M.Com. (Business Management) / This study does a formal analysis of the impact of transformation and the management of change within Eskom. The micro and macro environments are characterised by many imminent changes, forcing Eskom to transform. Externally the Employment Equity Act, Labour Relations Act, Affirmative Action and so forth were promulgated impacting on the very essence of the work force. A transformation process was introduced into Eskom and the study highlights the impact it had on employees as well as their reactions to it. With the transformation - change from functional organisation to a process or value chain organisation - officially finalised in April 99, Eskom is now in a mode of continuous improvement. With the implementation of the Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998 it will help to redress the inequalities inherited from the past. The act will have an effect on every designated employer in South Africa. It encompasses the transformation of the demographic profile of Eskom's total work force so as to be a true reflection of the South African community. The act emphasizes on the eradication of unfair discrimination in various areas in the labour market, as well as the implementation of affirmative action programmes. The focus will be on the development and training of previously disadvantaged groups. Eskom has a diverse workforce with various cultures present in one business environment. Each employee has an unique personality with unique ideas and opinions. Optimal management of such diversity as an asset will enable Eskom to reach all targets set in the equity plan and the successful eradication of any direct or indirect discrimination in the organisation...

Andrew Pampallis

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

South Africa’s legacy of apartheid has created massive social and economic inequalities along racial and gender lines, resulting for instance, in the under-representation of Blacks and women in the higher echelons of industry and at decision-making levels in the public service. In order to eradicate historical discriminatory employment policies and practices in the workplace based on race, gender and disability and redress imbalances, in 1998 Parliament enacted the Employment Equity legislation, which describes measures through which organisations should speed up their transformation efforts. These measures are collectively known as affirmative action. Affirmative action was conceived as a vehicle that would improve the employment and promotion opportunities of Blacks, women and the disabled. However, the goal of transforming South African business organisations and public service from discriminatory structures to ones which reflect the demographic composition and values of South African as a whole has not been without controversy. Given the racial construction of privilege and discrimination in South Africa, affirmative action evokes strong emotions from ‘designated group’ and ‘non-designated group’ members’ demographic status, histories of relative deprivation, personal and collective interests and political ideologies leading to a polarisation of attitudes towards affirmative action. While some people view affirmative action as an antidote to past discrimination against Blacks, women and the disabled, others believe affirmative action promotes discrimination against Whites and in particular White males. Social policies that are perceived disproportionately to help Blacks or women, in general, and affirmative action programme, in particular, have emerged as a major socio-political battleground in South Africa. There is a long history of economic and employment discrimination in South Africa, and government-supported interventions, such as affirmative-action programmes, have been designed to increase employment opportunities for Blacks and women in organisational contexts in which they have been historically underrepresented. Although affirmative-action programmes have provided important economic benefits to Blacks and women, public debate about affirmative action programmes have been framed in terms of race and gender. Affirmative action has emerged as one of the most controversial policies in South Africa and is under attack. This study was conducted with employees from the Compensation Fund in Pretoria. Sixteen semi-structured interviews, ranging from between 20 and 30 minutes, were conducted with the aid of an in-depth personal interview schedule, using convenience sampling technique. The interview schedule had four sections in line with the problem statements and contained qualitative type questions. The purpose of the present exploratory study aimed to gain insight into the attitudes, experiences and perceptions of the Compensation Fund employees towards affirmative action. Findings of the study indicate that the dominant perception of the non-designated group (White participants) is that the recruitment, accomplishment and promotion of employees from the designated group is related only to demographic status, rather than qualifications, competences and personal effort as well. Race and gender appear to be operant dimensions along which Whites who could do the job are symbolically set apart from Blacks and women who were supposedly employed in the interest of getting the numbers right. Racial and gender prejudices emerged as the two main themes of the study. The dissertation interprets the participants’ racial and gender prejudice in terms of Blumer’s Group Position Model. The Group Position Model states that when an in-group perceives it’s group position to be threatened it results in racial (gender) hostility towards the out-group. In terms of this research’s findings, the non-designated group (White males) constitute the in-group, while the designated group (Blacks and women) constitute the out-group. The model adequately explains the negativity of the non-designated group towards affirmative action. This study represents a vital step towards a better understanding of the successful implementation of affirmative action and should contribute to more efficient and effective practice of affirmative action in the workplace. / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Sociology / unrestricted

This study aims to examine the degree of influence that societal and organizational cultures, as specified by the GLOBE project, have on employment equity in the Omani public sector. Therefore, a theoretical framework has been built and developed in two main areas, which are culture and employment equity. In addition, the methodology of the study has been designed to use both quantitative and qualitative research approaches for triangulation. Quantitative data was collected from a sample of 290 Omani civil servants representing several public organizations, while qualitative data was collected in a single case study of Oman’s Royal Court Affairs (RCA) organization, 12 general managers from which were interviewed. The independent variables were dimensions of societal and organizational culture, and the dependent variables were employment equity in general, which includes seven critical success factors behind employment equity. The analysis for the quantitative data was carried out using SPSS software, while interviews were analysed manually due to the small number of participants. The results of the study confirm that societal and organizational cultures have significant influence on employment equity (EE). However, not all cultural dimensions have the same direction or degree of influence on employment equity. In fact, some of these dimensions have no significant correlation with EE. Also, the study found that there were no differences between managers’ and employees’ responses with regard to 34 cultural dimensions out of 36. The two dimensions in which the results differed between these groups were Human Orientation and Future Orientation for organizational culture value. Additionally, the results show that participants believe that there is a real need for higher EE in the Omani public sector as there were clear differences between current practices of EE and how it should be. Moreover, there were significant positive correlations between all seven critical success factors behind effective EE. This result indicates that these factors are interacting between each other in a positive way. Also, a suggested framework was developed to show how government and other organizations could positively use and benefit from the influences of cultural dimensions to enhance EE among employees. Researchers also could benefit from such a framework as well as the overall findings of this thesis by using them as a starting point for further research to fill the observed knowledge gap in this area.

The purpose of this study was to explore the subjective experiences of participants who had completed a fast-track management development programme (FMPD) for hospital managers. The participants in this study were part of a targeted or single-identity group FMDP in a private hospital group in South Africa. Single-identity group management development programmes target women and minorities, and are designed to equip them to fulfil more senior roles. These programmes were introduced by some South African companies in response to the Employment Act 55 of 1998 to ensure that all population groups are represented across occupational levels, including senior management. This study sought to gain insight of the participants’ perceptions of the programme and its effectiveness. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. The sample consisted of six managers (four men and two women). The developer of the programme was also interviewed. The findings indicate that all of the participants believed there is a need for these types of programmes because of South Africa’s history. However, the interviews also surfaced concerns about the structure of the programme and the stigmatisation associated with being in a single-identity programme. The results suggest a number of theoretical and practical implications for the use of single-identity management development programmes. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Bridging the gender wage gap-South African history on women and the disadvantages suffered-South African legislation governing discrimination-international instruments governing equal pay between genders-international instruments on how to bridge the gender wage gap-consider international instruments in South Africa to bridge the gender wage gap / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Mercantile Law / LLM / Unrestricted

The aim of this research was to identify the factors that will influence Black managers to stay in an organisation.The sample comprised of African managers of both genders, who earned above R350 000 per annum and are employed by listed companies, in Gauteng. Ready, Hill and Conger (2008) framework was adapted and four variables were used to identify the factors that will influence Black managers to stay in an organisation. The four variables were the brand of an organisation, the opportunity within an organisation, the culture within an organisation and the purpose of an organisation.The research was a quantitative study and a questionnaire was used to collect the data. This was emailed to 2500 purposively selected respondents and 100 responses were received, of which 21 were eliminated as they were not fully complete. Statistical analysis was conducted including basic descriptive, reliability testing, factor descriptive, correlation analysis and independent t-tests.The research showed the brand of an organisation, opportunity within an organisation, culture within an organisation and the purpose of an organisation have a positive impact on retention of African managers as they influence their decision to stay within the organisation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

South African gold mining companies fail to meet employment equity targets at management level. The research aimed at establishing the level of Blacks in junior, middle and senior management positions in South African gold mining companies and to gain an understanding of the drivers and restraining factors for achieving employment equity at management level. Qualitative research was undertaken comprising focus group discussions with Black managers in the gold mining industry and with the Department of Mineral Resources. This was supplemented with in-depth interviews with gold mining HR and transformation managers/executives, labour unions and the Department of Labour. The research confirmed the current level of Blacks in management in gold mining companies, ranging between 23% and 29.6%. A conflict was identified between the Department of Mineral Resource’s “compliance” approach compared to gold companies’ “commitment” approach to employment equity transformation. Transformation Planning, Individual Development Support and Employment Equity Support Structures emerged as the key employment equity transformation themes. These were captured in the “three pillar” model to guide improved employment equity transformation in South African gold mining companies. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The aim of this study was to determine employees' perceptions of the fairness of employment equity practices. It was conducted in an organisation in the Health Services industry, using a Diversity Questionnaire. The sample size was 520 and 245 responses were received, constituting a 47% response rate. Employees' responses were measured along 10 dimensions of employment equity. The unit of analysis was the group according to gender, race, age and job level. Independent t-tests and analysis of variance techniques were used to determine any statistically significant differences in perceptions between groups. Statistically significant differences were found between race groups and job levels. Gender and age did not significantly affect employees' responses. The research concluded that compliance with organisational justice requirements is as important as compliance with legislative requirements. Ultimately, every organisation should adapt its employment equity strategy according to its specific demographic and environmental context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Admin.