The effective practise of managers as coaches can have a positive impact on the performance and development of employees, and provide an organisation with a significant competitive edge. The implementation of manager-coaches in South African organisations is slowly gaining traction, and this study examines this approach in a large financial institution. The primary objective of this research was to identify the roles and skills needed by line managers to become successful performance coaches, as well as the key benefits to the organisation as a whole. Descriptive, qualitative methodology was selected to conduct this study. The population sample was drawn from a large financial services organisation, with approximately 45 000 employees across Africa. The research participants are all line managers working in different business areas, with varying years of experience. A research questionnaire was used to conduct face-to-face, semi structured interviews with respondents. Data collected was then transcribed and analysed by means of content and thematic analysis. The interviews confirmed that the line managers understood performance coaching as a process to address and close the performance gaps of their employees. Some managers equated performance coaching to performance management or mentoring. The manager-coaches identified their primary roles as: to enable performance, motivate and inspire, and provide support. The key skills required were highlighted as communication; listening; interpersonal skills; emotional intelligence; empathy; questioning skills, and goal setting. It emerged that good performers are coached less frequently than poor performers. Some managers have a set frequency such as monthly or weekly, whilst others use it as required, in line with their normal leadership style. This finding is considered to be very important to answer the research question: if managers were conducting performance coaching informally and in an ad hoc fashion, did they believe in the benefits and did they see this as a priority in developing their staff?

This research explores the linkages between HR practices and business sales performance in a retail bank branch network. Whilst previous research in the last two decades has generally supported the notion that when appropriately designed HR practices can help enhance organizational outcomes, there is still ongoing debate regarding how such practices can actually influence business results. In particular, academics have highlighted the importance of the quality of HR implementation, because this can affect employee day-to-day experiences of and reactions to the HR practices which can impact on variance in the business results. In effect, it is crucial for research to take up the employee lens of the implemented practices and their reactions to these, if the HR-performance relationship is to be clearly understood. This thesis contributes to this research agenda by adopting the social exchange lens to shed light on the nature of the aforementioned relationship. A multidisciplinary and multilevel HR-performance model was employed for conducting empirical tests. Specifically, the empirical model was constructed from the literature in three different fields: strategic human resources management, social exchange theory and psychological contract, with the aim of eliciting the nature of employer-employee exchange relationships in the HR process. Subsequently, the model was tested using the data obtained from 1,286 employees in 149 bank branches and analysed so as to assess the multilevel process through which HR practices can influence business sales performance. The empirical results indicate that an organization can improve branch sales performance by paying careful attention to several processes pertaining to the implementation of HR practices. That is, through the psychological contract process, employees, based on their perceptions of the quality of the received practices (i.e. HR level and breach), reciprocate the organization with their discretionary performance, i.e. commitment attitudes and organizational citizenship behaviours and these outcomes have an impact on business results. Moreover, the findings also point to a boundary condition, whereby the HR-performance relationship can be enhanced by stressing the role of the key constituencies responsible for delivering these practices, namely: senior management and the line manager. That is, respectively, through the affective and relational processes, these agents can have an impact on employee perceptions of HR level and whether there has been a breach of the psychological contract, which in turn influence employee reactions in the causal chain. In summary, having applied the social exchange perspective to elicit the employee interaction with the different quality of HR implementation across bank branches, this study has contributed to the literature by identifying the key processes including psychological contract, relational and affective processes through which HR practices can impact on business sales performance, thereby illustrating how an organization’s human resources can serve as the source of sustained business competitive advantage.

This thesis is about the healthcare managers, working at operational levels, defined as the first-line managers. These managers often are given the role and responsibility to integrate improvements into daily work. A stronger development ability of Swedish healthcare requires first-line managers with a developed ability to lead change. Thereby efforts must be made to provide these managers with supportive work conditions when leading and developing organizations. One approach to organizational development is Lean, which refers to a strong improvement culture based upon a supportive and highly engaged leadership as well as a strong customer focus. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to knowledge about and an understanding of the conditions that influence first-line healthcare managers’ abilities to drive improvement work based on Lean. Some of the conditions investigated are; time, receiving support from the own manager, feeling joy in improvement work and being assured about the effects of Lean. The thesis is based on three separate analyses of a web-based survey, which relate to the two research questions. The study was conducted in a Swedish healthcare organization two years after the initiation of Lean. The analyses are presented in three separate papers. The first research question considers; How can an instrument be developed that investigates first-line managers’ views on their role, conditions and ability to drive improvement work based on Lean? The second question is; What can be learned from using the instrument that investigates first-line managers’ views on their role, conditions and ability to drive improvement work based on Lean? A qualitative study based on a hermeneutic, inductive, qualitative research approach was conducted in order to meet the research purpose and answer the research questions. The thesis is mainly based on three papers. In paper 1 it is stated that the assuredness about the effects of Lean was quite high among the managers when the survey was conducted, such as that Lean contributes to a greater patient focus and to the development of an improvement culture. In paper 2 it is noted that the first-line managers view their role as crucial in improvement work based on Lean. Time, support from coworkers, and a clear vision and clear goals were the three conditions they considered to be most important for their ability. The results presented in paper 3 show that to initiate improvement work based on Lean, they ask for own managers who are assured about Lean and include them in discussions. They view their role and responsibility in relation to their coworkers as extensive, for instance increating a culture where problems and mistakes are viewed as possibilities to improve and for encouraging that new work procedures are tested. The findings indicate a need for a deeper understanding of Lean. It is concluded that a thorough understanding of Lean is a main condition for the first-line managers´ ability to drive improvement work based on the approach. Developing a common view of Lean takes time, which is important to emphasize in the practical setting to motivate for a long-term perspective. This development takes highly motivated, assured and persistent leaders with a continuous improvement attitude and a mission to improve healthcare together. There is also an applied research question; How can the use of the instrument contribute to developing first-line managers’ role, conditions, and ability to drive improvement work based on Lean? In its essence, Lean is concerned with improving a system and since the instrument raises questions about relationships between organizational members, it sets focus on the system and calls on a system view. The responsibility for one management level must continuously be set I relation to another, when putting the pieces together in the “improvement puzzle”. Change depends on adjustments in human behavior and the instrument establishes a focus on the people in the processes necessary for development and results. The instrument also provides opportunity and structure to investigate and talk about the soft conditions important for the ability, such as receiving support from the own manager, and feeling inspiration and being assured. The practice of Lean requires changes in attitudes, new habits, new skills in the whole system, meaning in each individual from the executive management to the front-line workers. Thereby self-reflection becomes important, which requires forums for dialogue. It is concluded that such forums can influence first-line healthcare managers’ abilities to drive improvement work based on Lean. In dialogue forums improvement work can be reflected upon and learned from together. / <p>Vid tidpunkten för framläggningen av avhandlingen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete 2 (accepterat), delarbete 3 (inskickat).</p><p>At the time of the defence the following papers were unpublished: paper 2 (accepted), paper 3 (submitted).</p>

Middle-line managers (MLMs) are becoming increasingly important for an organization. Coordination forms (immediate coordination and in-advance coordination) are used in the organization. In this thesis, four variables: organizational type, the degree of decentralization of organization, qualification and uncertainty are analyzed for investigating what are main factors influencing the use of coordination forms in Chinese organizations from MLM’s perspective.The empirical data for the study was gathered by a survey questionnaire, which involved a quota sampling of 158 MLMs in Chinese organizations. The interesting results justify the tendency to use in-advance coordination is greater for organizations that are characterized by a high level of uncertainty, especially learning and goal-setting; and the tendency to use in-advance coordination is greater for organizations that are characterized by a high level of decentralization.

The aim of this study is to understand first line managers experiences of the impact leadership have on the health of employees. The study focuses on leadership behaviours and actions, experienced by first line managers working in elderly care, with either positive or negative outcomes on the employees health. To answer the purpose of the study a qualitative method was used and the data was collected through seven individual interviews. The analyse was conducted using theories of transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership. To enable a broader dimension to the study the concept of health-promotion leadership was also used in the analysis. The first line managers experiences showed that communication, motivation and relationships were important parts of a leadership that could affect the employees health both positive and negative. Overall a leaders communication should be clear and meaningful, a leader should motivate the employees by showing interest in their work and a leader should build a relationship with the employees that are based on equality.

Formål: Å få frem førstelinjelederes oppfatninger om hva som ligger til grunn for måten de utøver sitt lederskap på, og om det helsefremmende aspektet spiller inn i forhold til hvordan de utøver sin personalledelse. Metode: Studien er gjennomført som en singel case studie. Data er innhentet fra et helseforetak med flere driftsenheter i Norge. Det er brukt data- og metodetriangulering. Spørreskjemaer ble sendt ut til 15 førstelinjeledere. Svarene fra disse dannet grunnlaget for intervju med tre førstelinjeledere. Dokumenter som handlingsplaner og funksjonsbeskrivelser ble hentet inn og gransket. Intervjuene ble analysert ved hjelp av innholdsanalyse. Resultater: Tilretteleggelse for et helsefremmende lederskap hadde stor plass i arbeidet som leder. Lederne hadde stort fokus på å tilrettelegge for et godt både fysisk- og psykososialt arbeidsmiljø. De opplevde seg som rollemodeller, og mente at deres lederstil kunne ha betydning både for trivsel og i noen grad produktivitet og måloppnåelse. Valg av lederstil var basert på kunnskaper og erfaring, men krav til aktivitet og effektivitet var også styrende elementer i utøvelsen av lederskapet. I spørreskjemaundersøkelsen svarte nesten alle lederne at de hadde faste treffpunkter med de ansatte, alle svarte at de involverte dem i planlegging og målarbeid. Imidlertid kom det frem at det ikke var like enkelt for alle lederne å ta selvstendige avgjørelser. I dokumentgranskningen kom det frem at overordnede ledere forventet at førstelinjeledere skulle legge til rette for et godt arbeidsmiljø, dette for både å sikre de ansatte gode arbeidsforhold, og for å sikre god kompetanse og kvalitet i utøvelse av arbeidsoppgavene.   Konklusjon: Funnene tyder på at førstelinjelederne var bevisste i forhold til å ha et helsefremmende perspektiv i sitt lederskap. Men det kom også frem at det å sitte som førstelinjeleder, kan sammenlignes med ”å sitte mellom barken og veden”. / Intention: This study aimed to explore the perceptions of first-line managers regarding the reasons they practice leadership, and to determine whether health-promoting aspects are essential to personnel management skills. Method: The study was conducted as a single case study that triangulated both data and methods. Data were collected from a multi-site health trust in Norway. I sent questionnaires to 15 first-line managers, whose responses provided the basis for interviews with three first-line managers. I also collected and examined documents such as action plans and work instructions. I used content analysis to analyze interviews. Results: Arrangements for health-supporting leadership were a major focus in the leaders’ daily work. They also focused on arrangements that could figure importantly in attaining good physical and psychosocial working environments. The leaders considered themselves role models, and they thought that their way of practicing leadership could influence the well-being of their employers as well as worker productivity and goal attainment. While their options for practicing leadership were based primarily on knowledge and experience, demands concerning activity and effectiveness were also important elements of their leadership. Results from the questionnaires showed that almost all first-line managers met regularly with their employers, and all respondents indicated that they involved their employers in the determination of plans and goals. However, making independent decisions did not come easily for all first-line managers. Examination of work instructions showed that their superiors expected first-line managers to emphasize arrangements that would lead to good working environments, thus ensuring good working conditions, and securing professional competence and high quality service provision. Conclusion: Findings indicate that first-line managers want to include a health-promoting aspect in their leadership skills. Interestingly first-line managers feel they -“sit between the devil and the deep sea”-. / <p>ISBN 978-91-85721-83-2</p>

Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This study was driven by a need that was identified within a large telecommunications organisation to establish the Talent Management competencies required of line managers, and to provide HR managers with a measure to constructively, rationally and purposefully manage the Talent Management performance of line managers. In an attempt to address the above research needs, the study set about to 1) identify the Talent Management competencies required by line managers in order to successfully implement the organisation’s Talent Management strategy; 2) formulate these competencies within a model, and 3) determine what the desired Talent Management outcomes are and how these relate to line managers’ Talent Management competencies. The initial part of this study describes the development of a Talent Management competency 360° evaluation questionnaire. This objective was achieved by means of a literature search, followed by the Critical Incidents Technique (CIT) of interviewing. The questionnaire consists of 8 dimensions and 43 items. The sample consisted of 123 leadership development candidates within this organisation. A total of 357 questionnaires were obtained. A comprehensive Talent Management competency model was developed that defines and describes the line manager behaviours required in order to successfully carry out the Talent Management strategies within an organisation. These competencies were evaluated against the outcomes of Job Satisfaction, Affective Commitment and Intention to Quit that the Talent Management competencies are meant to affect. Item analysis and dimensionality analysis were performed on each of the subscales, using SPSS. Thereafter, confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the relevant measurement model data sets, using LISREL. The results indicated in all cases satisfactory measurement model fit. Subsequently, the comprehensive Talent Management competency structural model was tested using LISREL. Reasonable to good model fit was indicated for the structural model. Ten of the 24 stated hypotheses in this study were corroborated. A notable unique result of this research presented itself in the significant positive relationships uncovered between the exogenous latent variable, Talent Management Mindset, and the endogenous latent variables of Attracts and Recruits Talent, Builds and Maintains Relationships, Provides Meaningful and Challenging Work, Remunerates and Rewards Fairly and Manages Work-life Balance. These significant positive relationships provide empirical evidence for the first time of the importance of instilling a Talent Management mindset within the line managers. Additional significant links established between Affective Commitment and Intention to Quit, between Attracts and Recruits Talent and Organisational Job Satisfaction, and between Organisational Job Satisfaction and Intention to Quit corroborates previous research findings.

The current volume of research in the field of High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) is focused on identifying the factors, which influence their effectiveness. The realisation that there is a need to move forwards from the structural aspects of HPWS towards understanding their implementation has led to two new sectors of research. The first sector is investigating the role of actors in implementation using aspects such as cross functionality, shared responsibility and interaction. Another sector is investigating the impact of contextual factors on the implementation of HPWS. This research has combined the two sectors and looks at the implementation of HPWS from the perspectives of both the actors and the environment. This research investigates how the interaction between actors affects the implementation of HPWS. Also how internal and external institutional factors affect this interaction as well as the implementation. This research is qualitatively based on an interpretivist paradigm. Case study research design was used to conduct the research. Two Saudi Arabian banks were selected as case studies. Data was collected using 54 semi-structured interviews and 61 focus group interviews. Data about implementation and the impact of institutional factors was obtained through semi-structured interviews with human resource managers, line managers and senior managers. Data about employee outcomes was obtained using focus group interviews with the employees. This research finds evidence of conflict between the intended and actual outcomes of HPWS in the Saudi banking sector due to institutional pressures. This research contributes and extends the growing body of research on HPWS implementation by including the interaction of actors and accounting for institutional pressures. The finding highlights that the combination of these two factors are contextual institutional conductors and contribute to diversity in the implementation of HPWS practices. The managerial benefit of this research is that its model can help practitioners to improve their social interaction conditions for better performance.

The purpose of this study is to investigate what arguments business management in home services uses to motivate the choice of timeplanning-system with, and what effects this gives first-line executives.  Method: I have used a qualitative approach in this study, with standardized and semi-structured interviews as data-collection method. I interviewed five first-line executives and one operations manager. Two of those were from private sector and three from local government. The operations manager was active in local government. Theory:  empirical data is analyzed using Ritzer's thesis about McDonald's and theories of leadership, which helped thematization and examination of the subject of this study. Result:  The studys result is thematic from Ritzer's McDonaldization-thesis and compared to the effect of the different themes on leadership. The study results show that the timeplanning systems implemented in the business affect the managers of the first line, to the extent that this increases their leadership in the direction of system control, focusing on quantity rather than quality.

The topic of what HRM (Human Resource Management) responsibilities are devolved from the HRM department to line managers has attracted much interest in recent years. We report findings from a study on the devolution of HRM practices in four POCs (Project-Oriented Companies) and argue that although HRM practices are carried out beyond the HRM department, they are also carried out beyond the line. While the literature on devolving HRM responsibilities to line management is burgeoning, the HRM responsibilities of managers beyond the line organization are neglected. We make two contributions to the literature. Firstly, our study reveals that some HRM practices are the domain of the project manager rather than either the line manager or the HRM department. The complex interplay of the roles of the HRM department, line management and project management creates challenges and pitfalls where people are managed across the boundaries of the permanent and temporary organization. We identify a potentially powerful role for the HRM department in both monitoring and guiding the different players from the line and project organizations, and in protecting the well-being of employees whose work traverses these organizational boundaries. Our second contribution is that we map the diversity of practices in different POCs for managing the interplay between the three main parties delivering HRM practices and offer project-orientation as a contextual indicator that contributes to diversity in HRM practices.