Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on September 19, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.Psych.Ed.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the impact between sensemaking as proposed by Karl Weick and his associates’ school of thought, and ubiquitous electronically mediated informing (UEMI) which is the attention-efficient availability of data, information and electronic computing. At best, Weickian sensemaking theory ignores the potential role of UEMI in sensemaking and at worst, it regards it as more of a hindrance than a help. This dim view of electronic information technology (IT), typified as “spreadsheets on screens”, had merit when first expressed in 1985, but its unchanged position notwithstanding IT’s transformation towards UEMI is increasingly untenable. An interpretation based on the attention-efficiency aspect of Mark Weiser’s vision of ubiquitous computing is harnessed as the foundation to review the progress since 1985 towards true ubiquitous computing and to analyse its increasing impact on sensemaking. Ubiquitous computing (which includes UEMI) still has a long way to go with the accuracy of speech recognition a notable obstacle. Yet, progress has been remarkable, and this thesis employs five current UEMI technologies within a limited aspect of society, namely organisations to evaluate this impact: personal memories, virtual presence, augmented reality, speech recognition and organisational memories. Sensemaking is that which gives meaning to experience. It is a social and on-going process made in retrospect, which seeks congruence with one’s identity, is enactive of an environment which enables further sensemaking, and focuses on the noticing and embellishment of cues to the point where the sense which has been made, is plausible enough to act upon. In addition to these seven process properties sensemaking theory also comprises its substance which involves words, sentences, vocabularies and their mechanics. To make meaning (i.e. sense) a minimum of one cue needs to be linked to one frame. Frames tend to be vocabularies that summarise past experience, whilst cues tend to emerge from current experience. This study introduces four notions. Firstly, attention is viewed as a scarce resource in an economic sense. As an act of attending, sensemaking is viewed as an economic process in which ends (the sense or knowledge made) are achieved with limited means (time and attending capability). Therefore people will pay (i.e. invest) attention to make sense of something only up to a point of plausibility where the perceived cost of paying more attention exceeds the expected benefit of doing so. In line with other economic processes, the productivity of organisational sensemaking may be increased with appropriate organisational structures and procedures, human skills, mindsets and most importantly, any technology which lowers the requirements for scarce attention (i.e. UEMI technologies). Secondly, sensemaking theory’s silence on the consequences of sensemaking is addressed by introducing the notions of risky reality, i.e. those situations where gaps between sensemaking and reality may impact the sensemaker’s welfare or survival. Thirdly, the quality of sensemaking, which determines the size of those gaps, is also addressed. Fourthly, this thesis proposes augmenting words as the building blocks of sensemaking with imagery such as drawings, photos, video footage, animation and augmented reality, both for making sense out of life’s pure duration and for communication. Unlike electronic IT in 1985, current and future UEMI’s inherent attention-efficiency and audio-visual capability enables a higher quality of sensemaking, which is of the essence in situations of risky reality. In addition, UEMI positively impacts all seven process properties of sensemaking, with the highest impact on the properties of plausibility, retrospect, cues and on-going. The impact of sensemaking on UEMI means that the most attention-efficient UEMI technologies will be the most successful in the market. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die impak tussen singewing soos voorgestel deur Karl Weick en sy samewerkers en alomteenwoordige elektronies-gemedieerde informering (AEGI) met ander woorde, die aandag-effektiewe beskikbaarheid van data, informasie en elektroniese rekenaars. Wanneer die teorie oor singewing nie die potensiële rol van AEGI in singewing heeltemal ignoreer nie, word die rol van AEGI as ’n hindernis beskou. Hierdie negatiewe siening van elektroniese rekenaartegnologie, gekenmerk as “spreadsheets on screens”, was wel aanvaarbaar in 1985, maar hierdie onveranderde posisie rakende elektroniese rekenaartegnologie se transformasie na AEGI raak al hoe meer onverdedigbaar. ’n Interpretasie gebaseer op die aandag-effektiewe aspek van Mark Weiser se visie vir alomteenwoordige informasie tegnologie, word ingespan as die fondasie om die vooruitgang vanaf 1985 na alomteenwoordige informasie tegnologie te ondersoek, en die implikasies wat dit vir singewing inhou te hersien. Alomteenwoordige informasie tegnologie (insluitend AEGI) het nog ’n lang pad om te gaan, met akkuraatheid van spraak-herkenning as die grootste struikelblok. Tog is die vooruitgang merkwaardig. Die studie fokus op vyf AEGI tegnologieë binne ’n beperkte deel van die samelewing, naamlik organisasies om die impak op bogenoemde te evalueer: persoonlike herinneringe, virtuele teenwoordigheid, aangevulde werklikheid, spraak-herkenning en organisatoriese geheue. Singewing verskaf betekenis aan ervaring. Dis ’n sosiale en deurlopende proses wat in retrospek uitgevoer word, kongruensie met ’n persoon se identiteit vereis, ’n omgewing tot stand bring wat verder singewing in staat stel, en fokus op waarneming en uitbreiding van leidrade tot die stadium bereik word waar die singewing wat vermag is, geloofwaardig genoeg is om tot aksie oor te gaan. Bo en behalwe die sewe proses eienskappe bestaan die kern van singewingsteorie uit woorde, sinne, woordeskatgroepe en hul meganika. Om betekenis (d.w.s. sin) te maak, moet ten minste een leidraad aan een raamwerk gekoppel word. Raamwerke het die neiging om uit woordeskatgroepe te bestaan wat ervarings van die verlede opsom, terwyl leidrade die neiging het om na vore te kom vanuit huidige ervaring. Die studie steun op vier nuwe idees. Eerstens word aandag as ’n skaars bron beskou in ’n ekonomiese konteks. As ’n optrede van aandagskenking, word singewing gesien as ’n ekonomiese proses waar die einddoel (die sin of kennis wat gemaak word) bereik word met beperkte middele of hulpbronne (die tyd en die vermoë om aandag te skenk). Dus sal mense aandag skenk (d.w.s. belê) om sin te maak van iets slegs tot op ’n punt van geloofwaardigheid, waar die verwagte koste om meer aandag te skenk die verwagte voordeel om dit te doen, oorskry. Soos met ander ekonomiese prosesse, mag die produktiwiteit van organisatoriese singewing vermeerder met die toepaslike organisatoriese strukture en prosedures, menslike vaardighede, ingesteldheid en van kardinale belang, enige tegnologie wat die vereiste vir aandag wat skaars is, verminder (d.w.s. AEGI tegnologieë). Tweedens, word die stilswye van die singewingsteorie rakende die gevolge van singewing aangespreek deur die nuwe konsep van riskante werklikheid – daardie situasies waar die gaping tussen die sin wat gemaak is en die werklikheid die singewer se welvaart wesenlik kan beïnvloed. Derdens, word die kwaliteit van singewing, naamlik dit wat die grootte van sulke gapings bepaal dan ook in hierdie studie aangespreek. Vierdens word daar geargumenteer dat woorde met beelde aangevul kan word as boublokke vir singewing, beide om sin te maak van “life’s pure duration” en van kommunikasie deur middel van tekeninge, foto’s, video-materiaal, animasie en aangevulde werklikheid. Daar word geargumenteer dat anders as elektroniese informasie tegnologie in 1985, die huidige en toekomstige AEGI se inherente aandageffektiwiteit en audio-visuele vermoë, hoër kwaliteit van singewing moontlik maak, wat van groot belang is in riskante werklikheidsituasies. Bogenoemde het dan ook ’n positiewe impak op al sewe eienskappe van singewing, waarvan geloofwaardigheid, retrospek, leidrade en deurlopenheid die grootste is. Dit beteken dus dat die mees aandag-effektiewe alomteenwoordige elektronies-gemedieerde informasie tegnologieë die mees suksesvolle in die mark van die toekoms behoort te wees.

In order for organisations to grow and maintain their competitive advantage, change has become the norm. The healthcare industry and especially private healthcare organisations, is no exception. Organisational change often implies a change in organisational culture. The concept of culture refers to the ways of thinking, values and ideas of things rather than the concrete, objective and more visible part of the organisation. Organisational culture is not to be viewed in isolation as culture and leadership are intertwined. Leaders shape cultures and their fundamental role is affecting others and making changes that increase organisational efficiency and performance. Patient safety, cost-effective care based on the best available evidence and patient satisfaction are top priorities of healthcare organisations, especially intensive care units where critically ill patients are cared for. Alignment of the organisational culture and leadership with a hospital‘s vision, namely to deliver quality patient care, is thus essential. A positivistic research paradigm, with a quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual approach was used to conduct the study. The study explored whether transformational organisational culture, leadership and desired organisational change outcomes existed in private intensive care units in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan and East London areas. It aimed at exploring the relationship between selected demographic variables, culture, leadership and organisational change outcomes. Lastly, the relationship between organisational culture and leadership (independent variables) and organisational change outcomes (dependent variable) was explored. The sample comprised 130 professional nurses who were selected from all the adult intensive care units in the private healthcare industry in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan and East London areas. A structured questionnaire with a Cronbach‘s alpha of more than 0.8 was used to collect data. The empirical results indicated that transformational leadership and a conducive organisational culture existed in the private intensive care units sampled. However, it was found that innovation and innovative care practices could be improved. Care practices were not necessarily aligned with the latest, available innovative techniques, procedures and practices. Reflective practices and in-service training to improve care practices and encourage and promote innovative care practices were not always optimised. Recommendations related to the findings were made for managers, as well as for research, education and practice. Ethical principles were maintained throughout the study.

A difusão da inovação determina o processo pelo qual uma inovação é comunicada, informada por determinados canais, em um espaço de tempo, entre membros de um sistema social. Já a inovação de serviços engloba a importância de diferenciação de serviços para a estratégia das organizações, o que pode deixar a organização em uma posição vantajosa, na busca de diferenciação em produtos ou serviços. A partir da Aprendizagem em nível organizacional as empresas podem tornar-se abertas as mudanças, o que permite o desenvolvimento dos funcionários de forma individual e grupal, formal e informalmente, tornando-se um fator relevante da competitividade das organizações. Esta pesquisa buscou analisar como ocorre a aprendizagem de natureza formal e informal, nos níveis individual e grupal, na difusão da inovação em serviços através da interação dos funcionários de uma instituição financeira com atendimento digital. Assim, este estudo se caracteriza como de caráter qualitativo, com objetivo exploratório e descritivo, tendo adotado como estratégia de pesquisa de estudo de caso. O estudo de caso envolve funcionários de uma instituição financeira, localizada na cidade de Caxias do Sul, na Serra Gaúcha, que possui diferenciação no atendimento, de forma presencial e digital. Foi utilizada a triangulação entre três procedimentos de coleta de dados: entrevistas semiestruturada, observação participante e análise documental. Foram realizadas nove entrevistas, até a obtenção da saturação teórica, a análise de dados foi efetuada com categorização a priori e posteriori. A partir da análise dos achados em campo foi possível propor um esquema conceitual, que considera a aprendizagem formal e informal como complementares, e apresenta a sua interação entre os processos, os grupos que se estabelecem e através disto, como ocorre a difusão da inovação e aprendizagem organizacional, com práticas, normas, aprendizagem individual e grupal. Desse modo, as formas de aprendizagem da organização estão sendo construídas com base na relação existente entre os processos de aprendizagem e difusão da inovação. / The diffusion of innovation determines the process by which an innovation is communicated, informed by certain channels, in a space of time, between members of a social system. Service innovation, on the other hand, encompasses the importance of service differentiation for the organizations strategy, that can leave the organization in an advantageous position in the search for differentiation in products or services. From organizational learning onwards, companies can become open to changes, since this allows the development of employees individually and in groups, both formally and informally, making it a relevant factor in the organizations competitiveness. This research sought to analyze how formal and informal learning at the individual and group levels occur in the diffusion of innovation in services through the employees interaction of a financial institution with digital attendance. Thus, this study is characterized as having a qualitative character, with an exploratory and descriptive objective, having adopted as a case study research strategy. The case study involves employees of a financial institution, located in the city of Caxias do Sul, in the “Serra Gaúcha”, which has differentiation in attendance, face-to-face and digital one. Triangulation was used between three data collection procedures: semi-structured interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis. Nine interviews were carried out, until theoretical saturation was obtained, data analysis was performed with a priori and posteriori categorization. From the analysis of the field findings, it was possible to propose a conceptual scheme, which considers formal and informal learning as complementary, and presents its interaction between the processes, the groups that are established and through this, how occurs the diffusion of innovation and organizational learning, through practices, norms, individual and group learning. Thus, the learning forms of the organization are being built based on the relationship between the processes of learning and diffusion of innovation.

M.A. (Human Resources Management) / The objective of this study was to compare an actual change process within an organisation with the theory related to organisational change. This was done with the aim of determining the fit between theory and actual experience. The actual approach followed with this study was to describe the experience of an organisation which was operating in the fast moving consumer food industry, with regard to change. These experiences of an actual change process were then compared to the theories related to change and the fit between theory and reality was determined. In addition it was attempted to identify the effect that an organisation change process would have on the organisation's effectiveness, considering organisation effectiveness indicators such as organisation values, relationships and actual performance outputs. As no quantitative data was available on the quality of the relationships and the extent of the changes in the organisation values, this study was not used to conclusively prove that the approach to organisation effectiveness described in this dissertation could in fact build shared values and improve relationships. The approach followed was rather to describe the organisation's experiences with regard to change, compare it to the theories related to change and identify the fit between theory and reality. In addition to measuring the fit between theory and reality, a model integrating the various areas of organisation change was also developed to provide a conceptual framework for understanding organisation change. The degree to which the actual change process, as discussed in the case study, managed to produce change in the organisation was measured by determining whether shared organisation values as emerged in natural work teams could be integrated by management to become one set of values for the total company. In addition, specific performance output areas were measured to assess whether actual improvement did in fact occur. These were the areas which were selected as improvement projects by natural work teams as part of the change process. Some new change models were also introduced, based on the theory and actual experiences within the organisation reflected in this study. These models further assisted in conceptually clarifying the wide field of organisation change. The actual results reported from this study seem to indicate that : ~ a high degree of fit exist between the theory related to organisation change and the actual reality experienced by the organisation. the "hard" results reflected in Chapter 5, section 2 seem to indicate that in terms of the task indicator of organisation effectiveness, this change process was in fact successful. to prove that the organisation culture was altered through the emergence of shared values, an actual list of organisation norms and values as provided by the management team using the values which emerged in the natural work teams were provided. Although this indicated that change in the culture and values were in fact achieved, the strength of these changes and the degree of integration of these changes could not be proven. ~ The impact of the change process on relationships could not be proved or disproved. ~ The staff turnover reduced during the change process from a high of 16,8% in 1987/1988 to 5,5% in 1990/1991.

M.Comm. / Change is an ongoing process right around the globe. South Africa is even more subject to change as a result of socio-economic and political transformation. This community tendency affects the South African organisation intensely, and a need exists for comprehensive guidelines for the handling of this transformation process. There are few publications which are relevant to the field of organisation development in South Africa. In this literature study attention was firstly given to the theoretical description of the term organisation development, the works of a number of theorists were examined. In the second place the historical development of the study field of organisation development was researched and the progress over time was reflected. Five approaches to organisation development were identified as they developed chronologically, viz. (a) laboratory training, (b) survey research and feedback, (c) action research (d) quality of working life, and (e) strategic change as the most recent contribution. The conclusion was reached that all five approaches still have merit, and that not one can be summarily eliminated for current usage. In the third place the organisation development process was examined in detail. Theories and models addressing the nature of planned change were examined with a view to establishing a generic model of change. This model comprises four phases which are each discussed in reasonable depth, viz. (a) initialising and contracting, (b) diagnosing, (c) planning and implementation, and (d) evaluation and institutionalisation. In the fourth place the organisational development practitioner was closely examined and an attempt was made to identify the skills, knowledge and qualifications which distinguish successful practitioners from those who achieve less success. The broad South African socio-economic and political environment, with its differing community trends, was investigated in order to draw up a scenario within which the South African organisation development practitioner must function at present. A skills profile as well as basic guidelines for the successful practitioners were finally established. The conclusion was reached that the organisation development practitioner within the South African environment must possess expertise, additional to the identified skills profile of the international practitioner, in order to be effective.

The present dissertation examines the antecedents and consequences of employees’ work-related email (WRE) use after work hours in a sample of administrative assistants and office workers. Several individual, job, and workplace factors were examined as predictors of WRE use after hours. The individual-level factors examined were telepressure (i.e., the urge to respond to digital messages) and conscientiousness. Perceptions of the usefulness of keeping up with WRE for job performance and the degree to which employees felt the use of WRE was relevant to their job were examined as job-related factors. Workplace factors revolved around organizational norms, which may form by employees’ perceptions of their supervisors’ or coworkers’ use of WRE after hours and their perceptions of the extent to which they were expected to keep up with their WRE after hours. All antecedents, except conscientiousness, had a positive relationship with WRE use after hours, and telepressure, job relevance, and perceived usefulness were found to predict unique variance in WRE use after hours. Burnout was examined as a consequence of WRE use after hours. Although positive relationships between WRE use after hours and burnout dimensions were hypothesized, results showed that emotional exhaustion did not significantly relate to WRE use after hours, and cynicism and reduced professional accomplishment had a negative relationship with WRE use after hours. These findings suggest that keeping up with WRE after hours may be a method to manage work demands rather that act as a source of additional work demands. Voluntariness was found to moderate WRE use after hours’ relationships with emotional exhaustion and reduced professional accomplishment, suggesting that if employees feel the use of WRE after hours is non-mandatory, they are likely to experience more positive wellbeing outcomes as a result of keeping up with their WRE after hours. The findings of the present dissertation make a unique contribution to an emerging area of literature, and allow researchers and practitioners to gain better insight into factors that can influence employees’ WRE use after hours, possible consequences of keeping up with WRE, and factors that can influence the relationship between WRE use after hours and burnout.

Magister Commercii - MCom / The use of one form or another of team based work organization (TBWO) management policies and practices by firms with the aim of improving organizational performance and employee morale is well documented in popular literature. Empirical research has however found that the implementation of TBWO management policies and practices such as TB training, TB incentive schemes, participation in decision making, work teams etc. had minimal influence on the performance of firms (Locke and Schweiger, 1979). This research investigated the factors, which account for the effective implementation of TBWO management policies and practices with specific emphasis on three firms in the metal fabrications sector. The reason behind the choice of the three firms in the metal fabrication sector in the Western Cape was that these sites offered a rare opportunity to study the process of the implementation of TBWO. It was a rare opportunity because not many firms have embarked on implementing TBWO in South Africa. It was envisaged that the lessons that emerged from this study would be invaluable for firms that intended implementing workplace change. The level of analysis was the shop floor level at the firms as research has shown that this is the level that plays a critical role in the effectiveness of the TB management policies and practices implemented by the firms. / South Africa

This dissertation consists of three independent studies, which study the nomological network of cultural intelligence (CI)—a relatively new construct within the fields of cross-cultural psychology and organizational psychology. Since the introduction of this construct, CI now has a generally accepted model comprised of four codependent subfactors. In addition, the focus of preliminary research within the field is on understanding the new construct’s correlates and outcomes. Thus, the goals for this dissertation were (a) to provide an additional evaluation of the factor structure of CI and (b) to examine further the correlates and outcomes that should theoretically be included in its nomological network. Specifically the model tests involved a one-factor, three-factor, and four-factor structure. The examined correlates of CI included the Big Five personality traits, core self-evaluation, social self-efficacy, self-monitoring, emotional intelligence, and cross-cultural experience. The examined outcomes also included overall performance, contextual performance, and cultural adaption in relation to CI. Thus, this dissertation has a series of 20 proposed and statistically evaluated hypotheses. The first study in this dissertation contained the summary of the extant CI literature via meta-analytic techniques. The outcomes of focus were significantly relevant to CI, while the CI correlates had more inconclusive results. The second and third studies contained original data collected from a sample of students and adult workers, respectively. In general, the results between these two studies were parallel. The four-factor structure of CI emerged as the best fit to the data, and several correlates and outcomes indicated significant relation to CI. In addition, the tested incremental validity of CI showed significant results emerging in both studies. Lastly, several exploratory analyses indicated the role of CI as a mediator between relevant antecedent and the outcome of cultural adaption, while the data supported the mediator role of CI. The final chapter includes a thorough discussion of practical implications as well as limitation to the research design.