In this study, a three phase Sequential Mixed Method Design was utilized to test a research based model explaining the relationships between technology integration and the factors affecting it. In the first phase, interviews were conducted with 20 elementary school teachers to identify the most common factors affecting elementary teachers&rsquo / use of technologies. The qualitative findings then guided the development of a survey instrument in the second phase. In the last phase, this survey was administered to 1080 classroom teachers in Ankara. In this phase, a path analytical approach was utilized to investigate the direct and indirect effects of teaching experience, computer use in years, principal support, colleague support, technology competency, teachers&rsquo / attitude and belief towards using technology and lack of time on technology integration to elementary school settings. Our findings indicated that technology integration is a complex process affected by many factors and these factors are highly related to each other. Within all factors, teachers&rsquo / technology competency has the largest direct effect on technology integration. Also, principal support, computer use in years, colleague support and teachers&rsquo / attitude and belief have important influences on technology integration. The technology integration model developed in this study provides a valuable tool for both policy makers and school principals to design and develop some strategies to bring success about integrating technologies in school environments. It will help the school principals in developing a vision and plan, indicating how technology will be integrated to the lessons and how the teachers are expected to use technologies.

There is currently no legislation counteracting the impact of workplace bullying on South African employees, consequently generating an open invitation for all perpetrators in the organisation. The significance of bullying by superiors and bullying by colleagues is explored in this regard. Workplace bullying refers to behaviour which harasses, offends, excludes and affects the employees’ work tasks. This behaviour occurs repeatedly, frequently and over a period of time. As a result, the impact of bullying on employees has massive consequences on the absenteeism, profitability, turnover intention and the compensation claims of the organisation. The most common solution of workplace bullying results in resignation. Thus, this study also explores perceived organisational support (POS), acting as a moderator, to counteract workplace bullying in this regard. POS is defined by employees experiencing: role clarity, participation in decision–making, colleagues’ support, having sufficient job information and good supervisory relationships. This will not necessarily put an end to this phenomenon but creates awareness in the South African context. Many international researchers focused on defining bullying, exploring different perpetrators and identifying characteristics associated with targets of bullying. Nationally, research is still in its infancy, hence, this research explores workplace bullying in general, by focusing on different sectors across South Africa. This research addresses the main perpetrators, the impact on turnover intention and explores POS acting as a moderator in the relationship between workplace bullying and turnover intention. The objectives of this research was 1) to determine how workplace bullying, perceived organisational support and turnover intention are conceptualised according to the literature; 2) to determine the relationships between workplace bullying by superiors/colleagues, the sub–facets of perceived organisational support (role clarity, job information, participation in decision–making, colleague support and supervisory relationships) and turnover intention; 3) to determine the moderating role of the sub–facets of perceived organisational support (role clarity, job information, participation in decision–making, colleague support and supervisory relationships) in the relationship between workplace bullying (superiors and colleagues) and turnover intention. An availability sample of N =13911 participants were gathered over a spectrum of 9 provinces and 5 sectors. Hierarchical regression analyses was conducted in order to determine if POS acts as a moderator in the relationship between workplace bullying (either by superiors or by colleagues) and turnover intention. Results highlighted the prevalence of workplace bullying in the South African context. The statistical analysis revealed that workplace bullying by superiors and by colleagues has a negative relationship with all the sub–facets of POS. This implies that when bullying by superiors or colleagues increases, the sub–facets of POS will decrease. The intention to leave the organisation correlated negatively with the sub–facets of POS. This suggests that when POS exists in organisations employees will be retained. There is a positive relationship between both bullying by superiors and bullying by colleagues and the propensity to leave the organisation. In practice, this implies that when bullying increases (by either superiors or colleagues) more targets of bullying will be inclined to leave the organisation. According to the empirical results, POS, role clarity, participation in decision–making and supervisory relationships, was the only facets which acted as moderators in the relationship between workplace bullying by superiors and turnover intention, whereas no moderation was found with bullying by colleagues. Recommendations were made for the organisation and future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

There is currently no legislation counteracting the impact of workplace bullying on South African employees, consequently generating an open invitation for all perpetrators in the organisation. The significance of bullying by superiors and bullying by colleagues is explored in this regard. Workplace bullying refers to behaviour which harasses, offends, excludes and affects the employees’ work tasks. This behaviour occurs repeatedly, frequently and over a period of time. As a result, the impact of bullying on employees has massive consequences on the absenteeism, profitability, turnover intention and the compensation claims of the organisation. The most common solution of workplace bullying results in resignation. Thus, this study also explores perceived organisational support (POS), acting as a moderator, to counteract workplace bullying in this regard. POS is defined by employees experiencing: role clarity, participation in decision–making, colleagues’ support, having sufficient job information and good supervisory relationships. This will not necessarily put an end to this phenomenon but creates awareness in the South African context. Many international researchers focused on defining bullying, exploring different perpetrators and identifying characteristics associated with targets of bullying. Nationally, research is still in its infancy, hence, this research explores workplace bullying in general, by focusing on different sectors across South Africa. This research addresses the main perpetrators, the impact on turnover intention and explores POS acting as a moderator in the relationship between workplace bullying and turnover intention. The objectives of this research was 1) to determine how workplace bullying, perceived organisational support and turnover intention are conceptualised according to the literature; 2) to determine the relationships between workplace bullying by superiors/colleagues, the sub–facets of perceived organisational support (role clarity, job information, participation in decision–making, colleague support and supervisory relationships) and turnover intention; 3) to determine the moderating role of the sub–facets of perceived organisational support (role clarity, job information, participation in decision–making, colleague support and supervisory relationships) in the relationship between workplace bullying (superiors and colleagues) and turnover intention. An availability sample of N =13911 participants were gathered over a spectrum of 9 provinces and 5 sectors. Hierarchical regression analyses was conducted in order to determine if POS acts as a moderator in the relationship between workplace bullying (either by superiors or by colleagues) and turnover intention. Results highlighted the prevalence of workplace bullying in the South African context. The statistical analysis revealed that workplace bullying by superiors and by colleagues has a negative relationship with all the sub–facets of POS. This implies that when bullying by superiors or colleagues increases, the sub–facets of POS will decrease. The intention to leave the organisation correlated negatively with the sub–facets of POS. This suggests that when POS exists in organisations employees will be retained. There is a positive relationship between both bullying by superiors and bullying by colleagues and the propensity to leave the organisation. In practice, this implies that when bullying increases (by either superiors or colleagues) more targets of bullying will be inclined to leave the organisation. According to the empirical results, POS, role clarity, participation in decision–making and supervisory relationships, was the only facets which acted as moderators in the relationship between workplace bullying by superiors and turnover intention, whereas no moderation was found with bullying by colleagues. Recommendations were made for the organisation and future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Les travailleurs qui œuvrent en protection de la jeunesse sont régulièrement exposés à des événements traumatiques (ÉT) au travail. De ces événements découlent de nombreuses conséquences individuelles (hypervigilance, dépression, trouble de stress post-traumatique, etc.) et organisationnelles (absentéisme, arrêts de travail, démissions, etc.), celles-ci pouvant perdurer dans le temps, voire s’amplifier, sans intervention adéquate. Les meilleures pratiques à favoriser dans la phase aiguë (0-30 jours) suivant un ÉT demeurent nébuleuses et ne nous permettent actuellement pas d’offrir un soutien optimal aux travailleurs qui expérimentent des réactions post-traumatiques plus ou moins sévères dans les jours/semaines suivant l’ÉT. Or, le soutien social est reconnu pour être un facteur déterminant dans le rétablissement des individus exposés à un ÉT, le soutien des collègues étant particulièrement important en contexte de travail. Toutefois, nous ignorons comment le soutien des collègues se manifeste après un ÉT et comment celui-ci est perçu par les travailleurs victimes. Objectif. Explorer les différentes actions de soutien posées par les collègues en protection de la jeunesse et les distinguer selon qu’elles étaient perçues comme du soutien positif ou négatif par les travailleurs victimes d’ÉT. Méthode. Une méthode qualitative de type exploratoire a permis de procéder à une analyse thématique (inter-cas) et à des études de cas typiques (intra-cas). Des entrevues semi-structurées de 30 travailleurs victimes d’ÉT au cours des 30 derniers jours ont été analysées. Résultats. Les actions de soutien rapportées par les participants pouvaient être assimilées aux catégories de House (1981) - soutien émotionnel, instrumental, informationnel et d’évaluation. Le type de soutien le plus fréquemment rapporté était le soutien émotionnel et la majorité des participants ont rapporté avoir reçu du soutien positif de la part de leurs collègues. Les différentes actions positives et négatives sont détaillées. Conclusion. Le soutien positif concorde avec les principes essentiels d’intervention post-traumatique tandis que le soutien négatif renvoie principalement à un manque de ressources organisationnelles et à une culture de normalisation de la violence. / Child protection workers are regularly exposed to traumatic events at work. From these events arise numerous individual consequences (hypervigilance, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.) and organizational consequences (absenteeism, sick leave, turnover, etc.), which can last over time or even amplify without adequate intervention. The best practices to promote in the acute phase (0-30 days) following a traumatic event remain unclear and do not currently allow us to offer optimal support to workers who experience more or less severe post-traumatic reactions in the days/weeks following a trauma. Social support is recognized to be a determining factor in the recovery of individuals exposed to traumatic events, support from colleagues being particularly important for events occurring in the workplace. However, we do not know how the support of colleagues manifests itself after a traumatic event neither how it is perceived by exposed employees. Objective. Explore the support offered by colleagues after trauma and distinguish support actions according to whether they were perceived as positive or negative by employees. Method. An exploratory qualitative method was used to conduct a thematic analysis (inter-case) and typical case studies (intra-case). Semi-structured interviews of 30 employees exposed to a traumatic event in the past 0-30 days were analyzed. Results. Support actions reported by participants could fit the typology of House (1981), namely emotional, instrumental, informational and evaluation support. The most frequently reported type of support was emotional support, and the majority of participants reported receiving positive support from colleagues. Positive and negative actions are detailed. Conclusion. Positive support offered by colleagues is consistent with the essential principles of early post-traumatic intervention, while negative support refers mainly to a lack of organizational resources and a culture where violence is trivialized. The study suggests that organizations should invest in an approach based on emotional support rather than trivialization.

The factors associated with employees' work related attitudes and cognitions were examined. A sample of employees from Community Living Trust (CLT), an organisation within the disability support worker industry, completed a questionnaire that included several measures: supervisor and colleague support, role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload, time-based, strain-based and behaviour-based work-to-family/family-to-work conflict, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which supervisor and colleague support contributed to a reduction in role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload. In addition, the relationship between support and work-to-family/family-to-work conflict were also explored. Finally, the organisational outcomes, in particular organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions, were examined. It was found that supervisor and colleague support did, in some cases, moderated the relationship between role stressors, conflict and job satisfaction / organisational commitment. It was also found that job satisfaction and affective commitment mediated the relationship between the role stressors, WF strain-based conflict and turnover intentions. The major implications from this research are that human resource initiatives should be developed that aims to identify the support needs employees may have, in order to increase levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment and decrease levels of turnover intentions. The final chapter of this research explored the practical implications to the organisation, employees and the need for future research.