The ability to establish and maintain trust is regarded as a critical modern leadership skill. However, different conceptualisations of trust saw to it that the empirical and theoretical sides of research did not merge. As a result, trust has been studied in a variety of different ways and resulted in a varied and fragmented knowledge base, which this study attempts to address. The objectives of this study were to investigate conceptualizations of trust as perceived by middle- and senior level managers in a military medical basis in order to provide recommendations to management on how to build trust. Research was conducted in two phases of investigation. In phase 1 a literature review of the concept was conducted by analyzing and categorizing definitions and frameworks currently in use. In the second phase an empirical investigation was conducted by means of a descriptive and explorative qualitative research design and the use of a non-probability purposive sampling technique. The results showed that three proposed factors of trustworthiness (ability, benevolence and integrity), effective communication as well as perceived justice and fairness are fundamental to the establishment of trust. It is evident that management should draft a strategic plan to ensure that trust is established and maintained on a sustainable basis. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of the essential nature of trust and assist management in an effective approach to master trust as an essential leadership skill in order to successfully enhance business reputation and outcomes. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

O correio eletrônico, ou tecnologia de e-mail, é uma forma de comunicação e de geração de informações, que ocasionou mudanças observadas em todos os setores da sociedade e que gerou grande impacto nas organizações. Constata-se que este instrumento excede cada vez mais seus espaços, fazendo com que ferramentas tradicionalmente utilizadas tornassem-se rapidamente obsoletadas, como é o caso, por exemplo, do fax. Essa situação estimula a ampliação do pensamento a respeito do que grandes mudanças geram e sobre como seus impactos têm ocorrido a nível comportamental e organizacional nas empresas, em especial no trabalho em grupo. Algumas das mudanças foram estudadas a partir de processos decisórios realizados por grupos de pessoas, que fizeram uso de correio eletrônico como ferramenta de comunicação, coordenação e colaboração. Para o desenvolvimento deste estudo, de caráter exploratório, propõe-se como metodologia um estudo de caso único com coleta de dados secundários (e-mails referentes a alguns processos decisórios selecionados para análise) e dados primários (uma pesquisa da percepção dos usuários em relação ao uso do e-mail nesses processos). Buscou-se, assim, formas de identificar os resultados e a efetividade do uso de uma ferramenta que deixou de ser, de modo veloz e dinâmico, simplesmente de comunicação para tornar-se ferramenta de ação e de decisão, que tem impactado nas atividades da organização estudada e de seus colaboradores. Os resultados obtidos indicam possíveis caminhos na busca de elementos que contribuam para o aumento da eficiência e qualidade quando utilizado esta ferramenta na tomada de decisão. / Electronic mail, or e-mail technology, is a form of communication and information generation, which caused the observed changes in all sectors of society and that has generated great impact on organizations. It appears that this instrument increasingly exceeds their space, making traditional tools used become rapidly obsolete, as is the case, for example, the fax. This situation encourages the expansion of thinking about the big changes that generate and how its impacts have occurred at behavioral and organizational enterprises, especially in group work. Some of the changes were studied from a decision-making processes carried out by groups of people who used e-mail as a tool for communication, coordination and collaboration. To develop this study, exploratory, it is proposed methodology as a single case study with secondary data collection (emails regarding some decision-making processes selected for review) and primary data (a survey of users' perception regarding the use of email in those cases). We tried to thus ways to identify the results and effectiveness of the use of a tool that has ceased to be so fast and dynamic, communication simply to become tool for action and decision that has impacted the organization's activities studied and their collaborators. The results indicate possible paths in the search for elements that contribute to increased efficiency and quality when used this tool in decision making.

O correio eletrônico, ou tecnologia de e-mail, é uma forma de comunicação e de geração de informações, que ocasionou mudanças observadas em todos os setores da sociedade e que gerou grande impacto nas organizações. Constata-se que este instrumento excede cada vez mais seus espaços, fazendo com que ferramentas tradicionalmente utilizadas tornassem-se rapidamente obsoletadas, como é o caso, por exemplo, do fax. Essa situação estimula a ampliação do pensamento a respeito do que grandes mudanças geram e sobre como seus impactos têm ocorrido a nível comportamental e organizacional nas empresas, em especial no trabalho em grupo. Algumas das mudanças foram estudadas a partir de processos decisórios realizados por grupos de pessoas, que fizeram uso de correio eletrônico como ferramenta de comunicação, coordenação e colaboração. Para o desenvolvimento deste estudo, de caráter exploratório, propõe-se como metodologia um estudo de caso único com coleta de dados secundários (e-mails referentes a alguns processos decisórios selecionados para análise) e dados primários (uma pesquisa da percepção dos usuários em relação ao uso do e-mail nesses processos). Buscou-se, assim, formas de identificar os resultados e a efetividade do uso de uma ferramenta que deixou de ser, de modo veloz e dinâmico, simplesmente de comunicação para tornar-se ferramenta de ação e de decisão, que tem impactado nas atividades da organização estudada e de seus colaboradores. Os resultados obtidos indicam possíveis caminhos na busca de elementos que contribuam para o aumento da eficiência e qualidade quando utilizado esta ferramenta na tomada de decisão. / Electronic mail, or e-mail technology, is a form of communication and information generation, which caused the observed changes in all sectors of society and that has generated great impact on organizations. It appears that this instrument increasingly exceeds their space, making traditional tools used become rapidly obsolete, as is the case, for example, the fax. This situation encourages the expansion of thinking about the big changes that generate and how its impacts have occurred at behavioral and organizational enterprises, especially in group work. Some of the changes were studied from a decision-making processes carried out by groups of people who used e-mail as a tool for communication, coordination and collaboration. To develop this study, exploratory, it is proposed methodology as a single case study with secondary data collection (emails regarding some decision-making processes selected for review) and primary data (a survey of users' perception regarding the use of email in those cases). We tried to thus ways to identify the results and effectiveness of the use of a tool that has ceased to be so fast and dynamic, communication simply to become tool for action and decision that has impacted the organization's activities studied and their collaborators. The results indicate possible paths in the search for elements that contribute to increased efficiency and quality when used this tool in decision making.

To stay competitive, organizations look to IT systems such as ERPs to assist them in their business goals. While there are organization-wide benefits available for organizations that successfully implement ERPs, the associated risks are great, and many challenges threaten to harm the process. While there are many success factors for implementation success, this paper focus on the aspect of communication in ERP implementations, specifically that between implementing consultants and the target organization. There is a lack of research on the area of communication in ERP implementations, especially from the viewpoint of the implementing consultants. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the role of communication in ERP implementations, and further build upon the existing body of research. Two main research questions are formulated, aiming to find out if communication is important for ERP implementations and what effective communication is. Secondly, this paper seeks to identify the main challenges as perceived by implementing ERP consultants, and how communication can aid in overcoming these. This paper adopts a qualitative research methodology, with semi-structured interviews held with the respondents. Key findings of this paper are the definition of effective communication as primarily fast, correct, well-timed, open-ended, and tailored to the recipient. Furthermore, communication method and communication content are both important to the quality and effectiveness of communication. Communication is however a challenging task for all stakeholders and demands everyone’s dedication of time and resources. Secondly, the most important challenges identified are setting, managing, and realizing expectations, which can be addressed through clear and thorough communication from the start. Moreover, user acceptance is recognized as a highly challenging aspect of implementations, which can be helped through proper communication and guidance from the implementing consultant to all affected stakeholders, as to ensure dedication. Conflict is another challenge that is commonly viewed as exclusively negative. This paper challenges this idea, arguing that conflict can be fruitful under certain circumstances. When conflict is negative, it often stems from poor communication, and can be solved by effective communication. Also, personal chemistry and unclear project roles are identified challenges for which communication might help. In conclusion, communication has an important role to play in implementations, and can aid in overcoming many frequently encountered challenges.

This work analyses processes in a staff policy from the recruitment phase thru training and development up to employee retention. The output of this work is a proposal of personnel policy and a detailed description of specific measures applicable in the company in real time resulting problems in human resource management.

M. Tech. (Public Relations Management, Faculty of Human Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / Health communication has become an integral component of quality health care. However, it is not just the process of giving information, but rather an active process that facilitates the use of information to improve decision-making and change behaviour that lead to positive health outcomes. Therefore, effective communication should be encouraged by means of two-way interaction between the health practitioners and the patients. The purpose of this research study was to determine the effectiveness of health communication in the Vaal region, using Levai Mbatha clinic as a case study. The study used the mixed method design consisting of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative research design was done through the distribution of questionnaires to parents in order to ascertain how child immunisation issues are communicated to them. Simple random sampling approach was used to gather the data, and the sample size for this design was 100 parents. For the qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews was used to determine the effectiveness of health communication information as disseminated by health practitioners to parents. Purposive sampling approach was used to select six (6) health practitioners. From the descriptive results (quantitative) it was evident that there is ineffective health communication at Levai Mbatha clinic. Parents are not aware of other illnesses related to child immunisation, and they feel that it would be better if the content of communication mediums were to be written in their mother tongue. It is therefore evident that, due to lack of understanding of the content, parents cannot participate in the discussions related to child immunisation this hinders effective communication. The interviews (quantitative) revealed that health practitioners felt that much needs to be done when it comes to the dissemination of child immunisation information. They indicate that there is not enough health communication material at their disposal to distribute to parents. Furthermore, there seem to be a challenge in language when they have to communicate with parents. Consequently, the efforts to effectively communicate child immunisation to parents effectively becomes insignificant.

Families from all over the world come to the United States for a new beginning. More often than not, these families speak little or no English. A challenge that teachers face every day is trying to communicate with children and their families who speak little or no English. Following a review of the various forms of communication and types of parental involvement, a survey was created. This survey was completed by elementary teachers in a local lower socioeconomic area elementary school with a high mobility rates and high levels of English Language Learner (ELL) students. The results of this study will offer the most effective ways teachers can openly communicate with families who speak little or no English. The results suggest that although vital, communication between the parents of ELL students and the teacher varies from teacher to teacher. Additionally, having resources available to teachers at the school and using the resources available allows parents and teachers to communicate effectively.

The primary aim of the study was to design a model for changing teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills. Currently, information regarding the conceptualisation of this topic is inadequate and vague. In this study the nature of the complexities involved in the management and implementation of the teaching of critical thinking skills were researched through a literature study and an empirical investigation. A model was then designed for the effective management of the implementation thereof. The findings from the research indicated that teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills to learners are negative. It also became evident that the school principal should manage the implementation of the teaching of critical thinking skills to learners. The focus of the proposed model is on how teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills can be changed to ensure quality educative teaching and learning in and outside of the classroom. The study therefore serves to present a useable model for the management of the implementation of teaching critical thinking skills to learners. The study is further based on a well balanced opinion as experiences of teachers in the senior phase (grades 7, 8, & 9) were investigated by means of structured questionnaires. Recommendations regarding research findings were made for stakeholders and education departmental officials to note. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

The primary aim of the study was to design a model for changing teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills. Currently, information regarding the conceptualisation of this topic is inadequate and vague. In this study the nature of the complexities involved in the management and implementation of the teaching of critical thinking skills were researched through a literature study and an empirical investigation. A model was then designed for the effective management of the implementation thereof. The findings from the research indicated that teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills to learners are negative. It also became evident that the school principal should manage the implementation of the teaching of critical thinking skills to learners. The focus of the proposed model is on how teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills can be changed to ensure quality educative teaching and learning in and outside of the classroom. The study therefore serves to present a useable model for the management of the implementation of teaching critical thinking skills to learners. The study is further based on a well balanced opinion as experiences of teachers in the senior phase (grades 7, 8, & 9) were investigated by means of structured questionnaires. Recommendations regarding research findings were made for stakeholders and education departmental officials to note. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

In this age of technology, people or the companies all over the world have started using the easyway to find information or to process a particular task selected or given. In this path, Informationsystems have gone a long way with day to day improvements and upgrades with everythingabout what it can be done to give the right access and right task to the users.The developers have gone to such an extent that nothing can be compromised in the developmentor in the implementation of Information systems, however in the practical scenario there aremany issues that are to be taken into consideration to develop an Information System and also inthe implementation of the same.Here, in this thesis we will try to bring out those factors where in the implementation ofInformation Systems can go wrong and what are to be considered in order for the IS to be usefulthan it has to be emphasising on user satisfaction and user acceptance / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik