The purpose of this study was to identify how employees in the University of South Florida System (USF System) perceived changes in their organizations and the system as a result of having separate accreditation for each campus in the USF System. This survey research provided a "snapshot" of employee perceptions at a particular point in time. The study was unique because it provided a picture of the perceptions of employees while each campus was at a different point in the organizational change process. The theoretical concept from Bolman and Deal's (2003) four frame theory was used to develop the dependent variables and capture the perceptions of employees. The four dependent variables were organizational structure, employee relations, inter-campus relationships, and campus identity. Quantitative data were collected using a survey instrument. The data were analyzed by campus, employment category, gender, and years of employment using multivariate analysis of variance to identify significant differences in the means between the categories for each dependent variable. Additional comments provided by the survey respondents were analyzed using qualitative analysis to identify emerging themes during the organizational change process.

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In order to engage employees effectively, organisations need to practice two-way communication within a symmetrical worldview. This will encourage employees to feel valued, to participate in decision-making and contribute to obtaining organisational goals. Practising two-way communication will help to build stronger relationships between employees and managers, leading to increased employee engagement. Thus, the better the communication between managers and employees, the more engaged employees will be. Furthermore, the selection of communication channels can impact on the success of the message that is sent. Research has shown that if the inappropriate communication channel is selected when communicating with employees, the message might not be effectively received and understood. New technology, specifically Facebook can be introduced to provide an open and transparent channel for communication. Facebook can also facilitate two-way communication, which can lead to increased employee engagement. The literature study conducted informed the interview schedules that were developed and used to conduct semi-structured interviews with managers and focus group interviews with employees within two organisations in the South African financial sector. This was done in order to understand their expectations regarding the use of Facebook as an internal communication channel to enhance employee engagement. In terms of the conclusions derived from the empirical research, it seems evident that Facebook could be used as an additional internal communication channel to enhance employee engagement. Trust remains a very important factor in that managers should trust employees to use the channel in an ethical manner and employees should trust the organisation and its managers that they may voice their opinion freely, without the fear of victimisation. Facebook can be used to promote engagement on a social level to build relationships inside the organisation. However, managers and employees can together create a contract of understanding that will form the outline for a policy that will govern the use of Facebook. The parties involved can then negotiate the terms of this contract of understanding to ensure that all expectations regarding the use Facebook are met. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In order to engage employees effectively, organisations need to practice two-way communication within a symmetrical worldview. This will encourage employees to feel valued, to participate in decision-making and contribute to obtaining organisational goals. Practising two-way communication will help to build stronger relationships between employees and managers, leading to increased employee engagement. Thus, the better the communication between managers and employees, the more engaged employees will be. Furthermore, the selection of communication channels can impact on the success of the message that is sent. Research has shown that if the inappropriate communication channel is selected when communicating with employees, the message might not be effectively received and understood. New technology, specifically Facebook can be introduced to provide an open and transparent channel for communication. Facebook can also facilitate two-way communication, which can lead to increased employee engagement. The literature study conducted informed the interview schedules that were developed and used to conduct semi-structured interviews with managers and focus group interviews with employees within two organisations in the South African financial sector. This was done in order to understand their expectations regarding the use of Facebook as an internal communication channel to enhance employee engagement. In terms of the conclusions derived from the empirical research, it seems evident that Facebook could be used as an additional internal communication channel to enhance employee engagement. Trust remains a very important factor in that managers should trust employees to use the channel in an ethical manner and employees should trust the organisation and its managers that they may voice their opinion freely, without the fear of victimisation. Facebook can be used to promote engagement on a social level to build relationships inside the organisation. However, managers and employees can together create a contract of understanding that will form the outline for a policy that will govern the use of Facebook. The parties involved can then negotiate the terms of this contract of understanding to ensure that all expectations regarding the use Facebook are met. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Safety has become one of the greatest gauging factors for organisational success, within the mining and construction industry of South Africa. This is due to the fact that organisations and their employees are expected to adhere to safety legislation, or risk permanent shutdown. Notwithstanding this importance, methods of communicating safety information to employees have not yet been widely researched – especially not within the unique context of the combined mining and construction industry of South Africa. In the light of the above, this study focused on researching those internal communication methods most suited for the communication of safety information. The systems theory as meta-theory, and the stakeholder relationship theory, the excellence theory and dual-capacity model were used to frame the study. An extensive literature review was firstly conducted, identifying and discussing internal communication methods, their use within the South African mining and construction industry, and specifically their application to safety communication. The concepts of communication satisfaction and communication effectiveness of internal safety communication, as well as employee relations were investigated. Secondly the application of these internal safety communication methods was then further researched empirically within the Gautrain project – specifically its Precast Yard –which is seated within both the mining, as well as the construction industry, as it has to adhere to safety legislations from both industries. This empirical research was done by means of questionnaires, focus groups, interviews, as well as a discussion of the communication channels employed by the organisation. This accounted for a triangulated approach of using quantitative, as well as qualitative methodologies. From this empirical research it was seen that the Precast Yard of the Gautrain project adheres to the guidelines set in the literature in some circumstances, whilst in others it does not. From these shortcomings, seven recommendations were formulated for the improvement of safety communication in this organisation. These include the proposal that safety communications should be strategically managed by integrating all forms of communication, so that external factors that may impact on this communication are factored in. Furthermore, the communication of safety information should strive to reflect the diverse viewpoints of the employees, as it endeavours to foster a relationship with them. Briefly, this study, therefore, focused on identifying and reporting on those methods and techniques suited for the internal communication of safety information, specifically within the South African mining and construction industry, thereby expanding the field. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Safety has become one of the greatest gauging factors for organisational success, within the mining and construction industry of South Africa. This is due to the fact that organisations and their employees are expected to adhere to safety legislation, or risk permanent shutdown. Notwithstanding this importance, methods of communicating safety information to employees have not yet been widely researched – especially not within the unique context of the combined mining and construction industry of South Africa. In the light of the above, this study focused on researching those internal communication methods most suited for the communication of safety information. The systems theory as meta-theory, and the stakeholder relationship theory, the excellence theory and dual-capacity model were used to frame the study. An extensive literature review was firstly conducted, identifying and discussing internal communication methods, their use within the South African mining and construction industry, and specifically their application to safety communication. The concepts of communication satisfaction and communication effectiveness of internal safety communication, as well as employee relations were investigated. Secondly the application of these internal safety communication methods was then further researched empirically within the Gautrain project – specifically its Precast Yard –which is seated within both the mining, as well as the construction industry, as it has to adhere to safety legislations from both industries. This empirical research was done by means of questionnaires, focus groups, interviews, as well as a discussion of the communication channels employed by the organisation. This accounted for a triangulated approach of using quantitative, as well as qualitative methodologies. From this empirical research it was seen that the Precast Yard of the Gautrain project adheres to the guidelines set in the literature in some circumstances, whilst in others it does not. From these shortcomings, seven recommendations were formulated for the improvement of safety communication in this organisation. These include the proposal that safety communications should be strategically managed by integrating all forms of communication, so that external factors that may impact on this communication are factored in. Furthermore, the communication of safety information should strive to reflect the diverse viewpoints of the employees, as it endeavours to foster a relationship with them. Briefly, this study, therefore, focused on identifying and reporting on those methods and techniques suited for the internal communication of safety information, specifically within the South African mining and construction industry, thereby expanding the field. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

This dissertation sets out to explore the roots of trade union members' job dissatisfaction, as a large body of prior quantitative research, spanning more than four decades, indicates that trade union members express higher levels of job dissatisfaction than non-union members. Industrial relations scholars have not been able to agree on an explanation as to why trade union members express comparatively more job dissatisfaction. The ambiguity in establishing a causal relationship between trade union membership and job dissatisfaction is due to the fact that previous works have largely been biased towards the use of quantitative methods. The present study, therefore, uses a unique qualitative approach consisting of grounded theoretical techniques and interviews with 43 trade union members to gather new insights on the topic. Interviews were conducted at two case study organisations, one a manufacturer and the other a public services organisation, in Scotland. Three alternative explanations that have sought to explain trade union members' job dissatisfaction were unpacked. These explanations link trade union members' job dissatisfaction to (i) unmet expectations from trade union membership, (ii) awareness of inequalities and (ii) industrial relations climates. The aim of this dissertation was to develop insights to enable a better understanding of why trade union members appear to express dissatisfaction with their jobs. The grounded theoretical approach has enabled at least three contributions to the industrial relations literatures and, to a lesser extent, to the human resources and job satisfaction literatures. These contributions are: (i) a deep, qualitative approach towards understanding the phenomenon; (ii) a critical evaluation of three alternative explanations of the phenomenon; and (iii) insights towards an initial model explaining the roots of trade union members' job dissatisfaction.

No description available.

The research aims to study how the communication context within the Arab cultures influences the employees' perception of equity and reaction to inequity. Specifically, the study explores how employees from Arab cultural backgrounds communicate with each other within the Saudi working context; and how they collect, interpret and use the different contextual information - from the contexts in which they live and work - in order to make judgements about issues related to the perception of equity and reaction to inequity. In order to study the research topic, a conceptual framework is developed to reconcile between Equity Theory, Social Comparison Theory and Hall's Context Model; and as a base serving the process of designing/choosing the methods of collecting and analysing the data. Three main research questions are developed which are about (i) how the communication context is related to employees' willingness and ability to react to inequity (ii) how the communication context shapes the nature of inequity reactions executed by employees and (iii) how the communication context is related to the way equity is perceived among employees. A modified version of critical realism is adopted to focus on exploring the mechanisms, within the communication context, which influence the perception of equity and reaction to inequity. A combination of retroduction and abduction is developed in a sense that retroduction is used to direct the research toward exploring the structure and mechanisms within the research setting, while abduction is used to draw conclusions about how the phenomena studied in the research are evolving by the structure and mechanisms. A mixed methods approach is adopted in the research. The research includes data from thirty-five semi-structured interviews which are conducted in mainly three Saudi private-sector organisations located in Jeddah with twenty-nine male employees and six male managers of six different Arab nationalities. Template analysis is used to analyse the qualitative interview transcripts and field notes, while cluster analysis is used to group the research participants based on their quantitative responses. The research finds that there are no clear-cut areas separating the activities linked to the perception of equity and reaction to inequity. I also conclude that the perception of equity norms and equity comparison components can sometimes be separate activities. Some factors such as the religious interpretation, face-saving, and contextual norms and powers influence the employees' willingness to react to inequity by altering the way in which those employees perceive equity norms. Here, unwillingness decisions are often made not as a result of personal conviction but as a compromise based on the personal evaluation of the surrounding context, realising the inability of the self to react to such situations in the first place. Thus, it can be concluded that inability to react to inequity can reduce the employees' willingness to react against under-rewarded situations. The process of perceiving equity comparison components is found to be related to the type of reaction adopted to re-establish the equity; this relationship is represented by groups affiliated by a hidden factor or factors, which is more influential than the ethnicity/nationality of the group's members. The research makes a methodological contribution to knowledge by suggesting a new approach to study human relations through the communication context; a conceptual contribution by combining the concepts of equity perception, social comparison and communication context in one conceptual framework; and an empirical contribution by providing a fresh insight to contextual themes in the Saudi working environment.

Les objectifs principaux de cette thèse sont i) d’examiner comment la Responsabilité Sociale de l’Entreprise (RSE) affecte les relations avec les parties prenantes, ii) d’identifier les conditions aux limites dans lesquelles les actions de la RSE affecte les relations avec les parties prenantes de façon optimale, et iii) proposer les solutions pour améliorer la RSE dans les firmes. Afin d’atteindre ces objectifs, quatre études empiriques ont été effectuées dans l’Asie du Sud. Les données ont été collectées à travers une série de questionnaires envoyées aux managers d’haut niveau, employées et consommateurs. Les résultats démontrent un effet positif de la RSE sur les parties prenantes. La RSE n’est pas seulement importante pour les parties prenantes externes (consommateurs) mais aussi facilite le développement de bonnes relations entre la firme et ses parties prenantes internes (employées). Les conclusions de cette recherche soulignent le rôle important de la participation des employées dans le processus de prise de décision afin d’améliorer la RSE dans les firmes. En outre, la thèse souligne l’importance de la confiance des consommateurs envers l’entreprise ainsi que la satisfaction des consommateurs afin d’optimiser les conséquences de la RSE sur les relations avec les parties prenantes. / The main objectives of the dissertation are i) to examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects stakeholder relationships, ii) to identify the boundary conditions in which CSR actions optimally affect stakeholder relationships, and iii) to prescribe ways to improve CSR in the firms. To achieve these objectives, four empirical studies were conducted in South Asia. Data were collected in a series of surveys with top managers, employees and consumers. The results show that CSR has a positive impact on stakeholders. CSR is not only important for external stakeholders (consumers) but also facilitates the building of good relationships between the firm and its internal stakeholders (employees). Findings emphasize the role of employee participation in decision making to improve CSR in the firms. In addition, the dissertation highlights the importance of consumer trust in the company as well as consumer satisfaction to optimize the affects of CSR on stakeholder relationships.