Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Individuals in South Africa are constantly confronted with career related challenges. As a result of high unemployment, affirmative action, the outsourcing of work and other changes in the economy, only the very best employees with relevant skills and qualifications can survive in the contemporary work place. Career self-management therefore cannot be neglected or left to the employer, but should be undertaken by each individual on a continuous basis. An unavoidable question, with which any individual will be confronted at some stage during the process of career management, is: 'Will career management necessarily have a positive effect on job performance?" The essential question of this study is whether there is a statistically significant relation between career self-management and job performance. In an effort to investigate and understand this relation more efficiently, a literature study was first undertaken concerning both the independent variable, namely career self-management, and the dependent variable, namely job performance. This was followed by an empirical investigation. Career self-management may be defined as the process by which individuals take well considered, informed, suitable decisions about their working lives. The process of career self-management consists of different components, namely career exploration, career goal setting, the development of career strategies and career evaluation. Career exploration includes self-exploration as well as exploration of the environment. Self-knowledge focuses on the acquisition of knowledge regarding internal aspects such as values, personality, aptitude, interests, weak points and strong points. Environment exploration, on the other hand, includes the acquisition of knowledge and information about the working environment. Career goal setting is the second component in the career self-management process, and involves the setting of challenging but realistic career goals by the individual for the short, medium and long term. The individual develops career strategies in order to realise career goals. Various types of career strategies may be distinguished, such as competence in the current position, extended involvement at work, development of skills, participation in organisational politics and the utilisation of opportunities by, for example, the creation of networks, self-nomination and visibility. After sufficient time has elapsed for the implementation of the strategies, the individual has to compare the identified goals with achieved goals and adjust the original career plan accordingly. These adjustments will in turn require further career exploration and the process will be repeated. The dependent variable, namely individual job performance, may be defined as the way in which a job or task is executed by an individual, group or organisation. An individual's job performance mainly depends on two aspects, namely ability and motivation (attempt). Ability refers to the individual's potential to successfully complete a task or job. Motivation is an internal driving force which moves an individual and which directs his/her behaviour in such a way that goals may be achieved. The empirical part of the study investigated the statistical relationship between the two constructs on a test sample, consisting of 307 individuals from 5 different sectors (mining sector, real estate sector, health care sector, bank sector, and production sector). The career self-management of these individuals was tested by means of two questionnaires, namely the Career Exploration Survey and the Career Strategies Inventory. Their job performance was measured by the Job Performance Questionnaire, which were handed to their managers/supervisors to complete. Statistical analyses showed that no statistically significant relationship exists between career self-management and job performance. Further statistical analyses also showed that there is no relation between any of the components of career self-management (career exploration, career goal setting, and development of career strategies) and job performance. The research results suggest that career self-management does not necessarily lead to improved job performance, even though an individual may manage his/her career constructively. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Individue in Suid-Afrika word gereeld gekonfronteer met loopbaanverwante uitdagings. Die hoë werkloosheidssyfer, regstellende aksie, uitkontraktering en ander veranderinge in die ekonomie veroorsaak dat slegs die heel beste werknemers met relevante vaardighede en kwalifikasies in vandag se werkplek kan oorleef. Loopbaan-selfbestuur kan dus nie agterweë gelaat word of oorgelaat word aan die organisasie nie, maar behoort deur elke individu op 'n deurlopende basis gedoen te word. 'n Onvermydelike vraag waarmee enige individu op een of ander stadium tydens die loopbaanbestuursproses gekonfronteer sal word, is: "Sal loopbaanbestuur noodwendig 'n positiewe effek op werksprestasie hê?" Hierdie vraag het die essensie van die studie gevorm, naamlik of daar 'n statisties beduidende verband bestaan tussen loopbaan-selfbestuur en werksprestasie. Ten einde hierdie verband beter te kon ondersoek en verstaan, is 'n literatuurstudie eerstens oor beide die onafhanklike veranderlike, loopbaan-selfbestuur, en die afhanklike veranderlike, werksprestasie, gedoen, waarna die empiriese gedeelte van die navorsing gevolg het. Loopbaan-selfbestuur kan gedefinieer word as die proses waartydens individue weldeurdagte, ingeligte, geskikte besluite neem aangaande hulle werksiewens. Die proses van loopbaan-selfbestuur bestaan uit verskeie komponente, naamlik loopbaanverkenning, loopbaandoelwitstelling, die ontwikkeling van loopbaanstrategieë en loopbaanbeoordeling. Loopbaanverkenning sluit self-verkenning sowel as verkenning van die omgewing in. Selfkennis fokus op die verkryging van kennis met betrekking tot interne aspekte soos waardes, persoonlikheid, aanleg, belangstellings, swakpunte en sterkpunte, terwylomgewingsverkenning die verkryging van kennis en informasie oor die werksomgewing insluit. Loopbaandoelwitstelling is die tweede komponent in die loopbaan-selfbestuursproses en behels dat die individu uitdagende, dog realistiese loopbaandoelwitte stel - vir die korttermyn, mediumtermyn sowel as die langtermyn. Ten einde loopbaandoelwitte te laat realiseer, ontwikkel die individu loopbaanstrategieë. Verskeie tipes loopbaanstrategieë kan onderskei word, soos byvoorbeeld bevoegdheid in die huidige pos, uitgebreide werksbetrokkenheid, vaardigheidsontwikkeling, deelname aan organisasiepolitiek en die benutting van geleenthede deur onder andere die vorming van netwerke, selfnominering en sigbaarheid. Nadat voldoende tyd verloop het waartydens die strategieë geïmplementeer kon word, moet die individu die gestelde doelwitte met behaalde doelwitte vergelyk en op grond daarvan aanpassings maak ten opsigte van die aanvanklike loopbaanplan. Hierdie aanpassings sal weer verdere loopbaanverkenning verg en die proses word herhaal. Die afhanklike veranderlike, naamlik individuele werksprestasie, kan gedefinieer word as die wyse waarop In werk of taak gedoen word deur In individu, groep of organisasie. In Individu se werksprestasie is hoofsaaklik afhanklik van twee aspekte, naamlik vermoë en motivering (poging). Vermoë verwys na die individu se potensiaal om In taak of werk suksesvol af te handel. Motivering is In interne dryfkrag wat In individu beweeg en sy/haar gedrag rig sodat doelwitte behaal kan word. Die empiriese gedeelte van die studie het die statistiese verband tussen die twee konstrukte op In steekproef, bestaande uit 307 individue afkomstig van vyf verskillende sektore (mynsektor, eiendomsektor, gesondheidsorgsektor, banksektor, vervaardigingsektor), ondersoek. Hierdie individue se loopbaanselfbestuur is bepaal deur middel van twee vraelyste, naamlik die "Career Exploration Survey" en die "Career Strategies Inventory". Hul werksprestasie is gemeet deur middel van die "Job Performance Questionnaire", wat aan hul bestuurders / toesighouers gegee is om te voltooi. Statistiese analises het getoon dat daar geen statisties beduidende verband bestaan tussen loopbaan-selfbestuur en werksprestasie nie. Verdere statistiese ontledings het ook getoon dat daar geen verband tussen enige van die komponente van loopbaan-selfbestuur (loopbaanverkenning, loopbaandoelwitstelling en ontwikkeling van loopbaanstrategieë) en werksprestasie bestaan nie. Die gevolgtrekking wat op grond van die navorsingsresultate gemaak kan word, is dat, alhoewel 'n individu sy/haar loopbaan konstruktief mag bestuur, dit nie noodwendig tot verbeterde werksprestasie sal lei nie.

Managers spend 75-80% of their time communicating interpersonally. Ironically, communication skills are consistently listed as a major weakness of today's managers. Furthermore, management theorists contend that management students have been mis-educated for the job of managing. This study focuses on the relationship between attitudes toward communication and managerial success. Communication attitude was measured by Hart, Carlson and Eadie's RHETSEN Scale. Success was measured as promotions in relation to years worked and salary in relation to age. The hypothesis was that the Rhetorically Sensitive manager will be most successful. Two three-way analyses of variance were performed to assess this relationship. The results indicated no significant difference in success level for the Rhetorically Sensitive manager. The exploratory research suggested several directions for future research. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are noted.

The purpose of this study was to test for a relationship between locus of control and participation in strategic decision making. The research model included the variables of gender, locus of control, job-work involvement and preference for participative environment as possible influences on team member participation in strategic decision making. Another feature of the model was the proposed three-way interaction effect on member participation. This interaction included member job-work involvement, member preference for participation and leader locus of control.

M.Tech. (Operations Management) / This study entails and discusses Employee Involvement in Total Quality Management initiatives in a South African Bank. Total Quality Management programs are required within business to ensure that organisations seek continuous improvement in their operational capabilities. Total quality management refers to three foremost components, which has to be part of the organisational strategy namely; customer satisfaction, continuous improvement and employee involvement. This study pertains to Total Quality Management, and the link between Total Quality and Employee Involvement as the critical component based on the premise that operational efficiency must start internally, meaning that employee involvement should be the point of departure. In many instances employees find it difficult to adapt to the changes, people naturally find reasons as to why changes will not be successful, more especially if there is no employee involvement at their level and, hence their reluctance to see the benefits objectively will result in the failure of any Total Quality Management initiative. The objective of this study was to determine if TQM principles as prescribed by many authors are currently adopted by the organisation with the focus being Employee Involvement and also to ascertain if the organisational culture lends itself to the implementation of TQM initiatives. Survey questionnaires were used to obtain primary data, and interviews and document reviews were conducted subsequently to validate the results obtained from primary data collection. The literature review indicated the importance of Employee Involvement in the pursuit TQM and the results indicated that employees believed that the principles of TQM and Employee Involvement are relatively well established. With any organisation there is always improvement required and as a fundamental requirement of TQM continuous improvement is a must. Collaboration between employees and management, Empowerment of employees and Education and Training that is job specific are some key areas that were discussed.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management (Public and Development Management) 2016 / The purpose - The study is to examine and understand the employee engagement approaches used in implementing change in CIPC, and how they engagement strategies could be improved to make the change implementation more effective and sustainable. Design, methodology and approach - The study used a qualitative research method, and institutional research case study design was used to gather individual experiences of employees about employee engagement practice pre, during and after the implementation of the merger. The findings – The paper identified that employee engagement approaches supporting fidelity goal orientation have been used in the case study. The change process has been hailed as not successful by the employees. However, proposal for improvement have been identified for consideration for future research. Research implication – the results of the study would add value to the case study organization by improving revitalizing the change management function and processes. It would serve as an empowering value as a source for employees and managers alike to understand the dual responsibility to communicate honesty. The practical implications- change can be owned and made sustainable by all those involved in the decision making and execution processes. This model of change appreciates people as sources of knowledge that contribute to the success of the organization. The model advocates for management to adopt a transparent and open approach to engagement, and disband the authoritative perspective to decision making. / MT 2018

M. Tech. Business Administration / Within the procurement department in Standard Bank a low level of employee engagement is experienced. The aim of this research study is to better understand where to enhance engagement through the application of the social exchange theory model from Saks (2006)

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Master of Business Administration, Business Studies Unit, Durban University of Technology, 2008. / South Africa is fast becoming the powerhouse of the African continent, due to its great technological advances in manufacturing, its rich diverse culture, sound business developments and stable economic policies that have seen the country shed the chains of apartheid that had plagued it for more than half a century. The need has become even greater in current economic times, for businesses to find new and innovative ways to improve production and their bottom line. Major corporations are investing heavily in upgrading the skills of their workforce in order to have a more productive workforce. Government legislation has now made it necessary, that all companies acknowledge the previously disadvantaged race groups and make sure that their workforce is fully represented as per the demographics of the country. The term affirmative action is being used more regularly in South African businesses and employees who do not comply with current legislation that seek to redress past disparities, are slapped with hefty fines. This study investigated the preferred as well as the existing culture and employee commitment levels at a South African company. The research reviewed the various types of culture, how culture is created and ways in which culture can be sustained or changed. Ways to cultivate employee commitment and retain skilled employees are also closely explored in this research study. The key results of the research findings revealed that there is a strong achievement culture prevalent at the company, with a good mix of the other culture types like, role culture, power culture and support culture. The employees at Riverview Paper Mill also strongly prefer an achievement and support type, culture. Employee commitment is very low and employees stay with the company out of necessity. Recommendations to improving the culture and commitment levels are also presented in this study.

The main purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which political deployees employed participatory management in state owned companies in the Republic of Burundi. The identified state owned company was REGIDESO, a water and electricity supply utility in Burundi. The study examined the extent to which REGIDESO employees participate in the decision-making within their organization bodies and to find out whether employees were willing to participate in their organization if they were given an opportunity to do so. Obstacles to employee participation in decision-making within REGIDESO were researched. The premise from which this study was undertaken was that participative management is touted as the best style for managing in contemporary organizations and has often been promoted as the quick cure for poor morale, low performance and productivity. To answer these questions, a structured questionnaire to test REGIDESO employee participation in decision-making was administered to a sample of 62 employees. Only 60 questionnaires were filled and returned. The survey findings revealed that the extent to which REGIDESO employees participate in decision-making was too low because the majority of the respondents said they did not have access to participation and said that senior managers were the ones who make decisions in the company. On willingness to participate, more than 95% of respondents were willing to participate in decision-making processes. Educational qualifications played a big role on the extent of willingness to participate where higher educated employees showed more eagerness. The main barriers to participation identified were that employees did not get feedback when they submitted their suggestions to superiors. The fact that managers in REGIDESO wanted full control of the organization and do not want to support employee involvement was also seen by workers as an obstacle to participation. The third obstacle mentioned by employees was that the organizational structure of the company did not allow employee participation. From the foregoing findings, some recommendations were made that would benefit both management and workers of REGIDESO. The law makers of Burundi were also given some advice. It also seemed necessary that researchers should examine other variables such as financial participation, labour turnover and absenteeism. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

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This thesis investigates the effect of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes on employee job attitudes and behaviours by taking into account the critical role of participation in decision making. The data were obtained from a large British retail organization operating profit sharing (PS) and save-as-you-earn (SAYE) schemes. This is a quantitative study in which the data were gathered through a questionnaire. The unit of analysis is the individuals who responded to the survey, and the study is cross-sectional. To analyse the data a variety of statistical techniques, namely frequency, Pearson correlation, partial correlation, t-test, chi-square (X2), reliability, multiple regression, hierarchical regression, and path analyses, were conducted using SPSS. The sample comprised 1,000 employees subdivided into groups of managerial and non-managerial employees, and participants in schemes and non-participants in schemes. The administration of the questionnaire resulted in 450 returns (430 usable), an overall response rate of 45%. This study addresses four main research questions: (1)What are the effects of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes (financial participation) on the job attitudes of individual employees in a large organization? (2) What are the effects of participation in decision making on employee job attitudes in a large organization? (3) What are the relative effects of financial participation in comparison to the effects of individual participation in decisions? (4) Does the combination of financial participation and participation in decision making produce more favourable effects on employee job attitudes than does participation in decision making on its own? The aim of this study was to construct a more advanced model of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes by reviewing the theoretical and empirical literature and testing two theoretical frameworks, those developed by Long (1978) and Florkowski (1989). After reviewing the employee participation literature and testing Long's and Florkowski's models, it was found that both financial participation and participation in decision making have separate effects on employee job attitudes and behaviours, even if financial participation has a small (not statistically significant) impact on some attitudes and behaviours. Since financial participation shows a negligible effect on some job attitudes, and participation in decision making has a stronger effect on job attitudes than has financial participation, the new model is constructed on the assumption that both (a) the combination of financial participation and participation in decision making and (b) participation in decision making produce favourable effects on employee job attitudes, such as integration, involvement, commitment, satisfaction, motivation, perceived pay equity, and perceived performance-reward contingencies. The test of the new model shows that both (a) the combination of fmancial participation and participation in decision making and (b) participation in decision making produce favourable effects on employee job attitudes and behaviours, but the combination of financial participation and participation in decision making does not produce more favourable effects on employee job attitudes than does participation in decision making on its own. It should be noted that it is not known in this research whether financial participation changed employees' actual influence in decision making, as the study did not collect any data on this question. Therefore, there is the possibility that if the same study were conducted in organizations with financial participation schemes which increase employees' influence in decision making, the effect of the combination of financial participation and participation in decision making might be found to be stronger than that reported in this dissertation.