Man, Yu Ching. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-144). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT (English version) --- p.i / ABSTRACT (Chinese version) --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.iii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.ix / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- BACKGROUND --- p.3 / Chapter 2.1 --- Social and Historical Context --- p.3 / Chapter 2.2 --- News Industry in Hong Kong --- p.7 / Chapter 2.3 --- Female journalists in Hong Kong Journalism Field --- p.9 / Chapter 3. --- THEORETICAL CONTEXT --- p.14 / Chapter 3.1 --- Relationship between Patriarchy and Capitalism --- p.14 / Chapter 3.2 --- Studies on Gender in Organisations --- p.17 / Chapter 3.3 --- Studies on Gender Inequality in Organisational Structure --- p.21 / Chapter 3.4 --- An Overview of Female Journalists in News Organisations --- p.23 / Chapter 3.5 --- Studies on Gender and News Production --- p.26 / Chapter 4. --- ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK --- p.29 / Chapter 4.1 --- Empowerment --- p.29 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Definitions of empowerment --- p.29 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Feminist notion of empowerment --- p.31 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Dimensions of empowerment --- p.33 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Empowerment in this research --- p.34 / Chapter 4.2 --- Longwe's Empowerment Model --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Gender-analysis model --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Levels of equality in Longwe's empowerment model --- p.38 / Chapter 4.3 --- News Organisation Analysis --- p.41 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Development of news organisation analysis --- p.42 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Three Levels of organisation analysis --- p.43 / Chapter 5. --- RESEARCH QUESTIONS --- p.48 / Chapter 6. --- RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY --- p.50 / Chapter 6.1 --- Methodology --- p.50 / Chapter 6.2 --- Sampling Methods --- p.50 / Chapter 6.3 --- Interviews --- p.51 / Chapter 6.4 --- Interviewees --- p.54 / Chapter 7. --- ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION I --- p.59 / Chapter 7.1 --- Fair Opportunities to Get Welfare and Benefits --- p.61 / Chapter 7.2 --- Equal Access to Training --- p.64 / Chapter 7.3 --- Contradictory Empowerment Experience in Conscientisation Process --- p.67 / Chapter 7.4 --- Limited Power in Decision-making Process --- p.79 / Chapter 7.5 --- Balance of Power Yet to Come at Control Level --- p.86 / Chapter 8. --- ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION II --- p.89 / Chapter 8.1 --- Macro-level (Social Environment) --- p.90 / Chapter 8.2 --- Meso-level (Organisation) --- p.94 / Chapter 8.2.1 --- Ecology of news industry in Hong Kong --- p.94 / Chapter 8.2.2 --- Pre-dominance of macho newsroom culture --- p.101 / Chapter 8.2.3 --- Hierarchal and patriarchal structure in newsrooms --- p.106 / Chapter 8.2.4 --- Fundamental nature of journalists' work --- p.109 / Chapter 8.2.5 --- Electronic vs. print media --- p.111 / Chapter 8.3 --- Micro-level (Individual) --- p.120 / Chapter 8.3.1 --- Perceptions towards traditional role of women --- p.120 / Chapter 8.3.2 --- Gender awareness --- p.123 / Chapter 9. --- CONCLUSION --- p.126 / Chapter 10. --- REFERENCES --- p.135 / Chapter 11. --- APPENDICES --- p.145 / Appendix 1 Manpower statistics at managerial/supervisory/production level of the journalism industry in Hong Kong from 1981 to 2001 --- p.145 / Appendix 2 Interview questions --- p.150 / Appendix 3 Chinese translation of the interview questions --- p.153

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 73-77).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-77). Also available in print.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the empowerment needs of councillors in a municipality. The main focus was to assess the successes or inadequacies of the empowerment programmes previously offered to councillors by the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality. In order to achieve the research objectives an in-depth literature study was undertaken. A survey was also conducted to examine the level of empowerment being offered by the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality to its councillors and the data was collected by means of self-administered questionnaires. The literature study proved the hypothesis to be correct, which stated that empowered councillors could enhance effective public participation, effective communication which could result in effective service delivery. The empirical study revealed that certain councillors require adequate training in areas such as communication skills, council’s rules of procedures and new developmental mandate assigned to local government. The empirical survey also revealed that there is limited mutual trust between councillors and the senior officials, immediate intervention is required to restore trust between councillors and officials. It has been recommended that King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality should not only provide regular “in house” training, but also training conducted by outside agencies is required. In certain instances, one may find that municipalities may not have fully capacitated persons for “in house” training. Thus, outside agencies which possess the relevant expertise such as universities and SALGA should be encouraged to also facilitate capacity training for councillors.

In response to increasing global competition, companies are continuously under pressure to undergo dramatic changes. Organisations have flattened their structures to replace their traditional hierarchical management structures with empowered work teams. These are teams that have full responsibility of what they do and handle things traditionally handled by management in the past. In order to achieve this, the management challenge is to create working conditions in which individuals in these teams voluntary choose to commit, collaborate and act towards accomplishment of organizational goals (Duvall, 1999). Today's highly competitive environment, technological improvement, complex customer needs, corporate restructuring and continuous search for innovative ways to take organizations to new heights, affect companies throughout the world. To survive in today's difficult economic conditions, organizations demands more from employees. This study conceptualizes empowerment, dividing empowerment into three categories: structural empowerment, leadership empowerment and motivational empowerment. The study narrows to examine psychological empowerment specifically, an aspect of motivational empowerment. The theory of Spreitzer (1995) of four cognitions and the three principles of Menon (2001) is combined to conceptualize psychological empowerment. Job satisfaction is also discussed with emphasis on intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction. Organisational commitment is examined from the three-component theory of Allen and Meyer (1991). The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and organisational commitment in a chemical industry. A correlation design was used to determine the relationship between the constructs. Data from a sample of 61 (N=61) employees were used. A correlation design is used to determine the relationship between psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Data were gathered and explored in terms of descriptive statistics. Cronbach alpha coefients and factor analysis are calculated to give an indication of the validity and reliability of the measuring instruments. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients and canonical correlations were used to obtain the empirical results. A regression analysis and multiple stepwise regression analysis was carried out to determine the extent to which psychological empowerment predict job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The results of the empirical study indicated practically significant differences between psychological empowerment as a total and two variables: Intrinsic job satisfaction and affective commitment. It was found that psychological empowerment could be used to predict job satisfaction to a certain degree, but could not predict organizational commitment as a total. However, there are indications that it could be used to predict affective commitment. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2004.

People are without a doubt our most important asset. It is imperative that companies develop their people to unleash their full potential, which will in turn be a benefit to the company. The future of successful, competitive companies will depend on the work force of that company. The context that organisations operate within has undergone a change from a hierarchical structure to one of building of human capital. This means that organisations need leadership as a vehicle to ensure successful empowerment. It is essential that leaders utilise and develop the potential of their people. This study conceptualises empowerment from a psychological and organizational perspective. Empowerment is defined and divided into the categories of leadership empowering behaviour, motivational empowerment (psychological empowerment) and structural empowerment. The psychological perspective measures the four cognitions (meaning, competence, self-determination and impact) that provide employees with a sense of empowerment. The objective of this study is to determine the levels of psychological empowerment, leader-empowering behaviour, organisational commitment and job satisfaction. Data were gathered from 90 employees of the financial division within a recruitment company. The research results of the empirical study were reported and discussed according to the empirical objectives. The descriptive statistics and the internal consistency of the measuring instruments of the total population were highlighted. Thereafter reliability and validity of the measuring instruments were discussed. A correlation design was applied to determine the relationship between the constructs. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient and factor analysis was determined for the measuring instrument and the Pearson correlation was computed. A regression analysis has been conducted to determine to what extent psychological empowerment and leader empowering behaviour predicts job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Results of the empirical study indicated that differences exist between organizational levels, tenure, age and gender groups in terms of psychological empowerment, leader empowering behaviour, job satisfaction and organisational commitment experienced. Employees reflected a positive experience with regard to psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and organisational commitment whereas leader empowering behaviour is not experienced at a positive level. Recommendations are based on the research results. The implications of psychologically empowered employees for organisations were discussed. The recommendations focus on management and leader development, career development, career counselling, creating a motivational climate, performance and team development. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2004.

Empowerment, which has been described as both a means of effecting higher and more efficient quality work outputs and a means of facilitating greater freedom in the workplace combines elements of philosophy, psychology, and management theory. The perceptions of the present empowerment level of 3500 employees of a division of a major corporation were analyzed using data from an empowerment survey. The results were examined using correlational and factorial measures to test the structure of the survey. ANOVA and pair-wise comparisons were used to examine group differences on five subscales of the survey based on employee level in the organization. Significant differences were found in almost all categories. Rank order for the three levels differed from previous findings, perhaps due to empowerment thrusts.

Bibliography: leaves 261-276. Electronic publication; full text available in PDF format; abstract in HTML format. This thesis is about the role that shop floor workers play in organisational change. In particular, it investigates the manner in which a distinct group of worker-level leaders and change agents affected the generation and implementation of change and helped to shape the change process in an organisation undergoing planned change. The data for the thesis were obtained from a three-year, longitudinal case-study of organisational change in a medium-sized automotive components manufacturer, Moving Metals Limited (MML). Electronic reproduction.[Australia] :Australian Digital Theses Program,2001.

This thesis is about the role that shop floor workers play in organisational change. In particular, it investigates the manner in which a distinct group of worker-level leaders and change agents affected the generation and implementation of change and helped to shape the change process in an organisation undergoing planned change. The data for the thesis were obtained from a three-year, longitudinal case-study of organisational change in a medium-sized automotive components manufacturer, Moving Metals Limited (MML). Data were collected at MML during a move from traditional mass production to lean production and the research was conducted using processual action research, while the researcher adopted the dual roles of researcher and consultant to the company. The research identified a distinct group of workers, with no supervisory capacity, who were able to shape the change process in the organisation. These workers are referred to as workers of influence. This group of workers emerged as central characters in the process of organisational change and as leaders and change agents in the organisation. Drawn from the empirical data, criteria for identifying workers of influence are developed in this thesis, based on the authority vested in them by the workforce and their access to management decision-making. A taxonomy of workers of influence is developed in this thesis using these criteria, as well as the duration of tenure of influence. In much of the literature, shop floor workers are portrayed as either passive participants in, or active resistors of organisational change. This research provides evidence of some workers acting as leaders and change agents in an active and influential manner. The research examines issues of power, influence, autonomy and control and their impact on workers' capacity to participate in change. In so doing, this research identifies and opens up an important area of study with implications for organisational theory, literature and the implementation of planned interventions in organisations. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Department of Social Inquiry, 2000.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2004.