The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the meaning employees attributed to the lived experiences of having been declared in excess in the Gauteng Health Department during restructuring. A qualitative, phenomenological research design was selected as the most appropriate approach in conducting this study. Phenomenology offers both methodological and philosophical perspectives with the aim of developing a greater understanding through description, reflection and awareness of the meaning of having “been declared in excess”. Purposive sampling was implemented. A total of ten (10) female professional nurses participated in the study. Data were collected using one common ontological question that enabled the researcher to gain a greater understanding of what it means to be declared in excess from the participants’ perspective. Data were collected until saturation was reached. Unstructured audio-taped interviews were conducted with study participants. Data were analysed using the method developed by Giorgi (1985). The study highlighted different reactions from different participants despite being exposed to the same experience. / Health Studies / Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil.)

Afrikaans text / Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om die stressors by oorblywende personeel na 'n a.fleggingsproses in die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag(SALM), te meet en te beskryf Vanuit die literatuuroorsig word die stressors in aflegging; die bedryfsimpak van stressors na 'n afleggingsproses op organisasiegedrag en die konsepte stres, werkstres en organisasie­ stres bespreek. Die empiriese navorsing word vanuit 'n funksionalistiese paradigma aangebied, waarteen die behaviorisme en sistemiese skole die onderbou vorm. Die navorsingsontwerp is 'n beskrywende studie en maak gebruik van 'n gestratifiseerde proporsionele ewekansige steekproe£ Die ervaring van werk- en lewensomstandighede­ vraelys is vir die meet van stressors in die organisasie gebruik. Die resultate vertoon organisasiefunksionering, loopbaanaangeleenthede en vergoedings­ aspekte as die vemaamste stressors by oorblywende personeel van die SALM. Toekomstige navorsing kan temas soos die sielkundige kontrak, werksonsekerheid en organisasieverbondenheid insluit. Relevante sleutelwoorde is stressors in aflegging, oorlewendes sindroom, organisasie­ klimaat, organisasie·agteruitgang en chroniese stres. / The aim of the survey is to identify and measure the stressors of survivors after a layoff process in the South African Air Force (SAAF). The literature highlights stressors in layoffs; the industrial impact of stressors after a layoff process on organisational behavior and the concepts stress, workstress and organisational stress. The empirical research is presented from a functionalistic paradigm with behaviorism and systems theory as foundation. The research design is a descriptive study and make use of a stratified proportional sample. The experience of work- and life circumstances questionnaire was used in the measurement of stressors. The results show organisational functioning, career aspects and remuneration as the main stressors of survivors. Themes that can be incorporated in future research are the psychological contract, job insecurity and organisational commitment. Relevant keywords in the research are stressors in layoffs, survivor syndrome, organisational climate, organisational decline and chronic stress. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / MCom (Bedryfsielkunde)

M.A. / Organisational transformation has become a way of life. Transformation may be prompted by forces internal and external to the organisation. Typical organisational transformation involves the restructuring or elimination of jobs. Transformation of any organisation necessarily balances the elimination of outdated systems alongside the preservation of core assets. Change creates pressure in any organisation. This is especially true when the organisation has not had much experience in dealing with it. The first taste of major change in this situation can be traumatic. Organisational transition is slow, expensive and difficult. There is a tendency to believe that change can be instant, painless and quick. The process of making a major change to an organisation's identity requires people to let go of "how it was" and move through a period of doubt and uncertainty. The focus of this study is on describing the attitude of workers towards transformation. A standardised scale was used as a way of measuring the feelings and attitudes of workers towards transformation. The actual result reported from this study indicates that there is a lot of negative feelings and attitudes towards the whole transformation process.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Management Sciences: Human Resources Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / The overall aim of the study was to investigate the impact of job insecurity on job satisfaction and organisational commitment at Femina Garments in Zimbabwe. Job insecurity has increased considerably over the recent decade in the clothing industry of Zimbabwe. Negative economic growth, retrenchments and company closures have led to job insecurity increase in Zimbabwe. Against this background, the literature suggests that job insecurity has a negative impact on different job attitudes. The study was conducted at Femina Garments, a clothing manufacturing company in Zimbabwe. The study adopted the quantitative research design and a survey method was employed for all 109 employees at Femina Garments. A structured closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect data. A significant response rate of 93.58% was obtained using the personal method of data collection. The responses to the questionnaire were captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 for Windows. Several hypotheses were formulated and tested using the Pearson`s chi-square and Spearman`s rank order correlation co-efficient. The main findings revealed that job insecurity did have an impact on organisational commitment. The findings also revealed that job insecurity had no relationship with job satisfaction at Femina Garments. The recommendations suggest that management at Femina Garments should provide clear communication, provide social support and maintain a balanced psychological contract. The recommendations also suggest that management at Femina Garments should provide salaries and benefits that are market related. The study concludes by providing directions for future research. / M

Magister Artium - MA / Downsizing is one of the most common organisational reactions to organisational change. The effects of global competition, mergers, and the privatisation of public sector companies, among others, are forcing organisations in South Africa to resort to workforce reduction. The purpose of the present study was to address the lack of research on the impact of downsizing on survivors. Specifically, the study examined the interactive effects of job insecurity, locus of control and sense of coherence on the organisational commitment of survivors. / South Africa

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / Until recently South Africa experienced an economic decline, however, despite the current positive trends, many large corporations are compelled to reduce personnel costs. Retrenchments have therefore become an increasingly common occurrence within South Africa. This has had an impact on the level of organisational commitment, absenteeism and turnover. Studies support the link between the levels of organisational commitment of employees, absenteeism and subsequently labour turnover. There is a relative lack of research in South African organisations into the influence of retrenchments on employees within call centre environments that have undergone retrenchments. The aims of this study was therefore to identify the levels of organisational commitment amongst call centre employees who survived a retrenchment that occurred in 2001. / South Africa

Today organisations all over the world have to cope with the ever-increasing rate of local and global change. Those in developing countries have to cope with the inefficiencies engendered by state-led economic, developmental and political strategies, such as new government regulations. These have had an impact on the management of human resources and are exemplified by an increasing adoption of strategies meant to reduce pressure on costs and margins. An increasing popular management response to these challenges has been to engage in some form of organisational restructuring such as downsizing. Often employees who remain (survivors) after downsizing are not given much attention, yet the achievement of new strategic goals depends on the survivors having positive attitudes, relentless commitment and high motivation. Research indicates that employees who are motivated and committed contribute vastly to the financial-bottom-line of the organisation. Therefore, downsizing organisations should continuously search for ways to increase such qualities among their survivors. The objective of this study was to identify the factors that influence the attitudes, commitment and motivation of survivors in a developing economy with a volatile environment. To achieve this objective, a theoretical survivor quality model was presented. In order to present the model, firstly, a literature survey on the importance of survivor quality in terms of attitudes, commitment, and motivation among survivors was conducted. Secondly, literature survey pertaining to the drivers of survivor quality was done, and thirdly, literature dealing with strategies to deal with survivor quality was surveyed. The theoretical survivor quality model was used to compile the research instrument that determined the attitudinal, commitment and motivational levels of survivors, how the three constructs are related after downsizing, as well as the factors influencing the observed levels. The questionnaire was randomly distributed among survivors in the selected manufacturing organisations in Zimbabwe. The empirical results obtained from the study showed that survivors in a developing economy with a volatile environment had moderate levels of attitudes, commitment ad motivation. Two categories of factors were identified as important in influencing these levels. They were downsizing strategy and demographic factors. The downsizing strategy factors were communication and victim support, while education, age, and number of years employed emerged as the demographic factors. The study further highlighted that older survivors with less education contributed more to the moderate levels of attitude, commitment and motivation observed. The study highlights that these variables must be taken into consideration when implementing downsizing in an economically volatile environment in order to manage survivor quality. A further point emanating from the study is that prior to downsizing, organisations should adopt effective communication strategies throughout the process. The key factors identified as influencing survivor quality in this study were integrated into the survivor quality model which can be used by other organisations in a similar context to manage survivor quality in order to increase their efficiency, effectiveness, iv and competitive advantage after downsizing.

M.Phil.

The present study examined the relationships of organizational justice and the psychological contract with four outcome variables in a downsizing context. Multinational data were gathered from survivors representing a variety of organizations and industries. The main focus of the current study examined the relationships between survivors' perceptions of procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice and organizational commitment, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and trust in management. Correlational data indicated that procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice all demonstrated significant correlations with the outcome variables with interpersonal justice demonstrating higher correlations with the outcome variables than procedural justice. Additionally, the results of two structural models indicated that, although both models fit the data equally well, interpersonal justice was the dominant predictor of the outcome variables. Finally, moderated multiple regression analyses indicated that the psychological contract did not act as a moderator on the relationships between the justice and the outcome variables. However, supplemental confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the justice variables might act as a mediator of the psychological contract - outcome variable relationships. Possible explanations of the results as well as implications for practice and future research are provided.

No description available.