The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to find out the qualities employers expect in beginning workers, (2) to investigate the importance attached to personality by some writers in the literature of the business education field, and (3) to compile information that will be of aid to students of Dallas Technical High School in developing the needed personal qualities and skills.

Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology )

by Lee Sui-Hing Rean, Yip Chui-Ling. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-52). / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vi / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ix / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Research Objectives --- p.3 / Significance of Study --- p.3 / Chapter II. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.5 / Chapter III. --- HYPOTHESES --- p.10 / Chapter IV. --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.11 / Research Design --- p.11 / Data Collection Methods --- p.11 / Secondary data --- p.11 / Primary data --- p.12 / Sampling Methods --- p.13 / Sample Characteristics --- p.14 / Data Analysis Method --- p.15 / Chapter V. --- RESULTS --- p.16 / Common Cost-Cutting Measures Adopted by Hong Kong Companies --- p.16 / Communication Between Employers and Employees --- p.16 / Employees' Attitude Towards Cost-Cutting Measures --- p.17 / Relationship Between Employers and Employees --- p.18 / Effects of Cost-Cutting Measures --- p.18 / Staff Morale --- p.18 / Stress at Workplace --- p.19 / Job Security --- p.19 / Work Passion --- p.20 / Popular Remedial Measures Taken by Employers and Their Effectiveness --- p.20 / Willingness to Stay at the Company in the Coming Two Years and the Reasons --- p.22 / Chapter VI. --- ANALYSES AND IMPLICATIONS --- p.23 / Hypothesis 1: Cost-Cutting Measures Negatively Affect Employer-Employee Relationship --- p.23 / Implications --- p.23 / Company Size --- p.25 / Demographic Factors --- p.26 / Hypothesis 2: Cost-Cutting Measures Have Negative Psychological Effect(s) on Employees --- p.27 / Hypothesis 2a: Cost-Cutting Measures Reduce Staff Morale --- p.27 / Hypothesis 2b: Cost-Cutting Measures Increase Job Stress --- p.27 / Hypothesis 2c: Cost-Cutting Measures Decrease Job Security --- p.28 / Hypothesis 2d: Cost-Cutting Measures Decrease Work Passion --- p.28 / Implications --- p.29 / Effects of Different Cost-Cutting Measures --- p.29 / Company Size --- p.31 / Hypothesis 3: Employers are Concerned About the Post-Effect(s) of Cost-Cutting Measures on Employees --- p.32 / Implications --- p.32 / Employers' Attitude to Different Post-Effects --- p.32 / Company Size --- p.34 / Hypothesis 4: Remedial Measures Done by Employers can Effectively Reduce the Negative Effects on Employees --- p.35 / Implications --- p.35 / Other Implications From the Survey --- p.37 / Reasons to Stay in Current Companies --- p.37 / Demographic Factors and Intention to Stay --- p.38 / Importance of Communication --- p.39 / Chapter VII. --- LIMITATIONS --- p.42 / Chapter VIII. --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.44 / APPENDIX I --- p.46 / APPENDIX II --- p.49 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.50

Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology )

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Ronald G. Downey / Firmly rooted in positive psychology, this study attempted to look beyond discovering the direction or shape of the stress-performance relationship and sought to instead determine the role of personality in this relationship. Although we were unable to test for moderation effects due to multicollinearity issues, we did discover that positive personality characteristics were a significant predictor of performance—even after controlling for experience and self-perceived stress. Interestingly, this relationship occurred in an opposite direction than expected in that higher levels of positive personality characteristics were predictive of lower performance ratings.

Committed employees are increasingly becoming a valued asset in organisations. For the purpose of this study employee commitment is viewed as commitment to the organisation as well as employees' commitment to their occupations. The purpose of the research was to determine whether there is a correlation between perceived self-efficacy and employee commitment in a South African sugar manufacturing company. Self-efficacy, a social cognition construct, which refers to a person's self-beliefs in his/her ability to perform specific tasks, has been shown to be a reliable predictor of both motivation and task performance and to influence personal goal setting. Despite this, little attention has been given to its organisational implications. The General Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GSE), and an Employee Commitment (CM) questionnaire based on the Conversion Model were used as measuring tools. The results of this study indicate that there is a positive correlation between self-efficacy and employee commitment (Ambassador, Career oriented, Company oriented). Uncommitted employees show a lower level of self-efficacy. The implications of these results are discussed. Further research from a predictive validity perspective is suggested in order to substantiate the findings and to improve the generalisability thereof. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between perceived emotional intelligence and job performance among inbound call centre leaders in the medical aid environment. The sample consisted of 268 participants (45 leaders and 223 raters) across different age and race groups. A convenience sample was used, since it was easier to focus on call centre leaders working in the same office. All of the participants completed the 360º Emotional Competency Profiler (ECP) in order to measure emotional intelligence whereas the job performance data were obtained from the management team and an average score of their performance over a one-year period was examined. The research results show that there was no statistically significant relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance among the call centre leaders. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology )

This dissertation focused on identifying personality traits, as measured by the Occupational Personality Questionnaire 32 (OPQ32r) that may act as job performance predictors for customer service centre (CSC) agents in the banking industry. The purpose of this research was to determine whether there are relationships between certain personality traits of customer service centre agents and their job performance. Purposeful sampling was used to involve the entire agent base as participants (N=89). A quantitative empirical study was conducted in which the relationship between the independent variable (personality) and dependent variable (job performance) was investigated. Several personality traits that predicted job performance were identified. Identifying the personality characteristics of individuals who are successful in a CSC environment should aid organisations in creating a better/suitable fit between employees and the requirements of such an environment, thereby improving organisational outcomes. This research adds to current literature gaps in establishing the relationship between personality traits and performance in the context of a customer relations management call centre environment. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This thesis is based on research aimed to develop and test a systematic framework to describe and analyse dysfunctions in underperforming schools in South Africa, the Explanatory Model of School Dysfunctions. The theoretical foundation of the model was created by synthesising the literature from various disciplines and conceptualising dysfunctions in relation to their antecedents, motivations, and consequences. The model was then applied and refined on three different data sets. The three data sets included data from principals, teachers, and learners. The principal data consisted of 80 essays written by principals or their representatives, the teacher data of 40 essays from teachers in the Gauteng area, and the learner data of 1,500 open-ended responses from recent high school graduates in South Africa. Content Configuration Analysis explored how school dysfunctions varied in degree, kind, and interconnectedness. Four groups of dysfunctions were identified: dysfunctions relating to rules and rule breaking, issues of competence, resources, and issues extrinsic to the school context. After application and refinement, the Explanatory Model of School Dysfunctions was found to be a suitable model to account for the problem sets experienced by these three actor groups. The goal of this model is to provide a theory-based approach to analyse dysfunctions within schools and to invite researchers to explore these and other problems within this framework. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Le présent travail se penche sur le concept de la conscience de l’environnement d’affaires. Ce concept fait référence à l’importance de la prise en compte par l’employé non-cadre d’un ensemble varié d’éléments d’information composant l’environnement d’affaires. La prise en considération de ces éléments d’information par l’employé aiderait ce dernier non seulement à prendre de meilleures décisions d’affaires, mais aussi à résoudre des problèmes dans un milieu de travail prônant la gestion participative. Seulement deux mémoires et un article scientifique se sont penchés sur la conscience de l’environnement d’affaires. Le mémoire d’Ève St-Onge (2007) a justifié l’existence du concept et a établi une première liste d’indicateurs reflétant les éléments d’information de l’environnement d’affaires. Pour sa part le mémoire de Véronique Gauvreau-Jean (2008) s’est plutôt attardé à la validation initiale d’une échelle de mesure de la conscience de l’environnement d’affaires. À ces deux mémoires s’ajoute l’article scientifique de Haines, Rousseau, Brotheridge et St-Onge (2012) lequel a permis de définir un ensemble d’indicateurs et de dimensions de la conscience de l’environnement d’affaires. Le présent mémoire a pour objectif de vérifier le caractère adéquat du contenu de l’échelle de Véronique Gauvreau-Jean (2008), ce type de vérification «consiste essentiellement à examiner le contenu du test pour s’assurer de sa représentativité en tant qu’échantillon du domaine de comportements à évaluer» (Anastasi, 1982, p.132). Considérant la complexité de la conscience de l’environnement d’affaires, cette vérification s’impose pour mettre au point une échelle de mesure qui peut être généralement applicable dans des milieux de travail ayant recours à une gestion participative. Pour vérifier le caractère adéquat du contenu de l’échelle de mesure de Véronique Gauvreau-Jean (2008), il y a eu l’animation de deux panels de discussion avec une entreprise œuvrant dans le placement de personnel ainsi qu’une autre dans la distribution de produits de papier. Avec les propos des participants des panels, une analyse des données a été effectué pour produire une échelle de mesure reformulée. Cette dernière a ensuite eu un avis favorable par deux professeurs, de différentes facultés d’administration québécoises, concernant la facilité de compréhension et sa capacité de refléter les éléments de l’environnement d’affaires. Il y a finalement eu la comparaison du contenu de l’échelle reformulée et du contenu de l’échelle de Gauvreau-Jean (2008) pour déterminer le caractère adéquat de l’échelle existante. / This paper’s main subject focuses on employee business awareness. The concept refers to the importance of considering various elements of the business environment, by the non-managerial employee, in order to make better business decisions or improve problem-solving in an environment using a participative approach to management. There are only two theses and one published article dedicated to the concept of employee business awareness. Ève St-Onge’s thesis (2007) tried to establish the concept’s legitimacy and to produce a first list of indicators related to elements of the business environment. Véronique Gauvreau-Jean’s thesis (2008) seeked to validate a first version of the employee business awareness scale. Haines, Rousseau, Brotheridge and St-Onge (2012) provided a list of indicators and dimensions related to the scale. This thesis is interested in verifying the content adequacy of the initial scale. Content adequacy «essentially consists in verifying the content of the test so that it can be representative and a sample of the behaviours that have to be measured» (Anastasi, 1982, p.132). Given the complexity of the concept of employee business awareness, this type of verification is needed to bring the right adjustments to the current scale so that it can later be applied to all business environments using a participative approach. In order to verify the content adequacy of the initial scale, two focus groups were held; one within a personnel placement agency and another in a paper product distributor. With the contents of both focus groups transcribed, data analysis was performed and a reformulated scale was created. The new scale received favourable assessments from two professors concerning its capacity to be easily understood and with regards to the adequate reflection of the elements related to the business environment. This finally led to the comparison of the reformulated scale’s content with the initial scale, in order to determiner the content adequacy of the existing scale’s content.