D.Com. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Litt.et Phil. / A conceptual framework for organizational adaptation in independent and self-governing states is developed against the background of problems being experienced by organizations in adapting to a changing environment. organizations functioning in national states usually have historical links with organizations in South Africa. In addition most of the senior and top managers in· these organizations are South African citizens. There is, therefore, a tendency to try and retain familiar structures, strategies, systems and procedures, management styles and criteria against which effectiveness is measured. organizational theory, however, indicates that environmental characteristics have an influence on the development and functioning of organizations. Conditions which favour the development of organizations are general literacy, specialized training, urbanization, a money economy, political freedom, a variety of social and organizational experiences, agricultural sufficiency and geological, geographical or ecological factors. National states lack most of the conditions which are seen as prerequisites for the development of organizations and are dependent on assistance from South Africa.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This research study was conducted in an attempt to explore the experience of multicultural communication within a South African organization. To this end employees, representing both Black and White culture, within a South African organization in the throes of transformation, were accessed. A model of managing diversity, focussing on the personal, interpersonal and organizational levels, was utilized in an attempt to uncover the nature of the experience of multi-cultural communication within Company X. A qualitative research design, and more specifically the case study method was employed in this study. Consistent with the case study approach a number of data sources were accessed. The primary data source consisted of a 3-stage interview process. Other data sources included documentary sources and company publications. By accessing multiple data sources, the researcher attempted to gain a holistic understanding of the experience of multi-cultural communication. It was found that the societal context of our post-Apartheid society exercises a profound influence on multi-cultural communication. Under Apartheid cultural separation was promoted. Diverse peoples thus have little common basis for interaction and view each other with skepticism and distrust. This exercises an effect on the personal and organizational levels of the managing diversity model. Influences at the personal level relate to the cultural paradigms of the individuals which provide the rules governing interactions and affect judgements of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. Issues at the organizational level relate to its structures and policies which are still based on the “white is right ideology”. These issues, in turn, affect the interpersonal level of managing diversity, i.e., where the interactions occur, causing “communication short circuits” within the process of multi-cultural communication. In order to deal with failed multi-cultural communication, the individuals have developed a number of coping strategies. The results of the study indicate that both the organization and its employees share a responsibility for creating an environment that will facilitate effective multi-cultural communication.

M. Tech. (Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences): Vaal University of Technology / Employers invest significant time and resources in employee selection. However, the effectiveness of the selection is not routinely measured. One measure of such effectiveness is employee turnover. Often selection processes do not identify the best applicant for the organisation. Employee selection techniques often lead to employee turnover because the focus is on filling vacancies rather than finding the best candidate. The human resources selection process is important to short-term and long-term success of an organisation because employees are generally regarded as the most valued assets. Selecting the candidates that fit best has an important impact on an organisation’s success. A well-designed and implemented selection process is one that optimises the selection process. Bad selection costs organisations significant money because of the need to reinvest in the selection process and new employee training. Selection is also important in order for an organisation to keep its competitive edge. However, affirmative action, equal employment opportunity and diversity are not to be considered separate actions or initiatives in the selection process as they are part of governmental requirements. As such, the increasing attention on human resource management in small and medium enterprises is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Organisations have realised that the continuance of business will depend on the quality and management of the human resources they possess. Research has shown that positioning the right person in the right position is one of the crucial issues in organisations. If this does not happen, the organisation will not only suffer financial losses, but it may also lose its competitive edge. The dearth of research into selection as a human resource practice in SMEs with particular emphasis on their employee turnover is probably due to the fact that HR practitioners, the managers and or owners of the SMEs, often ignore personnel or human resource issues, such as recruitment and selection, training and development, participation-enhancing work designs, formal dispute resolution and employee counseling. The majority of the empirical studies on human resources management practices (HRMP) in small businesses are still in an explorative stage and mainly descriptive. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the selection processes as a human resource management function on employee turnover in small and medium enterprises in Sunnyside, Pretoria. The research methodology used to conduct the study was a combination of a literature review and an empirical study. A non-probability sampling technique involving judgment and convenience sampling procedures was used. The research instrument was a five-point Likert interval scale, which had forty four items and was pretested with 10 persons who were not related to the research sample. The instrument was revised and a pilot survey of 30 questionnaires was administered to respondents one month prior to the main survey. Sections B, C and D were subjected to reliability analysis and the results indicated that the scale has a high reliability value with Cronbach’s alpha of (0.824), (0.520) and (0.910) for sections B, C and D respectively. The reliability analysis suggested that the scale of items C4, C11 and C12 should be reversed. On doing so the alpha value increased to 0.824. For the main survey, 300 questionnaires were administered of which 210 representing 84% response rate were usable for the data analysis. Furthermore, a descriptive analysis of section A was undertaken. Tables depicting frequencies and percentages were used to describe the demographic information of respondents. Inferential statistics, such as factor analysis and bivariate correlations were undertaken on items in sections B, C and D of the research instrument. The empirical investigation indicated that the effect of selection processes on employee turnover was composed of three underlying factors, namely: factors influencing selection procedures; techniques influencing selection procedures; and aspects effecting employee turnover in SMEs. The selection factors were found to be positively correlated to one another but had a negative correlation with the turnover factor. Significant statistical associations were found to be present between the factors and the size of the organisations, marital status, level of educational qualifications, ethnic classification, the extent of influence of the EEA on selection processes, the belief of what the selection process consists of and the frequency of selection process exercises conducted by the SMEs involved.

From Preface: Although Alfred Marshall's definition of economics has been criticised for its allegedly narrow conception of the subject, it is sometimes overlooked that he considered the study of wealth but one side of the matter. To Marshall, the other and "more important" side of economics was that it also forms "a part of the study of man". The basic thought which underlies the present study is a similar one, namely, that economics is not only concerned with goods and service, but also with men and human action. It is spatially confined to an analysis of the human resources in a region consisting of 21 magisterial districts in the Eastern Cape Province, which cover an area of 72, 462 square kilometres, collectively described here as the Cape Midlands.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of the Education, Training and Development Policy of the Eastern Cape Department of Health: A Case Study of Cacadu District. The Cacadu Health District as with all Districts is the Eastern Cape Department of Health experiences a few challenges with the implementation of the Education, Training and Development Policy. Through observation these problems seem to be stalling progress in the implementation of this policy. The study seeks to investigate whether there can be an improvement in the implementation of the Education, Training and Development Policy. The focus of the study will be the Cacadu Health District. Provision of Education, Training and Development is key to any organisation especially if performance of employees needs to be of high standard. If the performance of employees is of high standard service delivery will improve. Chapter one provided an introduction which gave a brief overview of the study, problem statement, research objectives and questions, preliminary literature review and research methodology to be employed by the study. Chapter two provided a literature review of education, training and development framework and legislative framework for guiding the development and provision of education, training and development in an organisation. The chapter also looked into mentoring and mentoring strategies. Chapter three looked into detail on the training evaluation strategies and what training evaluation entails. It looked at the different approaches that can be used in evaluating training in an organisation. Chapter four provides proposals for the approaches and strategies to improve the implementation of the Education, Training and Development Policy of the Eastern Cape Department of Health in the Cacadu District. The chapter will also provide an analysis of participants’ responses from the questionnaire. Chapter five will give a summary with concluding remarks and recommendations. This chapter came up with conclusions about the study and gave recommendations and way forward on how best to improve the implementation of the education, training and development policy in the Eastern Cape Department of Health: Cacadu District.

Staff, previously employed by Public Technical and Vocation Education and Training (TVET) Colleges, migrated (transferred) to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in terms of Section 197 of the Labour Relations Act. This treatise investigates the legal consequences of the migration of the staff from the fifty (50) TVET Colleges to DHET and focuses on the different categories of staff. The conditions of service of all the categories of staff before migration are compared with that after the migration. Meaningful recommendations are made about negotiations that should take place in the respective bargaining chambers in order to ensure a smooth transition that will prevent unnecessary legal consequences in future. The treatise furthermore analyses the legal consequences of staff, employed by temporary employment services to perform outsourced functions at TVET Colleges, who did not migrate to DHET. The legal implications of these members of staff is debated and evaluated. The treatise also discusses the performance management system and the changes from the integrated quality management system of lecturers to the performance management development system of public servants. TVET Colleges absorb the employment costs (as a separate employer) to ensure that there is growth in the Full Time Equivalents of Ministerial programmes, funded by DHET. The treatise makes meaningful recommendations to the new employer (DHET) with regard to the appointment of staff to conduct ministerial programmes and the overtime remuneration of current staff that willingly agree to work overtime but are not fairly remunerated by DHET. The treatise also considers the second phase of the migration process, namely the development of a blueprint organogram and the development of job descriptions for the different functions identified on the organogram. The process should ideally be followed by a restructuring process where staff are placed in identified functions and must be capacitated to perform the functions adequately. This process will ensure alignment of functions in the fifty TVET Colleges. Finally, the treatise notes the issue of workplace discipline at the TVET College and the definition of the workplace. It offers a proposal to the DHET to negotiate with the unions about defining the workplace as this has a legal consequence for attaining the objective of sound labour relations. It make meaningful recommendations about the overlapping regulatory requirements applicable to the TVET College as a legal person and DHET as an employer.

One of the key recommendations of the Communication Task Team Report which analysed the communication programme of government post 1994 was that of the introduction of a single corporate identity programme for government. It is against this background that various South African government departments (national and provincial) including the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development introduced their corporate identity programmes. Based on the Rotterdam Organisation Identification Test (ROIT) (van Riel et al., 1994), the paper analyses the levels to which employees identify with the corporate identity of the Department of Social Development. The ROIT scale identifies four variables that impact on employee identification which are; employee communication, job satisfaction, corporate culture and perceived organisational prestige.