Thesis (M. Com. (Human Resource Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among organisational politics, organisational support and job satisfaction among 148 participants in a selected institution of higher education in South Africa. Quantitative, descriptive research was conducted to determine if there is a relationship among the three variables of the study. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. Two groups of respondents participated in the study; and that is the academic staff and administrative staff members from central administration and library. The study established that organisational politics is negatively related to organisational support and have a negative impact on the overall job satisfaction. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations, strengths and potential links for future research are provided. Key words/concepts: Organisational Politics, Organisational Support, Job Satisfaction.

Text in German and English / This MTh dissertation is about the meaning and change of the pastoral position and role as it is reflected in pastoral theological literature of the last thirty years. For this purpose different concepts of work satisfaction are described and applied to the pastoral context. Furthermore, results of empirical investigations among ministers in German speaking and various other countries are discussed and aspects of job satisfaction of pastors are presented. This is followed by an investigation of changing expectations regarding the pastoral role which affect the job satisfaction of a minister. A comparison of two church orders (1991 and 2003) from Chrischona Switzerland demonstrates the changing job descriptions of pastors within a freechurch denomination. The final chapter is a discussion of some pastoral theological consequences of the relation between changing job descriptions and job satisfaction. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Practical Theology)

M. Tech. (Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Until recently, the majority of the academics viewed the life of an academic as idyllic, autonomous and well protected. However, this scenario has since changed due to economic constraints and the reduction of government funding and funding from government agencies. Congruent to these transformations, technology advancements, students’ diversity, blended learning and the introduction of learning platforms has created further challenges in the way students learn and how modules are offered. It has become pivotal for academics to make contributions in the field of work through teaching and learning, community engagement, undertaking research activities, being part of staff training activities, performing administrative work, planning lectures, setting and marking of assessments providing feedback on academic performance, among other activities. These responsibilities often generate stress within the working environment. University academics face high stress levels that arise from persistent demands of academic life. This research drew from the confluence of the job demand control-support model and Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory. The research fits within a post-positivist quantitative paradigm whereby survey data was acquired from 250 academics from a university through a convenience sampling technique. A structured questionnaire encompassing the study constructs was used. Before data collection, a pilot study was done by administering the questionnaire to 40 respondents. The demographic variables of respondents namely gender, age, ethnicity and education were analysed using bar graphs and pie charts. The data was tested for normality and heteroscedasticity. The results showed that the assumptions were not violated. The study observed the effect of role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload and time stress on work tension and the influence of work tension on job satisfaction. The reliability analysis showed that all the constructs under investigation yielded an internal consistency reliability that is acceptable. Descriptive statistics were computed to summarise the data into usable information by making use of measures of central tendency. They were presented for each construct. The mean values for each construct was approximately neutral, which implies that many of the respondents neither agreed nor disagreed with the items. Regression and correlation analysis were undertaken to examine the effect of the various study constructs in line with the objectives of the study. The findings of the research depicted that there was a positive association between role conflict (RC), role ambiguity (RA), role overload (RO), time pressure (TP) on work tension (WT). The association between work tension (WT) and job satisfaction (JS) was found to be negative and significant. It was recommended among other things that the university management should put in place strategies to moderate RC, RA, RO, TP to reduce WT and job dissatisfaction.

M. Tech. (Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / It is essential for universities of technology to employ academics who are willing to go beyond the requirements of the job to contribute to the university’s effectiveness. The developing trend in the organisational behaviour literature indicates that quality of work life (QWL) and job satisfaction are attitudes that have a major impact on organisational outcomes such as productivity, job performance, turnover intention and happiness. Although the relationship between the aforementioned constructs is considered important, there is a scarcity of research regarding these constructs in the context of a university of technology (UoT) in South Africa. The primary objective of this study was to determine the relationship between quality of work life, job satisfaction and happiness among academics at a UoT in southern Gauteng, South Africa. A quantitative research approach and a survey-based descriptive method was used to achieve the primary objective. A structured questionnaire was distributed among 300 academic employees at a UoT in southern Gauteng, South Africa. Means and factor analysis were performed to gather insights of employees in terms of factors of QWL, job satisfaction and happiness of employees and to establish the underlying factors of the constructs respectively. Additionally, a correlation analysis was conducted to establish the strength and direction of the association among the constructs. Finally, a regression analysis was performed to determine the predictive relationship between the constructs. The results of this study indicated positive significant correlations between the factors of QWL, job satisfaction and happiness. Regarding model 1, QWL was entered as the independent variable, and job satisfaction as the dependent variable. With reference to model 2, the independent variable was job satisfaction and happiness the dependent variable. Regression analysis indicated positive predictive relationships between the five factors of QWL and job satisfaction and between job satisfaction and happiness. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the workload of academics should be reassessed to reduce pressure, task overload and mental exhaustion that will negatively impact on the QWL. Furthermore, employee involvement in decision making should be introduced to improve academics' job satisfaction. Finally, self-efficacy should be considered to assist academics to have confidence in their abilities to complete their work or achieve their goals.

M. Tech. (Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become as an important topic as it has ramifications for practitioners. Corporate social responsibility can change employees’ approaches, demands and behaviours. Organisations can build a sound relation with its employees by promoting CSR in the organisation and inspiring employees to partake in these activities. The primary objective of the study is to explore the relationship between organisational commitment, job satisfaction as well as explore the relationship between job satisfaction and CSR among employees in a financial institution in Gauteng. A quantitative research approach method was used to achieve the primary objective. A structured questionnaire was issued to 250 respondents. Furthermore, composite means and factor analysis were performed to determine the level of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and corporate social responsibility of employees and to establish the underlying factors of the constructs respectively. Additionally, correlation analysis was conducted to establish the strength and direction of the relationship between the factors. Finally, a regression analysis was performed to confirm the predictive relationship between the study constructs. The findings of this study showed a positive correlation between affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment and JS, and also showed a positive correlation between JS and CSR. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the more committed the financial institution employees, the more they are satisfied with their job in the institution. Furthermore, JS contributed positively to CSR, which implied that the more satisfied the employees of the financial institution, the more they feel being part of the CSR activities of the financial institution.

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M. Tech. (Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The relationship between motivation and job satisfaction at work has been one of the more widely researched areas in the field of management in different professions, but few studies in South Africa have explored these two constructs among academic employees in Higher Education. Although there is a positive relationship between the two constructs, it has been somewhat overlooked by researchers. The objective of this study therefore, is to determine the relationship between motivation and job satisfaction among academic employees at a University. In view of this the researcher seeks to establish whether a there is a relationship between the constructs understudy. The literature study explored the theoretical aspects of motivation and job satisfaction and their relationship. Using a quantitative research approach, the study hypothesised and investigated motivation and job satisfaction in a sample that consisted of 162 academic employees. Two instruments, namely the Work Preference Inventory (WPI) and the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), were used to collect the data and determine the existence of a relationship between motivation and job satisfaction. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 for Windows was used to analyse the data; these results are presented and discussed in detail. The study adopted a Confirmatory Factor Analysis technique using Structural Equation Modelling with a Partial Least Squares (semPLS) approach, to measure the relationship by calculating the Cronbach Alpha, the Composite Reliability (CR) value, the Average Value Extracted (AVE), Goodness of Fit and hypotheses. Findings of this study revealed that a significant positive relationship exists between motivation and job satisfaction with the enjoyment variable and job satisfaction reflecting a positive relationship and the other three variables (Challenge, Compensation and Outward Motivation) showing that a negative but significant relationship exists between these three constructs and job satisfaction. It has been recommended that management should look into putting proper motivation and job satisfaction initiatives into place and should also create opportunities for growth by giving academics challenging assignments and providing training and development strategies that will increase their motivation and job satisfaction.

M. Tech. (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The purpose of this study was to determine the perception of organisational justice on job satisfaction among administrative staff members at a university of technology in South Africa. A critical function of the administrative staff at a university of technology is to ensure that all students and other staff members are assisted as effectively and efficiently as possible. Administrative staff at a university of technology in South Africa needs to be committed and have a high morale to ensure that the vision of the University of Technology is fulfilled. This study promotes the application of the Equity Theory. People prefer to work in an environment that is perceived as just. Employees will experience satisfaction with their job in terms of Equity when the Equity Theory is applied fairly. However, inequity will lead to tension at the workplace. In order for the administrative staff at a university of technology in South Africa to function effectively, it is essential for a university of technology to ensure that their administrative staff is satisfied. In this study, a quantitative approach was undertaken to gain an understanding of the perception of organisational justice and its dimensions on job satisfaction. This involved distributing questionnaires to 200 administrative staff at a university of technology in South Africa. Two primary tests were used to assess the suitability of the data for factor analysis. These tests are the Kaiser-Meyer Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and Bartlett’s test of sphericity. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the correlations among the constructs. A means analysis was conducted to assess the perceptions of the employeesin respect of distributive justice, procedural justice, interactional justice and job satisfaction. Regression analysis was executed to examine whether the independent variables of distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice predict the dependent variable job satisfaction. The Cronbach alpha coefficient test provided an adequate indication of reliability of the instrument. Face/content, construct and convergent validity methods were applied to establish validity of the study. A positive relationship between organisational justice and job satisfaction was found in this study. The administrative staff will be able to improve the job satisfaction levels of other administrative staff by making positive improvements when applying organisational justice to influence the various elements of job satisfaction identified in this study. This will effectively enable administrative staff to meet the challenge of providing improved service. The proper implementation of organisational justice will, ultimately, lead to the organisations’ success, as well as the progression of its employees. Since a university of technology depends on human resources, the organisation is required to assess the current organisational justice practices and create a working environment that stimulates and motivates employees so that their job satisfaction levels increase. The recommendations proposed for this study offer vital information on organisational justice practices that could assist a university of technology to improve the perceptions of administrative staff. Accordingly, the application can improve employees’ low morale resulting from perceived unfairness and injustice, thereby increasing the job satisfaction levels among administrative staff. The findings of the research may generate guidelines for organisational justice practices. Recommendations include a systematic and transparent reward system that recognises employees’ excellent performance and rewards them accordingly. Another recommendation is the creation of a well-structured consultative forum to grant employees an opportunity to provide management with their perceptions of unfair practices. Future research should extend to other sectors within the public sector environment, as well as expanding the research to include several other job satisfactionelements. Further, research using both mediation and moderation to investigate the associations between organisational justice and job satisfaction is recommended.

PhD. (Business Administration, Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Given the inevitable changes and dynamics in the nature of the global market, the recruitment, attraction, employment, motivation and retention of valuable workers has become critical for the continued success of both employees and organisations. Organisations are continuously faced with the dilemma of uncovering and understanding employment packages that are essential in attracting fitting individuals to join their establishment and remain in such organisations for a longer period of time. Similarly, people spend a substantial amount of effort and time searching for organisations and jobs that matches their qualifications and skills; fulfil their specific needs, while meeting their goals and values. This study investigated the influence employee fit dimensions (person-job fit, person-environment fit and person-organisation fit) on job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour and intention to stay. These different conceptualisations of fit have typically been studied independently, but this study responded to calls that proposed for a study that incorporated multiple types of employee fit dimensions in a single study. When deliberating on the different fit concepts, some empirical evidence confirmed the existing conceptual distinctions between the three types of fit such as person-job fit, person-environment fit, and person-organisation fit and how each fit dimension positively or negatively influences job satisfaction and the extent to which job satisfaction influences organisational citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, the study examined the influence of organisational citizenship dimension on intention to stay. This study is embedded in a post-positivist quantitative research paradigm. The positivism paradigm was adopted as its underlying philosophy is grounded on cause-effect relationships amongst constructs within a given theoretical model. Since the study was descriptive in nature, the reliability and validity of data was analysed and correlation analysis and regression analysis were also computed. The exploratory factor analysis was performed using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test and the Bartlett’s test of sphericity in order to examine the appropriateness of data for factor analysis and to establish the interrelationship amongst constructs. Preceding the main study’s data collection process, a pilot survey was undertaken to examine the correctness and accuracy of the questionnaire. The data collected were examined with the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25.0. The KMO values of all the constructs were above 0.80 which is well within the acceptable value of 0.50. Normality tests were performed using the skewness and kurtosis values and the standard deviation values ranged from 0.65311 to 1.05471 indicating that data was normally distributed. To confirm the consistency of the measuring instrument and its items, reliability tests were carried out and the results indicated that all the constructs were within range (0.786 to 0.891), having surpassed the threshold for reliability of 0.70. The results of the consistency of measures demonstrated that the measuring instrument was reliable. The correlation analysis revealed that there is a strong relationship between person-job fit, person-environment fit, person-organisation fit and job satisfaction. The results further disclosed a moderate association between job satisfaction with altruism, courtesy and civic virtue. A negative relationship is reported between job satisfactions and sportsmanship. A weak but positive relationship is shown between job satisfaction and conscientiousness. The results further indicate a moderate relationship between altruism, conscientiousness and intention to stay. The relationship between courtesy, sportsmanship and intention to stay is reportedly weak. The results indicate that a positive relationship exists between civic virtue and intention to stay. Regression analysis was also performed in order to establish the predictive relationships between variables. The regression analysis results indicate that person-job fit, person-environment fit and person-organisation fit are positive predictors of job satisfaction. Further, altruism, courtesy, civic virtue and conscientiousness contributed positively towards predicting job satisfaction. The results further reveal that sportsmanship showed no relationship with job satisfaction and weak predictor of job satisfaction. The results of the regression analysis further revealed that altruism, courtesy, civic virtue and conscientiousness showed no predictive relationship with intention to stay. However, sportsmanship showed strong predictive relationship towards intention to stay. The study proposes both the theoretical and practical contributions to the organisational behaviour and human resource management literature in the form of recommendations. Limitations and implications for further research is alluded to. The outcome of this study advanced a framework of the influence of employee fit dimensions on job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour and intention to stay which may possibly benefit future researchers.

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