M. Comm. / Virtual working arrangements, including telecommuting, are on the increase globally due to the challenges that organisations face in the current global economy. Virtual working arrangements present considerable possible benefits to organisations, employees and the community at large if correctly implemented. It is estimated that 45 million Americans teleworked in 2006 alone (O’Brien & Hayden, 2007) with predictions of the number reaching 100 million in the United States of America by 2010 (Wilsker, 2008). However, in South Africa this organisational form is not well documented or implemented presently. As a result, local organisations are unaware of the employee benefits and challenges that will be faced when implementing a telecommuting programme and how best to implement teleworking arrangements with these factors in mind.

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The thesis focuses on the proposal of changes in a motivation system in the chosen company. The theoretical part explains basic terms, definitions and procedures that are connected to the analyzed topic. Second part of the paper introduces the company and analyzes the current state of a motivation system via company’s documents and a questionnaire. The last part includes the writer’s own suggestions of solutions resulting from the second part’s analysis.

Benefits are measurable improvements that result from project outcomes. There is an emphasis in clinical trials literature that clinical trial benefits must always outweigh the risks yet there is limited clarity on processes to manage and ensure delivery of those benefits. With uncertainty around the delivery of clinical trial benefits, it is worth adopting a balanced management approach. This study looked to establish whether there were any comprehensive benefits management processes in HIV clinical trials and compared these practices to those described in the literature. Methods: To assess the current benefits management practices used to manage HIV clinical trials, a cross-sectional study used a critical review of clinical trials guidelines and publications as well as an online survey that was distributed to stakeholders in clinical trials management. Results: The critical review of the guidelines and literature revealed a high emphasis on risk benefit assessment, but very limited mention of the processes used for the assessment and management of those risks and benefits. The diverse group of clinical trials managers that responded to the online survey were involved at the strategic level of their respective clinical trials and 74% of them had never heard of Benefits Realization Management (BRM) and BRM processes. The respondents however, acknowledged that their lack of awareness did not necessarily mean lack of existence of BRM or BRM processes in HIV clinical trials. There were aspects of benefits management practices in clinical trials that were found to be similar to those in literature and other industries such as benefits planning, benefits identification, benefits review, setting time scale to benefits realization and allocating benefits champions. Even though there was confidence from the respondents in how clinical trial benefits were managed and in clinical trials delivering their promise, the respondents still believed there was room for improvement in the current BRM processes. Conclusion: BRM processes are not readily visible or documented in HIV clinical trials. There is a management bias towards safety and ethics in clinical trials which seems to have resulted in limited focus on benefits management. Compared to other industries, there appears to be more room and opportunity to implement published BRM processes. The findings from this study will serve as a starting point for future studies on how BRM can be incorporated into current management practices in order to achieve the most out of clinical trials.

Government mandates are often used to promote equality in the workplace, often imposing additional costs upon employers. Economic theory suggest that these additional costs will be shifted onto the employees through a reduction in wages. However, when wage shifting is not an option due to anti-discrimination laws, how will employers respond to the additional costs imposed? Gruber (1994) found that wage shifting occurs when the groups benefiting from a government mandate are easily identifiable to the employer, despite the existence of anti-discrimination laws. This study seeks to further the work of Gruber (1994) and examine wage shifting at an industry level. We look at industries that have a large percentage of workers who are benefited by a government mandate to see if the wage shifting in these industries was more significant. This study finds that, as the percentage of workforce receiving benefits increases, the amount of wage shifting grows.

Chinese relations with African countries have increased significantly during the last two decades. In recent times, a large number of Chinese nationals have temporarily relocated to parts of the continent to engage in trade, mining and other businesses. The limited to no approach on Sino-African relations has created mixed feelings among Africans and especially scholars. A wide range of academic publications on Sino-African relations in recent times have especially focused on the impact of China on African economies. However, there is scant research on Ghana's partnership with China. The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges and opportunities of Ghana-China relations through the lenses of realism and liberalism as theoretical frameworks. The study adopted a qualitative approach. Data was collected through interviews with purposively selected respondents, along with field observations, archival reviews and relevant literature. The aim was to examine the impact of Chinese relations on Ghana, in the areas of development, governance, trade, aid and investment. A total of 35 respondents participated in the study. These included academics, market women, members of civil society and traditional leaders. The study found that some of the perceptions of ordinary Ghanaians about China were inaccurate and misplaced. However, the study revealed the tension that exists between local communities and Chinese investors. At the governmental level, it was found that the economic and trade relations between Ghana and China have become stronger. However, it was noted that, consistent with China's realist foreign policy orientation, and in spite of China's growing trade, aid and investment in Ghana, Beijing has on the whole enjoyed more benefits than Accra in the relations between the two countries.

Due to changes in workforce structure, household structure and the nature of jobs, today's working adults face the challenge of balancing their work and life. However, employees do not only passively react to the incompatible demands from work and life - they are active agents who make decisions about their own total life. For example, individuals make decisions about the amount of energy that they spend on work/life (WL) activities. Thus, I write three essays to understand the antecedents and consequences of employees' personal resource allocation decisions. In the first essay, I study the decision itself. That is, I identify and examine four profiles of employees' WL behavioral involvement. The studied behaviors include job behavioral involvement, organizational citizenship behavior, and life involvement. In Essay 2, I examine the antecedent of the behavioral involvement decisions – WL value, which is expressed as centrality, importance, and priority. Although an individual's behavior is argued to be directed by value, it cannot be fully understood without considering the context. Thus, I examine the influences of three external factors, including financial pressure, job demands, and perceived organizational supportive culture, on the value-behavioral involvement relationship. In Essay 3, I focus on the consequences of individuals being involved in different combinations of WL behaviors. Based on the conservation of resource (COR) theory, I argue that individuals who allocate a great amount of resources to life are more likely to utilize WL benefits offered by the organization. Furthermore, understanding work-life balance (WLB) as a psychological construct, I argue that when an individual's behavioral involvement is consistent with their WL value, he or she is more likely to experience satisfaction with regards to his or her WLB.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.