The main aim of this research was to look at the personal aspirations that people hold when getting into employment and how those aspirations interact with work requirements and the outcomes thereof. In order to do this, a non-probability judgement sample of 118 individuals was drawn from the working class within the Durban Metropolitan city with a population size of 833,615 individuals. The sample was made up of 59% males and 41% females. The majority of the sample (95%) was in management in one form or another, while only 5% were nonmanagement. Data obtained from this research was collected using a web-based questionnaire developed using QUESTIONPRO Software. The questionnaire was administered via email. Statistical data analysis indicated positive moderate relationships between “feeling powerless at work” and “feeling alienated”; “being afraid to disagree with one’s boss”; “deciding to mind one’s own business at work”; and “being angry at work”. A negative moderate relationship was also observed between “being angry at work” and “advancement in life”. The research also showed that there is a link between employees feeling powerless at work and them choosing to do just their bare minimum as stipulated by their job description. This research can benefit organizations by encouraging management to work towards creating a working environment that enhances a balance between work and family life. The work environment should also have a culture that makes employees feel free to disagree with their bosses without negative consequences thus fostering innovation and faster problem solving. Management should also work towards empowering their employees so that the employees can take ownership of their jobs and work towards delivering the company objectives. This will ensure that feelings of powerlessness are diminished within the work force. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2011.

It has become imperative for organisations to create family-friendly work-environments, where employees can effectively balance work and family life, in order to ensure employee satisfaction and increased productivity. It is important to establish how far South African organisations are in creating such environments and how much still need to be done as employee productivity ultimately impacts on the country's economic performance. This research study was concerned with dissecting the concept of work-life balance by highlighting the various types of flexible work arrangements that exist and comparing the legislations that promote work-life balance in South Africa with those of UK. The study was conducted in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal in Durban. A questionnaire was administered to 84 adults occupying management positions in various corporate organisations in Durban. The analysed findings revealed that South KwaZulu-Natal organisations are far behind UK in adopting and implementing work-life balance initiatives. South African organisations must introduce more flexible-working arrangements and the government must improve family-friendly legislation. South Africa still has a lot of work to do in introducing family-friendly legislation. Recommendations were also made with regards to what organisations as well as the government need to do in implementing work-life balance initiatives. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between quality of work life and motivation of French-speaking Correctional Services Officers (CSOs) working in the Montreal area. Three hundred and forty-seven male and female CSOs (ranging from 19 to 58 years of age) working in four different provincial correctional establishments were assessed. Each participant completed an introductory questionnaire, Pelsma, Richard, Harrington, and Burry's (1989) French-translated 8-item Quality of Work Life Survey (QWL-F) and Blais, Briere, Lachance, Riddle, and Vallerand's (1993) French-translated 8-item Work Motivation Inventory (BWMI-F). Assessment of quality of work life and motivation for CSOs were analyzed with an emphasis on differences in gender and work status. Using different correlational analyses as well as multiple regressions, the findings from this inquiry indicated that motivation and quality of work life were positively correlated. Male and female CSOs reported to be more intrinsically motivated as they started their careers and became amotivated and in need of greater extrinsic rewards as they became older with greater work experience. Hence, younger and less experienced male and female CSOs would eventually become influenced by their older workmates. Female CSOs appeared to be more stressed and reported greater levels of amotivation than their male colleagues. However, female CSOs reported a greater ease in communicating their concerns and in consulting with internal and external resources. Research implications as well as study limitations are also discussed.

Thesis (MBus) -- University of South Australia, 1992

Contemporary interest in and demand for a healthy balance between work and family/life (WF/L) commitments has resulted in the proliferation of organisations commonly referred to as family-friendly workplaces (FFWs). Such a proliferation has been met with assertions that WF/L balance is as much organisational rhetoric as it is organisational reality. Such claims are damaging for organisations that are genuinely committed to providing WF/L-friendly work environments. Additionally, such allegations if true also indicate a more serious problem of organisational ineffectiveness. This study therefore perceives a way by which FFWs can test and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts to provide employees with WF/L balance. Three research questions drive this study: Why are FFWs’ efforts to provide WF/L balance regarded as rhetoric? What is the gap level between WF/L balance rhetoric and reality in an organisation? What organisational issues and challenges contribute to the rhetoric claim? In the absence of models or frameworks that can effectively test and measure rhetoric-reality gaps this research may be considered as ‘experimental’, since it introduces a new conceptual framework, ‘The rhetoric-reality discrepancy framework’. The framework illustrates how gaps arise and highlights key underlying contributing factors. These factors represent organisational challenges that impede WF/L balance for employees, and indicate areas that organisations need to address if they wish to dispel claims that WF/L balance is more rhetoric than reality. The ‘experimental’ nature of this framework meant that a within-case approach was the obvious choice, as it allows for the thorough study of the research problem within one organisational setting. The study was based on a case analysis of an Australian organisation that promotes itself as and has achieved formal recognition as a FFW, through nominating itself for and subsequently winning national-level work and family awards. The dual-centred nature of the research inquiry meant that a mixed paradigmatic approach was selected. A positivist approach was used to measure gap levels while an interpretivist approach was used to guide understanding of underlying contributors of these gaps. Additionally, the combined paradigm meant that the choice of research methodology was framed by a mixed methods approach. Quantitative tools such as a questionnaire survey and qualitative channels such as document analysis, personal interviews and participant observation were used. In line with Creswell’s Sequential Exploratory Design (11.2a), fieldwork commenced with the quantitative phase and on its completion was followed by the qualitative phase. SPSS software was the predominant tool used in the quantitative analytical phase while NVivo software was used in the qualitative phase. Three areas of employee experiences - their awareness of, need for, and take up of WF/L balance initiatives - were used to explore the magnitude of the rhetoric-reality gap, while the qualitative phase sought to understand what caused the gaps, what employees thought of their organisation’s efforts, and uncover emergent themes. The two methods were ‘mixed’ in the final stage of the study, and provided a rich and deeper understanding of the research problem. The quantitative results showed that employees had less than satisfactory experiences in all three areas and further supported the notion that WF/L balance may be more rhetoric than reality. The qualitative findings identified a number of contributing factors, many of which could be broadly categorised under key themes in existing literature, such as poor communication, organisational culture, differential access, cost considerations, and managerial discretion. The study also uncovered other issues that could contribute to organisational rhetoric, such as implementation challenges. One such challenge involved an organisational need to cater for a diverse workforce and therefore to provide a broad range of initiatives. Another finding is that need for particular provisions is closely linked to employees’ life stage. Both these issues mean that while organisations should offer a wide range of provisions there is also the strong likelihood that a good number of provisions may have very poor take up or have no take up. An emergent theme, though linked to few participants only, was the set of WF/L balance challenges faced by first generation Australians or immigrant workers. Another finding which appears to contradict the gap level finding of organisational rhetoric is that a number of employees either specifically identified their organisation as being WF/L-friendly or identified that flexibility was a key ingredient of WF/L balance and acknowledged that their organisation provided such flexibility. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Political Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 329-357). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19773

Thesis (M.B.A.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-161). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation (MBus) -- AUT University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (110 leaves ; 30 cm.) in City Campus Theses Collection (T 331.256 ANG)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2007. / Thesis directed by David S. Hachen, Jr. for the Department of Sociology. "July 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-214).