic brand activism and to provide a practical guide for brands considering incorporating brand activism into their strategies. This study drew upon the theories of brand authenticity and brand activism, and employed a qualitative research methodology, using focus groups with consumers to gain in-depth insights. The findings reveal that consumers' perceptions of authentic brand activism are shaped by three key antecedents: the brand’s heritage and reputation, the transparency of information provided about the brand's activism efforts, and the inclusion of a clear call-to-action. These findings suggest that brands can enhance the perceived authenticity of their activism efforts by ensuring consistency with their established values and history, prioritizing transparency in their communication, and incorporating a clear call-to-action. Brands can use these insights to develop more effective brand activism strategies, thereby increasing their chances of resonating with consumers and avoiding potential backlash.

Following the collapse of Arthur Andersen in the Enron debacle, whistle-blowing within audit firms has taken on greater importance. Given the profession's requirements to be confidential, independent and to act in the public's interest, there is a need for a model that addresses auditors' whistle-blowing intentions. This thesis presents a conceptual model on whistle-blowing intentions among external auditors, where individual-led antecedents influence whistle-blowing intentions, but are moderated by isomorphic and issue-specific factors. Survey questionnaires were administered to 226 external auditors, and 18 individual interviews as well as 2 focus groups were conducted in Barbados. Results indicated that individual antecedents (attitudes, perceived behavioural control, independence commitment, personal responsibility for reporting, and personal cost of reporting) were significantly related to internal whistle-blowing, but only perceived behavioural control was significantly related to external whistle-blowing. Partial support was found for the moderating effects of perceived organizational support, moral intensity, team norms and group cohesion on the relationships between the majority of the independent variables (attitudes, perceived behavioural control, independence commitment, personal responsibility for reporting and personal cost of reporting) and internal whistle-blowing. However, partial support was found for the moderating effects of perceived organizational support, moral intensity, team norms iii and group cohesion on the relationships between fewer independent variables and external whistle-blowing. Overall, respondents preferred anonymous internal channels of reporting, and showed a general reluctance to report externally. The presence of an open-door policy, ethics partners, hotline, on-going training and clearly defined policies could encourage whistle-blowing. Further implications for research and practice are discussed.

In contemporary society, work and home represent the two most significant domains in the life of a working individual. In order to help an individual live optimally, the work and personal life domains must no longer be regarded as separate domains, but as highly interrelated. The work and personal life domains must influence each other in a positive way to assist the individual in his daily responsibilities at work and in his personal life. A high proportion of employed workers, however, have serious difficulties in combining obligations in their work and personal lives. Educators are one of the occupations that may find it difficult to integrate their work and personal life. The objectives of this research were to determine how Afrikaans-speaking educators experienced Work-Personal Life Interaction (WPLI), to determine the domains in Afrikaans-speaking educators' lives that could interact with one another, to determine the main antecedents and consequences of WPLI for Afrikaans-speaking educators and to investigate which strategies Afrikaans-speaking educators used to deal with WPLI issues. A non-probability purposive voluntary sample (N = I I) of Afrikaans-speaking secondary school educators was used from the North West Province (in the Potchefstroom and Promosa areas). A qualitative design from a phenomenological approach was used to determine educators' experience of WPLI. Content analysis was used to analyse, quantify and interpret the research data. The results indicated that educators experienced certain aspects in their work environment and personal lives as demanding. Certain dimensions were identified in both their work and personal lives. As a result of a demanding work environment, they experienced time and strain-based conflict between their work and personal lives. However, it was found that educators possessed various factors that facilitated their WPLI and strategies they used to deal with WPLI issues. Recommendations were made for the organisation and for future research. / Thesis (M.Comm. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Effectiveness, productivity and motivation of police members are important factors that contribute to a country's stability, economic growth and development. As such, understanding experiences that police members might have with regard to the relationship between their work and personal life is the main focus area in this study. The objectives of this study were to determine how Afrikaans speaking police members experience work-personal life interaction, and secondly, to determine the main dimensions in the lives of Afrikaans speaking police members that is in interaction with each other, and thirdly, to determine the major antecedents and consequences of work-personal life for Afrikaans speaking police members, and fourthly, to determine which strategies Afrikaans speaking police members use to deal with work-personal life issues. Unstructured interviews were conducted with ten males and females in the police stations based in the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp areas. Qualitative interviews based on the phenomenological paradigm, were used to determine police officers perception regarding work and personal life interaction. A Content analysis was used to analyse, quantify and interpret the research data. Police members reported experiencing their work as stressful, in that it interfered negatively with their lives and also had certain health implications. They further experienced some aspects in their personal lives (e.g., household duties, family responsibilities) interfering with their work. Furthermore, they reported using certain strategies (e.g., communication, support from a spouse) as a way of bettering the interaction between their work and personal lives. Recommendations for future research were made, / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Recent developments in internet technology have ushered in unprecedented change when it comes to communication. This change has also given rise to social media, which has significantly changed the way modern communication occurs (Rosengren, 2000; Evans & McKee, 2010; Tuten & Solomon, 2015). While social media has gained enormous reach in recent years, with millions of new users joining social platforms every year, it has changed company-consumer relations as well (Akar & Topcu, 2011; Fan & Niu, 2013; Tuten & Solomon, 2015). Marketers are continuously turning towards social media to distribute advertisements and gather information (Akar & Topcu, 2011). As such, consumers today are bombarded by vast amounts of promotions and advertisements on social media. However, consumers are no longer passive observers and are increasingly becoming more and more able to edit and control what they choose to see online  (Kelly, Kerr & Drennan, 2010). This has led to the decline of social media advertising effectiveness, as consumers choose to avoid and ignore more advertisement than ever before (Wen, Tan & Chang, 2009; Kelly et al., 2010; Chang, Chen & Tan, 2012; Khan, Dongping & Wahab, 2016). As such, in order to be able to overcome consumer avoidance of marketing messages, it is now more important than ever for advertisers and marketers to understand what drives consumers to avoid advertising in the first place (Cho & Cheon, 2004; Wen et al., 2009; Akar & Topcu, 2011; Chang et al., 2012). Therefore, as there is a significant lack of research on these subjects, the authors constructed a model based on Cho and Cheon’s (2004) theory that describes the antecedents of online marketing avoidance, and sought to test a number of hypotheses about the relationships between the antecedents of social media marketing avoidance and social media advertising effectiveness. To be able to do so, the authors constructed and utilized a survey method and a questionnaire. However, while the initial results of the data  gathered by the survey were encouraging for the model as a whole, it was ultimately found that only one hypothesis was acceptable. Keywords Antecedents of marketing avoidance, social media advertising effectiveness, advertising effectiveness

Purpose: Firstly, to investigate if the decline of trust in traditional financial transaction providers, namely banks, has resulted in an increase of trust in Alternate Financial Transaction Providers (AFTP). Secondly, to identify antecedents to building trust in AFTP held by Swedish Millennials. Methodology: Qualitative research consisting of focus groups were used to collect primary data. A total of three focus group were held, excluding a trial session. Participants in the focus groups were Swedes between 22 and 30 years of age (Swedish Millennials). Findings: That trust in banks amongst Swedish Millennials is decreasing. Concurrently, there is a general willingness of Swedish Millennials to trust AFTP given the presence of certain antecedents (human, technological and organisational).

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2019-01-22T12:42:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Guilherme Cirello Casagrande Junior_.pdf: 3120168 bytes, checksum: 804532ca1fc25562cbcbb35b00ecfa30 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2019-01-22T12:42:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Guilherme Cirello Casagrande Junior_.pdf: 3120168 bytes, checksum: 804532ca1fc25562cbcbb35b00ecfa30 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-29 / Nenhuma / As formas das empresas trabalharem e se relacionarem com o mercado vêm mudando com o passar do tempo, focando no contexto de geração de valor, apoiado na Lógica Dominante de Serviço (LDS). Na LDS, destaca-se a cocriação de valor, que se dá através dos processos de interação que acontecem entre stakeholders em prol de valorizar um negócio e torná-lo mais competitivo. Esta pesquisa apresenta a figura do vendedor como um stakeholder cocriador de valor, e quais são os antecedentes e consequentes da cocriação para ele e para organização onde está inserido. Para isso, desenvolveu-se um modelo teórico contemplando os construtos Comunicação Aberta, Orientação para Aprendizagem, Habilidade de Cocriar, Intenção de Cocriar, Cocriação, Criação de Valor Relacional, Desempenho em Vendas e Criação de Novos Produtos. Posteriormente, realizou-se uma coleta de dados quantitativos através de um levantamento (survey) com uma amostra de 415 vendedores que atuam no mercado B2B na indústria têxtil a fim de investigar os aspectos mencionados anteriormente. A análise dos dados foi feita com base em estatísticas multivariadas e utilizou-se da técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais para testar o modelo e investigar a relação entre os construtos que compõem o estudo. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam que a Cocriação é antecedida pelo processo de Comunicação Aberta, Orientação para Aprendizagem, Habilidade e Intenção de Cocriar, e a partir do momento em que é feita, assume (em partes) o papel de um construto mediador, e então, gera maior valor relacional, melhor desempenho em vendas e criação de novos produtos, uma vez que se aproveita o conhecimento que o vendedor detém em suas experiências de venda, e consegue-se criar, transformar e entregar soluções e agregação de valor para o mercado / The way companies work and interact with the market has changed over the last years. The constant preoccupation with profits has lost strength and has made room for the context of generation of value, supported by the Service Dominant Logic (SDL). Within the SDL, among various premises, the one that deals with the cocreation of value stands out, occurring as a result of the processes that take place among stakeholders, in the interest of valuing a business and making it more competitive. This research addresses the seller as a stakeholder and cocreator of value. In addition, the study investigates the antecedents and the consequents of cocreation. For that purpose, a theoretical model was developed, contemplating the constructs of Open Communication, Learning Orientation, Ability of Cocreating, Intention to cocreate, Cocreation, Creation of Relational Value, Perfomace in Sales, and New Products Creation. Hence, a survey was conducted with 415 sellers acting in the B2B market in the textile industry. An analysis of this data was made based on multivariate statistics, making use of Structural Equation Modeling in order to test the model and investigate the relation between the constructs that integrate this study. Findings support the constructs of Open Communication, Learning Orientation, Ability, and Intention as antecedents of Cocreation. As soon as it is applied, cocreation assume a mediation role, and generates more relational value, improve the performance in sales, and the new products creation, since the knowledge acquired by a seller through their experience of selling is fully utilized. In addition, it is made possible for one to create, change and contribute with solutions and added value to the market.

Work ethic has been offered as a predictor explaining key work outcomes for over a century. However, key questions remain about the antecedents and outcomes of work ethic, as well as its distinction from other variables. This symposium includes 4 empirical studies addressing these issues, advancing work ethic research in organizations.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.