Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the use and management of hazardous chemical substances (HCS) at a chemistry department in a selected Higher Education Institution in Gauteng province. Method: A quantitative, baseline descriptive study was conducted using a structured survey checklist. The population consisted of the chemistry department. Other than purposive observation by the researcher, employees present during data collection were approached for further clarifying comment to survey questions. Results: It emerged that physical-, health- and environmental hazard classes of HCS were present; and that hazard types included flammable liquids, HCS with acute toxicity and carcinogenicity. Selected exposure control measures were lacking which created risks of fire and explosion. Conclusion: The study reflected the use and management of HCS, the actual and potential human exposure and the exposure control measures. Varying degrees of compliance were found, which, if attended to, should mitigate risks to health and safety. / Health Studies

Diante das possibilidades que são oferecidas pelas tecnologias móveis, das intenções de uso que os indivíduos idealizam nas mesmas, e das realidades organizacionais peculiares, no momento das práticas e experiências de uso, podem surgir conflitos entre usuário e tecnologia. Ou seja, ao mesmo tempo em que a evolução das tecnologias traz o progresso elas criam paradoxos sociais que desafiam as pessoas nas esferas pessoal e social. Esta tese busca responder ao seguinte problema de pesquisa: Como os paradoxos de uso da tecnologia móvel se manifestam nas práticas sócio-materiais dos gestores de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior? Como objetivos específicos busca-se: a) Identificar o perfil de uso de tecnologia móvel dos gestores; b) Investigar os diferentes contextos móveis criados pelos usuários de tecnologia móvel advindos das práticas sócio-materiais de uso; c) Descrever as manifestações dos paradoxos de uso da tecnologia móvel vivenciadas pelos usuários; d) Identificar as estratégias criadas pelos usuários para gerenciar os paradoxos de uso da tecnologia móvel. Por meio de uma pesquisa qualitativa realizou-se um estudo de caso na Universidade Federal do Pampa (UNIPAMPA), uma Instituição de Ensino Superior (IES). Foram realizadas 28 entrevistas em duas etapas com 19 gestores, Diretores e Coordenadores Acadêmicos, da Instituição. Complementou-se a coleta de dados com observações diretas realizadas em reunião dos gestores. Foi possível identificar na Unipampa uma cultura de uso da tecnologia móvel, mais especificamente com relação ao notebook, parecendo haver uma regra implícita de que este deve ser carregado para todas as reuniões de trabalho, principalmente para aquelas que envolvem o deslocamento de uma cidade para outra. Aliado a isto, verifica-se um intenso uso do e-mail, indicando que a Unipampa é uma organização “dirigida” pelo e-mail. Os relatos indicam que o ritmo do trabalho se dá pelo fluxo de e-mails trocados entre as equipes, em que a condução dos tempos das demandas, acaba por vezes sobrecarregando os gestores. Os variados contextos móveis que emergiram neste estudo revelam que os gestores criam e recriam estes contextos de acordo com seus ritmos e preferências, os quais vão guiar as práticas de uso da tecnologia móvel. Os contextos móveis criados pelos gestores evidenciam que aqueles acontecem, principalmente, em função da intenção do usuário em “encurtar” ou “alongar” o tempo, dado o envolvimento do usuário nas tarefas. Constatou-se que grande parte dos paradoxos são sentidos independentemente do uso da tecnologia móvel ser o notebook ou o smartphone, mas sim em função do e-mail. Este passa a ser então o determinante para a formação de contextos móveis a partir das diferentes práticas sóciomateriais de uso, revelando assim que, os paradoxos não são somente característicos da tecnologia móvel em si, mas sim da ferramenta de comunicação e-mail. A maioria das estratégias busca lidar com o paradoxo Liberdade X Escravidão, em que o conflito entre estar livre, porém, sempre disponível e conectável para as pessoas parece ser o mais combatido. Este conflito é gerenciado por meio de estratégias de resistência como distanciamento, ignorar, suspensão, negligência, ou refutar a tecnologia móvel. / Given the possibilities that are offered by mobile technologies, the intentions of individuals who use the same idealize, and organizational realities at the time of the practices and experiences of use, conflicts may arise between users and technology. That is, while the evolution of technology brings progress they create social paradoxes that challenge people in personal and social spheres. This thesis aims to answer the following research problem: How the paradoxical use of mobile technology is manifested in the sociomaterial practices of managers in a Higher Education Institution? Specific objectives aims to: a) identify the usage profile of mobile technology managers; b) Investigate the different mobile contexts created by users of mobile technology arising from sociomaterial practices of use; c) Describe the manifestations paradoxes of the use of mobile technology experienced by users; d) Identify the strategies created by users to manage the paradoxes of use of mobile technology. Using a qualitative study we performed a case study at the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA), a Higher Education Institution (HEI). Twenty eight interviews were conducted in two stages with 19 managers, Directors and Academic Coordinators, of the Institution. We complemented the collection of data with direct observations made at a meeting of managers. It was possible to identify a mobile technology use culture in the Unipampa, specifically to notebook, there seems to be an unwritten rule that it must be loaded for all meetings, especially for those involving the displacement from one city to another. Also, there is an intensive use of e-mail, indicating that Unipampa an organization is “directed” by e-mail. Reports indicate that the pace of work is given by the flow of e-mails exchanged between the teams, in which the driving demands of the times, just sometimes overloading managers. The various mobile contexts that emerged in this study reveal that managers create and recreate these settings according to your preferences and rhythms, which will guide the practices of use of mobile technology. The mobile contexts created by managers show that those happen, mainly as a function of user intent to “shorten” or “lengthen” the time given user involvement in tasks. It was found that most of the paradoxes are felt regardless of the use of mobile technology to be the notebook or smartphone, but according to the email. This then becomes the determining factor for the formation of mobile contexts from different sociomaterial practices of use, thus revealing that the paradoxes are not only characteristic of mobile technology itself but the communication tool email. Most search strategies to deal with the paradox Freedom X Slavement in the conflict between being free, however, always available and connectable to the people seems to be the most fought. This conflict is managed through strategies of resistance as distance, ignore, suspension, neglect, or refute mobile technology.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate plagiarism among undergraduate students at a higher education institution in South Africa. There is evidence from previous studies that plagiarism is increasing world wide among higher education students. The emergence of the Internet has made plagiarizing worse as students can easily copy and paste information from the World Wide Web. This study investigated the occurrence, causes and trends of plagiarism among students in the Faculty of Applied Science at a higher education institution. It also examines student awareness of institutional policies and guidelines regarding plagiarism.</p>

Business leaders are increasingly coming to recognise that there is more to business success than technical and cognitive competence. Personnel leadership is proving to be critical for business bottom-line achievements considering that most business outcomes are achieved through human capital. Emotional intelligence can be used to the advantage of organisations by developing an emotional intelligence audit. The objective of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) developed by Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden and Dornheim (1998) for Economic Science students from a higher education institution in the North-West Province, South Africa. The psychometric soundness of the SEIS was tested. The general objective of the research is to standardise a psychometric instrument of emotional intelligence and determine the validity of The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (SEIS) (Schutte, et al., 1998). Specific objectives include the conceptualisation of the importance of a standardised psychometric instrument of emotional intelligence in South Africa; the conceptualisation of the nature and evolvement of emotional intelligence measurements in general; determining the validity and internal consistency of the SEIS; and establishing whether any possible group differences in terms of biographical data exist in emotional intelligence. A valid and reliable measure of emotional intelligence could be valuable in the organisation to identify specific EI needs that could be developed through the implementation of EI development programmes. In this context a standardised psychometric instrument of EI could be of use in organisations during the training and development of employees. A cross-sectional method with an availability sample (N = 341) from Economical Science students from a higher education institution was used. The results supported a six-factor model of emotional intelligence, consisting of Positive Affect, Emotion-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own, Non-verbal Emotions and Emotional Management. The multi-analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine differences in terms of biographical data. The results indicated significant differences between gender and language groups. African language groups compared with Afrikaans and English language groups experienced higher levels of positive affect. Females compared with males experienced higher levels of understanding of the emotions of other people. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate plagiarism among undergraduate students at a higher education institution in South Africa. There is evidence from previous studies that plagiarism is increasing world wide among higher education students. The emergence of the Internet has made plagiarizing worse as students can easily copy and paste information from the World Wide Web. This study investigated the occurrence, causes and trends of plagiarism among students in the Faculty of Applied Science at a higher education institution. It also examines student awareness of institutional policies and guidelines regarding plagiarism.</p>

Organisations throughout the world have to cope with an increasing rate of change. These organisational changes are due to a number of reasons, which include social, technological, economic and political reasons. These result in a change in government regulations. In South Africa, the changes include the merging of higher education institutions and changes in the educational landscape. The public higher education institutions were reduced by the Department of Higher Education and Training from 36 to 23. Same changes include new universities of technologies and mergers of other universities plus more comprehensive universities. Recently, government established two new universities, one in Mpumalanga and another in the Northern Cape. Job insecurity, job satisfaction, occupational stress, sense of coherence, and general health are key aspects of the higher education institutions during and after the transformation process. This study aimed to determine the relationship between job insecurity, job satisfaction, occupational stress, sense of coherence, and general health of employees in a higher education institution. The literature reviewed showed that job insecurity occurs as a result of a merger, which is one of the multiple antecedents in a job insecurity model. However, a merger, as an organisational condition, changes individual perceptions about job insecurity and its consequences. Job satisfaction, occupational stress, and general health are consequences of job insecurity. From the reviewed literature, it is clear that the employees’ lack of resources is a very serious challenge in their endeavour to perform their duties. Lack of resources results in the poor performance of employees and their inability to use their capabilities to deal with every day work-related challenges. A cross-sectional design with employees in higher education institution (N=229) was used. The Job Insecurity Inventory, Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire, An Organisation Stress Screening Tool, Orientation to Life Questionnaire, and General Health Questionnaire, and a biographical questionnaire were utilised. Statistical analyses were carried out for the three articles in the study with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM-SPSS) program. Statistical methods used in this article consisted of descriptive statistics (for example, means, standard deviations and frequencies), Cronbach alpha coefficients, explanatory factor analyses, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, multiple regression analysis and mediation analysis (Omnibus procedure). The results of article 1 showed that job insecurity was statistically significantly related to general health (somatic symptoms, social dysfunction, hopelessness and worthlessness). This implies that employees who experience high job insecurity also experience problems with their health. General health had a practically significant negative correlation with sense of coherence. Literature reviewed states that a weak sense of coherence leads employees to perceive situations as threatening (that is, high job demands and low job resources), and could lead to ill health. The research findings clearly indicate that sense of coherence does not moderate the relationship between job insecurity and general health. Regarding the results of article 2, a practically significant negative relationship exists between occupational stress and job satisfaction (intrinsic, supervision, extrinsic). This means that employees with high levels of occupational stress display lower job satisfaction and vice versa. Occupational stress and general health have a negative relationship, implying that different occupational stress factors (work demands, insecurity and work relations) relate to the general health of employees. Employees, who experience high work demands, are insecure and experience poor work relations with their colleagues or supervisors, have problems with their health and do not enjoy normal day-to-day activities in the organisation. Job satisfaction displays a practically significant negative correlation with general health. This implies that employees who are not satisfied with the intrinsic satisfaction of their job and working environment experience headaches and lack physical energy. Such employees generally feel sick. They do not enjoy every day activities since they doubt their own competence and the meaning of life. Both occupational stress and job satisfaction are statistically significant predictors of general health. In conclusion, the results of this article report that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between occupational stress and the general health of employees in a higher education institution. The results of article 3 showed that practically significant positive relationships exist between sense of coherence and job satisfaction. Employees with a higher sense of coherence are more satisfied and motivated to work. They are more comfortable with other colleagues and the general working conditions. Employees with a strong sense of coherence are more resourceful in handling different work-related aspects, and they tend to experience higher job satisfaction. It was concluded that sense of coherence moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and some aspects of general health. The results imply that people with lower levels of sense of coherence are more dependent on job satisfaction to experience good health. This has direct implications for vocational and industrial psychologists, as well as higher educational institutions. Recommendations for future research were made. / PhD (Industrial Psychology) North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Business leaders are increasingly coming to recognise that there is more to business success than technical and cognitive competence. Personnel leadership is proving to be critical for business bottom-line achievements considering that most business outcomes are achieved through human capital. Emotional intelligence can be used to the advantage of organisations by developing an emotional intelligence audit. The objective of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) developed by Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden and Dornheim (1998) for Economic Science students from a higher education institution in the North-West Province, South Africa. The psychometric soundness of the SEIS was tested. The general objective of the research is to standardise a psychometric instrument of emotional intelligence and determine the validity of The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (SEIS) (Schutte, et al., 1998). Specific objectives include the conceptualisation of the importance of a standardised psychometric instrument of emotional intelligence in South Africa; the conceptualisation of the nature and evolvement of emotional intelligence measurements in general; determining the validity and internal consistency of the SEIS; and establishing whether any possible group differences in terms of biographical data exist in emotional intelligence. A valid and reliable measure of emotional intelligence could be valuable in the organisation to identify specific EI needs that could be developed through the implementation of EI development programmes. In this context a standardised psychometric instrument of EI could be of use in organisations during the training and development of employees. A cross-sectional method with an availability sample (N = 341) from Economical Science students from a higher education institution was used. The results supported a six-factor model of emotional intelligence, consisting of Positive Affect, Emotion-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own, Non-verbal Emotions and Emotional Management. The multi-analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine differences in terms of biographical data. The results indicated significant differences between gender and language groups. African language groups compared with Afrikaans and English language groups experienced higher levels of positive affect. Females compared with males experienced higher levels of understanding of the emotions of other people. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.