The 21'' century business environment can be described in terms of globalisation, intensified competitiveness on a global level, and ever-increasing customer expectations. In the changing nature of the world of work, with its increasing complexity, competition and accelerated pace, the issue of leadership development is critical. Executives are pressured to continuously improve their performance, skills and contribution to the organisation. In the mining industry, executives are experiencing ongoing skill shortage, increased job stress, increased job dissatisfaction and the need to redress social imbalances via affirmative action and accelerated career development. This highlights the need to find effective ways of developing executives. In South Africa more traditional forms of executive development, such as prescribed training programmes, courses and business schools are used. Training programmes, courses and business schools do not address specific individual needs but tend to be more generic in content. Over the course of the last 10 years, executive coaching, an oneon- one intervention with middle and senior managers for the purpose of improving or enhancing management skills has become widely adopted by the corporate community. Executive coaching is one of the fastest growing executive development processes in adult learning. Recent literature in the field of coaching purports the advantages of coaching such as increased performance, job satisfaction, team effectiveness, self awareness, decreased job stress, higher optimism and change management. The objectives of this study were to develop an executive coaching programme and to determine the effect of this programme on the general wellbeing, job characteristics, coping strategies, personality characteristics (both pervasive and situational), work-related wellness, as well as the performance of executives in the mining industry in South Africa. A longitudinal design was used. The participants (n = 29) consisted of General Managers, Mine Overseers and Production Managers from one area in a large mining company in South Africa. The Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), the Life Orientation Test - Revised (LOT-R), the Job Characteristics Survey - Mining (JCM), the Learned Optimism Scale (LOS), the ituational Sense of Coherence Scale (SSOC), the Perceived Wellness Scale (PWS) and a 360" Performance Evaluation Measurement (PEM) were used. The results showed that the xecutive Coaching Programme developed for this study increased the general wellbeing, job characteristics, performance and coping strategies of the executives in the mining industry. The study also found an increase in the situational personality characteristics (situational sense of coherence and learned optimism) after the completion of the coaching programme. Furthermore, the results showed an increase in the positive affective evaluation of work (engagement) (vigour and professional efficacy), as well as a decrease in the negative affective evaluation of work (burnout) (exhaustion and cynicism). In terms of coping strategies passive coping decreased, while problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping increased. Interestingly, the findings showed an increase in pervasive personality characteristics and a decrease in absorption of executives after completion of the coaching programme. The qualitative results from the dairy study showed very positive reports in relation to the executives' experiences of the performance evaluation process and the executive coaching programme in relation to their development. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2007.

The 21'' century business environment can be described in terms of globalisation, intensified competitiveness on a global level, and ever-increasing customer expectations. In the changing nature of the world of work, with its increasing complexity, competition and accelerated pace, the issue of leadership development is critical. Executives are pressured to continuously improve their performance, skills and contribution to the organisation. In the mining industry, executives are experiencing ongoing skill shortage, increased job stress, increased job dissatisfaction and the need to redress social imbalances via affirmative action and accelerated career development. This highlights the need to find effective ways of developing executives. In South Africa more traditional forms of executive development, such as prescribed training programmes, courses and business schools are used. Training programmes, courses and business schools do not address specific individual needs but tend to be more generic in content. Over the course of the last 10 years, executive coaching, an oneon- one intervention with middle and senior managers for the purpose of improving or enhancing management skills has become widely adopted by the corporate community. Executive coaching is one of the fastest growing executive development processes in adult learning. Recent literature in the field of coaching purports the advantages of coaching such as increased performance, job satisfaction, team effectiveness, self awareness, decreased job stress, higher optimism and change management. The objectives of this study were to develop an executive coaching programme and to determine the effect of this programme on the general wellbeing, job characteristics, coping strategies, personality characteristics (both pervasive and situational), work-related wellness, as well as the performance of executives in the mining industry in South Africa. A longitudinal design was used. The participants (n = 29) consisted of General Managers, Mine Overseers and Production Managers from one area in a large mining company in South Africa. The Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), the Life Orientation Test - Revised (LOT-R), the Job Characteristics Survey - Mining (JCM), the Learned Optimism Scale (LOS), the ituational Sense of Coherence Scale (SSOC), the Perceived Wellness Scale (PWS) and a 360" Performance Evaluation Measurement (PEM) were used. The results showed that the xecutive Coaching Programme developed for this study increased the general wellbeing, job characteristics, performance and coping strategies of the executives in the mining industry. The study also found an increase in the situational personality characteristics (situational sense of coherence and learned optimism) after the completion of the coaching programme. Furthermore, the results showed an increase in the positive affective evaluation of work (engagement) (vigour and professional efficacy), as well as a decrease in the negative affective evaluation of work (burnout) (exhaustion and cynicism). In terms of coping strategies passive coping decreased, while problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping increased. Interestingly, the findings showed an increase in pervasive personality characteristics and a decrease in absorption of executives after completion of the coaching programme. The qualitative results from the dairy study showed very positive reports in relation to the executives' experiences of the performance evaluation process and the executive coaching programme in relation to their development. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2007.

Объектом исследования являются смысложизненные ориентации в среднем и пожилом возрасте. Предметом исследования стали различия в уровне выраженности и характере взаимосвязей смысложизненных ориентаций, жизнестойкости и диспозиционного оптимизма у людей среднего и пожилого возраста. Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, двух глав, заключения, списка литературы (61 источник) и приложений (2 приложения), включающих в себя бланки применявшихся методик и результаты статистических расчетов. Объем магистерской диссертации 99 страниц, на которых размещены 11 рисунков и 20 таблиц. Во введении раскрывается актуальность проблемы исследования, разработанность проблематики, ставятся цель и задачи исследования, определяются объект и предмет исследования, формулируются гипотезы, указываются методы и эмпирическая база, а также этапы проведения исследования, научная новизна, теоретическая и практическая значимость работы. В первой главе рассмотрен феномен смысложизненных ориентаций в работах отечественных и зарубежных авторов разных времен, проанализированы психологические особенности представителей средней и пожилой возрастных групп, представлены результаты исследований современных авторов. Выводы по первой главе представляют собой итоги по изучению теоретического материала. Вторая глава посвящена эмпирической части исследования. В ней представлено описание организации и методов проведенного исследования и результатов, полученных по всем использованным методикам: тесту смысложизненных ориентаций (в адаптации Д.А. Леонтьева), тесту жизнестойкости (в адаптации Е.Н. Осина, Е.И. Рассказовой), тесту диспозиционного оптимизма (в адаптации Т.О. Гордеевой, О.А. Сычева, Е.А. Осина). Также в главе представлен дескриптивный, сравнительный и корреляционный анализ результатов исследования. Выводы по главе 2 включают в себя основные результаты эмпирического исследования. В заключении в обобщенном виде изложены результаты теоретической и эмпирической частей работы, а также выводы по выдвинутым гипотезам, обоснована практическая значимость исследования и описаны возможные перспективы дальнейшей разработки данной проблематики. / The object of the study is the meaning of life orientations on average and old age. The subject of the study was differences in the level of expression and the nature of the interrelationships of life orientations, resilience and dispositional optimism in middle-aged and elderly people. The master's thesis consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a list of references (61 sources) and appendices (2 appendices), including forms of the applied methods and the results of statistical calculations. The volume of the master's thesis is 99 pages, which contain 11 figures and 20 tables. The introduction reveals the relevance of the research problem, the elaboration of the problem, sets the purpose and objectives of the study, defines the object and subject of the study, formulates hypotheses, specifies methods and empirical base, as well as the stages of research, scientific novelty, theoretical and practical significance of the work. The first chapter examines the phenomenon of life-meaning orientations in the works of domestic and foreign authors of different times, analyzes the psychological characteristics of representatives of the middle and elderly age groups, and presents the results of research by modern authors. The conclusions of the first chapter represent the results of the study of theoretical material. The second chapter is devoted to the empirical part of the study. It describes the organization and methods of the conducted research and the results obtained using all the methods used: the test of life orientations (adapted by D.A. Leontiev), the test of resilience (adapted by E.N. Osin, E.I. Rasskazova), the test of dispositional optimism (adapted by T.O. Gordeeva, O.A. Sycheva, E.A. Osin). The chapter also presents a descriptive, comparative and correlation analysis of the research results. The conclusions of Chapter 2 include the main results of an empirical study. In conclusion, the results of the theoretical and empirical parts of the work are summarized, as well as conclusions on the hypotheses put forward, the practical significance of the study is substantiated and possible prospects for further development of this issue are described.

It has been determined who the adolescent in the Wolmer community is. An investigation into the adolescent’s relationship with the resources in this area was also done. It was determined that this community has a long history of poverty and that a large percentage of the families living here experience a variety of problems. We refer to them as multi-problem families. It has also been confirmed that social services by various organizations have been delivered on an ongoing base over the past eight years. From the literature we have learned that the use of resource’s aid programmes as means of social support, focusing on families, primary and secondary school learners, should have an impact on the future expectations of the children involved. The aim of this study was to determine what the perception of the grade seven learners of their future expectations was. From this it would then be possible to derive what recommendations should be made with regard to social work programmes for the parents and children in the Wolmer community. Socio-economic problems that are not addressed cause bad school performance and as a result of this children tend to leave school at an early age. Leaving school at an early age evidently leads to conflict with the police, imprisonment and alcohol and drug abuse. These aspects tend to be a part of the life in Wolmer and ultimately have an influence on the child attaining his or her goals as well as on his or her future expectations. These will have to be addressed by appropriate school programmes. The researcher’s knowledge of this community leads her to the conclusion that the absence of parenting by the parents of these children, their lack of involvement, lack of skill to equip their children adequately for life, their own lack of adequate knowledge as well as lack of a proper value system tends to play a huge part in the behaviour and perception of the adolescent of their own future expectation. In the Wolmer community children that are sometimes advised by their parents not to leave school at an early age, question this because of parents leaving school at an early age in order to co-provide for their families. In cases where children do not have the cognitive ability to change their surroundings, they tend to too fall back in the vicious circle known to them and the generations before them. The child must be motivated and idealistic and be able to make realistic decisions. Because of this it is of the utmost importance that children that do not have the ability with regard to the abovementioned are assisted in doing so. Also that aid programs in future be focused on this in order to empower the new generation. Parents have a huge influence on the choices made by their children. Regardless of social standing and ability adolescents usually have higher ideals for themselves when their parents motivate them as well as give recognition to good work. The researcher unfortunately came to realize that the assistance by their parents, are a very rare phenomenon in this community. Out of the two focus groups being held with the adolescents, it seemed a lack of interest by the parents, lack of information on higher education as well as little financial resources, have a huge impact and influence on the future expectation of the adolescent in Wolmer. It would be the ideal situation if adolescents chose a career that suited their abilities, interests and personality and that would promote a higher self-esteem. Because of their circumstances this is not always possible for the adolescents in this community. These happen in vary rare cases because the parent’s expectations for their children usually fit their expectations for themselves, which is usually very low. Peer group pressure and peer group acceptance have a huge impact on taking responsibility and on the making of choices. In order to have future success individuals can use their problem-solving abilities, mobilise their social support system and become involved in skills that will promote their social capability. The above mentioned should be actively addressed by social workers in the development of programs that focuses on social support, problem-solving skills, peer group acceptance, school involvement and socio-economic adaptation off adolescents in die Wolmer community. By determining the future expectations of the youth, programs for the empowerment of them can be implemented in order to assist the adolescents to break away from the vicious circle of poverty and to reach their ideals. The researcher is of the opinion that is has become of the utmost importance for the resources in this community, to assess their role presently in the promoting of future expectations and as an outcome of this the promotion of economic-self sustainability. / Dissertation (MSW) (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted