The general objective of this research was to do a comparative study of the Trust Audit results - obtained during 2000 - of three Business Units of a South African Company in order to determine whether there are any significant differences between them regarding the ”Big Five” personality dimensions and the ”Managerial Practices” dimensions. Trust has been found to be an essential ingredient in all organisations, providing the impetus for employers to gain a better understanding of the building blocks of organisational trust and to restore eroded trust. The intensity of any trust relationship will depend on certain facilitators of trustworthiness which may facilitate or impede the flow of trust. Research studies indicate that organisations with high levels of trust will be more successful, adaptive, and innovative than organisations with low levels of trust or pervasive mistrust. Positive results were indicated for all Business Units regarding the personality aspects. The most positive ”Big Five” dimensions were conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness while the lowest dimension was resourcefulness. Overall results regarding managerial practices indicated that not enough information sharing took place and that this had a negative effect within the work environment. The credibility dimension, being lower than the others, indicated that better credibility of persons that are reported to, could improve trust and optimal functioning within the working environment. Team management, work support and trust relationship were viewed positively by all Business Units. One of the main conclusions of this research was that managers/leaders have a pivotal role to play in creating high-trust organisations and engendering trusting relationships. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This study deals with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and focuses on managerial perceptions of CSR at McDonald’s South Africa (SA) and how social responsibility is translated into social practices. The key objectives of the research are: to analyse McDonald’s both internationally and locally in South Africa to establish whether CSR policies exist, then to investigate how these policies are perceived and integrated by outlet managers. Lastly to investigate what kind of social responsibility (SR) involvement, if at all, occurs at outlet level. The research site covers three regions in South Africa, which are the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng. The total research sample is 38. 33 interviewees were outlet managers, who were purposively selected, and 5 additional interviews took place with: 2 McDonald’s SA Head Office representatives, 2 interviews with beneficiaries of McDonald’s SR involvement and 1 with the trade union SACCAWU. The research was carried out through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The design of this research is based on an interpretive social science approach. The aim of the research was to investigate outlet managers’ perceptions of CSR and social practices present at McDonald’s SA outlets. The key findings of the research indicate that: CSR policies at McDonald’s SA head office are not communicated sufficiently to outlet managers, SR involvement is evident, especially for initiatives focusing on children’s welfare, but far too little occurs at the outlet level. There are also too few checks on social involvement by head office and no formal reporting system is available to the outlets except through an internal magazine, called the Big Mag. There is no official CSR report at McDonald’s SA. The fact that no report exists makes this study more relevant since this research investigates matters pertaining to CSR and social practices. The overall significance of the study is that it brings to the forefront the importance of internal company and external broader regulation which is part of the greater debate of CSR. This is because the analysis of managerial perceptions and implementation of CSR shows some unwarranted discrepancies between policies and practices, locally, nationally and internationally even within the same organisation.

There are ethical concerns on how competitive intelligence (CI) is practiced. CI is mainly confused with industrial espionage or sometimes smeared with harmful unethical conduct. The assumptions have negative implications for the full recognition of CI as a profession and the reputation of the practice on, industries or firms and performance. In an attempt to address these concerns, the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) developed a CI code of ethics. However, critics of CI claim that the CI code of ethics has not been adopted by CI professionals, firms and industries. Moreover, there is very little evidence, if any, on how ethical theory influence the adoption of CI. In response to the critics, this study aimed at developing a CI Ethics Adoption Model (CIEAM) that will be the premise for analysing factors that positively or negatively influence the adoption of a CI code of ethics. This study followed interpretive structural modelling to identify core determinants of CI ethics adoption. Based on extracts from literature, a web-based questionnaire was designed, validated by CI experts and empirically/quantitatively tested by 184 South African ICT firms. The results reveal that South African ICT firms have adopted CI ethics to an absolute extent and utilises different CI ethics enforcement methods. The results also reveal that organisational and stakeholders’ factors, business ethics and ethical theories, decision-making factors, CI practice factors, raising CI ethics awareness, and CI ethics challenges are the core determinants for the adoption of CI ethics and are components of the CIEAM. In practice, the CIEAM may minimise unethical conduct by some CI professionals, and the confusion of CI with espionage, whilst improving the credibility and recognition of the CI profession. The model may also serve as a valuable tool for practitioners and scholars who need to measure the adoption of CI ethics across different business sectors. Theoretically, it may serve as input to the development of CI policies and CI ISO standards in the ICT industry and related industries. Recommendations are made towards the application of the model in other industries. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

The purpose of this dissertation is to determine what constitutes the abuse of power by leaders in Christian organisations and how it can be addressed, especially in a multicultural context. The theoretical and empirical research defines the abuse of power, especially in Christian organisations, and outlines the results. It determines the role that culture plays in the abuse of power and presents strategies that can be used effectively to prevent or deal with the abuse of power in different cultural contexts in Christian organisations. The cultures considered in the empirical research are English-speaking Canadians, Germans (from what was formerly West Germany), and white South Africans. In this research, the abuse of power, the aspects that define abusive leaders and the victims, and the effects of the abuse of power on the leaders, victims and the organisations are discussed. The literature and the responses from the research participants clearly confirm the existence of abusive leadership in Christian organisations. The characteristics that constitute an ethical Christian leader are defined and underlined by the responses from the respondents in this research: spiritual transformation, love, servant leadership, accountability, trust and forgiveness. Addressing the abuse of power in Christian organisations, specifically in a multicultural context is challenging. Leaders must be prepared to learn about and understand the cultures represented in the team. They also have a responsibility to challenge their team members to reflect on their cultural characteristics, to have healthy discussions and to form an organisational third culture that profits from the potential that each team member can contribute. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Christian leadership)

The current trends in sustainable development (SO) were examined in this study, which brought about the realisation that SO has become a business imperative. Mining, which is a highly impacting industry, is faced with the dilemma of implementing the principles of SO despite the realisation that its activities are severely limited by· the finite nature of the resource it is capitalising on. This reality, however, does not detract from the non-negotiable requirement for the industry to meet the increasing pressures to act responsibly towards the environment and the community in which it operates. Gold Fields has stepped up to the plate and has already taken several steps to achieve this end. These include the adoption of SO in its Vision, Values and strategies and the development and implementation of a SO framework to ensure the integration of the principles of SO into the business. Furthermore, Gold Fields has also entered into voluntary activities that further cement the commitment the company has towards so. These other initiatives include, inter alia, its International Council on Mining and Metals membership, UN Global Compact participation, becoming a signatory to the cyanide code, IS014001, and so on. This study focussed on several indicator categories and the identification of a set of supporting sustainable development indicators (SOls) for each, which included environmental, social, economic, technological, and ethics, legal and corporate governance (not in order of priority). These indicators were assessed by a carefully selected group of respondents whose collective wisdom and expertise were used to identify and weight supporting SOls for each of the indicator categories. These supporting SOls were in turn used to develop a model that is able to assist in the business's decision making processes when capital investment is being considered . A water treatment project that is currently being considered by Gold Fields was utilised to demonstrate how the decision making model can be applied to two different scenarios. The result clearly and successfully demonstrated that by proactively taking environmental, economic, social, technological, and ethics, legal and corporate governance considerations into account, a gold mining company is able to increase the level of SO of a capital investment project.

Abstracts in English, Southern Sotho and Xhosa / Previous studies evidenced the association between work ethics climate, retention factors and organisational commitment separately. However, research combining all these variables have not yet been done. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between work ethics climate, retention factors and organisational commitment of nurses in a South African public hospital. A quantitative research design was followed and a probability stratified sample (N=208) of nurses participated in the study. The results indicate significant relationships between work ethics climate and retention factors. Furthermore, the results indicate significant relationships between work ethics climate and organisational commitment. Moreover, the results indicate that work ethics climate moderates the relationship between training and development components of retention factors and organisational commitment. These findings provide new knowledge for the design of retention strategies, which adds value to the body of knowledge in relation to work ethics climate. Recommendations for further research and for the implementation of the results of the study by human resource professionals were made in terms of improving the ethical climate, the retention factors and organisational commitment of their employees. / Dinyakišišo tše di fetilego di file bohlatse bja kamano magareng ga seemo sa maitshwaro ka mošomong, mabaka a go tšwela pele le boikgafo ka fao go aroganego. Le ge go le bjale, dinyakišišo tšeo di kopanyago mehuta ye ka moka ga se tša hlwa di dirwa. Maikemišetšo a dinyakišišo tše e bile go nyakišiša kamano magareng ga seemo sa maitshwaro ka mošomong, mabaka a go tšwela pele le boikgafo bja bja baoki ka sepetleleng sa setšhaba sa Afrika Borwa. Tlhamo ya dinyakišišo tša boleng e dirišitšwe gomme sampole ya baoki ye e arogantšwego (N=208) ba kgathile tema ka dinyakišišong. Dipoelo di laetša kamano ye kgolo magareng ga seemo sa maitshwaro ka mošomong le mabaka a go tšwela pele. Godimo ga fao, dipoelo di laetša dikamano tše kgolo magareng ga seemo sa maitshwaro ka mošomong le boikgafo bja ka mokgatlong. Godimo ga fao, dipoelo di aletša gore seemo sa maitshwaro se lekanyetša kamano magareng ga dikarolo tša tlhahlo le tša tlhabollo tša mabaka a go tšwela pele le boikgafo bja ka mokgatlong. Dikutollo tše di fana ka tsebo ye mpsha ya tlhamo ya mekgwa ya go tšwela pele, yeo e tlišago boleng go tsebo mabapi le seemo sa maitshwaro a ka mošomong. Ditšhišinyo tša dinyakišišo go tšwela pele le tša go phethagatša dipoelo tša dinyakišišo ka bašomi ba sephrofešenale ba merero ya bašomi di dirilwe mabapi le go kaonafatša seemo sa maitshwaro, mabaka a go tšwela pele le boikgafo bja ka mokgatlong bja bašomi ba yona. / Amarhubhululo zesikhathi esidlulileko zifakazele itjhebiswano eliphakathi kobujamo bemigomo yokusebenza, imithelela yokubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi kanye nokuzibophelela kwihlangano ngendlela ehlukanisiweko. Nanyana kunjalo, ngokwerhubhululo ukuhlanganiswa kwazo zoke lezi zinto akhange kweziwe. Ihloso yaleli rhubhululo bekukuphenya itjhebiswano eliphakathi kobujamo bemigomo yokuziphatha emsebenzini, ukubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi kanye nokuzibophelela kuhlangano kwabahlengikazi esibhedlela sombuso eSewula Afrika. Ihlelo lerhubhululo elidzimelele kuzinga lekulumo lilandelwe kanti nesampula yabahlengikazi I (N=208) labadlale indima kurhubhululo lisetjenzisiwe.Imiphumela iveza itjhebiswano eliqakathekileko phakathi kobujamo bemigomo yokusebenza kanye nemithelela yokubanjwa kwabasebenzi bangakhambi. Ukuragela phambili, imiphumela iveza itjhebiswano eliqakathekileko phakathi kobujamo bemigomo yokusebenza kanye nokuzibophelela kwehlangano. Ngaphezu kwalokho, lemiphumela iveza ukobana ubujamo bemigomo yokuziphatha ilinganisa itjhebiswano phakathi kweengaba ezibandulako nezithuthukisako, iingaba ezimalungana nemithelela yokubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi kanye nokuzibophelela kwehlangano. Leli lwazi elitholakeleko linikela ilwazi elitjha malungana nokudizayinwa kwamasu wokubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi, okuyinto engezelela ivelu kumthombo welwazi malungana nobujamo bemigomo yokuziphatha emsebenzini. Iincomo ezinye ezimalungana nokuragela phambili nerhubhululo kanye nokusetjenziswa kwemiphumela yerhubhululo elimalungana nabasebenzi bomnyango wezokuqatjhwa kwabasebenzi zenziwe ngokuthi kuthuthukiswe ubujamo bemigomo yokuziphatha, imithelela yokubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi kanye nokuzibophelela kwabasebenzi kuhlangano. / Human Resource Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

The world has been facing unprecedented waves of financial crisis due to a number of challenging ethical issues and cultures within organisations, and ethical leadership and decision making amongst other things. Research has been undertaken to study the relationship between ethics and leadership. However, the assessment of interrelationships between specific ethical context dependent and independent variables are yet to be undertaken within a multi-cultural multi-industry context. Independent variables are conceptualised as organisational culture, ethical organisational climate; mediating variables are conceptualised as ethical leadership and decision making, and internal and external workplace pressures. Dependent variables are conceptualised as organisational citizenship behaviour, employee ethical behaviour and conduct, and perceived employee performance. This study examines these dynamics within a conceptual research model using a macro-meso-micro framework and establishes the interrelationships as well as mediating effects on organisational citizenship behaviour, employee ethical behaviour and conduct, and perceived employee performance. Out of an initial sample of 526, a total of 523 participants of varying backgrounds working in ‘large’ organisations across diverse industries in Mauritius (with a population of 2,534 ‘large’ establishments) were subject to empirical study. A quantitative study was performed which employed correlation, multiple regression, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis and model fit assessments. The outcomes of the study show that organisational culture and ethical organisational climate (as macro independent variables) jointly influence the dependent variables both directly and indirectly to varying degrees. It was also found that ethical leadership and decision making, and internal and external workplace pressures (as meso variables) have statistically significant mediating effects on the dependent variables of organisation citizenship behaviour and perceived employee performance. The model proved to have a good fit and can be adopted as a guiding model for the business and research communities. The study also helps to better understand the prevailing state of ethical climate, practices, and workplace pressures affecting employees’ ethical stance as well as the key ethics related actions that are critical for implementation as evidenced empirically in Mauritius. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / D.B.L.

PhD (Business Management) / Department of Business Management / This thesis demonstrates the researcher’s efforts to put into practice the theoretical foundations of information systems research, in order to come up with a context-aware business intelligence framework (CABIF), for the South African higher education institutions. Using critical realism as the philosophical underpinning and mixed methods research design, a business intelligence (BI) survey was deployed within the South African public higher education institutions to measure the respondents’ satisfaction and importance of business intelligence characteristics. The 258 respondents’ satisfaction and importance of the 34 observed business intelligence variables, were subjected to principal components analysis and design science research to come up with the CABIF. The observable BI variables were drawn from four latent variables namely technology and business alignment; organizational and behavioural strategies; business intelligence domain; and technology strategies. The study yielded good values for all the observed satisfaction and importance business intelligence variables as indicated by the Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of Sampling Adequacy and the Bartlett Test of Sphericity. The data set collected from the survey deployed at the South African public higher education institutions, was reliable and valid based on the Cronbach α values which were all above 0.9. The researcher then used the descriptive and prescriptive knowledge of design science research, and the meta-inferences of the results from the principal components analysis to produce five contexts of CABIF. The BI contexts developed were, the Basic Context; the Business Processes Context which was divided into Macro and Micro business process contexts; the Business Intelligence Context; and the Governance Context. These contexts were extrapolated within the University of Venda’s business processes and this researcher concluded that the CABIF developed, could be inferred within the South African higher education institutions. At the University of Venda, this researcher managed to draw up CABIF based business intelligence tools that spanned from leveraging the existing ICT infrastructure, student cohort analysis, viability of academic entities, strategic enrolment planning and forecasting government block grants. The correlations and regression measures of the technology acceptance variables of the business intelligence tools modelled using CABIF at University of Venda, revealed high acceptance ratio. Overall, this research provides a myriad of conceptual and practical insights into how contextualised aspects of BI directly or indirectly impact on the quality of managerial decision making within various core business contexts of South African higher education institutions.