M.Phil. / In an interview with Harvard Business review Gary Hamel (Allio, 2009) noted: “Management is the single largest constraint on business performance.” Current management models and practices need to be reviewed because managers do not seem to be able to add significant value to their organisations anymore. In 2007 the Hay group conducted a study and showed that middle managers in the United Kingdom cost the economy approximately £220 billion per annum (Paton, 2007). According to a Towers Perrin Global Workforce study (2007) it showed overall employee engagement in organisations across the world was 21% whilst disengaged employees was 38%. The Towers study further showed that managers are playing an enormous role in the statistics above. The present study focuses on the concept of creating a management value chain for management, to ensure consistent application of enabling management practices in order to contribute to the improvement of employee engagement and ultimately organisational performance.

No description available.

Participative management practices between United States parent companies in the maquiladora industry and their Mexico assembly plants were investigated for this study. It was hypothesized that managers of parent maquiladora companies in the United States encouraged greater levels of worker participation than did expatriate managers in Mexican subsidiaries. However, the findings of this study indicate that expatriate managers in a number of the Mexico subsidiaries are currently implementing employee involvement approaches. In some instances, highly participative team-based approaches are being used.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

This research undertakes a theoretical investigation of concepts related to industrial democracy and examines the need for workplace democracy within South Africa's dynamic contemporary context. It looks at the history of labour relations in South Africa as well as current labour relations and new legalisation in order to identify relevant change that has occurred that may facilitate the realisation of a democratic working environment. Labour relations in South Africa have always been conflictual and currently, during South Africa's transition to democracy, they continue to pose many challenges. This dissertation examines these challenges and investigates ways and means of achieving successful and sustainable transformation within the workplace that reflects the broader ideals of an improved quality of life anticipated by a political democracy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

There have been many theories that have examined how leaders can be effective within an organization. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not personality would strengthen or weaken the relationship between the quality of one's relationship with their leader (LMX) and performance outcomes (OCB). Personality did not act as a moderator. In order to test this, 127 participants of both men and women from various organizational and educational backgrounds were surveyed.

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.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main purpose of this paper is to give a theoretical construct of servant-leadership and the understanding thereof based on the life experiences of selected leaders in various organisations, ascertained by means of qualitative research. Servant-leadership as described by Greenleaf (1970) is an emerging value-based leadership style that attempts to enhance personal growth of workers and improve the quality of an organisation. This is achieved through a combination of teamwork and community, personal involvement in decision making and ethical and caring behaviour. The methodology applied, involved qualitative research, where qualitative interviews, as a phenomenological research method in evaluation, were used. The reasons for the choice of the research methodology as well as the procedure that was followed in selecting the participants, the role of the interviewer in relation to the research topic, the participants and the research setting, was also described. The research findings reveal that there are many similarities among various writers regarding qualities· and principles of servant-leaders. In the qualitative study which included one-on-one interviews with eight participants, similar information was revealed. It is recommended that leaders should examine their leadership styles and "grow" the necessary changes to enable a more approachable leadership style where the people's needs are met. In addition servant-leadership should be given greater emphasis at academic level so that the value of the discipline can be understood and applied and lived. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van hierdie referaat is om 'n teoretiese konstruksie van 'servant-leadership' en die begrip daarvan, gebaseer op die lewenservaringe van 'n geselekteerde groep leiers van verskeie organisasies, te verkry. Dit is gedoen by wyse van kwalitatiewe navorsing. 'Servant-leadership' word deur Greenleaf (1970) as 'n waarde-gebaseerde leierskapstyl gesien wat poog om die persoonlike groei van werkers en die gehalte van organisasies te verbeter. Dit word bereik deur 'n kombinasie van spanwerk, gemeenskap en persoonlike betrokkenheid by besluitneming en etiese en empatiese gedrag. Die metodologie wat toegepas is sluit in kwalitatiewe navorsing waartydens kwalitatiewe onderhoude, as fenomenologiese navorsingsmetode gebruik is. Die redes vir hierdie keuse van navorsingsmetodologie, asook die prosedure. wat gevolg is, met die keuse van die deelnemers, die rol van die onderhoudvoerder in verhouding tot die navorsingsonderwerp, die deelnemers en die navorsings opset, was ook uiteengesit. Die navorsing bewys dat daar baie ooreenkomste is onder die verskillende skrywers se sieninge aangaande die kwaliteite en beginsels van 'servant-leadership.' Uit die kwalitatiewe navorsing wat individuele onderhoude met die deelnemers ingesluit het, is dieselfde inligting voortgebring. Dit word aanbeveel dat leiers hul leierskapstyle ondersoek en die nodige veranderings aanbring on 'n meer benaderingsvolle leierskapstyl te ontwikkel wat die behoeftes van mense vervul. 'Servant-leadership' behoort ook onderrig te word by akademiese instellings sodat die waarde van die dissipline verstaan, toegepas en uitgeleef kan word.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 1998. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: For the first time in South Africa's labour relations history, a comprehensive legislative tool (The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995), which has the potential and aim to serve the interests of employers and employees in a different way than traditional collective bargaining has been designed. Leadership by the captains of industry and labour will be necessary in breaking new ground and in making the perceived new framework of relationships work. The change process, the principles of participation, and the development and implementation of new values. will not be easy. cheap or comfortable. Management can respond to the Act by complying to the letter of the law, that is, going technically through the motions required by the Act. In years to come, it would perhaps be more beneficial if they responded to the spirit of the law: a genuine and real involvement of all stakeholders taking co-responsibility for the success of their organisations. "Successful workplace relationships are made by all people inside the workplace and not by the laws created outside the workplace" (lsrae1stam and Marais, 1997). 1bis will require a true transformation of their organisations using employee involvement as a key to organisational transformation. Participative management is a very broad concept and its meaning could range from informing employees in advance before implementing management decisions to giving employees majority control on the organisation's governing body. What then would be legitimate reasons for an organisation to implement participative management? International experience makes it clear that, in order to be effective, prosperous organisation. The need to move beyond adversarialisrn 15 based on the need to escape the selfperpetuating cycle of confrontation and dissatisfaction and lack of co-operation. Participative management is part of the effort to reverse the confrontational trend and achieve a positive spiral of co-operation through joint problem solving and strengthening of organisational resources, shared benefits, mutual understanding. caring, goal creation, keeping of promises and success in goal achievement. Due to the fact that each South African organisation is at a different stage of industrial relations and management culture development, participative management cannott be rushed into practice. South Africa needs to learn from the good and the bad of international experience and adapt these lessons to its own unique labour circumstances. While South African employees have been instumental in achieving democratic rights politically, their long-standing and intense struggle for labour rights and democracy has left a powerful and intense legacy of need for satisfaction of workplace demands!' A Workplace Forum is therefore a participative management mechanism in the form of an employee representative committee which interacts closely with the employer. As is evident in Figure 1, management and trade unions may decide to solve their differences through collective bargaining or through some form of joint problem solving, such as workplace forums. The new structure at workplace level gives workers a voice in managerial decisions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Wet op Arbeidsverhoudinge 66 van 1995 is in werking gestel met die spesifieke doel om vir die eerste keer in die Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis na die belange van die werknemer, werkgewer en georganiseerde arbeid op 'n gebalanseerde wyse om te sien. Die daarstelling van werkplekforums in organisasies is daarop gemik om deelnemende strukture in plek te kry. Die vestiging van deelnemende bestuur in organisasies, sal ongetwyfeld met konflik gepaard gaan, omdat werknemers en werkgewers se behoeftes verskil. Hierdie konflik behoort ten minste nou op 'n geordende wyse deur wetgewing aangespreek te word. "Suksesvolle arbeidsverhoudinge word geskep en handhaaf deur alle belanghebbendes binne die werkplek en beslis nie deur wetgewing buite die organisasie nie" (lsraelstam en Marais, 1997). Dit bly dus ongetwyfeld die verantwoordelikheid van bestuur om deelnemende besluitnemingsmeganisme daar te stel ten einde die transformasieproses in organisasies te bespoedig. Konflik word verder verminder deur groter betrokkenheid in plaas daarvan dat besluite op 'n tipiese burokraties-outoritere wyse geneem word. Deelnemende besluitneming kan lei tot beter funksionering van die organisasie omdat besluite deur 'n groep beter is as enkelbesluite. 'n Werkplekforum kan alleenlik doeltreffend funksioneer mits opregte deelnemende bestuur dien as vertrekpunte. Werkplek forums moet as platvorms gebruik word waar toepaslike inligting, sienswyse, probleme en oplossings oop en eerlik met almal gedeel word, sodat stabiele doeltreffende verhoudings in die organisasie sal ontstaan. Die sentrale tema van hierdie projek gaan oor die verhouding tussen werkgewer, werknemer en georganiseerde arbeid waar werkplekforums as 'n deelnemende besluitnemingsmeganisme geimplementeer kan word, met die gevolg dat werknemers werklik deur middel van verteenwoordiging met werkgewers kan skakel. Groter verantwoordelikheid en toegewydheid aan die kant van arbeid en bestuur sal verseker dat produktiwiteit en kwaliteit verbeter, ten einde met gemak op die intemasionale markte mee te kan ding.

M. Tech. Human Resources Development / The aim of this research is to establish whether there is a significant relationship between employee engagement and discretionary effort at a hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. It also investigates the factors that relate to employee engagement and discretionary efforts and also to determine how different demographic groups perceive employee engagement and discretionary effort at a hospital in KwaZulu-Natal.