The pursuit for improved productivity through human resources has its beginning in the early 1900's. Taylor's scientific management principles created an awareness regarding human resources. It was earlier considered as a mere instrument of production ready to work from dawn to dusk under whatever conditions and being motivated by the lure of money. From then onwards research and experiments have been undertaken to understand human beings at work and the ways to improve their job satisfaction, balanced with the aim of the organizations to combine better productivity with job and employee satisfaction. The concept of QWL (quality of work life) has originated from the continuous research process. The term QWL was introduced by Dav is (1972) at the first International QWL conference held in Toronto. The focus of this research concerns a study of the quality of work life for the employees at SARS in the Mmabatho Branch in the North West province. The aim of this paper was to determine whether and how quality of work life affects the satisfaction level of the employees and the implications of these findings suggest that the quality of work life at SARS can be enhanced by factors such as adequate income and fair compensation, safe and healthy working conditions, opportunities for career growth and development of human capabilities and social integration in the workforce. A convenience or accidental sampling was used for this study, out of93 questionnaires sent out, a total of 77 usable questionnaires were returned, representing an overall response rate of (82,8%). The study reveals that a clear and consistent communication of the organisational goals and objectives is essential to both employer and employees. The study also recommends that an establishment of new policies and practices that promote a workplace culture that stimulates employees with the aim of reducing stress, poor performance and low morale of employees. Alignments of organisational goals to day-to-day work by maintaining healthy working conditions: reduce high absenteeism levels and occupational burnout and fair remuneration of employees. The study also recommends that maintenance and open dialogue among the middle and junior employees. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011

A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters by Coursework and Research Report in the field of Industrial Organisational Psychology in the faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand. / The state of public health service and delivery in public hospitals in South Africa is concerning. Allied to this, is the prevalence of nursing shortage experienced in public hospitals in the country. Nursing shortage is an outcome that results from various factors; one such factor is actual turnover, preceded by intent to leave. Intent to leave is a strong predictor of actual turnover. It has been found to be negatively correlated with organisational commitment and job satisfaction. Organisational commitment and job satisfaction stem from various work states such job demands and job resources. It is important to understand that all occupations have job demands that are to be met by the required and relevant job resources. Failure to meet job demands with job resources results in numerous negative employee and organisational implications. In the nursing sector for instance, employee implications were found to include undesirable work behaviours (such as intent to leave) exerted by nurses which ultimately affect the state of the healthcare service and healthcare delivery. The purpose of the current research was to investigate the nature of relationships that exist among organisational commitment, job satisfaction, demographic variables and intent to leave among nurses working at a public hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. The research postulated three hypotheses that were tested and proven Hypothesis 1: Organisational commitment (O_C) statistically predicts intent to leave (I_T_L) among nurse working at a public hospital; Hypothesis 2: Job satisfaction (J_S) statistically predicts intent to leave (I_T_L) among nurses working at a public hospital; Hypothesis 3: Demographic variables can also statistically predict intent to leave (I_T_L) among nurses working at a public hospital. Furthermore, the research aimed to find the best predictive model of the data. Lastly, the research investigated the relative importance of each significant independent variable in predicting intent to leave. The research design was a correlational cross-sectional. The public hospital received 200 questionnaires, of which 136 questionnaires were returned, with only 112 usable questionnaires to be analysed. Due to this, there were 112 participants. The sample fell predominantly in the 26-35 and 36-45 age categories. On the data collection days, nurses working in different wards received approximately three hours to complete a selfadministered questionnaire. Participants provided informed consent to be part of the research. The questionnaire collected demographic information, the respondent’s organisational commitment level, job satisfaction level and intent to leave level. All the three hypotheses were statistically proven, as indicated by results of the multiple linear regression. O_C was a statistically significant predictor of I_T_L (p < .05) among nurses at a public hospital. J_S was a statistically significant predictor of I_T_L (p < .05) among nurses at a public hospital. Nursing_position (category) as a demographic variable was also a statistically significant predictor of I_T_L (p < .05) among nurses at a public hospital. Hierarchical regression found the best predictive model of the data; the final predictive model was Model 3, which explained 17.3% of the variance in intent to leave. Model 3 included organisational commitment, job satisfaction and nursing position (category). Model3 equation = 61.848 + 2.395Nursing_position (category) + -.170O_C + -.111J_S. Lastly, the dominance analysis technique was applied in order examine the relative importance of each independent variable, to understand the role of each independent variable, and to assess the additional contribution of each independent variable in predicting intent to leave. O_C was found to have the additional contribution in predicting intent to leave. The current research showed that organisational commitment and job satisfaction remain applicable when examining intent to leave in the organisational behaviour. Therefore, the research findings are consistent with what has been previously discovered in the mid-nineties. Numerous strategies and plans have been put forward to increase organisational commitment and job satisfaction experienced by employees in order to mitigate nursing shortage, and to respond to the state of healthcare delivery in public hospitals. The challenge remains to be to translate these strategies and plans into actions. As it stands currently, thi is the only way to respond meaningfully to the highlighted phenomenon.

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

This thesis takes the form of three essays about the labour market implications of job quality. In the first essay, I demonstrate, by analysing a two-type, two-period example, that high introductory wage offers can signal the quality of experience jobs. In this game, one type of firm - the “good” type - offers higher expected quality jobs. If this type is less likely to exit from the industry than the “bad’ type, it can increase expenditure on introductory wages without being mimicked, distinguishing it from its inferior. The game has many equilibria with these separating wages. In each, the introductory compensating differentials have the opposite sign to the usual case: higher expected quality jobs pay more, rather than less. In the second essay, I present Canadian evidence that tests and supports the theory of compensating differentials for a variety of job characteristics. The data used are from the National Survey of Class Structure and Labour Process in Canada (NSCS). These self-report data are preferable to the more conventional occupational-trait data; they provide information on individual jobs rather than averages across broad occupational categories and industries. In the third essay, I focus on the mismatch between the educational requirements of jobs and the educational attainments of workers. Using NSCS data, I find that the returns to over- and undereducation for males are sensitive to the level of required education. There is evidence of positive returns to overeducation for jobs that require a university bachelor’s degree; but, in general, the returns are insignificant. Undereducated workers are penalised in jobs with low educational requirements. For females, I find that the returns to over- and undereducation are insignificant for all levels of required education.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1993. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-53).

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Psychology, Committee on Human Development and Mental Health Research, March, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This thesis takes the form of three essays about the labour market implications of job quality. In the first essay, I demonstrate, by analysing a two-type, two-period example, that high introductory wage offers can signal the quality of experience jobs. In this game, one type of firm - the “good” type - offers higher expected quality jobs. If this type is less likely to exit from the industry than the “bad’ type, it can increase expenditure on introductory wages without being mimicked, distinguishing it from its inferior. The game has many equilibria with these separating wages. In each, the introductory compensating differentials have the opposite sign to the usual case: higher expected quality jobs pay more, rather than less. In the second essay, I present Canadian evidence that tests and supports the theory of compensating differentials for a variety of job characteristics. The data used are from the National Survey of Class Structure and Labour Process in Canada (NSCS). These self-report data are preferable to the more conventional occupational-trait data; they provide information on individual jobs rather than averages across broad occupational categories and industries. In the third essay, I focus on the mismatch between the educational requirements of jobs and the educational attainments of workers. Using NSCS data, I find that the returns to over- and undereducation for males are sensitive to the level of required education. There is evidence of positive returns to overeducation for jobs that require a university bachelor’s degree; but, in general, the returns are insignificant. Undereducated workers are penalised in jobs with low educational requirements. For females, I find that the returns to over- and undereducation are insignificant for all levels of required education. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

by Chan Mei-Yuk, Janice, Li Kam-Pui, Tony. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-100). / Questionaire in Chinese. / ACKNOWLEDGMENT --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.2 / Chapter III. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.8 / Measures --- p.8 / Sample and Procedure --- p.9 / Chapter IV. --- RESULTS --- p.17 / Definition of work --- p.17 / Work Centrality --- p.23 / Work functions --- p.29 / Work goals --- p.31 / Societal Norms --- p.35 / Job satisfaction --- p.39 / Ideal Job --- p.43 / Chapter V. --- DISCUSSION --- p.49 / Definition of Work --- p.49 / Work centrality --- p.51 / Work functions --- p.54 / Work goals / Societal norms --- p.58 / Job Satisfaction --- p.59 / Ideal Job --- p.60 / Chapter VI. --- CONCLUSION --- p.63 / Chapter VII. --- LIMITATIONS OF OUR STUDY --- p.66 / APPENDIX --- p.67 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.94

Dans un contexte où la psychiatrie et plus largement le champ de la santé mentale semblent peiner à prendre soin de ceux qui y travaillent, nous souhaitons proposer une réactualisation du paradigme de la psychothérapie institutionnelle (P.I.) à l’aune des expériences, des pratiques et des discours des professionnels d’aujourd’hui. A l’aide d’une méthodologie qualitative, nous avons comparé les résultats d’une étude de documents portant sur les écrits des principaux auteurs de la P.I. des années 50 à 80 et les conclusions d’une enquête de terrain menée dans quatorze institutions sanitaires et médico-sociales, au sein desquelles nous avons rencontré 85 professionnels du soin et de l’accompagnement lors d’entretiens semi-dirigés que nous avons enregistrés, retranscrits et anonymisés. Notre recherche montre que la situation du monde de la santé français crée des opportunités et des risques pour la pérennité de la P.I. : préoccupation grandissante pour la Qualité de Vie au Travail de soignants en difficulté dans leurs services et absence de modèle ad hoc en santé mentale pour penser le travail d’équipe, mais aussi influence du paradigme de la désinstitutionalisation en psychiatrie et rejet de toute approche revendiquant sa dimension « institutionnelle ». Après avoir thématisé le corpus de la P.I. en huit concepts opératoires ou « opérateurs » : distinction statut/rôle/fonction, coefficient thérapeutique de la vie quotidienne, « faire avec » comme mode relationnel principal, fonction de décision partagée et agie en réunion, liberté de circulation, fonction d’accueil, principe hippocratique de « ne pas suraliéner » et greffe d’ouvert, nous démontrons, extraits d’entretiens et de journaux de bords à l’appui, que chacun de ces opérateurs travaille encore fortement le champ de la santé mentale. Nous proposons par conséquent de redonner à la P.I. sa place de théorie de la pratique du travail d’équipe en psychiatrie et, plus encore, d’étendre ses conceptions aux liens inter-institutionnels en santé mentale afin d’analyser et de contribuer à leur développement dans les territoires français / In a context where psychiatry and more broadly the French mental health field seem to fail at caring for their carers, we wish to actualize the institutional psychotherapy (I.P.) paradigm in the light of the practices and discourses of today’s mental health professionals. Using a qualitative methodology, we compared the results of a document analysis we conducted on the writings of the major authors of the I.P. movement from the 50’s to the 80’s to the results of a field study we led in fourteen sanitary and medicosocial institutions, in which we interviewed 85 mental health professionals. Our research shows the current situation of the French mental health field has created a series of risks and opportunities for the sustainability of the I.P. paradigm, most notably a growing concern for workers’ Quality of Working Life, the influence of the deinstitutionalization paradigm, and the defiance surrounding the term « institution » itself, despite its rich and plural meaning. We transcribed, anonymized and analyzed the semi-directed interviews we conducted, and compared them to the eight « operators » of the I.P. movement which emerged from our document analysis. These operators help shed light on the questions which always lie under the organization of care for people with mental health issues : distinguishing between status, role and function ; considering daily life as having a therapeutic coefficient ; doing things together as the prime relationship structure between users and carers ; considering decision-making as a collective function enacted during pluriprofessional meetings ; freedom of circulation ; welcoming the singularity of patients ; trying not to further alienate them ; and finally “grafting openness” as a way to prevent the withdrawal of patients from their peers, and the withdrawal of the institutions away from the community. All these operators name important questions and problems mental health professionals deal with in their day-to-day practice with people suffering from mental health issues. We therefore offer to actualize the I.P. paradigm so as to help these professionals reflect on their practices and empower themselves