<p> Collectivism refers to a tendency to value group membership and collective responsibility. Much of what we know about how collectivism influences team effectiveness is drawn from research that has assumed collectivism to be determined by either cultural contexts (e.g., Hofstede, 1980), or individual differences (e.g., Triandis, Leung, Villareal, & Clack, 1985). Based largely in social psychology, another perspective is emerging in which collectivism is viewed as a group norm within a team. The issue of collectivistic group norms within teams has yet to be examined in relation to team effectiveness outcomes, and may help to explain phenomena that have yet to be fully explained by cultural contexts or individual differences. In a longitudinal study of 60 self-managing teams performing a human resources management simulation, collectivistic group norms was positively associated with collective efficacy and team performance after controlling for the individual difference measure of psychological collectivism. Although psychological collectivism was positively associated with collectivistic group norms, only the two psychological collectivism sub-dimensions of concern and norm acceptance were positively associated with collectivistic group norms while no associations were found between collectivistic group norms and the remaining three sub-dimensions of preference, reliance, and goal priority. Collective efficacy fully mediated the association between collectivistic group norms and team performance. Collectivistic group norm sharedness moderated the associations between collectivistic group norms and collective efficacy, and collectivistic group norms and team performance. This study is among the first to introduce collectivistic group norms to the organizational behaviour literature and to use collectivistic group norm sharedness to account for unique variance in collective efficacy and team performance.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Knowledge management (KM) has been cited as a strategic asset and a source of competitive advantage for organisations. While the issues of KM have been widely discussed by many researchers, there is a paucity of studies pertaining to the role of KM in enhancing organisational performance, especially in the banking sector. The focus of this research was to investigate the role of KM in enhancing organisational performance in selected banks of South Africa. The objective was to find out how knowledge was identified, captured, organised and retained in order to enhance performance of the banks. There is uncertainty about whether the use of KM could partly solve the banks‟ approaches to improving their quality of service to their communities in the modern information environment. Though KM has been implemented in commercial and business environments towards operational advantages and financial gains, KM survival principles and tools might help South African banks improve performance and fulfil their mandate. Knowledge, when properly managed, can significantly enhance an organisation‟s performance. The research design that was used in this study was an embedded case study design. Quantitative data were collected from a sample of middle level managers with the aid of a survey whilst interviews and document analysis were used to collect qualitative data. The findings of this study indicated that KM concepts were not universally understood at selected banks. The findings showed that collaboration between banks and the communities in creating a meaningful and relevant knowledge environment was essential for the survival of organisations. The banking industry practices were not deliberately based on KM but the study established that they were amenable to KM practices. The recommendation was to perform a knowledge inventory which could help develop appropriate institution-wide policies and practices for proper and well-organised methods of integrating work processes, collaborating and sharing (including the efficient use of knowledge technology platforms), and developing an enabling institutional culture. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Consulting Psychology)

Knowledge management (KM) has been cited as a strategic asset and a source of competitive advantage for organisations. While the issues of KM have been widely discussed by many researchers, there is a paucity of studies pertaining to the role of KM in enhancing organisational performance, especially in the banking sector. The focus of this research was to investigate the role of KM in enhancing organisational performance in selected banks of South Africa. The objective was to find out how knowledge was identified, captured, organised and retained in order to enhance performance of the banks. There is uncertainty about whether the use of KM could partly solve the banks‟ approaches to improving their quality of service to their communities in the modern information environment. Though KM has been implemented in commercial and business environments towards operational advantages and financial gains, KM survival principles and tools might help South African banks improve performance and fulfil their mandate. Knowledge, when properly managed, can significantly enhance an organisation‟s performance. The research design that was used in this study was an embedded case study design. Quantitative data were collected from a sample of middle level managers with the aid of a survey whilst interviews and document analysis were used to collect qualitative data. The findings of this study indicated that KM concepts were not universally understood at selected banks. The findings showed that collaboration between banks and the communities in creating a meaningful and relevant knowledge environment was essential for the survival of organisations. The banking industry practices were not deliberately based on KM but the study established that they were amenable to KM practices. The recommendation was to perform a knowledge inventory which could help develop appropriate institution-wide policies and practices for proper and well-organised methods of integrating work processes, collaborating and sharing (including the efficient use of knowledge technology platforms), and developing an enabling institutional culture. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Consulting Psychology)