South Africa has embarked on a journey of transformation since 1994. The ruling ANC has introduced many policies aimed at achieving equality, known as "black empowerment". The `empowerment' of black women professionals is especially critical in the transformation era. Empowerment is defined as a process, which "involves individuals gaining control of their lives and fulfilling their needs, …as a result of developing the competencies, skills, and abilities necessary to effectively participate in their social and political worlds" (Kreisberg, 1992:19). From this perspective, empowerment is the essential expression of individualism and self-determination since it embodies the belief that the individual has the ability to effect changes and improve their lives. This individually oriented definition presupposes the importance of constructing one's `self' as unitary and independent. The `unitary self' is a support of the logic of the `Same', which entails the exclusion of otherness and difference. In contrast to this approach, the postmodern theory of Julia Kristeva, with its inherent suspicion of doctrines of pure origins and essences, is corrosive of discourses such as `empowerment' that are developed according to the logic of the Same. Kristeva proposes a subject which is always already `in process'. Identity is a constructed process, rather than a fundamental essence. The Oedipal model, extracted from the Kristevan theory of subjectivity, shows how the nine professional women who partook in this study constructed their selves by placing equality and difference in an antithetical relationship. However, a deconstruction of the Oedipal model opens the construct up to its blind spots and, these subjects are shown to base their identities on the splitting off of their feminine capabilities. Instead of being `unitary self', the subjects are subjects-in-process, and they operate both across and within the competing discourses of traditional femininity and masculinity. As a possible alternative to the positivist paradigm of `empowerment', a Kristevan `herethics' is considered. In South Africa, this is exemplified by the `ubuntu' principle, which entails the recognition of our interdependence. Finally, in order to assist these professional women to embrace the alterity within, whilst competing in a constantly changing and intellectually challenging world, life skills coaching which focuses on the often repressed, emotional aspects, is recommended. / Psychology / D.Litt et Phil. (Psychology)

Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) play an important role in contributing to economic development of many countries around the world, including South Africa. Despite the importance of SMMEs an unacceptable and disappointingly high number of these ventures fail during the first few years of operation. It is in light of the importance and challenges faced by SMMEs that the performance of SMMEs is of interest to all countries. This study investigated the impact of entrepreneurship education on the performance of SMMEs in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. The objectives of the study were to investigate the role of entrepreneurship education in improving entrepreneurship skills and knowledge of owner/managers of SMMEs in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, to determine the role of entrepreneurship education on the establishment and survival of SMMEs and to identify strategies that can be implemented to improve the performance of SMMEs. Both primary and secondary data sources were used in this study. A quantitative research design was used in conducting this research. Simple random sampling, a probability sampling technique was used to select a sample of 201 from the sample frame of 420 registered SMMEs. The survey method, by way of a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect primary data. The statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is the statistical software that was used to analyse data. The Chi-square test, the T-test, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. Validity and reliability of the research instrument and the findings was assured. The results for this study are useful for the development of the SMME sector, which is very important to South Africa for they contribute to the solving of socio-economic challenges. The findings of this research showed that entrepreneurship education has a positive impact on the performance of SMMEs and it plays a critical role in improving entrepreneurial skills and knowledge of SMME owners and managers. It was also found that entrepreneurial education is very important for the establishment and survival of SMMEs. Strategies that can be implemented to improve the performance of SMMEs in South Africa were suggested to the government, government agencies, educational institutions, other organisations, and SMME owners and managers.

This study endeavoured to uncover the trust experiences of individuals involved in business alliances between traditional companies (TCs) and historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) with a view to constructing a model that would facilitate a better understanding of organisational trust within these institutions. The theoretical study proposed a theoretical model of trust in the alliances between TCs and HDIs within an economic empowerment domain. The empirical study employed Q methodology to investigate the trust experiences of the participants. The 25 individuals who participated in the study were selected by means of both non-probability purposive and snowball sampling The participants were presented with the Q sample containing 50 items which they had to sort in accordance with the instruction given. The post-Q sorting interview was conducted to give the participants a chance to expound on their reasoning for the sorting of the Q sample. Data were analysed using Pearson product-moment correlation and factor analysis. Six factors revealed participants’ experiences of trust in the alliances: Factor A (Sincerity trust alliances), Factor B (Values trust alliances), Factor C (Duped trust alliances), Factor D (Vigilant trust alliances), Factor E (Deceitful trust alliances) and Factor F (Inclination to trust alliances). The trust experiences of the six groups were used to theorise about the association between the participants’ trust experiences and their performance on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). In the main, the study found that groups that had pleasant trust experiences with their partner organisations exhibited have high positive affect (PA) and low negative affect (NA). Although exploratory in nature, the study contributed an empirically derived theoretical framework of cognitive and affective trust within business alliances that may be further investigated in future research endeavours. In this was it identified and proposed a modus operandi for closing the trust gap. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The purpose of this research was to investigate the level of job satisfaction among financial inspectors in order to measure the level of job satisfaction, to identify the reasons for the level of job satisfaction, to present findings, and to make recommendations to the Inspectorate Division that would improve the feeling of empowerment of financial inspectors. This mini-dissertation entails a literature review and empirical study. The data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire based on the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). The outcome of the research indicates that there is lower level of job satisfaction among financial inspectors with regard to the manner in which inspection reports are sent to inspected departments and their feedback; the training programme of financial inspectors; payments based on the Performance Management System (PMS); job insecurity and the transfer of financial inspectors to other sections or departments; communication channels within the Inspectorate Division and Office of the Premier with regard to the control of inspectors; provision of cell phones to financial inspectors and their supervision by their managers; working conditions and involvement of financial inspectors in decisions that affect them at work. The main finding is that financial inspectors indeed experience a lower level of job satisfaction with regard to almost all the factors investigated under the problem statement and thus, the practice of empowerment is recommended as a solution to address the Inspectorate problems. / Business Management / M.Tech.

The aim of this study was to develop an empowerment model that could be used to enhance nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development. The study explored the extent of nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development; built consensus on: essential leadership attributes and facilitators and barriers to nurse leaders participation in health policy development. A Delphi survey was applied which included the following criteria: expert panelists, iterative rounds, statistical analysis, and consensus building. The expert panelists were purposively selected and included national nurse leaders in leadership positions at the nursing professional associations, nursing regulatory bodies, ministries of health and universities in East Africa. The study was conducted in three iterative rounds. There were 78 expert panelists invited to participate in the study, the response rate was 47% for the first round, 65% for the second round and 100% for the third round. The data collection was done with the use of semi structured (first round) and structured questionnaires (second and third rounds). Data analysis for the first round was done by examining the data for the most commonly occurring categories. The second and third rounds were quantitative and descriptive statistics were used. The consensus accepted for the second round was 90%, and for the third round consensus was 70%. The findings of the study indicate that nurse leaders participate in health policy development though participation is limited and not consistent across all the stages of health policy development. The study revealed consensus on essential leadership attributes required for nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development, including transformational attributes, political skills, interpersonal and communication skills. The facilitators to nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development pertain to: knowledge and skills, involvement, image of nursing, support, structures and processes. Whereas, the barriers relate to: involvement, image of nursing, structures and processes. An empowerment model for nurse leaders participation in health policy development was developed. Implementation of the model may lead to enhance nurse leaders participation in health policy development. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

Text in Afrikaans, abstract in Afrikaans and English / Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om te bepaal of betekenisvolle verskille bestaan tussen werknemerdoeltreffendheid en persepsies van gehalte van werklewe van bemagtigde en niebemagtigde skofwerkers in die Suid-Afrikaanse petrochemiese bedryf. Skofwerknavorsing het gedurende die afgelope dekade internasionaal toegeneem. Hiermee gepaardgaande het verskeie intervensies ontstaan om die doeltreffendheid van skofwerkers en hulle gehalte van werklewe te bevorder. Deur gebruik te maak van 'n gekombineerde vraelys ("Standard Shiftwork Index") en werklike data ten opsigte van afwesigheid en prestasiebeoordelings, is 'n steekproef van 102 gevalle geanaliseer. 'n 90 persent betroubaarheidinterval is gebruik om waardes ten opsigte van elke veranderlike te bepaal. Daar is bevind dat werknemerbemagtiging weinig invloed het op skofwerkers se werkbywoning. Daar is ook gevind dat werknemerbemagtiging nie lei tot 'n meer positiewe persepsie, by toesighouers, van skofwerkwerkers se algemene werkprestasie nie. Daar is egter bevind dat skofwerkers se persepsies van hulle gehalte van werklewe, ten opsigte van werkdissatisfaksie, chroniese vermoeidheid en tevredenheid met sosiale omstandighede, wel positiefbelnvloed word deur werknemerbemagtiging. Aanbevelings is gemaak ten opsigte van die aanwending van werknemerbemagtiging, as intervensie in skofwerkomgewings, asook vir verdere skofwerknavorsing in Suid-Afrika. / The purpose of this research was to determine if significant differences exist between employee effectiveness and perceptions of quality of working life of empowered and non-empowered shiftworkers in the South-African petrochemical industry. By using the Standard Shiftwork Index and real absenteeism and appraisal data, a sample of 102 cases was analysed. A 90 percent confidence interval was used to determine t-values for variables. It was found that empowerment has little influence on the work attendance of shiftworkers and that empowerment does not lead to more positive perceptions of general work performance of shiftworkers, among their supervisors. It was, however, found that shiftworkers' perceptions of their quality of working life are improved by empowerment in respect of work dissatisfaction, chronic fatigue and satisfaction with social circumstances. Suggestions were made concerning the use of empowerment, as an intervention, in shiftwork environments and for future shiftwork research in South-Africa. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Bedryfsielkunde)

La dissertation doctorale porte sur les mécanismes de responsabilisation des hauts fonctionnaires adoptés et mis en œuvre aux différents niveaux de pouvoir belges. Elle s’interroge sur leur intégration au sein du système politico-administratif belge. L’étude de ce sujet débouche sur l’examen d’un sujet connexe, à savoir, le partage des responsabilités politiques et managériales au sein du triangle exécutif formé des membres de gouvernement, de leurs collaborateurs personnels au sein des cabinets ministériels et des hauts fonctionnaires. L’analyse de ces thèmes est enrichie par une comparaison internationale qui porte sur la Suisse, la France, le Danemark et les Pays-Bas. <p><p>Pour ce faire, le premier chapitre se consacre à la construction du cadre d’analyse de la responsabilisation des hauts fonctionnaires. La responsabilisation des cadres dirigeants de l’administration est une thématique importante du management public (Crozet P. & Desmarais C. 2005). Bezes (2007) la présente comme un des nombreux slogans du New Public Management (Hood Ch. 1991). Pour autant, la littérature propre au management public qu’elle soit francophone ou anglo-saxonne n’offre pas de consensus autour du concept. Celui-ci y est régulièrement associé à différentes pratiques qui s’opposent dans certains cas (Chevallier J. 2007 ;Pollitt Ch. & Bouckaert G. 2004, Morales La Mura, 2003 ;Minogue et al. 1998, Martin J. 1997, Romsek B. 1996). Toutefois, nous pouvons reconnaître un point commun évident aux différentes approches. Elles déclinent, pour la plupart, la notion de responsabilité. Celle-ci est tour à tour déléguée, renforcée ou étendue et s’exprime vis-à-vis de l’autorité politique ou vis-à-vis des citoyens. C’est donc ce concept fondateur qui est pris comme point de départ de notre recherche et qui nous permet de construire notre cadre d’analyse de la responsabilisation. Différentes réalités de la responsabilité sont envisagées en fonction des courants de pensée qui ont influencé la vague globale de modernisation des états au sein duquel la responsabilisation s’inscrit. Il s’agit de la responsabilité managériale, de la responsabilité politique et de la responsabilité organisationnelle. Le développement de chacune d’entre elles nous permet de mettre en exergue les principes fondateurs de la responsabilisation. Parmi eux, il nous faut d’abord distinguer les principes relatifs à la responsabilisation des hauts fonctionnaires devant le parlement de ceux propres à la responsabilisation des hauts fonctionnaires devant leur(s) ministre(s). Les premiers renvoient à la délégation de pouvoir envers les dirigeants de l’administration par le parlement, leur reddition des comptes devant celui-ci suivi de leur soumission à la sanction et/ou à la gratification. Les seconds reprennent la délégation par les ministres de marge d’autonomie dans la gestion de leur département administratifs, leur participation au processus décisionnels des politiques publiques, la mise en place de formation et d’épreuves pour leur désignation, la fixation d’objectifs, relatifs tant à leur comportement qu’aux résultats à atteindre au sein de leur département, accompagnés d’indicateurs de performance, leur reddition des comptes devant leurs ministres concernant l’atteinte de ces objectifs suivie de la délivrance d’un feedback quant à leurs résultats obtenus et de leur soumission à la sanction et/ou à la gratification ou à des conséquences positives ou négatives pour leur département. Tous ces principes sont constitutifs de notre double grille d’analyse de la responsabilisation des hauts fonctionnaires.<p><p>Dans la suite de la recherche, notre cadre d’analyse est appliqué au terrain belge. Plus précisément, nous étudions la contribution de la modernisation de l’Etat fédéral belge, à savoir le Plan Copernic, à la responsabilisation des hauts fonctionnaires. Autrement dit, nous nous interrogeons primo sur le fait que les changements en management public au niveau fédéral ont bien ambitionné la satisfaction des différents principes définis par notre cadre d’analyse. Secundo, nous voyons si ces principes ont été concrétisés en mécanismes formels dans la règlementation. Tertio, nous analysons dans quelle mesure les différents principes de responsabilisation ont été traduits dans la pratique. Cette analyse en trois temps nous mène à la mise en exergue d’écarts entre, d’une part, les ambitions des mécanismes et leur introduction dans la règlementation, et, d’autre part, entre cette élaboration des dispositifs et leur mise en œuvre, ce qui, in fine, nous permet de tirer un bilan sur la contribution du Plan Copernic à la responsabilisation des hauts fonctionnaires. <p><p>Ensuite, nous tentons de comprendre les raisons qui ont mené à ces écarts. Nous étudions le bilan des réformes visant la responsabilisation des hauts fonctionnaires à travers les comportements des acteurs et leurs incidences sur l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre des mécanismes. Nous analysons donc l’appropriation des mécanismes de responsabilisation par les acteurs en charge du développement des mécanismes de responsabilisation mais également par ceux participant à leur mise en œuvre. Pour ce faire, nous avons recours à l’analyse stratégique développée par Crozier & Friedberg (1977) que nous appliquons au système politico-administratif belge et à ses acteurs. <p><p>Nos résultats obtenus mettent en exergue un manque d’adéquation entre les mécanismes de responsabilisation et le système politico-administratif dans lequel ils se sont insérés. Nous réalisons alors une mise en perspectives des résultats fédéraux en examinant l’introduction des mécanismes de responsabilisation au sein des autres niveaux de pouvoirs belges, à savoir en Communauté flamande, en Communauté française, en Région wallonne ainsi qu’en Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. Les différentes réformes sont analysées à la lumière des apports fédéraux afin de proposer une comparaison nationale des résultats et une généralisation du constat posé en Belgique.<p><p>Enfin, une comparaison internationale de mécanismes de responsabilisation introduits en Suisse, en France, au Danemark et au Pays-Bas est réalisée. Notre cadre d’analyse s’applique alors aux quatre systèmes administratifs des pays sélectionnés. Autrement dit, nous analysons dans quelle mesure les différents principes de responsabilisation ont été traduits dans les règlementations et pratiques étrangères. Pour chacun des pays, un lien est établi entre la satisfaction des principes de responsabilisation et certaines variables du système politico-administratif telles que le régime décisionnel gouvernemental, l’entourage ministériel, le rapport avec le parlement et le poids des partis politiques. Ce faisant, nous approfondissement le lien entre l’échec des mesures de responsabilisation et différents types de systèmes pour, in fine, aboutir à une remise en cause du concept de responsabilisation appliqués aux cadres dirigeants de l’administration. <p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

I syfte att undersöka vad övergången till en aktivitetsbaserat kontorsmiljö (ABW) innebär för synen på det egna ledarskapet i relation till medarbetarna samt hur chefer hanterat övergången i förhållande till sin chefsidentitet har sex kvinnliga och tre manliga chefer från fyra olika organisationer intervjuats. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av IPA-metoden utifrån teorier om chef-/ ledarskap i förhållande till medarbetarskap och identitetsarbete. Resultatet visar att en övergång till ABW kan innebära en ansvarsförskjutning mot ökat medarbetaransvar och ett mer strategiskt chef-/ledarskap som är baserat på målstyrning, tillit och ett större ansvar för sociala strukturer. Ett individuellt, tjänande ledarskap underlättar för ett hållbart ledarskap i ABW. Deltagande chefer har uppskattat utvecklingen av chef-/ledarskapet i övergången till ABW och det har inte påvisats några konfliktfyllda identitetsarbeten. Studien ger exempel på vad en förändringsprocess mot ABW kan innehålla. Ytterligare forskning behövs för att undersöka hur ABW fungerar för olika typer av organisationer och medarbetare. / To investigate what a change into an activitybased workplace (ABW) means to managers view of leadership in relation toemployees and how managers handles it in relation to their identity as managers,six female and three male managers, from four different organizations, havebeen interviewed. The IPA-method was used for interview analyzes based ontheories about management/leadership, empowerment and identity work. The resultshows that a transfer into ABW may lead to a passing of responsibility towardsemployees and a strategic leadership/management based on goal management, trustand an increased responsibility for social structures. An individual, servingleadership facilitates a sustainable leadership in ABW. Participants haveappreciated the leadership/management development, and no identity workconflicts has been detected. The study gives examples of changing processestowards ABW. More studies have to be done in order to investigate how ABW fitsdifferent types of organization and different types of employees.

An employee wellness programme is a programme that promotes and supports the well-being of its employees and is aimed at increasing productivity. Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) are used as a means of ensuring employee wellness. Employee Assistance Programme can be defined as a programme aimed at improving the quality of life of employees and their families by providing support and helping to alleviate the impact of everyday work and personal problems. EAPs are intended to help employees deal with their personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance, health and well-being. The main goal of the EAP is to enhance productivity as well as social functioning of individuals.The main objective of the study as to evaluate the Employee Assistance Programmes and the impact of Workplace Wellness on employee performance in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature. This was triggered by the fact that Wellness and EAPs are not visible in the ECPL and the Legislature continues to lose employees due to ill-health and resignations. The institution is characterised by a culture of “us” and “them”, us, referring to Labour and them to Management, and therefore resulting in low staff morale. This raised some concern from the researcher as there is an EAP paid for by the Legislature, but awareness, utilisation and effectiveness of the programme remain a challenge. Due to the nature of the institution’s core business, it is perhaps even more vital for the Legislature to create an organisational culture of caring and employees to be nurtured. It is believed that it is more cost effective and beneficial to both the employer and the employee to retain trained employees, than it is to lose troubled employees and hire new ones, in particular because there is no guarantee that the new ones will not, in time also show signs of problems. The researcher used applied research in this study to explore the need for the EAP as well as how best the programme can be implemented. A combination of an explanatory-descriptive design was used for this study because little is known about the phenomenon or programme. For this research, the researcher used a combination of interval/systematic and random sampling to complement each other in reducing any bias that has the potential of occurring when applying interval/systematic sampling. To get representation and precision, the researcher divided 285 employees according to their ranks. The results from this attempt were: Secretariat=25, Management=42, Administrative staff=196, General Workers=33 NEHAWU Shopstewards=10. The researcher then divided employees in each respective category by one tenth or 10% of each category to get the number of respondents from each category to be included in the sample and added up all categories to get the sample size. The sample of this study was thus, Secretariat=1, Management=4, Administrative staff=20, General workers=3 and NEHAWU Shopstewards=1 and made up a sample size of 29. Only one questionnaire was compiled for all the respondents because EAP recognise that employees start from the CEO of a company to the lowest paid employee in that company and, as such considers all employees to be equal. Research results indicated that there are some limitations in the utilisation of EAP and that employees are faced with both personal and work-related problems. Thus it became clear that the whole concept of Employee Wellness and Employee Assistance Programmes needed to be overhauled and restructured to ensure maximum benefit.

No description available.