Masters Diploma in Technology: Office Administration at the School of Business Informatics at the Cape Technikon / During visits to business organisations where students undergo co-operative education, it was revealed that functional managers, irrespective the size and type of organisation, are bound by many administrative tasks that leave them very little time for strategic planning and decision making. It also places a lot of pressure on these managers to keep up with technological developments.It also seems as if administrative staff who possess the required training, skills and proficiency are not utilised fully, and consequently do not experience work satisfaction - which leads to increased staff turnover.The solution to this problem seems to be the appointment of managers in charge of the administrative activities in an organisation - on all managerial levels, but especially on middle and lower management levels. Not only does this free functional managers from the additional burden of administrative obligations, but also enables them to concentrate on their primary function. In the study, these managers of administrative activities are referred to as office administrators.In this study, the factors that contribute most to the effective utilisation of the office administrator in business organisations were investigated. During this process, a model was also developed for the effective utilisation of office administrators.

M.Phil. / The objective of this study was to explore a group of key employees’ experiences and perceptions at the Government Funded Organisation (GFO) of the service performance of the GFO they work for, as well as to develop a social tool –a model – that could be used to help both the public fulfil its role of developing workable strategies aimed at ensuring that they deliver services according to their mandate. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods (mixed method approach) was used in this study. The existing quantitative instrument was buttressed by the empirically derived qualitative insights to form an instrument that was later distributed to all GFO employees with a view to developing a “mixed method model” of leadership work ethic for improved organisational performance for the institution concerned. During the qualitative phase of this study interviews were conducted using an exploratory theory approach. Eight executive members at the level of a Director General (DG) and Deputy Directors General (DDG) were interviewed. The result of the interviews was a qualitatively derived prototype of interrelated concepts in the form of a work ethic model, consisting of rich descriptive data which was carefully analysed using an exploratory theory methodology (Glaser & Strauss, 2007 and Daniels, 2009). This means the development of theory that is derived from an analysis of qualitative data. The computer assisted data analysis tool, Atlas, ti was used to support the qualitative data. The second phase of the study was conducted by distributing a questionnaire to 549 employees of the GFO. From the 549 questionnaires emailed to all employees, 349 were completed and returned, thus constituting a response rate of 76.5%. The questionnaires returned were deemed adequate for conducting a factor analysis. A first level factor analysis v was accordingly conducted on intercorrelation matrix of the 10 theoretical dimensions. A second level factor analysis on a sub-score intercorrelation matrix followed and resulted in six (6) factors being extracted. Iterative item analysis then yielded acceptable metric properties for each dimension and a Cronbach alpha coefficient ranging between 0.611 and 0.697, which was deemed a reasonable acceptable scale reliability for the model. To get at the desired model, the findings of the phases of the mixed method approach were synthesised and interrelated where data from the quantitative phase played a significant role to data from the qualitative phase. The derived model consists of the inner core and the outer core. The elements of the outer core which were qualitatively derived by means of exploratory theory provided a description of the discussion and gave the research participants a say in the inquiry. The elements of the inner core, on the other hand, were elicited through deductive reasoning and gave the model a qualitative exploration through the use of factor analysis. These elements included amongst others, leadership, leadership work ethic, quality management, organisational strategy, strategic management, organisational learning, organisational structure and organisational performance. The elements of the outer core were identified as observing conventions, behavioral traits, reward and recognition, time at work, self-worth and responsibility and time management. The results of the two methods were thus integrated into a model called the New Work Ethic Model (NWEM).

M.Comm. (Industrial Psychology) / With the implementation of King III in 2010 and the promulgation of the new Companies Act in 2011, the corporate governance landscape in South Africa was irrevocably changed. Simultaneously, there was an increase in the protestations against the perceived excesses of executive1 remuneration packages. The question posed in this research study was what does adherence to the spirit of corporate governance with regard to executive remuneration entail? The literature study explores the perceived separation between ownership and control, as well as attempts at controlling this separation via structured executive remuneration packages. It further provides an overview of the relative efficacy of voluntary codes and compulsory codes. Various methods of determining executive remuneration are investigated and the possible shortcomings of each are identified. Sixteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews, equally divided amongst four interest groups in the field of executive remuneration, were conducted. A content analysis of the qualitative data that emerged from the interviews resulted in 39 first-order themes that were then iterated to 11 second-order themes. These second-order themes were categorised into two sets, namely five that are indicative of behaviour in support of adherence to the spirit of corporate governance with regard to executive remuneration, and six that are indicative of behaviour that undermines the spirit of corporate governance in this regard. The five themes indicative of behaviour in support of adherence to the spirit of corporate governance were: problem recognition, sustainable development, embracing governance, remuneration management competence, and ethical intent. The six themes found to indicate behaviour that undermines adherence to the spirit of corporate governance with regard to executive remuneration were: shareholder appeasement, misrepresentation, elitism, justification, arrogance, and intentional amorality. It emanated from the findings that greater social debate should be stimulated on how ethics can be brought into the domain of executive remuneration. A potentially important facilitator of such debate could be tertiary education institutions responsible for management education integrating the ethics of executive remuneration in curricula. It is further recommended boards, who are tasked with the governance of their organisations, be made aware of the behavioural manifestations that support or undermine adherence to the spirit of governance as it relates to executive remuneration. Remuneration consultants could also benefit from these findings, and could assist organisations to design fair and responsible systems of remuneration for executives and senior employees.

The objectives of this study are: (1) to explore the personal value systems of Jordanian managers; (2) to examine the relationship between the personal values of Jordanian managers and their behavior (i.e., decision making); and (3) to compare the personal value systems of Jordanian and American managers. To achieve the first and the second objectives, England's (1967) Personal Value Questionnaire (PVQ) and the Behavioral Measurement Questionnaire have been respectively utilized. To achieve the final objective, the behavioral relevance scores derived from this study are compared with those in England's (1975) study. Finally, demographic and organizational data are used to describe the characteristics of Jordanian managers and serve as covariates in the statistical analysis. In reference to the statistical techniques, England's scoring methodology, factor analysis and multiple regression, are used to determine the relationship between the personal value systems of Jordanian managers and their behavior (i.e., decisionmaking). England's (1975) "rule of thumb" (adjusted to 15 percent difference) and the Chisguare test are used to test the significant differences between the personal value systems of the Jordanian and American respondents. The findings of this study are as follows: 1. The primary value orientation of Jordanian managers responding to this study is moralistic in nature, while their secondary value orientation is pragmatic. Concerning the value profile, Jordanian managers have 34, 3, 8, and 21 concepts of the PVQ as operative, intended, adopted, and weak values respectively. Behavior relevance analysis indicates that Jordanian managers have emphasized certain value concepts which reflect their perception of economic need and their social value structure. 2. According to England's procedure, there is a qualified relationship between the personal values of Jordanian managers and their reported behavior, while there is a partial relationship according to factor analysis and multiple regression. 3. There are similarities and/or differences between the personal value systems of the two managerial groups linally, a summary of the findings, along with conclusions, implications, and suggestions are offered for individuals and organizations doing business in Jordan.

This study deals with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and focuses on managerial perceptions of CSR at McDonald’s South Africa (SA) and how social responsibility is translated into social practices. The key objectives of the research are: to analyse McDonald’s both internationally and locally in South Africa to establish whether CSR policies exist, then to investigate how these policies are perceived and integrated by outlet managers. Lastly to investigate what kind of social responsibility (SR) involvement, if at all, occurs at outlet level. The research site covers three regions in South Africa, which are the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng. The total research sample is 38. 33 interviewees were outlet managers, who were purposively selected, and 5 additional interviews took place with: 2 McDonald’s SA Head Office representatives, 2 interviews with beneficiaries of McDonald’s SR involvement and 1 with the trade union SACCAWU. The research was carried out through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The design of this research is based on an interpretive social science approach. The aim of the research was to investigate outlet managers’ perceptions of CSR and social practices present at McDonald’s SA outlets. The key findings of the research indicate that: CSR policies at McDonald’s SA head office are not communicated sufficiently to outlet managers, SR involvement is evident, especially for initiatives focusing on children’s welfare, but far too little occurs at the outlet level. There are also too few checks on social involvement by head office and no formal reporting system is available to the outlets except through an internal magazine, called the Big Mag. There is no official CSR report at McDonald’s SA. The fact that no report exists makes this study more relevant since this research investigates matters pertaining to CSR and social practices. The overall significance of the study is that it brings to the forefront the importance of internal company and external broader regulation which is part of the greater debate of CSR. This is because the analysis of managerial perceptions and implementation of CSR shows some unwarranted discrepancies between policies and practices, locally, nationally and internationally even within the same organisation.