With South Africa currently experiencing a skills shortage, companies need to take job insecurity, job satisfaction and social support into consideration as part of their retention strategy. There is also tremendous pressure being placed on organisations to improve their performance and to become increasingly competitive, which has resulted in job insecurity becoming a reality in South Africa. A petro-chemical company in South Africa was studied to determine the possible relationships between job insecurity, job satisfaction, social support, tenure, intention to leave and qualifications. The participants (N=l 84) included process controllers, senior process controllers, group leaders/foremen, section leaders and area leaders of various business units of the petro-chemical company. A quantitative study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey design. Self-administered questionnaires were used which included the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), The Turnover Scale, Social Support and the Job Satisfaction Scale. The statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients as well as MANOY A and structural equation modelling. The statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients as well as MANOVA and structural equation modelling. Results indicated there was no correlation between job insecurity and tenure, nor between qualifications and job insecurity. It was concluded that lower job satisfaction resulted in higher job insecurity and that higher job satisfaction resulted in lower levels of intentions to leave. There was a positive correlation between social support and job satisfaction. With these results and the model developed it would be possible for the company to adjust their retention strategy to achieve optimal results. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

With South Africa currently experiencing a skills shortage, companies need to take job insecurity, job satisfaction and social support into consideration as part of their retention strategy. There is also tremendous pressure being placed on organisations to improve their performance and to become increasingly competitive, which has resulted in job insecurity becoming a reality in South Africa. A petro-chemical company in South Africa was studied to determine the possible relationships between job insecurity, job satisfaction, social support, tenure, intention to leave and qualifications. The participants (N=l 84) included process controllers, senior process controllers, group leaders/foremen, section leaders and area leaders of various business units of the petro-chemical company. A quantitative study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey design. Self-administered questionnaires were used which included the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), The Turnover Scale, Social Support and the Job Satisfaction Scale. The statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients as well as MANOY A and structural equation modelling. The statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients as well as MANOVA and structural equation modelling. Results indicated there was no correlation between job insecurity and tenure, nor between qualifications and job insecurity. It was concluded that lower job satisfaction resulted in higher job insecurity and that higher job satisfaction resulted in lower levels of intentions to leave. There was a positive correlation between social support and job satisfaction. With these results and the model developed it would be possible for the company to adjust their retention strategy to achieve optimal results. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

This study investigates the development and implementation of the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) since its conceptualisation in the early 1980s, up to 2005. Premised on the concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the NQF, the purpose of the study is to support improved future development and implementation of the NQF by describing the amalgamation of the different and contradictory views that support the development of an NQF that replaces all existing and divisive education and training structures in South Africa - the NQF discourse. A further purpose of the study is to reveal this NQF discourse as a system in which power is exercised, and then to make recommendations on minimising the negative effects of the power struggles. Based within a Foucauldian theoretical framework, the study includes an extensive review of local and international literature on NQF development and implementation that is used to develop an NQF typology to describe and analyse the various aspects of the NQF. The literature review is followed by a qualitative analysis, using Foucauldian archaeology and genealogy, of an empirical dataset containing 300 interviews (including focus groups) with NQF stakeholders, 90 responses to discussion documents and 72 news articles published between 1995 and 2005. The findings of the study confirm the initial concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the South African NQF. The findings also show that the very same power struggles can have positive effects, but that in the South African NQF discourse, the balance of power is skewed towards the negative. Importantly, it was found that NQF development and implementation cannot be divorced from power, and that rather than attempting to undermine power within the NQF discourse, efforts can be better spent on three focused activities: 1. Inculcating an understanding of the NQF as a social construct. 2. Improving the compatibility between the NQF and the South African context. 3. Bridging the entrenched differences between educationalism and vocationalism. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

The purpose of this study is to explore differences in quality between Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO). Three outcomes measures reported by these plans use different methodologies but possess enough alignment to permit comparison: percent of diabetic patients with last HbA1c > 9.0%, colon cancer screening rate and ER visits per 1,000. These outcomes are the dependent variables (DV). A secondary purpose is to explore differences in quality based on the size of the beneficiary population served, using the same measures. As the Medicare program faces threats to its solvency in coming decades, with 10,000 baby boomers becoming eligible every day, and the ongoing national conversation about healthcare more generally, approaches to Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) are becoming more common. Organizations seeking to identify the types of VBP arrangements in which they should enter have precious little information on the comparative performance of VBP approaches relative to outcomes measures. Different structures create different incentives through the plan design and risk/reward. The convergence or dissipation of the plan incentives at the level of the provider, particularly in primary care, may be a source of variance. This study is retrospective, non-experimental, and uses publicly available data on the performance of Medicare ACO and HMO plans in calendar year 2015, for the identified measures. Using the Donabedian Structure-Process-Outcome framework, this study explores the impact of structure by type of plan and size of population served, relative to the outcomes. Race, average Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) risk score and duration of operations are control variables. The analysis uses multiple hierarchical regression to better understand the relationship between the independent variables (IV) and DVs, after the impact of the control variables (CV). After controls, the IVs did offer some explanation of variation in outcomes. The ACO plans fared better on HbA1c control, while HMO plans had fewer ER visits per 1,000. No discernable difference existed between the HMO and ACO plans with regard to colon cancer screening rate. Serving larger populations led to better performance on all three measures. In general performance was worse on each measure in both models when the percent of not-White patients or average HCC risk score increased. A longer duration of operations also associated to better performance on the outcome measures.

This study investigates the development and implementation of the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) since its conceptualisation in the early 1980s, up to 2005. Premised on the concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the NQF, the purpose of the study is to support improved future development and implementation of the NQF by describing the amalgamation of the different and contradictory views that support the development of an NQF that replaces all existing and divisive education and training structures in South Africa - the NQF discourse. A further purpose of the study is to reveal this NQF discourse as a system in which power is exercised, and then to make recommendations on minimising the negative effects of the power struggles. Based within a Foucauldian theoretical framework, the study includes an extensive review of local and international literature on NQF development and implementation that is used to develop an NQF typology to describe and analyse the various aspects of the NQF. The literature review is followed by a qualitative analysis, using Foucauldian archaeology and genealogy, of an empirical dataset containing 300 interviews (including focus groups) with NQF stakeholders, 90 responses to discussion documents and 72 news articles published between 1995 and 2005. The findings of the study confirm the initial concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the South African NQF. The findings also show that the very same power struggles can have positive effects, but that in the South African NQF discourse, the balance of power is skewed towards the negative. Importantly, it was found that NQF development and implementation cannot be divorced from power, and that rather than attempting to undermine power within the NQF discourse, efforts can be better spent on three focused activities: 1. Inculcating an understanding of the NQF as a social construct. 2. Improving the compatibility between the NQF and the South African context. 3. Bridging the entrenched differences between educationalism and vocationalism. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MARCELO MORAES GARCIA.pdf: 919004 bytes, checksum: 13e70fb80b98146e763b703d8a897331 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-28 / The context in which large Brazilian construction companies are incorporated in the year 2010, with increased real estate financing and government investment, has provided great opportunities in this sector. This study aims to evaluate a group of 10 large builders, focusing on residential or commercial work, according to the criteria of the Management Excellence Model (MEM) of the National Quality Foundation (NQF). A questionnaire was adapted from NFQ and answered by the president or CEO of companies surveyed, as the sole builder of winning the National Quality Award (NQA). The survey results showed that the companies surveyed have a good level of quality management, with companies focusing on business performance works more subtly. Data analysis was performed considering the seven criteria: customers, society, leadership, strategies and plans, people, processes, and finally information and knowledge. The main conclusion of this study is that despite the good level of management of the companies surveyed, there is an imbalance of the shares in these companies as to the criteria of MEM, with overvaluation of the criteria procedures, and reduced recovery of actions directed to the criteria society. In comparison with the company winning the NQA, one of the companies showed indicators of high excellence in its management process and may initiate a process of competition to the NQA / O contexto em que as grandes construtoras brasileiras estão inseridas neste ano de 2010, com aumento do financiamento imobiliário e investimentos estatais, tem propiciado grandes oportunidades nesse setor. Esse estudo busca avaliar um grupo de 10 construtoras de grande porte, com foco em obras residenciais ou comerciais, de acordo com os critérios estabelecidos no Modelo de Excelência da Gestão (MEG) da Fundação Nacional da Qualidade (FNQ). Um questionário da FNQ foi adaptado e respondido pelo presidente ou diretor geral das empresas pesquisadas, assim como pela única construtora ganhadora do Prêmio Nacional da Qualidade (PNQ). Os resultados da pesquisa mostraram que as empresas pesquisadas possuem um bom nível de gestão da qualidade, tendo as empresas com foco em obras comerciais desempenho sutilmente superior. A análise dos dados foi realizada considerando-se sete critérios: clientes, sociedade, liderança, estratégias e planos, pessoas, processos e, por fim, informações e conhecimento. A principal conclusão deste estudo é que, apesar do bom nível de gestão das empresas pesquisadas, há um desbalanceamento das ações nessas empresas quanto aos critérios do MEG, havendo supervalorização do critério processos e reduzida valorização das ações voltadas ao critério sociedade. Na comparação com a empresa ganhadora do PNQ, uma das empresas mostrou indicadores de excelência elevados em seu processo de gestão, podendo iniciar um processo de concorrência ao PNQ

This study deals with the extent to which the South African education and training system reflects in principle, perception and practice, the ideal of an integrated national qualifications framework. It examines the uses and meaning of ‘integration’ through a number of lenses. These lenses include policy symbolism and a guiding philosophy for the emerging system; pragmatic and technical considerations; communities of practice; the complementarity of education and training; and curricular integration. In relation to the first two lenses, it is evident that an integrated framework is a powerful symbol of the break from a past system characterised by inequality, unfairness and deliberate mediocrity, to the extent that ‘integration’ has become the underpinning guiding philosophy for a new education and training system. However, such socio-political aspirations tend to place unreasonable demands on the system. The second set of lenses indicate that the ‘comprehensiveness’ of the system could work against the notion of integration, and in South Africa, has led to acute paralysis of the system. The strongest evidence of integration emerges from the last set of lenses namely, the grounded, meaningful practice through principled partnerships, as reflected in the development of sub-frameworks and communities of practice and the necessary collaboration needed for curricular integration and education and training delivery. Thus, it seems, to make integration meaningful, the persuasive logic of innovative, grounded practice, could be enabled and facilitated by less, not more, regulation and could be enhanced by structures that reflect the grounded practice. Copyright 2006, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Blom, JP 2006, The ideal of an integrated national qualifications framework, PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-06192007-123414 / > / Thesis (PhD (Education Management and Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

In this study the role of the educational publisher as an information intermediary is considered. The focus is on the developmental role of the publisher, against the background of the information age the world is entering today. The publishing industry is regarded as both a vehicle for and the product of development, which entails a twofold responsibility: the development of society in general and the development of the industry in particular. This study highlights the role of the publisher in the development of society, and it is argued that the recent changes in the education system and the language policy potentially offer a great challenge to educational publishers in South Africa to help create suitable educational material in order to facilitate the successful implementation of the new curriculum, thereby contributing to the development of South African society as a whole. However, developments since 1994, when the new political dispensation came into effect, have practically halted the development input of publishers in the new education system and created a severe crisis for the educational publishing industry. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Information Science / unrestricted

Please read the abstract in the section, 00front, of this document / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Music / unrestricted

Current literature on teaching research methodology in the social sciences points to the changing nature of our world in terms of its complexity and diversity and how this affects the way in which we search for answers to related problems. New ways of approaching research problems that relate to the demands of practice need to be explored, which is in contrast with the ‘either-or’ world we coach our students for, that is to be either qualitative or quantitative researchers. Also, educational policy reform in South Africa has sought to address the issue of real-life relevance of curricula, and specifically, reformists have turned to proponents of Mode 2 knowledge to inform initiatives for change. This means that tertiary institutions will have to adjust the way in which they deliver education to future generations of South Africans. The aim of this study was to map the content of undergraduate research methodology courses at South African universities and to explore the beliefs held by some academics that inform the way in which these courses are constructed. Critical theory allowed the researcher to search for unequal distributions of power and is defined in this study in its oppressive role, that is, its productive ability to bring about inequalities and human suffering. As some critical social theorists embrace specific, and at times divergent, methodologies, a pluralistic approach, based on Habermas’ idea of the relative legitimacy of all theories and methods, was used to. The study revealed that there is a heavy reliance on the methods that are traditionally linked to the positivist paradigm. It also revealed that alternate paradigms focusing on philosophies that dictate the use of qualitative methods are increasingly included in methodology courses and juxtaposed against or used to supplement positivist approaches to research. As academics may struggle to let go of traditional paradigms, they may find a compromise in presenting both. By acknowledging the limitations of past curricula, academics actively seek to change these discourses, but by doing so they may be instituting new hegemonies. One of the findings of this study is thus that distinctions about the content of research courses are being made on a methodological level instead of also acknowledging the epistemological and pragmatic grounds for making choices. Moreover, it is argued that the consensus achieved regarding the curriculum for a research course is the result of conversations held between academics in an ideal speech situation that excludes other significant voices. The lecturers' dominance over the students is maintained in the dialogical activities that they undertake with colleagues that confirm their position of authority in academic society. Students recognise this authority and consent to it. It is proposed that the way forward for curriculum construction lies in establishing academic communities of practice that should be viewed as the type of university that Habermas would advocate: where academics need to share power and be open to the challenges that they face such as negotiating what is accepted as knowledge. / Thesis (DPhil (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Psychology / unrestricted