National Ports Authority of South Africa (NPASA) adopted and declared its commitment to a set of eleven corporate values, included them in their performance management toolkit and regarded them as the organizational driving force. It was therefore important that a study to determine how these values have been embraced is conducted. This is critical since the organization might think that having corporate values equates to being a value based organization. In most cases, senior leadership has an impression that all is well in the organization and most if not all employees are indeed committed to these corporate values. The study was therefore aimed at critically reviewing the corporate values with the focus being on the perception of employees. The perception of employees is an ideal measure on determining whether NPASA is gaining ground on its strategic drive of being a value based organization. The perception held by employees has a bearing on the organizational performance. It is indeed critical that organizations communicate and listen honestly to the opinion of staff as they are integral in driving business. A questionnaire on the set corporate values of NPASA was developed to allow the employees to choose whether they agree or disagree with the given statements. The statements in the questionnaire were linked to the research objectives. The study has found that the employees do perceive NPASA as a value driven organization and are of the opinion that their experiences as staff members are in keeping with the professed corporate values. The employees have shown an understanding of the values and saw the enactment of corporate values as bringing positive developments to the organization. The employees have also indicated to NPASA what needs to be done so as to facilitate and encourage commitment to corporate values. The study concludes that the majority of employees are generally identifying with the set corporate values. Although the employees are embracing and showing commitment to the current corporate values, it is still critical that NPASA continue to review, facilitate and encourage commitment from all its employees. The employees of NPASA are of diverse background and the perception that their, organization is driven by corporate values is a positive achievement for the organization. Corporate values bring these, employees together and the belief that NPASA is value driven assist in building commitment to the organization which ultimately translates to better performance. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

This study examines the participation of clerical staff in training and development. It also considers the potential benefits of participation and the influence of forces in the work environment on participation. A survey of the population of 937 clerical staff at McGill University yielded a response of 460. Three-quarters of staff indicated awareness of training and development opportunities, with approximately half of these having participated in 1993/1994. Staff consider performance enhancement as by far the most likely benefit of participation. They are also inclined to agree that their supervisors are supportive of training and development, while they tend to be unsure whether they have their co-workers' support. Further, staff tend to be unsure or to disagree that situational constraints influence participation. Significant interactions between several of the variables were found. This study discusses the implications of these findings for McGill and makes recommendations for further research.

Women in the Swedish labor market have lower wage than men on average. There are multiple reasons for this gender wage differential. Among other things, processes at the organizational level have been stressed. Some researchers argue that the gender of the manager has an effect on wages and that this effect might differ for men and women. Prior studies have analyzed the potential effect of manager gender on wages, but few empirical studies have scrutinized the question. The studies that exist use the proportion of female versus male managers in the organization as a measure of the effect of manager gender on wages. This paper however offers a direct test of the association of the gender of the immediate manager with men’s and women’s wages. Specifically, two hypotheses were tested: that (i) a female manager is negatively associated with women’s wages (ii) a female manager is negatively associated with men’s wages. To address the hypotheses, the analysis provides OLS regressions (for men and women separately) using survey data from European Social Survey (ESS) 2004 and 2010. The analysis includes theoretically and empirically relevant variables clustered in block of human capital, organizational and individual level variables. The results show that men’s wages are negatively influenced by having a female manager once human capital was adjusted for. There is no evidence that women’s wages are affected by having a female manager, since the share of women in the occupation and in the firm fully explains the negative association between female manager and wages for women. For female respondents, organizational factors seem to be of greater importance for wage determination than the gender of the immediate manager.

Since the Chinese economic reform in 1979, there have been various types of enterprises being established instead of the period when the market was mainly dominated by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Nowadays, except for the government (GOV) departments, the three main types of enterprises are state-owned enterprises (SOEs), private-owned enterprises (POEs) and foreign-owned enterprises (FOEs). In the paper, the aim is to compare the difference in empowering and coaching of the leadership style from employees’ perspective across different types of enterprises and government in Shanghai and find out the potential reasons for the differences. To make the suggestions for improvement in leadership, the paper has compared the existing condition with the employees’ preference in both empowering and coaching leadership style. 144 Questionnaires have been collected in order to make quantitative tests. The questionnaires have been distributed to both employees and managers in different types of companies and government in Shanghai. SPSS 19.0 were used to deal with the data and helped to draw the conclusion.   Based on the literature reviews, the paper proposed three hypotheses. The results show that some of the hypotheses are confirmed; however, some of the hypotheses are rejected. For the rejected ones, the paper give the possible explanations and at the same time, based on other variables of the information of respondents, further analysis has been done to find out how the ideal and actual leadership styles affected by other variables in different groups.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that motivate people to work for social enterprises and how social enterprise can attract qualified employees.Method: Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. The qualitative data were collected by interviews with 7 participants from 4 social enterprises in Gävleborg of Sweden. We gathered the quantitative data via questionnaires which were collected from 38 MBA students in University of Gävle.Result and Conclusions: By comparison between the expectation of MBA students and reality of the social enterprises, we found promotion opportunities and work environment are the factors which restrict social enterprises to attract employees and motivate people.Suggestion for further studies: Based on the exiting researches and our experiences, most studies focus on the financial problems and entrepreneur problems of the social enterprises. We suggest that further research could investigate the other aspects of social enterprises such as management problems or network of social enterprise.Contribution of the thesis: In this study, the most important factor to motivate students work for social enterprises are pointed out as work environment and we also give suggestions to social enterprises to improve their attractiveness, such as improving the promotion chance for employees.

This study examined the impact that personal transition issues have on the work performance and satisfaction of new professionals in housing and residence life positions. Current first-year professionals in these positions were surveyed and interviewed using materials created for this research.New professionals felt that their personal transition has a significant impact on their overall satisfaction and performance in the work environment. They also expressed a desire for institutions to be more aware of these issues and more intentional in assisting with them. The survey population identified a number of correlations between personal transition issues, work performance, and work satisfaction. They offered examples of ways their institutions helped them in their transition, as well as suggestions for additional steps that can and should be taken. / Department of Educational Leadership

Responses of employees completing a career counseling program (n = 95) were collected to answer research questions about participant expectations and outcomes of the counseling program. The career counseling program was provided to management and non-management employees throughout the state of Indiana by an Indiana based communication company. During the first year, 202 employees completed the career counseling program. These employees were mailed a 19 item, researcher developed, survey instrument. The reported data were collected from 95 surveys (47%) that were returned.The purpose of the career counseling program was to assist current employees of the organization in establishing career and educational goals to better cope with a changing work environment. Research questions studied were (1) In what ways did the career counseling program help shape the career plans and goals of the participating employees, (2) In what ways were employees who completed career counseling making observable progress toward exploring and implementing career goals, (3) In what ways did career counseling successfully meet the initial counseling objectives of the participants, and (4) In what ways did the career counseling program meet the original expectations of the sponsoring organization.Response data indicated that meeting with trained career counselors and reviewing a LIFEPLAN career assessment instrument ranked as the top two activities helping to shape career plans and goals of program participants. Observable progress toward established goals was reported by 95% of the counseling participants enrolling in some type of educational program after completing the counseling program. Successful accomplishment of initial counseling objectives of the participants was reported by 73% of the counseling participants. They reported increased confidence in their career decisions and in their actions as a result of participating in the counseling program.Evidence from the data indicated that an individual meeting with a trained career counselor was the most often reported counseling activity assisting employees to better understand their career and educational goals. Data also indicated the career counseling program was meeting many of the initial counseling expectations reported by participating employees.Questions to be reviewed in future career counseling programs for employees are also presented. / Department of Educational Leadership

Integrity tests are used as a pre-employment screening technique by companies and organizations, and the fakability of such tests remain a concern. The present study used two separate designs to analyze the fakability of the Personnel Reaction Blank (PRB), a covert integrity test, and the personality constructs predictive of honest and fake scores. This study shows that the PRB can be successfully faked. The personality constructs conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism are significantly correlated with honest integrity test scores while conscientiousness and neuroticism are predictors of faking behavior. Finally, the type of design used to examine the fakability of the PRB affects the magnitude of faking found. I conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical uses of the results and directions for future research. / Department of Psychological Science

This was a descriptive study focused on identifying attitudes of University staff towards the inclusion of students with disabilities at University within the context of a focus on psychological wellness. A probability sample of93 staff members was selected through systematic random sampling from the Mafikeng Campus of North West University. A questionnaire identifying attitudes of staff towards inclusion of students with disabilities and factors contributing to the development of attitudinal barriers was designed and administered by the researcher. The literature reviewed identified the following factors as barriers to the inclusion of students with disabilities at university: inadequate understanding of disability, negative attitudes, stereotyping, inadequate support services and insufficient knowledge and experience of students with disabilities. The central hypothesis was that the existence of negative attitudes amongst staff would inhibit the inclusion of students with disabilities at university. The results obtained correlated with the hypothesis and implicit in these findings is the threat to the healthy psychological development of students with disabilities. / M.Soc.Sc. (Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2004

This was a descriptive study focused on identifying attitudes of University staff towards the inclusion of students with disabilities at University within the context of a focus on psychological wellness. A probability sample of 93 staff members was selected through systematic random sampling from the-Mafikeng Campus of North West University. A questionnaire identifying attitudes of staff towards inclusion of students with disabilities and factors contributing to the development of attitudinal barriers was designed and administered by the researcher. The literature reviewed identified the following factors as barriers to the inclusion of students with disabilities at university: inadequate understanding of disability, negative attitudes, stereotyping, inadequate support services and insufficient knowledge and experience of students with disabilities. The central hypothesis was that the existence of negative attitudes amongst staff would inhibit the inclusion of students with disabilities at university. The results obtained correlated with the hypothesis and implicit in these findings is the threat to the healthy psychological development of students with disabilities. / M.Soc.Sc. (Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2004