This study presents the research of an investigation into communication challenges that affected the implementation of Black Economic Empowerment and the communication strategies/policies used to inform and communicate with employees in businesses. To achieve this aim questionnaires were administered to seven BEE compliant organizations in KwaZulu-Natal. Mersham’s communication model for development provides a basis for evaluation of the BEE communication challenges. This study reviewed theories and literature relevant to the implementation of Black Economic Empowerment and Communication Strategies. The perceptions gained from the literature review were used to interpret the results which were obtained through a qualitative paradigm. The findings revealed that communication is a pivotal pillar in any organization and both employers and employees need to maintain the strength that binds these pillars and brings the organization together. South Africa has faced many challenges since the apartheid era. The BEE policy therefore, aims to iron out unfair practices in businesses, which is why communication is extremely important to this process. / M

Transformational leadership (TL) has been found popular in many industries in the United States and abroad for the perceived transformational leaders' effectiveness in improving occupational safety. There is a lack of empirical evidence to confirm these claims for safe occupational driving. This phenomenological study attempted to fill this knowledge gap in the electric utility industry where employees must drive in all weather conditions to restore power to customers. The conceptual framework for the study was based on leadership and motivation theories of Burns and Maslow. The research questions explored the influence of (a) TL on safe driving performance improvement in organizations and (b) emotional intelligence (EI) on leaders' efficiency to improve safe driving performance in organizations. These questions were addressed using a 14-item in-depth, open-ended interview questionnaire by a convenience sample of 18 management and 12 union-represented personnel drawn from 5 U.S. electric utility companies using the snowball method. Data were analyzed using NVivo 10 software and were interpreted using the methodological framework of Leedy and Ormrod, and Maxwell. The findings suggested that (a) TL influenced safe driving performance through these leaders' idealized influence, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation; and (b) EI ineffectively and unreliably influenced safe driving improvement, but it improved organizational trust through the leaders' empathy and drivers' empowerment. Individualized consideration, while acknowledged as desirable, was least important and was widely lacking. The implications for positive social change include promoting TL style in other industries, raising employees' commitment and contribution to safe driving performance improvement, and improving organizational trust as well as public safety.

Although much is known about employee empowerment and work designs, numerous companies and management practitioners struggle to implement empowerment initiatives effectively because it is not known which approach best facilitates individual levels of psychological empowerment. Traditional job design theory focuses on the role of managers and portrays employees as passive grantees of empowerment. Employees may influence their own empowerment by taking an active role in work design. The primary purpose of this correlational study was to examine whether job crafting or idiosyncratic deals are more or less empowering than job design and how work locus of control influences these relationships. It was hypothesized that job crafting would be the strongest correlate with psychological empowerment. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was designed with measures adapted from existing instruments. A sample of 150 adults, drawn from various industries in the United States, completed a voluntary, online survey. Data analysis, which used Pearson correlations, revealed that job crafting had a stronger relationship with psychological empowerment than did idiosyncratic deals and management-driven job design for employees with high internal work locus of control. Findings from this study may help organizational leaders understand how employees with high internal tendencies are psychologically empowered when actively engaged in designing their own work. Employees may then feel empowered to advance the company's social agenda and make personalized contributions to the greater society, essentially becoming goodwill ambassadors for the organization.

To maintain a competitive edge in the tourism and hospitality industries, considerable emphasis has been placed on providing quality services for customers. While the work attitudes and behaviours of staff who deliver these services can influence the experiences of service by customers, little is known how internal and external aspects of the environment of an organisation with a controversial service affect the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of its employees. The aim of the present program of research was to identify employees' perceptions of the salient aspects of the internal and external environment of an organisation delivering a controversial service, gambling, and to examine the impact of these environmental aspects on the empowerment, commitment and well-being of its employees. Working in any service organisation can be demanding for employees, exacerbated when employees deliver a controversial service such as gambling, and work in close proximity to people who gamble. Research indicates that delivery of a gambling service differs from the delivery of other recreational pursuits due to the negative personal, social, and financial impacts of gambling on problem gamblers and others. These negative costs of gambling have generated long standing ethical or moral objections within the community, and, because of the range of community views about gambling, employees who deliver gambling services are likely to be confronted with opposing community views. By interacting with patrons, employees may also question their values and attitudes to gambling, and feel concerned about those patrons who they consider may have a problem with gambling. Organisational resources that facilitate the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees may exist, however, and reduce the negative effects of any gambling-related influences on employees. A mixed methods research design, consisting of two sequential phases, was used. The methods complemented each other, and minimised the disadvantages of using only one approach. A qualitative method was used in the first phase of the program to collect rich descriptions of the experiences of twenty staff working in seven Queensland clubs with gambling services in South East Queensland. The in-depth interviews helped to identify gambling-related challenges and climate-based resources of the internal and external work environments of the service organisation. The gambling-related challenges included community and media attitudes to gambling, peoples' demands on clubs, and staff beliefs about patrons who gamble. The climate-based resources included the organisational welfare of employees, expressed as meeting employees' needs for respect, developing supportive relationships with staff, encouraging open and clear communication, and the provision of social support. Organisational emphasis on quality service and meeting the needs of patrons also served as a climate-based resource for employees. The qualitative process additionally examined the impact of these factors on the empowerment, commitment and well-being of the employees, allowing the development of a conceptual model of the environmental factors of a gambling industry predicting employees' empowerment, commitment, and well-being. In the second phase of the research program, the conceptual model was tested using a cross-sectional survey. A complex, stratified, random sampling technique allowed access to a sample of clubs and participants that best represented registered and licensed clubs in Queensland. A self-administered mail questionnaire was sent to 468 employees over 41 Queensland clubs with 25 to 280 poker machines. After firstly establishing the soundness of the measurement properties of the model using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling was used to test the utility of the conceptual model developed in Study 1. Overall, Study 2 supported several of the proposed links, suggesting that the conceptual model developed in Study 1 was useful for examining the salient aspects of the external and internal environments of a club that influence staff empowerment, commitment, and well-being. The study showed the role of climate-based resources in a gambling industry by indicating that those employees who had positive perceptions about employee relations, positive beliefs about patron welfare, and felt supported by their supervisors, felt more empowered, and reported higher commitment and reduced emotional exhaustion. Employee relations was the most influential construct in predicting empowerment, and indirectly affected commitment and well-being (mediated by the empowerment dimensions). Study 2 also confirmed that gambling-based challenges of the external and internal environments impacted on the empowerment and well-being of employees. Those employees who believed that the community supported gambling reported an increased sense of influence over their work environment. The employees who held positive beliefs about patrons who gamble, reinforced gambling in clubs, and attributed the causes of problems in gambling onto sources outside themselves (mostly to the patrons), reported more positive well-being. Employees who perceived that people were demanding, and were not appreciative of what clubs did for the community reported reduced meaningfulness, a reduced sense of influence over their duties and work environment, and reduced well-being. Findings also illustrated the key role of influence, and, in particular, the meaningfulness dimension, in the empowerment, commitment, and well-being of employees in an industry delivering a gambling service. The findings of this research have implications for managerial interventions designed to promote the empowerment, commitment and well-being of employees who deliver a gambling service. By developing and strengthening the organisational resources that facilitate the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees, managers are also likely to reduce the negative effects of the demands and conflicting influences of the external and internal gambling-related challenges on employees. This research program is distinctive in that research has not previously examined the impact of internal and external challenges and resources of a gambling industry on the empowerment, work attitudes, and well-being of its employees. There has, also, been no prior research focused on the work attitudes of employees in the Queensland club industry. Future research needs to replicate the findings of the present research program. The challenges and resources that were found to affect employees in the club industry, however, may be organisation specific. There is, therefore, a need for further research that compares the impact of factors related to the delivery of a gambling service in the club industry with different gambling industries, such as the hotel and casino industries. To provide further insight into the effects of empowerment on employees' work outcomes, a performance measure, such as patron satisfaction could be included. Future studies could also examine group differences in perceptions of climate-based and gambling-related influences on the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees, as a function of their occupational level. The interviews of the present research program implied that employees in different organisational positions might respond differently to both the external and internal environmental factors of the organisation.

Sammanfattning Datum: 18 januari 2013 Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi, 15 hp Institution: Akademin för hållbar samhälls- och teknikutveckling Författare: Simon Brodahl Pontus Eliasson David Wahlberg Titel: Jag är organisationen Handledare: Johan Grinbergs Nyckelord:Delaktighet, engagemang, delaktighet i beslutsfattande frågor, psykologiskt ägandeskap, anställdas välbefinnande och kunskapsspridning. Frågeställning:- Finns det ett gemensamt synsätt på delaktighet och engagemang inom ABB Motors & Generators?- Vad kan göras för att öka delaktigheten och engagemanget inom produktionsdelen och vad kommer detta leda till?- Vad bör ABB: Motors & Generators ha i åtanke vid applicerandet av delaktighet inom produktionsdelen i framtiden? Syfte: Syftet är att utifrån teoretiska referenspunkter analysera ABB:s verksamhet ur ett engagemangs- och delaktighetsperspektiv som ligger till grund för en analytisk diskussion vilken utmynnar i förbättringsförslag. Metod: Den teoretiska referensramen är konstruerad med hjälp av vetenskapliga artiklar och litteratur som behandlar ämnet engagemang och delaktighet. Det empiriska materialet består av en kvalitativ studie bestående av tre djupintervjuer. Slutsats: ABB Motors & Generators innehar ett tankesätt som behövs för att främja ökad delaktighet och engagemang hos de anställda. För att öka medarbetarnas engagemang till organisationen, krävs det att kommunikationen är bra mellan de olika funktionerna. Det är även viktigt att produktionsdelen känner förtroende för ledningen samtidigt som ledningen ger medarbetarna bekräftelse. Genom att få de anställda att vilja engagera sig i organisationens bästa, uppnås även flera positiva effekter. Kunskap sprids vilket främjar delaktighet, kompetens, konkurrenskraft och skapar möjligheter till att bli en lärande organisation.

Depuis que le concept d’habilitation (empowerment) a été introduit dans le monde du travail, il est rapidement devenu à la mode dû à ses bénéfices anticipés à la fois pour les organisations et pour les travailleurs. Toutefois, bien que l’état d’habilitation psychologique des travailleurs ainsi que ses déterminants soient bien documentés (Seibert, Wang, & Courtright, 2011), il existe peu d’outils pour évaluer de façon comportementale l’habilitation des travailleurs (Boudrias & Savoie, 2006). Cette réalité nuit aux organisations qui tentent de mettre en place des programmes d’habilitation des employés et qui souhaitent en mesurer leurs effets comportementaux. En 2006, Boudrias et Savoie ont amorcé le travail pour pallier cette lacune en créant un cadre conceptuel de l’habilitation comportementale au travail composé de deux approches distinctes, soit l’approche émergente (comportements discrétionnaires) et l’approche structurelle (implication dans la gestion du travail) et en validant un premier questionnaire permettant de mesurer l’approche émergente. La présente thèse vise à poursuivre le travail amorcé, en instrumentant la seconde approche et en poursuivant la validation du concept d’habilitation comportementale. Plus spécifiquement, la thèse vise à : a) valider un questionnaire qui mesure l’implication des employés dans la gestion de leur travail, en deux versions, à savoir une version auto-rapportée ainsi qu’une version destinée au supérieur hiérarchique; b) établir la structure factorielle de l’habilitation comportementale à l’aide des deux approches opérationnalisées; c) vérifier la spécificité du construit d’habilitation comportementale par rapport à d’autres mesures connexes (p.ex. comportements de citoyenneté organisationnelle, comportements d’innovation, comportements d’auto-leadership et d’autogestion), et d) vérifier un modèle structurel incluant trois déterminants de l’environnement de travail, à savoir le style de supervision, le soutien des collègues et la latitude décisionnelle, comme prédicteur de l’habilitation individuelle au travail, évaluée à l’aide d’une mesure d’habilitation psychologique et des mesures des deux approches d’habilitation comportementale. Pour ce faire, trois études distinctes ont été réalisées auprès de travailleurs variés et quatre échantillons ont été constitués dont trois comprenant uniquement des données auto-rapportées (N = 274, 104, 249) et un quatrième incluant aussi des données rapportées par le supérieur (N = 151). Les résultats des analyses factorielles confirmatoires démontrent que la structure de l’instrument d’implication dans la gestion ainsi que celle de l’habilitation comportementale composée des deux approches sont constantes d’un échantillon à l’autre et dans ses deux versions. De plus, les propriétés métriques du questionnaire validé sont satisfaisantes. D’autre part, les résultats des analyses corrélationnelles indiquent que les mesures d’habilitation comportementale présentent une validité discriminante par rapport à des mesures d’autres construits connexes. Enfin, les analyses acheminatoires pour vérifier le modèle structurel anticipé indiquent que l’habilitation psychologique agit comme variable médiatrice dans les relations entre, d’une part, la latitude décisionnelle et les pratiques de gestion des supérieurs, et, d’autre part, les deux approches d’habilitation comportementale. Le soutien des collègues, de son côté, n’est pas relié à l’habilitation des travailleurs. / Since the concept of empowerment was introduced in the world of work, it quickly became fashionable due to its anticipated benefits for the organizations and the workers. However, although the state of psychological empowerment of workers, as well as its antecedents, are well documented (Seibert, Wang, & Courtright, 2011), there are few tools to assess behavioral empowerment. This reality undermines the efforts of organizations trying to implement employee empowerment programs and of those that wish to measure their behavioral effects. In 2006, Boudrias and Savoie began the work to address this gap by creating a framework of behavioral empowerment at work that consists of two distinct approaches, namely the “emerging approach” (discretionary behaviors) and the “structural approach” (involvement in work management). They also created the first questionnaire enabled to measure the emergent approach (Boudrias & Savoie, 2006). This thesis aims to pursue their work by creating a questionnaire to measure the second approach and by continuing validation of the concept of behavioral empowerment. More specifically, this thesis aims to: a) validate a questionnaire to measure employee involvement in managing their work in two versions, namely a self-reported version and one version for superior; b) establish the factorial structure of behavioral empowerment using the two approaches; c) verify the specificity of the construct of behavioral empowerment by comparing it to other related measures (e.g., organizational citizenship behaviors, innovation behaviors, self-leadership and self-management behaviors), and d) verify a structural model including three determinants of the work environment, namely the style of supervision, peer support and decision latitude, as predictor of individual work empowerment, measured using a scale of psychological empowerment and scales for both behavioral empowerment approaches. To do this, three separate studies were conducted with various workers and four samples were formed: three samples containing only self-reported data (N = 274, 104, 249) and a fourth sample that also includes data reported by the supervisors (N = 151). The result of confirmatory factor analyzes show that the structures of the scale of involvement in the management of work as well as the behavioral empowerment scale are consistent from sample to sample and in both versions. In addition, the psychometric properties of the scales are satisfactory. On the other hand, the results of the correlational analyzes indicate that measures of behavioral empowerment have discriminant validity in relation to measures of some related constructs. Finally, the results of path analyzes used to verify the anticipated structural model indicate that psychological empowerment acts as a mediating variable in the relationship between, on the one hand, decision latitude and superior management practices and, on the other hand, two approaches to behavioral empowerment. Meanwhile, peer support is not related to workers empowerment.

Thesis (DTech(Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / This study reports on the findings of research that was conducted amongst tour operators in South Africa in an attempt to determine the level of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in the sub-sector as well as to determine measures that will expedite BEE. The survey method was deployed to generate primary data from this target market and the Chi square method used to determine causality between the size of enterprises and the support for BEE in principle. This method was also used to determine if the size of an enterprise influences the propensity to support and apply BEE in tour operating enterprises as well as the utilization of incentives.The research indicate that the vast majority of tour operating enterprises in South Africa are small businesses with 62,3% indicating a turnover of R2,5million or less per annum and 63,9% indicating that they employ two or less full time employees. In terms of ownership, 14,3% of respondents indicated that they are 100% black owned. The fact that these enterprises are small makes it difficult to attract investment or involvement from Previously Disadvantaged Individuals (PDI’s) although 72% of respondents indicated that they support BEE in principle. However the application of BEE in these enterprises are only supported by 61,8% of respondents and the degree of implementation vary according to the different components of the tourism scorecard. In terms of the seven pillars of the tourism scorecard, the procurement and social investment pillars achieved the best results.In order to grow this sub-sector and create opportunities for BEE expansion, government needs to provide training and education interventions as well as dedicated incentives to assist tour operators in gaining access to markets and capital goods. The suitability of all the pillars in the tourism BEE scorecard is questioned due to the nature of small businesses and further research needs to be done on the other sub-sectors in tourism to determine a scorecard that can be effectively implemented.A model for business growth is proposed to enhance the BEE efforts and to create opportunities for fast growth and new start-up businesses. The model consists of interventions aimed at the following four areas:  Enterprise level (new start-ups and fast growth enterprises)  Sector specific environment  Economic growth in the external environment, and  New target markets A recommendation to the National Minister for Tourism during the course of this study has resulted in the provision for a national tourism database in the Tourism Bill (2011).

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Technologiae: Marketing in the Faculty of Business at the: CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, 2009 / Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) aims to enable Black people in South Africa (SA), as legislatively classified, to make a noteworthy contribution to the local economy by irreversibly altering the racial profile of ownership, management echelons and all employment levels of existing and new organisations. This ambitious strategy hopes to encourage economic transformation by eliminating unfair discrimination; applying affirmative action (AA) policies; empowering Black women and facilitating access to land, infrastructure, economic activities, ownership, as well as training and skills development (SA. DTI, 2004a:4-5). The transformation process in SA has been a lengthy and complex one, with the government slowly enacting enabling legislation. The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Codes of Good Practice was gazetted on 9 February 2007 and this significant piece of legislation has provided a framework to guide and measure transformation activities. The advertising industry has been criticised for its slow empowerment advancement, which led to two parliamentary hearings in the early 2000s to investigate allegations of racism and poor transformation progress. The Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) gave full cooperation during the parliamentary hearings and has been a main driving force of transformation within the advertising industry. The ACA’s dedication resulted in the Marketing, Advertising and Communication (MAC) sector charter being gazetted on 29 August 2008 (Jones, 2008). There are few studies that have effectively investigated transformation and BEE progress within the South African advertising industry over recent years. Of these, none has yielded rich qualitative BEE data. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to explore progress made by advertising agencies towards transformation in the Cape Peninsula, as well as the challenges and benefits that result from implementing BEE measures in terms of BBBEE ownership and Employment Equity (EE). These elements have been thoroughly examined by utilising a multiple case study approach and by interviewing the top twelve traditional full-service advertising agencies through use of a semi-structured interview guide, which primarily generated in-depth qualitative data. Cape Town based advertising agencies readily provided a wealth of data, which illuminated numerous previously unexplored positive and negative BEE issues. Recent BEE internal advertising agency documents, literature, surveys and other research studies were used to corroborate and verify the findings in order to reach a consensus, compromise or disagreement in the subsequent discussion. The advertising industry has employed a multitude of innovative BEE strategies to facilitate transformation progress and to address a number of inherent problems. This has resulted in several success stories and numerous benefits as Cape Town based advertising agencies have embarked on their varied transformation journeys. The recommendations of this study would be useful to the national advertising industry, other sectors and government to assist in streamlining the transformation process in SA.

This research is born out of recognition of the challenges Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in the private sector faces in South Africa, with preferential procurement being one of the components of South Africa's Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Strategy. Over the past years, South Africa has witnessed the birth of a new economy, one that allows for investment in its people, makes provision for sustainable growth through skills transfer and development, and ensures economic empowerment. The focus of this research is the Preferential Procurement strategy implemented at DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA) as part of its overall Black Economic Empowerment strategy, the perceptions and expectations of how the current BEE preferential procurement strategy should work versus the perceived performance of how it is working. An official definition of Black Economic Empowerment is presented in the study, followed by barriers to growth of BEE suppliers. The aim of defining Black Economic Empowerment is to provide a good reference point against which an organization like DaimlerChrysler can assess the implementation of its preferential procurement programmes. Having discussed the above, there will be a reflection on government scorecard and a brief discussion of the two charters namely, mining and financial services charter. The study also presents the following requirements for a successful BEE corporate strategy: Strategic intent; External Balanced Scorecard; Financial Assistance; Skills development; Communication. A research methodology for conducting this study and data analysis is presented, followed by limitations of the study and recommendations for further research. It is expected that the knowledge gained from this study will help to I. Demonstrate the need to change perceptions and behaviour regarding Black Economic Empowerment. 2. Assist procurement officials to include BEE objectives into their procurement strategy. 3. Identify policy implications and assist in improving DCSA's Black Economic Empowerment Procurement strategy.

There has been some concern that the pace of expectations being built up regarding the transfer of ownership of the economy into the hands of the previously disadvantaged was not allowing for the due diligence and analysis of the implications of such transactions. Tax legislation relating to the transfer of assets is also not seen to be consistently conducive to this process. The focus of this thesis is taxation and a critical analysis of how the current tax legislation affects most of the transactions which usually form the basis of black economic empowerment. It is argued that tax policy is one of the fundamental instruments available to government to encourage the process of black economic empowerment. It is therefore important to assess whether or not current tax legislation is supportive of the process of black economic empowerment and to suggest ways in which it can be amended to serve this purpose. By means of a literature review and a case study of a Black Economic Empowerment deal in the financial sector, the thesis examines various sections of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962, which may have a bearing on black economic empowerment transactions and structures, including corporate restructuring rules, the taxation of trusts, inter-company loans, the use of hybrid financial instruments, the taxation of small business corporations, employee share incentive schemes, connected persons rules and value-shifting arrangements, the general deduction formula and the deductibility of interest incurred on amounts raised to acquire shares. It appears that although some aspects of the current tax legislation lend themselves to assisting black economic empowerment transactions, there are still areas where much improvement is required. / KMBT_363