M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / The objective which career of this study advancement is was to investigate the extent to contingent on the personality construct locus of control. In order to achieve this, empirical research was conducted in a South African organisation. A survey questionnaire measuring career advancement and locus of control was completed by 152 subjects. The hypothesis which was formulated was that people with higher rates of career advancement would be more internal and those with lower rates would be more external. This hypothesis was tested via a one-way analysis of variance, and was consequently supported. Secondary findings relating to contingency analyses of the effects of biographical variables on career advancement revealed that career advancement was also contingent on education. Whilst the results of this research indicate that personality issues play a role in career advancement, it is not possible to infer conclusively that internals advance at faster rates than externals, as internality may arise as a consequence of career success. of careers in findings research. Tentative explanations are provided for the research, and suggestions are made for further alleviate the short-coming of the current enhance the understanding of the nature organisations.

M.Com. / At present the macro business milieu in South Africa is prevailed by a climate which, more than ever, imposes high demands upon employers and employees. It is evident that organizational effectiveness and the occupational success of individuals are increasingly dependent upon a purposeful intervention, by which the establishment of optimal interfaces can be facilitated. These interfaces have a specific bearing on the imbalance which often exists between the needs and expectations of individuals and those of the organizations by which they are employed. In this regard, it must be stated that the behavioural sciences, and in particular occupational psychology, can fulfil an important function in the establishment of the above-mentioned interfaces. A special type of problem occurs as a manifestation of the imbalance referred to above. This problem is created in circumstances of a high demand for management staff, when professionals are promoted to managerial positions outside their fields of specialization, and irrespective of the nature of their managerial training, experience and aspirations. An occupational group which is especially characterized by this phenomenon is the accounting profession. This problem gave rise to the objective of the present study and it was consequently decided to gather information on accounting persons in the early career stage against a frame of reference pertaining to the behavioural sciences. The approach adopted for this purpose was the determination of the career orientation(s) of early career stage individuals in different phases of involvement in the accounting profession. A literature study undertaken consisted mainly of life cycle theory, the career anchor and -orientation model as proposed by Schein (1975), and the nature and effect of professional occupations. Against this theoretical background the Career Orientation Inventory was administered to persons in the accounting profession. The sample consisted of the following groups: 1) full-time first year accounting students; 2) part-time honours students in accounting; and 3) Chartered Accountants in auditing and other firms. The empirical study yielded the conclusion that managerial skill featured as the most prominent career orientation of accounting persons in the early career stage. It was also evident that respondents who had had occupational experience measured highest on the same orientation, that is managerial skill, irrespective of their phases within the early career stage. Furthermore, there were indications that career orientation differentiation increased in accordance with occupational experience. From the study it appeared that knowledge concerning career orientation may be conducive to occupational counselling and guidance processes. A resultant implication of this may then be the creation of more realistic expectations which could enhance the establishment of optimal interfaces between the respective needs of individuals and organizations. In conclusion, it can be stated that a need was identified for further research regarding the career orientations of other occupational groups. However, a prerequisite of such research efforts is the use of structured interviews in order to determine the career anchors of respondents, rather than merely the career orientations.

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

An understanding of teachers experiences of professional development activities and its contribution to their own professional learning in the context of change was composed by asking, “What are teachers learning and how is learning taking place through professional development activities in the context of change? From an interpretative paradigm, the triple-lens framework enabled an understanding of what learning happened and how this learning happened. In order to do this, the study looked at once-off professional development activities (PDAs), PDAs at school sites and at self initiated PDAs. The study was able to inform us on the effectiveness of these professional development activities for practising teachers. Drawing on data generated through individual and conversational interviews, this study found that teacher learning, within the South African context is taking place both formally (through workshops , own studies, cluster meetings ) and informally, (through discussions with colleagues). Teachers have learnt more through professional development activities which are driven by themselves, as well as collaboratively, through working with each other, that is, through conversations and assistance from colleagues. A very significant part of teacher learning is also taking place informally in the classrooms, through observation, experimentation and experience. Very little learning takes place when it is mandated. The study found that teachers learnt when they themselves were receptive to it. Demanding, or putting policies into place to direct teachers learning does not necessarily mean that teachers are going to learn. Teachers have learnt in varying contexts but most importantly, the journey of learning needs to begin with the SELF. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2010.

Body-In-White business forms part of the automotive industry. The industry is highly specialized and usually operates under tremendous pressure due to the competition within the industry as a result of an oligopolistic market, limited resources, short lead times and the contractual nature of the industry. The selected business has grown steadily over the last five years in terms of the number of employees that have been employed. It is said that employees are a business’s most important asset. How effectively a business is managed during growth and the relationship management has with the employees during that period are critical to a business in maintaining a competitive advantage. Effective management and sound employee relations could ensure the longterm profitability and sustainability of the business. This paper is intended to analyse the selected business to determine how effectively the business is managed and the state of employee relations within the business. Various aspects to effective management and employee relations are presented through a literature study in order to identify the means required to manage effectively and to promote and maintain sound employee relations. A two-pronged approach was undertaken in the applied research. Firstly, a survey with the aid of a structured questionnaire was undertaken among the management of the selected business to gather information. A second survey also with the aid of a structured questionnaire was undertaken among all the employees. The purpose of the two different questionnaires was to make an analysis of the business and to determine whether management and the employees held the same views, or differed on related topics. Mostly management indicated that managerial effectiveness is critical to remaining competitive. Employees indicated that management does not plan and organise an orderly workflow and that employees rely on their overtime remuneration. There was a general agreement by management and employees that more than one person attends to human resource related issues. Effective human resource planning is not enforced to maintain a motivated workforce, as human resource policies and procedures do not pay special attention to employee relations. Among the main findings, the study revealed that while there are some aspects of effective management lacking in the business, the business is mostly managed effectively. However, not enough attention is paid to effective human resource management, as training and development programs for management and employees are lacking and certain human resource issues need to be addressed.

Thesis (D Com (Human Resources Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Career psychology in South Africa has traditionally been constituted by the vocabularies, assessment methods, counselling practices and research objectives of the modernist-positivist paradigm. This paradigm has produced a rich but disparate and fragmented range of career theories, research perspectives and career education practices that have been limited in their consideration and integration of the broad range of contextual factors that influence the career development of South African adolescents in unique ways. This limitation has had, and still has, the potential of promoting prescriptive and disqualifying constructions of career development for South African youth. A search for alternatives to traditional modernist-positivist understandings of career has led, however, to a further fragmentation of the career field into what can broadly be termed qualitative and quantitative approaches. This twofold fragmentation, as well as the dynamic complexity of the world of work in the twenty-first century, has inspired this study’s investigation of an integrating framework that employs a wide range of career theoretical perspectives in the service of constructing experience-near accounts of the complex and fluid interrelationship between individual career makers and their specific social, environmental and societal contexts. The present study has therefore employed the Systems Theory Framework (STF) in investigating and co-constructing representations of the career development of a group of South African adolescents in a way that acknowledges their unique systems of career influence and discursive contexts. The research adopted an exploratory-descriptive design in collaborating with the participants in this investigation. In the first phase of the study a sample of 70 grade 11 male and female adolescents from middle socioeconomic status environments were invited to complete the My Systems of Career Influences (MSCI) workbook in re-presenting systemic constructions of their career development. Tesch’s model of qualitative content analysis and frequency counts has been used to re-present that process to you in this text. In the second phase of the study the researcher collaborated with one participant in a systemic narrative career counselling process. During this process an account of the participant’s career narrative was co-constructed in conversations guided by a poststructural narrative approach to career counselling and the MSCI’s structuring of the participant’s complex systems of influence. The co-constructed account was critically examined according to Parker’s approach to discourse analysis. The second phase investigated how the counselling and research processes had positioned the participant in relation to her influential systems and their privileged discourses of career development. The study is particularly pertinent to a growing need for the development of respectful, critical and non-discriminatory career assessment, career research and career counselling collaborations between professionals and career makers navigating the unique and diverse South African context.

Currently, no career theories exist that sufficiently explain the career development of South Africa’s diverse population groups. Consequently, South African researchers have been entirely dependent on international, western-informed career theories. While such theories have taken on a more ethnocentric complexion in recent times, they remain essentially decontextualised for South Africa. Furthermore, although the influence of family and the significant roles of parents have been theoretically acknowledged as critical influences in adolescent career development, there is still a considerable lack of research in South Africa on this topic. The present study therefore explored the perceptions of systemic influences on adolescent career development from the perspectives of both Black middle-class South African Grade 11 learners and their parents. The research was conceptualised within the Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development and used its derivative instrument, the My Systems of Career Influences (MSCI, Adolescent). The present study utilised a qualitative research method, using answers derived from the MSCI (Adolescent) booklets to inform semi-structured interviews. The data analysis procedure involved the use of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to qualitatively analyse data obtained from the semistructured interviews. Findings revealed a number of influences within the individual system (personality, values, abilities), social system (adolescents’ parents and teachers) and societal-environmental system (financial support, the opportunity to work overseas, geographical location, job availability, and the location of universities) that were acknowledged as having an influence on the career development of South African Black middle class adolescents. Each of these findings were explored and unpacked under the four xii identified Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) superordinate themes of Family Dynamics, Great Expectations, The Ghost of Apartheid and Coconuts Fall Far From the Tree. Lastly, the limitations of the present study, as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.

In the competitive knowledge economy of today it is talented employees who ensure a competitive advantage for their company above their competitors. Voluntary employee turnover is said to have a number of negative consequences for employers, such as recruitment, selection and training costs, as well as lowered morale in the case of employees who stay behind. Companies and countries such as South Africa have to become globally competitive through talented and dedicated employees. Companies should therefore place more focus on the retention and grooming of their internal talent since a “war on talent” is being waged between companies for the best talent. With the looming shortage of talent globally it becomes more important for organisations in general and the petrochemical sector in particular to understand why talented and dedicated employees voluntarily leave their organisations. With such insight at their disposal, people managers are able to devise appropriate strategies to retain talent for the competitive benefit of their own organisations. The principal objective of this research study was to improve employee retention by investigating the influence of career-pathing (career development practices) and other selected critical success factors on employee retention. The study considered how employee retention (the dependent variable) is influenced by affective organisational commitment, career-pathing, growth need satisfaction, job commitment, affective professional commitment, continuance professional commitment and normative professional commitment (the independent variables). The sample who participated in this study consisted of one hundred and one (101) out of a possible total of two hundred and eleven (211) respondents from the selected South African petrochemical organisation. The empirical results reveal that affective organisational commitment and career-pathing are significantly related to employee retention, while all the other variables tested are not significantly related to employee retention.

D.Litt. et Phil. / Please refer to full text to view abstract