Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-129). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Yale University, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-121).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-165).

Diss. Univ. Potsdam, 2008. / Business and Economics (German Language) (Springer-11775) (GWV).

Diss. Univ. Potsdam, 2008. / Business and Economics (German Language) (Springer-11775) (GWV).

M.Ed. (Education Management) / Communication is without doubt the most important aspect of the daily duties of the school principal. There are seldom less than 20 members on the staff of a school, all reporting directly to the principal on numerous aspects. The principal also engages in holistic conversations with his entire staff. It is therefore imperative that the school principal has a sound knowledge of the art of communication. The concepts "communication", "nonverbal communication" and "diadic conversation" have been examined. The communication problem was attributed to the inability of principals to engage effectively in face-to-face conversations as opposed to instructional staff meetings. To be successful, the principal can no longer depend only on his intuition for effective communication, but must possess a practical grasp of the networks of communication which constitute the educational system and develop the ability to handle the interpersonal conversation with ease. To achieve this aim, the characteristic principles of the interpersonal conversation were investigated. The diadic conversation prescribes to all the rules of communication, inclUding nonverbal communication which plays an important role in any type of conversation. The meaning of the diadic conversation was investigated, as well as the factors that influence effective interpersonal conversation. Certain conditions that have a bearing on the diadic conversation were high-lighted. The effectiveness of the interpersonal communication could be hampered by factors haVing a negative effect on the outcome of the conversation. Factors directly related to the personalities of one or both of the conversationists were studied. In this respect, the following factors were determined: peergroup pressure, assumptions, the inclination to evaluate, and the halo effect. To achieve the aims that the principal has set for himself at the beginning of the interpersonal conversation, it is of the utmost importance that the principal should be aware of these factors that may cause a hinderance to the goals which he wishes to achieve. Only by breaking down these barriers, will a situation of trust develop between the teacher and the principal. The successful interpersonal conversation depends on the management acumen of the principal in this respect. To enable the teacher to develop to the maximum of his ability, the principal should provide the necessary guidance and encouragement. The management functions of the school principal are so numerous and entangled that it is impossible to do a meaningful study thereof within the framework of this ~tudy. Management styles were investigated, and the participative style was identified as the most suitable to the education sitaation. A two-pronged aim can be ascribed to the diadic conversation, namely the influence by the school principal and influence of the principal. Not only should the principal possess the necessary management acumen, but his communication acumen in the following aspects are of vital importance: planning, motivating, decision-making, persuasion, the handling of conflict, complaints and grievances and the creation of an effective atmosphere. The following conclusions were drawn from the investigation into the diadic conversation as an educational managerial technique: maximum trust should exist between the principal and teachers the diadic conversation should be directed at a specific aim the principal should possess the necessary knowledge and prowess to conduct the interpersonal conversation xiii - the necessary communication networks should be established the lack of upward communication has a detrimental effect on the effectiveness of interpersonal communication the school principal should be able to handle the factors and conditions pertaining to the diadic conversation with ease the importance of nonverbal communication should not be underestimated - certain factors have a negative effect on the diadic conversation At the conclusion of this study, the following recommendations were made: - opportunities should be created for the diadic conversation to take place the diadic conversation should be seen as a continuous process principals should endeavour to gain the necessary communication knowledge and skills future leaders in Education should make a thorough study of the art of communication - opportunities should be created for voluntary upward communication guidelines are given for future studies in the field of interpersonal communication

D.Phil. / In spite of developments in the field of Human Resource Development (HRD field) with regard to the development of human resources, the HRD field has no universally accepted evaluation paradigm that could be utilised for evaluating the impact of HRD interventions. This unsatisfactory state of evaluation was brought about, firstly, by the prevailing dominance of the Kirkpatrick approach (1994) towards evaluation and, secondly, by the absence of empirically-tested evaluation models. Although the Kirkpatrick approach to evaluation establishes a logical frame of reference for evaluation, this approach could be considered controversial and restrictive. Furthermore, the taxonomic nature of the Kirkpatrick approach provides limited prospects for explaining the contribution and impact HRD interventions could have on enhanced organisational effectiveness. Consequently, a need exists for an innovative HRD evaluation paradigm that offers satisfactory exposition possibilities with regard to the effectiveness of interventions. Furthermore, the Human Resource Development field is characterised by a lack of terminological congruence particularly with regard to such concepts as evaluation, Human Resource Development and organisational effectiveness. In order to overcome the problem, concepts that are applicable to the study in question, were defined and a few objectives that could be achieved by means of evaluation were explained/highlighted. From further analysis of a variety of evaluation approaches propounded in literature it appears that the conceptualisation of evaluation areas such as reaction, learning and performance could be considered problematic. Furthermore, these evaluation approaches focus mainly on evaluating the impact of a few interventions without determining the contribution of most interventions for enhanced organisational effectiveness. Bearing relation to the aforementioned, important variables that occur on individual, group and organisational levels, and that influence the effectiveness of an intervention, are not considered. The aforementioned, therefore, does not indicate that the evaluation approaches followed could be considered as faulty, but instead that these approaches could be regarded as incomplete. Against the above background, an Evaluation Model has been formulated that could overcome evaluation problems. The model includes five major factors, namely individual, group and organisational factors, the learning environment and the components of the training cycle. It has been hypothesised that these factors mutually interact with each other and transform HRD inputs into specific outputs. These elements also serve as outputs of the HRD function and it has been argued that the factors could be considered as indicative of effective HRD iniatives. The elements of the transformational process serve as one of three key evaluation areas, of which the other two evaluation areas are organisational effectiveness and external factors. The proposed evaluation approach thus pays attention to the impact and interaction between the different elements, the point of departure being that effective transformation (that is, processing HRD inputs to outputs) would only be possible if full functional discharge occurs in all the elements.

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of the research was to improve the use of electronic human resource management in South African businesses by investigating that there is a positive impact when implementing e-HRM on the human resource management function. The research was carried out within a South African business, whose parent business concern is based overseas and has branches operating within South Africa The research was significant as it shaped the researcher’s concern as to whether electronic human resource would be beneficial to a South African business if the business superiors decide to implement e-HRM within their business opinion and what impact it would have. The methodological components that guided the research were a structured questionnaire that was distributed by using a combination of convenience, snowball, and judgemental sampling techniques. Certain aspects highlighted in the literature review were used as the framework for the development of a questionnaire to assess how people perceive the implementation of e-HR on their working environment and if e-HR has helped the business run more efficiently and effectively. Six hypotheses were tested and all were accepted. The potential for generalisations of the findings are that given the potential that e-HRM has for the transformation of human resource, it is reasonable to expect that the sizeable changes required, both in organisation and mindset, are likely to provoke resistance from various end users. What was learned was that HR is often hindered by a multitude of manual, paper based processes and transactions, such as tax, payroll and benefits information, that are costly, prone to errors and time-consuming to manage. This makes it difficult for HR organisations to focus on higher value business in initiatives that may help to drive the profitability and efficiency of the organisations. The implication of the findings about the impact of the implementation of e-HR on the Human Resource Management function was that firms need to figure out how to make technology feasible and industrious, as managers and Human Resource professionals are responsible for redefining how work at their firms or business flow as they need to keep ahead of the information curve and therefore learn how to influence information for business results to be more efficient and effective. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations based on these findings are provided.

International joint ventures are frequently a response to external pressures placed on globally-oriented companies if they are to survive and compete successfully. Within the international context, a critical element to corporate competitiveness is the effective management of human resources. Despite this reality, very little research to date examines the strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) dimension in international joint ventures. In this investigation, strategic HRM refers to communication systems, staffing, reward and recognition, training, and performance appraisal systems which operate within four successful joint venture (JV) firms. All joint ventures have been formed between two international partners, each from a different national culture. Three of the companies are 50/50 ownership arrangements, while the fourth venture has a 60/40 ownership split between the partners. All four ventures are in the manufacturing sector, although indifferent market niches. In each case, managers in the joint ventures focus on total quality management and high employee involvement in order to enhance product quality and innovation, and to create a more satisfying environment in which employees can contribute to the organization. Collectively, these joint ventures provide an interesting window through which to view strategic HRM operations. In addition to the description of Human Resource policy and practice, the research pursues an understanding of the more evasive questions as to how and why HRM operates as it does. Issues which evolved from the research and are important to a fuller comprehension of HRM in international joint ventures include, among others: the management of the JV-parent relationship; how HRM policy and practice supports or limits parent and JV strategic objectives; the select influence which national culture has on HRM; how corporate culture develops in the JV related to parent influences and JV managerial contributions; and finally, how organizational learning operates at both strategic and tactical levels in each venture. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate