Thesis (MBA) - Swinburne University of Technology, Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, 2005. / Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration, Swinburne University of Technology, Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, 2005. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-134).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Accounting and Information Systems, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 2, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-77). Also issued in print.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Psychology, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 7, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-84). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): William Gates, Kathryn Kocher. Includes bibliographical references (p. 252-257). Also available online.

This research focussed on the performance of individuals in work teams. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of the team processes which could explain time-associated differences, in the performance outcomes of individuals within work teams, in teams whose members had moderately interdependent tasks and received hybrid pay incentives. The extant literature has a large body of work on teams in general; there also exists a large amount of work on currently understood relationships between task-interdependence, pay incentives, team processes, and performance. However, although task-interdependent work teams with hybrid pay incentives are common in many labour-intensive business environments, the current literature is thin on the identification of specific team processes which link long-term performance differences in comparable teams. Secondly, few studies on work-team performance, in the current literature, incorporate time as a predictor variable. This research investigated the effects of the introduction of performance-based hybrid pay incentives to members of work teams; the research also investigated the nature of explanatory, time-linked team processes which could be associated with performance variances between these work teams. A review of the literature on work team effectiveness, pay incentives and performance in work teams, resulted in hypothesised relationships between the interdependent tasks of work team members, hybrid pay incentives for supervisors, and overall team performance over time. The research focussed on variances between the team processes for good and poor teams to design a work team process and performance model, which could be used to predict performance variance between teams over time in the field. The study was conducted on bulk-cash deposit processing teller work teams. These work teams were located at geographically dispersed processing centres (18 cash centres), where each work team was composed of an average of 6 members, comprising a team supervisor, and a combination of permanently employed tellers (regular tellers) and tellers on renewable fixed term contracts (contract tellers), in a financial services firm. Using a longitudinal research design, the study used mixed methods, incorporating a control group time-series design. Quantitative performance data included the number and accuracy of deposits processed and attendance records; the data also included ratings on behavioural measures for professionalism. Individual and team-level performance related data was collected from over 480 individuals, in monthly buckets over a period of thirty four months (N=16,358 teller data months), during which a pay incentive for performance was introduced as the first intervention (IV1), followed - after eight months - by a second intervention (IV2), which was the allocation of tellers into teams, whose supervisors received hybrid pay incentives. Using a multiple case study approach, qualitative data was collected using semi-structured individual and group interviews incorporating rating scales, for individuals and focus groups, in two phases of data collection periods. The interviews were lagged to findings from analyses performed on the quantitative data collected. Using a combination of repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the quantitative component of the study, emerging-themes analysis for the qualitative component, and structural modelling techniques, 1) as expected, the introduction of pay incentives for regular tellers was associated with statistically significant increases in the volumes of deposits processed per unit time, with a large effect size; 2) the introduction of individual pay incentives for regular tellers was associated with statistically significant increases in overall individual performance, with a medium effect size; 3) the combination of the introduction of individual and hybrid incentives, and the allocation of supervisors to teams, was associated with statistically significant additional increases in the volumes of deposits processed per unit time and accuracy of deposit processing for both regular and contract tellers, within high performing teams; 4) internal team processes (intra-team communication, target-setting and coaching, progress monitoring and feedback) explained the variance in inter-team performance over time; 5) team coordination and target-setting were the intervening variables in the relationship between pay incentives and team performance. A predictive performance model for performance in interdependent work teams with a combination of individual and hybrid pay incentives was developed, based on the quantitative and qualitative findings from this study. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / pagibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Work engagement is defined as “a positive, fulfilling, work related state of mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption” (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2010; Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá, & Bakker, 2002, p. 74). It is therefore critical for organisations to pay careful attention to the effect that total rewards have on engagement to ensure the highest level of work engagement within the organisation. Previous studies have shown that very little research has been conducted in the South African context to examine total reward strategies and how these programmes specifically relate to work engagement. The overall purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between total rewards and work engagement and to further determine which reward category predicts work engagement. The model proposed by Nienaber (2010) includes all the core dimensions under rewards and was therefore used for this study. Total rewards for the purpose of this study include: Base Pay, Performance, Career Management, Contingency Pay, Quality Work Environment, Benefits and Work-Home Integration. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and The Rewards Preferences Questionnaire were administered to a random sample (N = 318) of South African employees in various different divisions and positions within several organisations. The results indicated that Total Rewards explained 14% of the variance within Work Engagement. Furthermore, only Performance and Career Management, and Work- Home Integration were significant predictors of Work Engagement. In relation to the gender and age as moderating variables, it was found that these two constructs did not act as moderators between total rewards and work engagement.

Many organisations are continuously searching for methods which can be used to improve performance. The balanced scorecard is a management system that enables organisations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. When fully deployed, the balanced scorecard transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve centre of an enterprise. A prerequisite for implementing a balanced scorecard is a clear understanding of the organisations vision and strategy. The basis for the vision and the strategy should be the holistic view and the information management receives during systematic strategy work. The research study addresses the integration of South African Airways (SAA) strategy with the performance management system. A comprehensive literature study was performed on performance management and the balanced scorecard. Questionnaires, developed from the literature study, were distributed amongst randomly selected respondents, in order to establish the extent to which South African Airways manages performance. The opinions of the various respondents were compared with the guidelines provided by the literature study in order to identify the best approach of performance measurement to be implemented at South African Airways. The final step of this study entailed the formulation of recommendations. These recommendations are regarded as critical to ensure the successful implementation of a performance management system at South African Airways. The following main recommendations were made: Although the empirical study revealed that South African Airways shares its strategic objectives with its management, it is highly recommended that a balanced scorecard should be used as a measuring approach for performance at South African Airways; Before any organisation can start implementing a balanced scorecard it needs a clear understanding of its vision and strategy. It is the management’s responsibility to define a vision, formulate a strategy and set strategic goals regardless of a balanced scorecard being implemented; The implementation of a balanced scorecard should always be organised as a separate project. Several different procedures describing the building process of a balanced scorecard have been presented. The research shows that, to increase the chance of a successful scorecard implementation, regular feedback must be provided to all employees and managers must hold people accountable for using the system.

The study is about evaluating supervisor performance at Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and the impact it has in the business world in general. The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of supervisors at Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) in the Eastern Cape. The sample size of 43 supervisors working at TPT from different departments like operations, planning, key accounts and procurement participated in the study. The sampled supervisors are between the ages of 20 and 59 years and was composed of females and predominantly males. The data was gathered through a questionnaire that was designed particularly to address the lack of quality of supervisory support at TPT. The response from respondents were tied to themes that were constructed, which are: (a) organisational goals; vision and management competencies; (b) communication; (c) performance cycle-setting of goals; (d) supervisor/supervisee performance conversation; and (e) supervisory development programme. The literature gathered and deliberated on in the literature review emanate from different authors in the form of books, journals and treatises. The empirical results were linked to theories gathered from different authors. Research findings were used to curb the issues identified, which will be beneficial to both TPT and its employees. The recommendations were submitted to the company to look at developing an in-house supervisory programme, capacity building internally and creating platforms for effective communication.