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The present study sought to examine the collaborative role of the student organization Here 4 U and the impact of this collaboration on the organization and its partners. As a point of departure a questionnaire was distributed to supervisors, principals and other cooperation partners of Here 4 U, the most prominent quantitative results of which were related to previous research, new institutional theory and empowerment theory. It turned out that partners interacting with Here 4 U felt that the collaboration was necessary and wanted to continue with it. The respondents to the questionnaire were asked to define the concept of collaboration. Factors emphasized by respondents included feeling of community, security, and common goals. The respondents considered the effects of interaction in relation to young people to be positive and maintained that work with young people had been improved by this collaboration. The results of the investigation were then commented on in an interview with the coordinator working for Here 4 U. It transpired that all cooperation partners were pleased with the collaboration with Here 4 U, not only for their own sake, but also for the benefit of preventive work carried out with and for young people. / Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka betydelsen för och effekterna av samverkan mellan elevorganisationen Here 4 U och dess partners. Utgångspunkten var en enkät som sändes till berörda handledare, rektorer och andra samverkanspartners. De mest framträdande kvantitativa resultaten från enkäten relaterades till tidigare forskning om nyinstitutionell organisationsteori och empowerment. Det visade sig att de som samverkar med Here 4 U ansåg samarbetet vara nödvändigt och att de ville fortsätta med det i framtiden. Respondenterna hade ombetts definiera samverkansbegreppet. De faktorer som genomgående lyftes fram var gemenskap, trygghet och gemensamma mål. Effekterna av samverkan sades ha positiv effekt på de berörda ungdomarna och bedömdes ha förbättrats med samverkan. En samordnare från Here 4 U ombads därefter kommentera resultaten i en intervju. Slutsatsen blir att samtliga samverkanspartners var nöjda med samverkan med Here 4 U, inte bara för sin egen skull, utan också med tanke på de positiva effekterna i arbetet med och för ungdomar.

Although theory suggests the importance of the influence of selected human factors as antecedents to the efficiency of upstream supply chains, research findings of the actual influence human factors may have are lacking in evidence. This study examines its influence on the basis of a literature study as well as an empirical study in an attempt to find hard facts to its role in supply chain efficiency. Six different human factors were identified, based on opinions from key opinion leaders in this field of study and investigated its relevance by means of empirical research. Results suggest that the selected human factors that play a definite role in upstream supply chain efficiency are: individual’s principles, individual’s goals and company’s goals for the individual - common goals, personality, ability/trainability, general skills and training, and mutual trust and understanding. Findings presented interesting results that should influence the way management handles its human assets in the organisational environment. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Although theory suggests the importance of the influence of selected human factors as antecedents to the efficiency of upstream supply chains, research findings of the actual influence human factors may have are lacking in evidence. This study examines its influence on the basis of a literature study as well as an empirical study in an attempt to find hard facts to its role in supply chain efficiency. Six different human factors were identified, based on opinions from key opinion leaders in this field of study and investigated its relevance by means of empirical research. Results suggest that the selected human factors that play a definite role in upstream supply chain efficiency are: individual’s principles, individual’s goals and company’s goals for the individual - common goals, personality, ability/trainability, general skills and training, and mutual trust and understanding. Findings presented interesting results that should influence the way management handles its human assets in the organisational environment. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Politics in an organisation is an inevitable element in organisation management. The Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s national electricity providers have been subject to an increasingly intense organisational politics cancer for almost two decades, and it is commonly believed to be behind the current electricity generation crisis that has become synonymous within the SADC region. The electricity challenges have spread to most countries in Africa, making the challenge applicable to Africa as a continent. Even on a global scale, electricity crises are increasingly becoming a matter of concern. Economies the world over are known to be heavily reliant on electricity as an energy source. Most if not all economies would be dysfunctional and non-existent without adequate electricity. This study focuses on organisational politics and its impact on managerial practices at a national electricity provider in a SADC region, in particular, Zimbabwe’s national electricity provider and specifically aims to provide a conceptual framework for better cognition and minimisation of negative political behaviour, ultimately enhancing electricity generation capacity for the country. The study is presented in article format covering four areas of study as follows: * Article one identifies the main role-players and their functions in the generation of electrical power at the national electricity providers. The identification of the role-players is literature based and discusses the influences of the role-players in the equation of electricity generation for the economy. A biographical profile of the national electricity provider is compiled by means of an empirical study. * The second article explores and interrogates employees’ perceptions of organisational politics by employing both theoretical and empirical study focusing on the causes/sources of political behaviour at the national electricity provider. * The third article investigates the effects of organisational politics at the national electricity provider focusing on the positive and negative effects. The article also employs both a literature and an empirical study. * The final article provides solutions to the negative effects of organisational politics. It investigates the managerial practices for minimising negative political behaviour through a review of literature as well as undertaking an empirical study. A sample of 1400 participants was randomly selected from the population of 2210 employees, representing 63.35% of the population. A total of 358 completed questionnaires were returned by the cut-off date. Of the 358, 11 were discarded as they were incorrectly completed, giving an effective response rate of 24.78%. The study employed the statistical software programme SPSS 21.0 for Windows to analyse the data. Various quantitative statistical techniques that suit the doctoral level of research were used to analyse the data. The techniques include: * Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy; * Exploratory factor analysis * Bartlett’s test of sphericity; and * Cronbach Alpha’s reliability coefficient. The major findings of the study were: * The first article identified the main role-players within the national electricity provider’s political environment as: employees, managers; government; and board of directors. Central to the political environment, are diverse goals from each role-player which in most cases is incongruent, giving birth to the political tempo (organisational politics) within the organisation. * The second article identified four significant factors perceived as contributing to political behaviour at the national electricity provider. The factors are managerial behaviour, poor communication of objectives, unexpected employee behaviour and unhealthy managerial practices. These factors account for a favourable variance of 74.26. * The third article identified three factors of significance that explain the effects of political behaviour at the national electricity provider. These factors account for a favourable variance of 74.67%, and the factors include positive departmental actions, negative employee actions and personal consequences. * The final article sought to provide measures for minimising negative effects of political behaviour, thus the article identified two factors of importance in minimising negative political behaviour at the national electricity provider. These factors are managerial fairness and managerial participation accounting for 70.11% of the total variance. Organisational politics, by and large, impedes organisational performance and in the case of the national electricity provider, it retards the power utility’s capacity to generate the much needed electrical power. Thus an integrated organisational strategy is required to successfully harness negative political behaviour into some significant positive factors that can create a conducive work environment that enhances performance ultimately increasing productivity levels. While the findings of the study holds true of the fact that some political behaviour factors have a hand in the national electricity provider’s inability to generate adequate electrical power, further research is needed to substantiate these factors in other regions of the national electricity provider within Zimbabwe as well as in SADC countries. A SADC approach encompassing all the member countries can help reduce negative political behaviour in key organisations such as the national electricity providers and other parastatals. The study concludes by proposing a comprehensive conceptual organisational politics management model (OPMM) which can be used by managers at the national electricity providers to reduce negative political behaviour. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Politics in an organisation is an inevitable element in organisation management. The Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s national electricity providers have been subject to an increasingly intense organisational politics cancer for almost two decades, and it is commonly believed to be behind the current electricity generation crisis that has become synonymous within the SADC region. The electricity challenges have spread to most countries in Africa, making the challenge applicable to Africa as a continent. Even on a global scale, electricity crises are increasingly becoming a matter of concern. Economies the world over are known to be heavily reliant on electricity as an energy source. Most if not all economies would be dysfunctional and non-existent without adequate electricity. This study focuses on organisational politics and its impact on managerial practices at a national electricity provider in a SADC region, in particular, Zimbabwe’s national electricity provider and specifically aims to provide a conceptual framework for better cognition and minimisation of negative political behaviour, ultimately enhancing electricity generation capacity for the country. The study is presented in article format covering four areas of study as follows: * Article one identifies the main role-players and their functions in the generation of electrical power at the national electricity providers. The identification of the role-players is literature based and discusses the influences of the role-players in the equation of electricity generation for the economy. A biographical profile of the national electricity provider is compiled by means of an empirical study. * The second article explores and interrogates employees’ perceptions of organisational politics by employing both theoretical and empirical study focusing on the causes/sources of political behaviour at the national electricity provider. * The third article investigates the effects of organisational politics at the national electricity provider focusing on the positive and negative effects. The article also employs both a literature and an empirical study. * The final article provides solutions to the negative effects of organisational politics. It investigates the managerial practices for minimising negative political behaviour through a review of literature as well as undertaking an empirical study. A sample of 1400 participants was randomly selected from the population of 2210 employees, representing 63.35% of the population. A total of 358 completed questionnaires were returned by the cut-off date. Of the 358, 11 were discarded as they were incorrectly completed, giving an effective response rate of 24.78%. The study employed the statistical software programme SPSS 21.0 for Windows to analyse the data. Various quantitative statistical techniques that suit the doctoral level of research were used to analyse the data. The techniques include: * Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy; * Exploratory factor analysis * Bartlett’s test of sphericity; and * Cronbach Alpha’s reliability coefficient. The major findings of the study were: * The first article identified the main role-players within the national electricity provider’s political environment as: employees, managers; government; and board of directors. Central to the political environment, are diverse goals from each role-player which in most cases is incongruent, giving birth to the political tempo (organisational politics) within the organisation. * The second article identified four significant factors perceived as contributing to political behaviour at the national electricity provider. The factors are managerial behaviour, poor communication of objectives, unexpected employee behaviour and unhealthy managerial practices. These factors account for a favourable variance of 74.26. * The third article identified three factors of significance that explain the effects of political behaviour at the national electricity provider. These factors account for a favourable variance of 74.67%, and the factors include positive departmental actions, negative employee actions and personal consequences. * The final article sought to provide measures for minimising negative effects of political behaviour, thus the article identified two factors of importance in minimising negative political behaviour at the national electricity provider. These factors are managerial fairness and managerial participation accounting for 70.11% of the total variance. Organisational politics, by and large, impedes organisational performance and in the case of the national electricity provider, it retards the power utility’s capacity to generate the much needed electrical power. Thus an integrated organisational strategy is required to successfully harness negative political behaviour into some significant positive factors that can create a conducive work environment that enhances performance ultimately increasing productivity levels. While the findings of the study holds true of the fact that some political behaviour factors have a hand in the national electricity provider’s inability to generate adequate electrical power, further research is needed to substantiate these factors in other regions of the national electricity provider within Zimbabwe as well as in SADC countries. A SADC approach encompassing all the member countries can help reduce negative political behaviour in key organisations such as the national electricity providers and other parastatals. The study concludes by proposing a comprehensive conceptual organisational politics management model (OPMM) which can be used by managers at the national electricity providers to reduce negative political behaviour. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Este trabalho procura compreender as práticas e ações dos movimentos de moradia e sem-teto em São Paulo e seus integrantes, na década de 1990, inseridos no contexto do desmanche. Este contexto modificou e transubstanciou as categorias, os diagramas e a forma como os movimentos sociais fazem a experiência e incidem no debate público, alterando os termos da ação política. A experiência circula, mas num campo de encolhimento do possível. A tese pretende mostrar que nesse contexto a política aparece como um excesso. Num contexto de encolhimento do possível a política só pode aparecer necessariamente no seu fundamento, o excesso democrático. A alteração desse contexto demanda uma reinterpretação dos movimentos sociais a partir da leitura das histórias narradas por seus participantes e pelos atores que os circundam. Para empreender a exposição escolhemos três movimentos de moradia e semteto em São Paulo que conformaram suas ações ao longo da década de 1990. A partir das histórias narradas procuramos traçar um mapeamento desses movimentos, suas práticas e os sentidos das nomeações estabelecidas. / This work intends to understand the practices and actions of the social movements which fight for housing projects and the sem-teto and its members in São Paulo, in the 1990 decade, inserted into the deconstruction context. This context has modified and transformed the categories, diagrams and the way which social movements experienced and fell upon public debate, changing terms of political action. The experience spreads, but in a field of possible shrinkage. The thesis intends to show that in this context politics appears as an excess. In a context of the possible shrinkage, politics can only appears necessarily on its principle, the democratic excess. The change of this context demands a re-interpretation of social movements starting from the observation of stories reported by its members and actors that surrounds them. Three movements that fight for housing projects and the sem-teto in São Paulo, which had their actions configured through the 1990 decade, were chosen to explore the thesis. Starting from the reported stories we focus on drawing a mapping of these social movements, its practices and the meanings of the established nominations.

Este trabalho procura compreender as práticas e ações dos movimentos de moradia e sem-teto em São Paulo e seus integrantes, na década de 1990, inseridos no contexto do desmanche. Este contexto modificou e transubstanciou as categorias, os diagramas e a forma como os movimentos sociais fazem a experiência e incidem no debate público, alterando os termos da ação política. A experiência circula, mas num campo de encolhimento do possível. A tese pretende mostrar que nesse contexto a política aparece como um excesso. Num contexto de encolhimento do possível a política só pode aparecer necessariamente no seu fundamento, o excesso democrático. A alteração desse contexto demanda uma reinterpretação dos movimentos sociais a partir da leitura das histórias narradas por seus participantes e pelos atores que os circundam. Para empreender a exposição escolhemos três movimentos de moradia e semteto em São Paulo que conformaram suas ações ao longo da década de 1990. A partir das histórias narradas procuramos traçar um mapeamento desses movimentos, suas práticas e os sentidos das nomeações estabelecidas. / This work intends to understand the practices and actions of the social movements which fight for housing projects and the sem-teto and its members in São Paulo, in the 1990 decade, inserted into the deconstruction context. This context has modified and transformed the categories, diagrams and the way which social movements experienced and fell upon public debate, changing terms of political action. The experience spreads, but in a field of possible shrinkage. The thesis intends to show that in this context politics appears as an excess. In a context of the possible shrinkage, politics can only appears necessarily on its principle, the democratic excess. The change of this context demands a re-interpretation of social movements starting from the observation of stories reported by its members and actors that surrounds them. Three movements that fight for housing projects and the sem-teto in São Paulo, which had their actions configured through the 1990 decade, were chosen to explore the thesis. Starting from the reported stories we focus on drawing a mapping of these social movements, its practices and the meanings of the established nominations.