Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2004.

Thesis (M.A.). / Written for the Dept. of Political Science. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/01/14). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Princeton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Princeton, Univ., Diss., 2001. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

This thesis focuses on trade union responses to casualisation of labour in the Eastern Cape. In the context of increased globalization, some employers have attempted to achieve high production outputs while saving on operational costs. The ‘flexible firm’ model is used as but one theory to explain increased flexibility in the workplace. In an effort to achieve increasingly flexible firms that may swiftly respond to subsequent challenges such as increased international competition, employers have been seen incorporating more non-standard workers in the form of casual, temporary, part-time, and seasonal workers. This has been a matter of concern for the unions for numerous reasons: some nonstandard workers are subjected to sub-standard working conditions, irregular working hours and little or no benefits; casual work is arranged in such a way that it is virtually impossible for these workers to join a union – a predicament which bears a high possibility of a decline in the typically standard worker–based membership of trade unions; and non-standard workers are often faced with the representation gap predicament which entails that they are not adequately protected by labour legislation. The thesis explores the responses of trade unions to these challenges, and the proposals that they have made in this regard, by focusing on the sectoral dynamics of non-standard labour in the province. It further discusses the regulation of non-standard labour, as poor representation of some non-standard workers bears consequences for the regulation of the practice of non-standard work. The research adopted qualitative research techniques in the form of semi-structured interviews, and used purposive and snowball sampling in accessing relevant data for analysis purposes.

In the era of globalisation, organisations around the world have increasingly become stages of global diversity where multi-cultural workforces interact in teams on a daily basis. International organisations, in particular, are a characteristic display of cross-cultural interaction. The study of organisational culture in a multi-cultural organisational environment is receiving growing attention due to a pressing need to understand and manage the consequences of cross-cultural interaction and achieve better organisational outcomes. However, so far, studies in the area have focused on multinational for-profit organisations and neglected other industry and governance, missing opportunities for broader and richer understanding in the field. The present study covered a case of an internationally federated complex non-profit organisation and captured new insights, thereby contributing to theory and enriching the empirical evidence in the field of study. The results shed light on the importance of industry and governance, and provoked critical questions for further research. The unique features of non-profit and federated governance culture depicted the opportunities for cross-learning with other industries. The study highlighted the distinct formation of conventional cultural dimensions contributing to cultural cohesion and cushioning the federation against excessive fragmentation. The dimensions of institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance depicted interesting behaviours in the study context. These dimensions dominated behaviour and have rendered other dimensions subservient. Cultural behaviours, such as cultural-anchoring and power grouping, transpired as unique findings to the industry and governance, where consensus and fragmentation have played integrative and accommodative roles. Dominant dimensions determined direction and intensity in subservient dimensions irrespective of values espoused by leadership in the subservient dimensions. The line between organisational politics and the ingroup collectivism dimension was blurred, calling for further research in the field of organisational behaviour. Further research in the field could focus on shaping organisational cultural dimensions fit for diverse industry and governance contexts, identifying areas of cross-fertilisation of learning, investigating the significance of dominant versus subservient dimensions in the process of organisational cultural change, and broadening the knowledge base in the field by studying diverse organisational typologies. / Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) / D. B. L.

Submitted by Rafael Santana (rafael.silvasantana@ufpe.br) on 2017-04-10T18:45:23Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) CARLO BENITO Dissertação.pdf: 1352708 bytes, checksum: 72e2db16b5803eaabeed49288dacbfdb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-10T18:45:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) CARLO BENITO Dissertação.pdf: 1352708 bytes, checksum: 72e2db16b5803eaabeed49288dacbfdb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-04 / CAPES / O presente estudo tem como objetivo demonstrar o poder dos trabalhadores do conhecimento e a sua capacidade de reconstruir o movimento sindical tal como em sua origem, ou seja, verdadeiramente emancipatório e contra-hegemônico. As lutas coletivas nos últimos séculos tornaram-se meramente reivindicativas, especialmente com o advento do estado do bem-estar social. A revolução informacional subverteu o paradigma capitalista fordista, e nesse cenário surgiram novos atores que protagonizam o jogo de forças entre o capital e o trabalho. A luta de classes baseada no sindicalismo de caráter obreirista não responde mais aos anseios dos trabalhadores da sociedade pós-fordista, que deverá se adaptar ao novo contexto social para reestabelecer a sua força. Para tanto, o movimento sindical deve agregar não só os trabalhadores do conhecimento, como também o proletariado, os desempregados, não empregáveis atingidos pelo desemprego estrutural, autônomos, bem como os sem teto e os sem terra, enfim, toda a classe-que-vive-do-trabalho.Demonstra também, a partir das evidências empíricas e analíticas produzidas pela Teoria Social Crítica, o impacto do desenvolvimento tecnológico nas relações individuais e coletivas de trabalho, e a ascensão do trabalho imaterial, a condição de mola propulsora da sociedade contemporânea. Para se afastar das ambivalências contidas nas propostas da doutrina clássica, aponta para o resgate do movimento sindical libertário, emancipatório e contra-hegemônico em escala supranacional, o que deve ser potencializado pelo uso das novas tecnologias da informação e comunicação. / The present study aims to demonstrate the explosive power of knowledge workers and their ability to rebuild the labor movement as in its origin, ie, truly emancipatory and counter hegemonic. The collective struggles in recent centuries have become merely protest, especially with the advent of the welfare state. Thus capitalism tamed the rights of social movements ensuring minimum. The information revolution overthrew the capitalist fordist paradigm, and new actors have emerged in this scenario who play the game of power between capital and labor.Class struggle unionism based on the character of workers, no longer responds to the desires of the workers of the post-fordist, which must adapt to new social context to restore his strength. Thus, the trade union movement should not only add knowledge workers, as well as the proletariat, the unemployed, unemployable affected by structural unemployment, autonomous, and the homeless and landless, finally, the whole class-that-lives-of-work.It also shows, from the evidence produced by empirical and analytical critical social theory the impact of technological development in the relations of individual and collective work, and the rise of immaterial labor springboard for the condition of contemporary society. Move away from ambiguities in the proposals of the classical doctrine, points to the rescue of the union movement liberating, emancipatory and counter-hegemonic supranational scale, which should be enhanced by use of new information technologies and communication.