Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / In South Africa when learners are in Grade 11 near the end of their school life, the new, but also difficult, transition into adult life now begins. This critical period of development brings forth an array of new challenges: exercising free will, being independent, an increased focus of self, and the decision on what path is to be taken after school. With these challenges comes the act of motivation to acquire the particular goals and aspirations of Grade 11 learners. The question posed was therefore what exactly motivates the South African Grade 11 learner, and why are they motivated to set and aspire to certain goals? The study investigated the basic psychological needs of Grade 11 learners at secondary schools in the Western Cape, along with its relation to the identification of the goals and aspirations of these learners. The study was quantitative in nature. Grade 11 learners currently enrolled for the 2012 academic year, attending secondary schools in the Metro North Western Cape Education District, were invited to participate in the study. This study investigated the influence of basic psychological needs on goals and aspiration pursuits. The sample consisted of 264 Grade 11 learners and data was collected through the administration of a questionnaire compiled through the combination of two scales: The Aspiration Index, and the Basic Measure of Psychological Needs Scale. The data was analyzed through regression analysis. The results of the study suggest that the satisfaction of needs was found to be a significant predictor of both intrinsic as well as extrinsic goal pursuits. The findings further provide an understanding of how basic psychological needs influence the identification of goals and aspirations of Grade 11 Learners. Recommendations are provided for further research in the field of adolescent basic psychological needs and its influences on the identification of goals and aspirations.

The role of culture in consumer behaviour and the importance of service quality delivery as a differential factor among businesses have received much interest in recent times, especially within the retail environment. With similar products being offered, service quality is seen as a critical tool to ensure customer loyalty. This implies that building customer loyalty requires understanding the cultural dimension of the consumer. On the other hand, literature reviewed shows the danger in stereotyping individuals into a national culture since sub-cultures exist especially in the case of a multicultural society as South Africa. Thus, this study aims at examining the individual cultural value orientation of retail patrons and to investigate its influence on their perception of retail service quality. To achieve the research objective a structured questionnaire was administered to retail patrons in a mall intercept. The questionnaire was structured around attitudinal questions and the Retail Service Quaity Scale. The results showed a relationship between the individual cultural value orientation and the importance of the retail service quality dimension. Although some of the findings were not what was expected; the study provides a framework by which retailers can segment their market and allocate resources. It also contributes to the knowledge base and provides a platform for further research.Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This research focuses on the employment contract of low and unskilled workers in the underground coal mining industry in South Africa and aims to link the concepts of psychological contract, blue-collar workers, race and gender diversity. Due to the recent economic crisis, mining companies are under pressure to increase productivity and reduce cost. It is therefore important for mining companies to understand and manage the employment contract of blue-collar workers in order to improve labour productivity and effectiveness. Quantitative research was conducted among 179 low and unskilled workers in a major coal mining company by means of a modified Psycones psychological contract questionnaire. The following key results were obtained: • Employer obligations in the psychological contract for blue-collar workers in the underground coal mining industry are not fully met; • Significant differences were found in the level of fulfilment of the psychological contract of Black males, Females and White males. The level of fulfilment for Black males is significantly lower than White males. Females have the highest level of employer obligation expectations. • The level of fulfilment of the psychological contract decreases with length of tenure. The results of the research confirms the importance of the fulfilling of employer obligations such as providing “opportunities to grow” and providing an environment to “work together in a pleasant way”. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The need for this research stems from the unusually high turnover rates in MBA students following the completion of their degrees. Organisations realise the need for further education and for increasing both the human capital of the organisation and the career capital of the individual, but are concerned that the MBA programme may inevitably lead to the loss of the individual, possible to their competition. The report investigates the changes in psychological contracts that occur during the course of the MBA programme and how those changes could consequently lead to an increase in intention to leave. Rousseau’s technical report on psychological contracts is used as the basis of the assessment method for determining the changes in psychological contracts. The study presents findings from 117 MBA students from the GIBS business school. The paper shows that the overwhelming majority of MBA students intend to leave their current employer. The report offers insights for managers planning for their talented employees to enrol in MBA programmes. The researcher concludes by suggesting that understanding the construct of the psychological contract between the MBA student and their employers may increase an employer’s ability to hold on to the brightest stars and obtain the best possible value from the undertaking. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Business Management / unrestricted

Leadership is a richly researched ana widely covered topic, attracting the attention of virtually every discipline within the human sciences. Research which focuses on leadership within an educational context is, however, a relatively recent development. Most of the leadership research conducted in this century has been driven by the needs of industry. Consequently, leadership theories have tended to emphasise the instrumentality, measurability and effectiveness of leadership. Leadership models, intent on being prescriptive and 'learnable', have been inclined to oversimplify the complexity of the leadership phenomenon. Another factor which accounts for these features is the research approach adopted by researchers, which has largely been positivistic. This study is an attempt to investigate the underlying dynamics of educational leadership. It is an in-depth study of five educational leaders' perceptions of themselves as leaders, of the people with whom they interact, and of the organisations within which they work. The study is conducted along the lines suggested by phenomenology, a highly qualitative, anti-positivistic research approach, which encourages the researcher to set aside pre-conceived notions of the phenomenon, and to describe what is found exactly as it presents itself. My findings have highlighted a wide and richly varied range of psychological, emotional and cultural factors which seem to play significant roles in how leaders perceive themselves, others and their environments. Most of these factors have been either entirely ignored or very scantily covered in mainstream leadership literature. Educational leadership emerges as a complex, virtually undefinable phenomenon; new and challenging research approaches and methods have the potential for increasing our understanding of how leaders lead, which in turn will have implications for leadership education and selection.

This study attempts to explore, both theoretically and empirically, death anxiety across the lifespan in Western society. Six elderly women between the ages of 75 and 90 years were interviewed about their current perceptions and attitudes toward their anticipated deaths, and to what extent these perceptions may have altered over the course of the life cycle. It was hypothesized that an acceptance of religion and a belief in an afterlife existence; a sense of having experienced death before, in seeing loved ones die; and a feeling of having lived a meaningful life through the reminiscence of past events would all facilitate an older person's acceptance of anticipated death. An existential phenomenological explication of the protocols revealed that: religion need not necessarily play a major role in this regard; both the life reminiscence process and having experienced death before in seeing loved ones die facilitated acceptance of death; older persons are prepared for death in the sense of experiencing a feeling that their life cycles have been completed; although death may not be feared, many fears of dying are prevalent. It was thus concluded from this study that, although death is not a major preoccupation of the older person, it does still play a significant role in the lives of the elderly in that being aware of impending death allows the older person to regulate her life according to ̕̕̕̕̕ʾtime-left-to-liveʾ

Much is written, especially in psychodynamically oriented literature, about the unduly close dependency relationship male alcoholics have with their mothers. Whilst not disputing this it became apparent to myself when working with them that they also expressed strong attachments to their fathers who were described as absent or punitive. The literature goes on to theorize that a repressed homosexual element is often at work in the male alcoholic. Not much more of substance is said about the father other than he may be absent or punitive - even less is mentioned of the male alcoholic's experience with his father. It appears that this relationship has remained largely unexplored as a result of an uncritical imposition of theory, especially psychodynamic, upon the complex phenomenon of alcoholism. These theories generally posit the mother's influence over all problems in living be they neuroses, psychoses or alcoholism. It is possible that a dialogue exists between mother, father and alcoholic son which is more extensive and complex than that currently described in the literature, with father playing a greater role than previously believed.

No description available.

Change is inevitable due to organisations operating in a constantly changing environment marked by change and discontinuation. A major challenge for organisations is to obtain buy-in from employees. People generally resist change due to their past experiences of change which are often disjointed, posted with job losses, longer working hours, higher and cumulative stress levels, unethical practices and corporate failures. Perceptions of fairness, trust, and the magnitude to which the change has been conveyed, have been noted as some of the reasons why people resist organisational change. Essentially, people resist change when they think it will cause them to lose something of value to them. It is therefore important for organisations to have well-planned change programmes that make provision for creating buy-in. The purpose of this study was to investigate strategies that organisations can use to foster buy-in. For successful change, it is imperative that change agents find ways to empower employees in the process. Communication, and especially the articulation of the vision, plays a crucial role in creating buy-in. Leadership, the working environment, rewards and recognition interdependently contribute to fostering buy-in behaviours. The empirical study was conducted at the Port Elizabeth plant of Kraftfoods, a confectionery company. In 2010, Kraftfoods acquired Cadbury. This acquisition implied new management, production and process structures and procedures, as well as a restructuring of the employee complement in 2011. The empirical study was both qualitative and quantitative. Interviews were conducted with employees from the shop floor, as well as representatives from the trade union, a representative from human resources and a project manager responsible for transformation, to obtain more organisation-specific information about the transformation and the strategies which were used to create buy-in. For the empirical study, a survey with a questionnaire as the basic data collection tool was used. The survey was administered to 101 employees. The results revealed that the way the vision of the change is articulated and the empowerment of employees are main determinants of buy-in behaviour. It was therefore recommended that management should spend an equal amount of time selling the change as they spend planning the change program. Also management need to allow for more involvement in the design and even implimentation of the change program by change recipients.

[No abstract submitted] / Education, Faculty of / Graduate