published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

This study measured annual income, unemployment, job satisfaction, and socioeconomic status of selected respondents to the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) for the period of 1972-1979. Groups chosen for study included those who did not attend college, those who attended a two-year college but did not receive a degree, and those who completed a two-year degree by 1974, two years after high school graduation. The two-year college graduates were further subdivided into those completing academic programs and those who completed vocational programs. Mean comparisons using the two-tailed t-test of the employment indices for each group have been provided for each of the years of the study. Also, both direct and stepwise discriminant analyses have been applied to the 1979 employment data in order to determine the relative contribution of the employment variables to group differentiation. An attempt has been made to control for student background variables (parental socioeconomic status, aptitude, and motivation) in the discriminant analyses. Canonical coefficients of each discriminant function along with the corresponding Wilks Lambda have been provided. There were several important findings in this study. Results indicated that no real income differences existed among the three major education groups, but following graduation, vocational graduates outearned academic graduates in each year of the study. Two-year college attenders and graduates exhibited significantly less unemployment than the nonattenders. Vocational graduates found employment more readily than academic graduates during the first years following graduation. Job satisfaction among the two-year college graduates was generally higher in the areas of working conditions, job security, use of past training, pride and respect received, and in the job as a whole. Job status as measured by the Duncan Socioeconomic Index showed progressively higher status positions held by the respondents with more education. Job status for positions held by vocational and academic graduates yielded no real differences. This study provides evidence for the success of the occupational education function of two-year colleges. Both academic and vocational graduates generally exhibited higher employment returns than those who did not attend college or those who left college before completion of a degree.

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A biodata based personnel selection measure was created to improve the retention rate of Catalog Telemarketing Representatives at a major U.S. retail company. Five separate empirical biodata scoring methods were compared to examine their usefulness in predicting retention and reducing adverse impact. The Mean Standardized Criterion Method, the Option Criterion Correlation Method, Horizontal Percentage Method, Vertical Percentage Method, and Weighted Application Blank Method using England's (1971) Assigned Weights were employed. The study showed that when using generalizable biodata items, all methods, except the Weighted Application Blank Method, were similar in their ability to discriminate between low and high retention employees and produced similar low adverse impact effects. The Weighted Application Blank Method did not discriminate between the low and high retention employees.

M. Tech. (Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences): Vaal University of Technology / E-recruitment is one of the e-commerce applications that has enjoyed a multiple growth since its introduction in the early 1990s. There have been many variations regarding sophistication, types and success; as a result, this has posed a number of challenges to all stakeholders in these technologies. Thus, specific stakeholders may find specific applications suitable for their needs or within their reach to utilise. Companies can use these applications by implementing their own e-recruitment systems or by buying e-recruitment services provided by the third party, or a combination of both, depending on their objectives. The current study is focused on e-recruitment service providers who use general-purpose job boards that are fairly advanced in sophistication, such as the PNet recruitment website. These e-recruitment service providers are mostly recognised as online firms that manage their operations through their websites. However, behind these websites the physical ordinary businesses utilise the Internet as a means to perform their operations. Like other businesses, these e-recruitment service providers constantly face rapid shifts in technology, which places a considerable amount of pressure on them, as they persistently have to seek ways to stay ahead of their competitors. The competitiveness of every business lies in their knowledge of the market in which it operates in, as well the extent to which it is able to meet the needs of its customers. This study extends market knowledge and satisfaction of customers’ needs in the context of e-recruitment. It views the job seekers as the major customers for sustainability and competitiveness for e-recruiting companies or firms. The study was conducted using a survey method, sampling with n = 717 job seekers who use the PNet website to search for jobs. The primary data was obtained from the sample by means of a 6-point Likert questionnaire ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 6=strongly agree, measuring factors that influence the perceptions of job seekers regarding their use of the website. The questionnaire was administered via the Internet using the Sogo-Survey online tool. The main objective of the study was to evaluate job seekers’ perceptions about the PNet website as an e-recruitment tool, as well as to discover which factors are the best predictors of the continued use of the PNet website. The job seekers’ perceptions about the PNet website, as an e-recruitment tool in South Africa, were founded on the nine theoretical factors used in the questionnaire. From these factors, statistically significant differences in the factor means were present within the two independent groups, namely qualifications and gender. Using the standardised Beta value (β) the findings revealed that the attitude towards the website (.285) was the most important predictor, followed by information timeliness (.231), then attraction to the website (.182), usefulness of the website (.180) ease of use of the website (.170) and quality of website (.167). Findings and recommendations of this study are of importance to recruitment service providers and employers as it provides crucial information regarding their markets and how to improve the profitability of their businesses.

Assessment and suggestion of usage of competency-based behavioral interview at Prague office of Armstrong World Industries, Inc..

This study explored industrial psychologists’ perceptions of personality assessment in personnel selection and the issues associated with personality assessment in South African organisations. This was a qualitative study in which 11 industrial psychologists (2 male, 9 female) were interviewed to determine the reasons why personality assessment is or is not used for selection purposes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted which comprised of 11 questions related to the industrial psychologists context, understanding the place of personality assessment in personnel selection in organisational settings in South Africa and a view of common practice employed in organisational settings in South Africa. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. The analysis resulted in five themes namely, person-environment fit; other purposes for which personality assessment are used; personality tests commonly employed; limitations of personality assessment; and ethical considerations with the use of personality assessment. Based on these themes it can be concluded that there is invaluable information gained from determining whether or not a person will fit into the organisation. Therefore, person-environment fit theory is a crucial theory that underpins the use of personality assessment in personnel selection. Further research is required in the field of psychometric assessments in organisational settings within the South African context in terms of addressing the various ethical issues the administrators are currently facing.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2006 / The main objective of the study was to scrutinize the difficulties that confront the recruitment and selection processes at provincial government level, which recruitment processes are required to be in conformity with national and provincial policies. Furthermore, the study will also endeavor to answer questions on problems emanating from the recruitment and selection of public managers since 27 April 1994. The population selected for purposes of this study was that of the management team of the Department of Public Works in the Limpopo Province. The population consisted of 281 management officials. A proportional stratified random sampling design was used for obtaining a sample, with head office and the six district offices forming the different stratas. 14% of managers in all stratas were taken as a sample. The data was collected using questionnaires and interviews, followed by the collection of selected government reports with appropriate data. In the case of interviews, the following three methods were iv used, namely, non-scheduled interviews, non-scheduled structured interviews and scheduled structured interviews. The study revealed that in the Department of Public Works:  There was a sustained or uncontrollable movement of managers hopping in and out of the department. This was exacerbated by the lack of a retention strategy for controlling this problem. As a result, the cream of the department’s most resourceful managers was lost.  The recruitment and selection processes in the department of Public Works were inappropriately guided due to a lack of proper planning. As a direct result thereof, the wrong managers were recruited.  The internal source was preferred over the external source in conducting the recruitment and selection processes. This limited the opportunities of employing the correct managers.  There have been biases in that the recruitment and selection processes were manipulated in order to benefit certain individuals v at the expense of others. This has had a negative impact on the morale of the rest of the staff. In view of the findings of this study, it is recommended that further research on a broader scope is imperative, with the population consisting of the entire management in the Limpopo Provincial Government. The purpose of such research should be to determine the extent to which the recruitment and selection of managers were impacting on service delivery, which is critical to the welfare of the Limpopo society in particular, and the South African society in general.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

M. Tech. Human Resources Management / This study is necessary to assess staff recruitment and selection at the University of Technology. When institutions merge, it is not only the cultures that merge but also the business processes. So it is necessary to study how the recruitment and selection process of a merged institution can be made effective and efficient given the combination of different cultures and business process. To what extent would assessing staff recruitment and selection enhance the recruitment and selection at said University of Technology? The following hypothesis was investigated: Employees in different positions perceive recruitment and selection as favourable and employees with different months of service perceive recruitment and selection as favourable. Quantitative research was used because participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to collect data on assessing staff recruitment and selection at the University of Technology. In the study, a purposive sample of 200 most-recently appointed employees was drawn. The findings of this study will add to the body of existing knowledge on recruitment and selection, knowledge that gives valuable insights into the type of recruitment and selection practices that are necessary to ensure a competitive university.