M.Phil. (Labour Law and Employment Relations) / South Africa has become an integral part of the ‘global village’ which is characterised inter alia, by industrial and commercial interaction, as well as by substantial competitiveness. Business organisations in South Africa should concomitantly pursue means to become more efficient and productive in order to avoid being overwhelmed by products and services from other countries at competitive prices and better quality. Some of the competitive disadvantages include cooperation in labour-employer relations, scarce skills, skills outflow, hiring and firing practices, employment rules and trade union contributions to productivity. It is also generally understood that the successful integration of these factors is dependant, almost exclusively, on effective leadership. However, it has become clear from a considerable body of scientific knowledge that organisational leaders are the agents that integrate all the forces at play in these organisations, and ultimately ensure its competitiveness, sustainability and survival. Whereas it is obvious that the Solidarity Trade Union is a unique organisation even within a business environment of active trade unionism, it is projected that the application of Hersey and Blanchard’s approach suggests that it will necessarily require a unique form or style of leadership, in order to be successful within the context of its unique strategic imperatives, whilst being a competitive trade union. The main objective of this study was to evaluate Solidarity’s current leadership styles, in order to determine whether it is effective to render the required services to its members. Hence, an evaluation of the readiness levels of Solidarity’s followers was undertaken to establish whether the current leadership styles of the executive management is in accordance with the readiness and requirements of its followers. This study therefore attempted to identify an appropriate leadership model for the evaluation of employees’ readiness within Solidarity. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, known as triangulation, was used to enable the researcher to cross-check the findings and increase the validity and reliability of the findings. Face-to-face semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with respondents and a self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect data from members of the Executive Committee and National Executive of Solidarity. Documents were reviewed, as a source of secondary data, to obtain information regarding the historical background of Solidarity in terms of decisions made within the managerial structure and the nature of the organisation.

This study is concerned with the particular role of the teacher as a leader of pupils in a class, a legislated requirement for teachers in South Africa since 1996. Literature and research have focussed attention regarding leadership in education on the principal, school governing body and school management team, and more recently distributed leadership in schools. This study, in contrast, seeks to concentrate on the leadership of teachers as they teach classes of pupils. A review of the current leadership literature applicable, in my view, to the practice of leadership in schools, provided the opportunity for the development of a theoretical framing for the study around the categories of leaders knowing, doing, being and relating. Teachers from eight Section 21 (state-aided, previously advantaged and currently well-resourced) schools in the greater Ethekweni region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa were selected for the study. They were observed in their teaching and interviewed to interrogate their understanding and performance as leaders, and to establish how and why leadership occurred or did not occur. Sampling for the four teachers who were observed in their teaching was purposive to establish levels of understanding, and enactment of leadership amongst advantaged teachers teaching in well resourced schools. These teachers were recommended for selection for this study by their principals, as teachers who had previously – in the opinion of the principals, evidenced leadership in their teaching. Forty three other teachers were interviewed in focus groups and film stimulus focus groups to view, consider and comment on teacher leadership behaviours in selected feature films – providing a vehicle for identifying how leadership occurs in teachers’ classes and what it is that teachers understand about leadership. Insights into the reason for teachers exercising leadership in a class were gained from consideration of the character and the competence of teachers, the circumstances under which leadership occurs and the nature of ‘called’ leaders with a sense of identity. The occurrences that caused the teachers to lead without any apparent training for leadership are examined in the light of the fact that these were selected teachers from well resourced schools who had all enjoyed growing and educational advantage. Their learning about leadership had been a largely unconscious occurrence in their lives. They did not know that they knew about leadership in teaching. The study firstly provides explanation of the phenomenon of leadership occurrence and understanding by teachers, who deny training in leadership and are not even aware of policy dictating that role for teachers insight and secondly, a new understanding of the relevant nature of the leadership practised by the teachers observed, and finally presents argument on the symbiotic nature of teaching and leading. This develops the thesis of the study; when teachers teach, they lead – to teach is to lead. It is recognised that the majority of teachers in South Africa will not have enjoyed the advantaged developmental experiences of the fortunate teachers in this study. Using the insights gained from this study, development of leadership in all teachers becomes a possibility. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

The purpose of the research is to examine the effects that Apartheid had/has on the shaping of leadership styles of South African political leaders from all political affiliations and different backgrounds. The research phenemenon and tentative hypothesis is that these leaders were influenced in vastly different ways according to their positions as either advantaged, disadvantaged or unaffected by the system of Apartheid. The study will examine how these different experiences under the system of Apartheid shaped current leadership styles. / The system of apartheid, caused different life experiences for South Africans, and can be seen as a defining moment in the development of South Africa, its leaders and citizens. This study investigated how these different life experiences under apartheid influenced leadership styles of South African political leaders. After completion of a literature review, semi structured life history interviews were conducted with a representative sample of members of the South African Parliament, to generate qualitative data for analysis. Content analysis was applied to this data to generate a basis from which valid and reliable conclusions and recommendations were made. The research found support in both the literature review and qualitative life stories data collected for the following propositions: • Leadership is a complex construct, which is composed of many different characteristics and influences. • The life histories of individuals comprise of a combination of unique life experiences and subjective interpretations of those experiences. • Individual life histories influence leadership development. • Apartheid was a time line event that encompassed many different life experiences of individuals within the broad phenomenon, which phenomenon does not necessarily in itself have a significantly 7 homogeneous effect on the shaping of leadership styles. What is a more significant shaper of leadership style is the leader’s experiences in and attitude towards the event or phenomenon. • Life experiences under the phenomenon of apartheid influenced the leadership styles of South African political leaders differently in accordance with their unique life experiences itself, and their subjective interpretations thereof. The recordal of the life stories of South African political leaders presents an opportunity to learn at a broader interface from the experiences of the past, to shape a collective future for a free and democratic South Africa.

Thesis (DTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008. / Public service professionals can no longer afford to be ethnocentric, inward looking, focused on the past, and defensive. They must be forward-looking, globally oriented, innovative, adaptable, and ready to take advantage of opportunities to serve the community more effectively. Public Administration, if it is to be well done, must be aggressive, not a passive enterprise; in the pursuit of public interest (Cooper et al., 1998). Industrial era Public Administrators, characterized by high degrees of centralization and large driven bureaucracies, cannot meet the needs and challenges of the new information era. New kinds of Public Institutions are therefore required which are more flexible and more customer and results oriented. This trend follows what is emerging outside the public sector where organizations are promoting flatter management structures, decentralization of authority and a greater focus on improving quality and customer service. The many decades of dormancy in the administrative and organizational structure of the public sector were reflected in and influenced by the unchanging nature of public service culture (Caiden, 1990). In contrast, there has been a rush for reform during the past 12 years, reflected in new policies, structures, financial management frameworks and service outcomes aimed at enhancing public sector accountability, transparency and efficiency. This, however, has not been accompanied by a vision for a new public sector organizational culture, of more customer driven and business like mentality.

M.Ed. / Change is inevitable. All aspects of life are all undergoing the process of change. Educational institutions are no exception to this phenomenon. The South African new found democracy has brought with it new educational policies through the South African Schools Act, which is in line with the international ways of management in schools. These new legislative policies compel schools to adopt new strategies that are prerequisite for changed and changing school climate. This study intends to find and recommend the success of schools applying the new paradigms of management styles where transformative strategies are enshrined within the leadership density and to give recommendations to the unsuccessful schools that are still logged in the old paradigms of top-down management styles. Through qualitative research, the researcher seeks to uncover the effect of these strategies in the management of schools. Research findings from this study suggest that: In schools where stakeholders sit in think tanks, opportunities are collaborated, there is culture where one mind polishes the other, there is guarantee that novel paradigms can emerge. This is a by-product of liberative management styles.

Doctor Trudy Thomas is a leader that served; as a medical doctor and as a public servant over five decades during and after the apartheid era in South Africa. The aim of this qualitative study was to identify the leadership characteristics that are evident in Doctor Thomas, the former MEC for Health for the Province of the Eastern Cape; as a leader and to explore how they developed over five decades, given her role within healthcare in South Africa. The first requirement of a servant-leader according to Robert Greenleaf (the contemporary pioneer of servant-leadership) (Greenleaf, 1977), is that the leader is a servant first and starts with a desire to serve. Doctor Thomas started her professional life as a medical missionary doctor, a profession that by its nature is serving and ultimately healing, in the poor rural communities of the Eastern Cape. Her leadership grew out of her initial concern for her patients and their communities and by the opportunities that she was presented with to apply her skills to serve. She was able to identify the deeper needs within these communities and was able to envision practical solutions to these problems, enlisting the assistance of others. Throughout her leadership journey she exhibited humility, and many other trademarks of a servant-leader. She did not see herself as a leader, believing rather that it was a privilege to serve and help people. This study was therefore able to conclude that the leadership that Doctor Thomas has exhibited is that of a servant-leader and that her leadership journey was unintentional and grew out of her desire and ability to serve. This thesis consists of three separate yet interrelated sections. Section One, The Academic Case Study is a holistic, biographical academic case study on an individual. The outcomes of this research are presented as an academic paper, which includes a condensed literature review, results and discussion, as well as recommendations for future research. It also presents recommendations regarding the application of servant-leadership in service industries like Healthcare in South Africa. The presentation of the results is predominantly qualitative with some quantitative aspects. Section Two, The Literature Review presents an extensive review of literature that relates to the phenomena of leadership; servant-leadership; leader and leadership development; servant-leadership development through service and finally servant-leadership in South Africa. Other aspects like Ubuntu and Unintentional leadership are examined. The literature review conducted serves as a broad foundation for understanding servant-leadership but does not purely focus on the issues of this individual study. Section Three, The Research Methodology is an outline of the research aim and objectives, and the research paradigm that has been adopted. The discussion also details the research methodology; the case study method; an inductive approach; an intersubjective position; the individual researched; data collection techniques and analysis; objectivity; issues of quality; ethics; and the limitations of this research.

Healthcare is the main contributor to the well-being of the population and the country. Healthcare services ensure that the country has a healthy and productive workforce which influences economic growth. Self-employed healthcare practitioners are key role players in the healthcare system in South Africa. However they are faced with several challenges that affect their relationship with their employees and the service offered in their practises. A lack of leadership skills, professionalism, budget constraints, corruption, increased legislation, medical negligence, poor human resources and poor management are mentioned in this study as part of the challenges facing self-employed healthcare practitioners. Against this background, the primary objective of this study was to establish the level of Servant and Ethical leadership displayed by self-employed healthcare practitioners in both the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, and to investigate whether the dimensions of these leadership styles influence Job satisfaction and Perceived financial performance. In this study a quantitative approach was adopted. A form of purposive sampling called criterion sampling was used to draw the sample for this study. The sample consisted of self-employed healthcare practitioners and their employees in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces. The survey methodology was implemented using self-administered structured questionnaires. A total of 241 questionnaires were deemed usable, and were subjected to statistical analysis. Factor analysis was used to assess the validity of the independent (dimensions of Servant and Ethical leadership) and dependent variables (Job satisfaction and Perceived financial performance). More specifically, factor analysis was utilised to conduct tests of uni-dimensionality and principal components were used as the extraction method to produce an unrotated factor matrix. Concerning validity assessments, only factors with two or more items loading on them were included for further analysis. Items that did not load were discarded and were subsequently excluded from further statistical analysis. In this study, four items intended to measure Job satisfaction all loaded together as expected. Of the six items intended to measure Perceived financial performance, five items loaded together. Only one item did not load onto this factor and was excluded from further analysis. The items measuring the dimensions of Servant leadership, namely Humility, Servanthood, Caring for others and Developing others, loaded onto the respective factors as expected. All items measuring the dimensions of Ethical leadership, namely Integrity, Ethical commitment, Ethical guidance, Fairness and Sustainability, also loaded as expected. The Cronbach‟s alpha coefficients for all variables were greater than 0.7 which provided sufficient evidence of reliability of the scales. Statistical techniques used to analyse the empirical data, which included the descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlations and multiple regression (MRA). T-tests were explained as the method used to determine whether significant differences existed in the mean scores of self-employed healthcare practitioners and their employees for the leadership styles (Servant and Ethical leadership) under investigation. The results of the study show that for the dimensions of Servant leadership, both the healthcare practitioners and their employees returned the highest mean for Caring for others. The majority of self-employed healthcare practitioners agreed that they adopted these dimensions. The majority of employees also agreed that the self-employed healthcare practitioners use these dimensions. Statistically significant differences were found in terms of the mean scores returned for the level of Humility and Caring for others displayed by the self-employed healthcare practitioners. No significant differences were found between the mean scores returned for Servanthood and Developing others for the two sample groups. A significant difference was reported for mean scores returned for the levels of Integrity, Ethical commitment, Ethical guidance, and Fairness. No, significant difference was reported for Sustainability for the two sample groups. The multiple regression analysis (MRA) shows that the dimensions of Servant leadership Developing others and Caring for others had a significant positive influence on Job satisfaction. The MRA results also show a significant positive influence between Fairness, Ethical guidance and Ethical commitment and Job satisfaction. Based on the findings of the study several recommendations were put forward to ensure a Servant and Ethical behaviour among self-employed healthcare practitioners.

The majority of South African public schools are not performing well considering the overall learner success rates in specifically so called disadvantaged schools. Many factors contribute to this situation, however, all education stakeholders contribute in some way to the success or failure of schools. In this regard alumni of disadvantaged schools in South Africa have not played an active role in supporting their alma maters. This research sought to identify the various roles alumni can play in the development of disadvantaged schools. As innovative strategies to the public education crisis in South Africa are required, one such strategy is to involve a neglected stakeholder group such as alumni to share their skills and resources towards improving the different aspects of school development. There are very few examples of functioning alumni associations at previously disadvantaged schools in the Eastern Cape. Sharing information on a study of two selected schools with already established alumni associations could be of value to other schools in the establishment of their own alumni associations in order to support school improvement and development initiatives. Therefore, based on the findings of this study and from evidence in literature, the researcher concludes that alumni associations can play a meaningful role in developing and transforming disadvantaged schools in a young and developing democracy as in the case of South Africa. This study looked at, amongst other aspects, at the roles and contributions that alumni may play in the development of their alma maters and finally offer guidelines in the establishment of alumni associations.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

Includes bibliography. / School effectiveness is a multi-faceted concept. One of the important factors leading to school effectiveness is the type of leadership provided by the principal. Through his/her leadership, the principal must create the conditions under which the staff can function optimally in pursuit of the educational goals of the institution. A very important means of creating these conditions is for the principal to try to match his/her leadership style with the expectations of his/her staff. Failure to do so may lead to frustration and consequently to conditions not conducive to education. The only way for this match to take place is to know what teachers perceive as appropriate leadership styles and under which conditions these will be appropriate. Although much research has been done on effective leadership and leadership styles, they remain very complex issues. Research outside the sphere of educational management coupled with institutionally based research will provide us with a source of information rich enough to try to unravel the complexities of effective leadership. This survey must also be seen in that context.