This doctoral investigation explores the area of emotional labour in relation to aggressive customers’ behaviours. In more detail, it is focussing on the way employees engage in emotional labour, which can be done either by surface acting or deep acting, when they are interacting with aggressive customers and the consequences that may arise due to this method. The thematic and narrative literature review conducted by the researcher on the initial stages of this thesis provided the basis and foundations of the creation of the initial conceptual framework on managing the negative consequences of surface acting when interacting with aggressive customers and achieving the desired deep acting during those interactions. The researcher follows the constructivist / interpretivist philosophical approach in her study, and adopts the methodological triangulation for conducting her primary research by using a combination of two qualitative methods, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The semi-structured interviews were contacted first, and the focus groups, as an additional method, had the purpose of either validating the results or adding to them accordingly. This study revealed that employees are only engaging in surface acting when they are interacting with aggressive customers. This results in a number of negative consequences. The current research has focussed on how to overcome those negative consequences. It further explored the ways that would engage employees in deep acting during those challenging interactions with aggressive customers and the positive effects. The results were presented in the empirically validated conceptual framework that has been created. The findings of this doctoral investigation have contributed both in theory as well as practice. The theoretical contributions include innovative additions to the existing theoretical gaps in the area of emotional labour in terms of how to overcome the negative consequences of surface acting and enhance the use of deep acting during interactions with aggressive customers. Further on, there are also contributions in the literature of the hospitality industry that has been under-researched in regards to this area. In addition, this research is adding to the existing knowledge of how to handle aggressive customers since it is including important findings on how to handle employees’ emotions so that aggressive customers are being treated more effectively. This also benefits the theory of marketing by offering the opportunity for further researchers to use the current empirically tested theoretical framework in order to test the relationship between engaging in deep acting and eliminating customer dissatisfaction. In terms of practical contributions, this research is adding knowledge to the hospitality industry employees, the management and the industry as a whole. While utilising this framework, both management and employees will be able to offer more genuine emotions to their aggressive customers and therefore be able to achieve the best possible results for the organisations they are working for.

The job diagnostic survey will be used to gather data on job satisfaction and motivation from the chosen data set. This is a structured questionnaire which provides quantitative results. These results wil be used to calculate the motivation potential score for each individual. Statistical methods will then be used to evaluate the results. This information, together with theory such as Hertsberg's 2-factor theory and Hackman and Oldham's job characteristics model will be used to propose ways of enhancing the jobs of graduate South African engineers. This will improve their job satisfaction and motivation allowing companies to attract, retain and gain greater performance from them. / This research has three main purposes. Firstly, it examines the level of job satisfaction and motivation of engineers and actuaries in South Africa and compares this with other groups. Secondly it examines the role of job design in their job satisfaction and motivation. Thirdly, it recommends ways to increase the level of satisfaction and motivation. The research methodology was based on Hackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristics Model (JCM) and accompanying Job Diagnostic Survey. It states that high satisfaction, motivation and effectiveness will result from the presence of five job characteristics as long as certain intervening factors are also present. It was found that Job design, as proposed by the model, does contribute to satisfaction and motivation. Relative to other groups of employees, actuaries and engineers in South Africa are satisfied. Of those surveyed, civil engineers had the highest level of satisfaction and electrical engineers the lowest. Actuaries scored higher than engineers. The results of this research suggest organisations should increase feedback to employees and improve opportunities for growth. Further research should be done on the intervening factors and the effects of demographic differences within the two groups.

The main objective of this research was to investigate, analyse and evaluate attitudes towards electronic human resource management (e-HRM) tools within a large South African financial institution. This was done by developing and validating an instrument to determine e-HRM tool usage, e-HRM tool preference as well as attitudes towards e- HRM. Methodology: a total of 104 HR professionals and line managers completed the e-HRM attitudinal questionnaire. The sample demographics were obtained using analysis of the frequencies of respondents in each of the demographic categories as well as within the tool usage section and attitudinal measurement section. To ascertain the internal consistency of the attitudinal component of the e-HRM measurement instrument and the six attitudinal subscales, the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was calculated for overall scale and corresponding subscales. Due to the low reliability obtained for three of the subscales, the structure of the e-HRM measurement instrument was assessed using exploratory factor analysis. Differences between groups with regard to preference for tool usage were assessed, using Pearson’s Chi-Square tests for both the occupational and the demographic characteristics of respondents. Finally, to explore whether there were any significant differences for biographical and occupational demographics and attitude on the measurement instruments, an independent samples ttest was conducted and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. The main finding of the study was that users of e-HRM tools had significantly more positive attitudes towards e-HRM tools than non-users. / (M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology))

Management development is critical for effective job performance and in turn for the success of the organisation. The cost of this development "calls for" an evaluation of the increased performance actually achieved. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a development centre on management "performance" in South Africa. Research on this aspect of the assessment centre technology is lacking. The research was based on the Solomon Four-Group design. A sample of Ill managers at supervisory level was used. The job performance of participating managers was measured prior to attending the centre and three months after attendance. Consistent with the available research findings, the results indicated a statistically significant increase in the critical dimensions measured in the experimental groups. Consequently it was concluded that, in support of the hypothesis posed, the participation in a development centre contributes to an increase in managerial performance. Key terms: development centres; assessment centres; management development; managerial performance; managerial-dimensions; managerial-competencies. / Economics and Management Sciences / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

The objective of this study was to investigate what the critical elements were for an employee performance appraisal system (EPA) to be effective and successful and whether the latter would enhance employee engagement. The study hypothesised that three elements, namely the level of trust in the appraiser, communication by the appraiser and the level of training of the appraiser would be critical to achieve an effective EPA. Effective performance appraisal is known to benefit organisations by helping them measure performance, motivate employees and most commonly help to make HR related administrative decisions, such as promotions and rewards. The study was conducted in a national public entity, which is constituted and mandated in terms of the PPEC Act, No 9 of 1983, to perform cold chain services and also under the APS Act, No.119 of 1990. The organisation studied also delivers inspection and food safety services for perishable products as mandated by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The research adopts a survey approach where self-administered questionnaires were used to gather data from the employees to measure their opinions of the measured elements of the employee performance appraisal (EPA). The surveys were issued to a total of 150 employees within the organisation and a total of 82 usable surveys were returned. The findings of the study revealed that the employees were generally satisfied with the level of competency, training of, and trust in, the appraiser, but there was still work to be done in improving the system and making it more successful and rewarding. Communication by the appraiser was found to be not significantly related to the effectiveness of the current performance appraisal system.

A cultura da Inovação é algo almejado pelas organizações para a melhoria de desempenho e de sua vantagem competitiva. Num ambiente de regulação, onde a inovação é tema obrigatório, caso do setor elétrico por exemplo, passa a ser fundamental o tratamento diferenciado a este processo. No entanto, a inovação deve ser estruturada de forma que as práticas de gestão de pessoas permitam que se crie um ambiente de desenvolvimento organizacional, pois ele é um pilar importante na construção de uma cultura de inovação. A integração entre estes dois processos, portanto, torna-se fundamental e, nesse sentido, este trabalho tem como objetivo geral de Propor a integração dos processos de gestão de pessoas e inovação no Grupo CEEE e, para isso, tratou-se como objetivos específicos em dois artigos, sendo: (i) propor diretrizes para a gestão da inovação do Grupo CEEE a partir da análise das práticas de gestão de pessoas; e (ii) estruturar um programa de reconhecimento e recompensas visando o incentivar o processo de inovação Trata-se de dois estudos de caso, de natureza aplicada qualitativa exploratória, no intuito de levantar o máximo de informações acerca dos temas, tendo como principal contribuição preencher uma lacuna identificada na gestão da inovação da empresa em estudo, mas servindo também como exemplo para as demais empresas do setor de energia. Como resultados deste trabalho, foi possível propor alternativas nos processos de gestão de pessoas visando o desenvolvimento de uma cultura de inovação, além de também, propor uma metodologia visando o reconhecimento e a recompensa no processo de inovação, pilar importante do processo de gestão de pessoas para desenvolver uma cultura de inovação. Uma vez implementada estas propostas, será possível perceber a integração destes dois processos, permitindo a empresa obter ganhos em todas as dimensões da inovação, atendendo ao proposto no objetivo geral. / The culture of innovation is something pursued by organizations to improve performance and competitive advantage. In an environment regulated, where innovation is required subject, in the case of the electricity sector for example, it becomes fundamental differential treatment in this process. However, innovation must be structured so that personnel management practices allow you to create an organizational development environment because it is an important pillar in building a culture of innovation. The integration between these two processes, so it is essential and in this sense, this work has as main objective to propose the integration between the personnel management processes and innovation in CEEE Group and, therefore, treated as specific goals in two articles, namely: (i) personnel management practices in the Innovation Process; and (ii) Recognition and reward the Innovation Process. These are two case studies, exploratory qualitative applied nature, in order to get as much information about the themes with the main contribution to fill a gap identified in the company's innovation management study, but also serving as an example to other companies in the energy sector. As a result of this work, it was possible to propose alternatives in the personnel management process aiming the development of a culture of innovation, and also propose a methodology aiming to recognize and reward the innovation process, important pillar of personnel management process to develop a culture of innovation, Once implemented these proposals, it will be possible to realize the integration of these two processes, enabling the company to obtain gains in all dimensions of innovation, given to the overall objective.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-03-27Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:54:26Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 pinheiro_crms_me_bauru.pdf: 453888 bytes, checksum: d814bdf83fe4d4f390c8a90ab4b11816 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar práticas relativas à gestão de pessoas de forma a contribuir com a implantação de sistemas de gestão ambiental com base na norma ISO 14001, em organizações. Para a realização desta pesquisa adotou-se a pesquisa qualitativa por meio de estudos de caso, onde os instrumentos de coleta de dados, como entrevista e análise de documentação são elaborados a partir da revisão teórica. Os estudos de caso foram realizados em duas empresas do interior do Estado de São Paulo. Uma das empresas é do ramo moveleiro, está localizada no município de Dois Córregos, SP e encontra-se em processo de implantação da norma ISO 14001. A segunda, do ramo de baterias automotivas localizada no município de Bauru, SP, é certificada pela norma ISO 14001 desde 2005. A realização dos estudos de caso permitiu identificar as principais dificuldades encontradas pelas organizações durante o desenvolvimento da gestão ambiental com base na norma ISO 14001, bem como identificar as contribuições da área de gestão de pessoas para minimizar a resistência às mudanças durante o processo de certificação ISO 14001. / The objective of this work is to present practices to the personnel management to contribute with the implantation of environmental management systems in organizations with base in the norm ISO 14001. For the accomplishment of this research the qualitative research was adopted through double case studies, where the instruments of data collection, as interview and documentation analysis are elaborated starting from the theoretical revision. The case studies were carried out in two companies in the Midwest region of the State of São Paulo. One of the companies is a furniture industry, it is located in the city of Dois Córregos, during ISO 14001 implementation. The other company is the automotive battery industry, it is located in the city of Bauru, it is certified by the norm ISO 14001 since 2005. The accomplishment of the case studies allowed to identify the main difficulties found by the organizations during the development of the environmental management with base in the norm ISO 14001, as well the contributions of the area of personnel management to minimize the resistance to the changes during the certification process ISO 14001.

The thesis which follows is a study of recruiting and developing skilled workers for Hotel Food Service Operations in the Miami area. The aim of the study is to bring to the attention of personnel management the role of recruiting and training in providing the skilled people needed for their operation in the short and long run as well. The study was done as a case study of the medium and large size hotels which have a minimum of 250 units each in the Miami area. However, the study has been generalized where it is possible, and when data permitted. The primary data was collected by the use of the questionnaire survey method composed of key questions about recruiting, training and sources of skilled people, turnover reasons, etc. Eight tables have been constructed, analyzed and interpreted. A personal opinion was mentioned in the interpretation of each table's data. It was found that personnel management should provide a better recruiting and developing procedures in order to attract more qualified people, particularly among the youngsters who are potential skilled workers for the future. It was concluded that the quality of work life, the benefits, and the opportunities for advancement in the food and beverage operations play a significant role in an employee's decision to stay with a particular job, and to acquire the necessary skills.

Este estudo tem como tema a relação entre práticas de gestão de pessoas, modernidade organizacional e inovação disruptiva. Seu objetivo é o de construir um framework, identificando o grau de importância das práticas de gestão de pessoas, práticas de modernidade organizacional e práticas de inovação disruptiva, adotadas pelas empresas reconhecidas pelo Programa Gaúcho da Qualidade e Produtividade (PGQP), através do Prêmio Qualidade RS (18ª edição – ano 2013 e 19ª edição – ano 2014), analisando as relações entre elas. Conta com a aplicação de metodologia quantitativa, com escopo descritivo. A estratégia de pesquisa utilizada é do tipo survey. Os procedimentos metodológicos empregados para a análise dos dados envolveram testes estatísticos univariados e multivariados. Na análise exploratória dos dados, inicialmente foram analisados quanto à existência de outliers, e quanto ao atendimento dos princípios da análise da normalidade, linearidade, multicolinearidade e homocedasticidade (KLINE, 1998; MAROCO, 2010). Também foi utilizada a análise fatorial exploratória. Do ponto de vista científico, foi possível identificar que as práticas de gestão de pessoas possuem correlação positiva com a inovação disruptiva; com a modernidade organizacional e, por fim, a modernidade organizacional tem correlação positiva com a inovação disruptiva. Assim, entende-se que as práticas de gestão de pessoas, afetando positivamente a motivação e satisfação no trabalho, trarão características de modernidade organizacional às empresas, resultando em inovação disruptiva, ou seja, uma inovação que trará vantagens às empresas em termos de maior produtividade e qualidade nos processos, de acordo com os resultados encontrados e com os autores estudados. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2015-06-12T14:04:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Rosecler Maschio Gilioli.pdf: 1791799 bytes, checksum: 2334b89136730a09d22d188486dcc47e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-12T14:04:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Rosecler Maschio Gilioli.pdf: 1791799 bytes, checksum: 2334b89136730a09d22d188486dcc47e (MD5) / This study has as its theme the relationship between people management practices, organizational modernity and disruptive innovation. Its goal is to build a framework, identifying the degree of importance of people management practices, practices of organizational modernity and disruptive innovation practices adopted by companies recognized by the Programa Gaúcho da Qualidade e Produtividade (PGQP), via the Prêmio Qualidade RS (18th Edition – year 2013 and 19th Edition – year 2014), analyzing relations between them. Account with the application of a quantitative methodology, with a descriptive scope. The search strategy used is of type survey methodological procedures employed for data analysis Univariate and multivariate statistical tests involved. Exploratory analysis of data, initial data were analyzed regarding the existence of outliers, and as for the attendance to the principles of analysis of normality, linearity, multicollinearity and homogeneity. From a scientific point of view, it was possible to identify which people management practices have positive correlation with disruptive innovation; with the organizational modernity and, lastly, the organizational modernity has positive correlation with disruptive innovation. Thus, it is understood that people management practices affecting positively the motivation and job satisfaction, will bring features of organizational modernity enterprises, resulting in disruptive innovation, namely, an innovation that will bring advantages to companies in terms of greater productivity and quality procedures, whose findings corraboram with the results found with the authors studied.

Ao considerar a globalização uma aliada à expansão das estratégias das organizações na internacionalização de seus negócios, a expatriação de seus funcionários surge como um recurso de gestão de pessoas e, com isso, oportuniza benefícios para as empresas e para o crescimento profissional e pessoal dos indivíduos. Conceituada como um processo contínuo, onde criação e apropriação de conhecimento fazem parte do cotidiano do indivíduo em contextos organizacionais, o tema aprendizagem organizacional ganha espaço na expatriação. Esta dissertação de mestrado tem por objetivo analisar a contribuição da expatriação para os processos de aprendizagem organizacional, tanto formais quanto informais. A metodologia utilizada foi um estudo de casos múltiplos, o qual permitiu analisar com maior profundidade os resultados. A partir do desenvolvimento do referencial teórico, foi elaborado um roteiro de entrevistas e também foram analisados documentalmente dados das empresas participantes do estudo. As empresas selecionadas são de ramos diferentes de mercado, tais como moveleiro, metalmecânico e calçadista e com importância para a atividade exportadora do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Foram realizadas onze entrevistas com funcionários que já foram expatriados dessas organizações ou que ainda encontram-se em processo de expatriação. O método de análise selecionado foi a análise de conteúdo. Desta forma, pretendeu-se apresentar quais são as contribuições da expatriação para os processos de aprendizagem organizacional, com vistas a propagar os resultados advindos de experiências positivas e negativas de expatriados que retornaram ao país de origem e conseguiram cargos melhores nas organizações ou que ainda encontram-se expatriados; e experiências de como as empresas conseguiram aprimorar suas políticas de gestão de pessoas através dos resultados da expatriação. Como resultados, pode-se observar que a expatriação tende a desencadear processos de aprendizagem organizacional que se encontram embutidos nas atividades do cotidiano do indivíduo. Verificou-se que os funcionários aprenderam a partir de suas experiências de expatriação e ao enfrentaram um problema ou desafio, através da reflexão e interação e colaboração com colegas. Além disso, a expatriação indica uma contribuição na qual o expatriado enxerga a sua própria cultura sob uma nova ótica, toma conhecimento de outras culturas organizacionais e identifica novas formas de lidar com pessoas na equipe do país da empresa subsidiária. Mudanças de perspectiva e de comportamento que fazem os expatriados modificar e repensar suas premissas e entender as consequências das diferenças culturais e reconhecer fracassos também foram identificadas como contribuições da expatriação para os processos de aprendizagem. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-05-11T18:30:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Ana Virginia Alberici Giordani Bertolini.pdf: 1502380 bytes, checksum: 50f317ff4791c39412f8a30eb2ce70b7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-11T18:30:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Ana Virginia Alberici Giordani Bertolini.pdf: 1502380 bytes, checksum: 50f317ff4791c39412f8a30eb2ce70b7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-11 / Allied to the strategy of business expansion of the organizations, considering globalization and the business internationalization, expatriation of employees emerges as a personnel management resource and, therefore, provides benefit for companies and for professional and personal growth of individuals. Conceptualized as an ongoing process where knowledge creation and appropriation are part of the daily life of individuals and organizations, organizational learning gain ground within the expatriation discussions. This dissertation aims to analyze the contribution of expatriation to the processes of organizational learning - formal and informal. The methodology used was the multiple case study, which allowed an in-depth analyze of results. With the development of the theoretical framework, were designed a set of interviews and collected and analyzed data from the companies participants. The selected companies belong to different business sectors such as furniture, metal mechanic and footwear; and have significant importance to the exporting activity of the state of Rio Grande do Sul – Souther Brazil. Were conducted eleven interviews with employees who had already experienced expatriation or employees that still expatriated. After data collection was realized the content analysis of data. Furthermore, the study also aims to present the contributions of expatriation for organizational learning processes, to propagate the proceeds from positive and negative experiences of expatriates. As a result, it can be seen that the expatriation tends to trigger organizational learning processes that are embedded in the individual's daily activities. It was found that employees learned from their expatriation experiences and faced a problem or challenge, through reflection and interaction and collaboration with colleagues. In addition, the expatriation indicates a contribution in which the expatriate sees their own culture in a new perspective, becomes aware of other organizational cultures and identify new ways of dealing with people in the country and the group of the subsidiary. Perspective changes and behavioral changes that make expats modify and rethink their assumptions and understand the consequences of cultural differences and recognize failures were also identified as expatriation contributions to the learning process.