A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Education, at the University of the Witwatersrand , July 2019 / ‘Servant leadership’ is a burgeoning research area and a novel approach to leadership, which links the issue of leadership with questions of morality and virtues. Robert Greenleaf, the originator of the theory, describes servant leadership as a theory that ‘begins with a natural feeling that one wants to serve, to first serve, and then lead as a servant’. Scholarship on servant leadership has increased in recent years, with a growing trend for it to be practised in private and non-profit organisations. However, there is still a lack of research on the topic. Some studies have found servant leadership to be a relevant and effective leadership style, and have therefore suggested that educational leadership programmes adopt the principles and apply the practices associated with it. Part of what is intriguing about servant leadership theory is the application of this unique leadership approach in organisations. But to contextualise and apply this approach correctly, we need to understand its Western character and origin. My objective in this project is to understand what servant leadership would mean in an African context, and to evaluate its plausibility in South African school organisations. In other words, my aim is to translate the concept of servant leadership to fit the South African paradigm. / NG (2020)

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19, i.e., C-19) pandemic promulgated psychological distress among employees across the United States, necessitating the examination of its consequential negative impact. By drawing upon conservation of resource and scarcity theory, this research develops a theoretical model that demonstrates how employees’ psychological distress triggered by the C-19 pandemic (C-19PD) sways their task performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and work withdrawal via work engagement. As first-stage moderators, I propose core self-evaluations (CSE), servant leadership, and perceived organizational support (POS) as moderators of the link between C-19PD and work engagement. As second-stage moderators, I propose task interdependence, constraints, and telecommuting intensity as moderators of the link between work engagement and task performance, OCB, and work withdrawal. An individual-level survey study was designed to gather a data set of 275 currently employed workers from four public universities in the U.S., and the mediation hypotheses were supported. However, the moderating effects of CSE, servant leadership, and POS (i.e., first stage moderators) and task interdependence, constraints, and telecommuting intensity (i.e., second stage moderators) were not supported. Implications for theory, limitations, future research directions, and practical applications are discussed.

The COVID-19 Pandemic exacerbated a multitude of systems in the United States in 2020 up to current day. The structure of non-profit organizations across the country weakened as demands escalated for free food resources with specific pressure placed on food banks and food recovery organizations. There were citizens who had not previously relied on free food services who found themselves in drive through pickups, waiting for pre-packaged food boxes or the occasional you-pick operation to feed their families and themselves. The increase in demand for free food services was reacted to by those leading and directing the free food distribution sites through a time of crisis. This qualitative study serves to analyze food recovery organization (FRO) leadership strategies and principles that guided their decision making and problem-solving skills in response to food shortages and supply chain issues. The merge of the eight pillars of transformational and servant leadership theory provided propositional pillars that were tested in practice through interviews with FRO leaders in Appalachia. The discovery of how these leadership strategies were enacted during a time of crisis will guide the development of a training curriculum for nonprofit leaders in the future. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / The COVID-19 Pandemic exacerbated a multitude of systems in the United States in 2020 up to current day. The structure of non-profit organizations across the country weakened as demands escalated for free food resources with specific pressure placed on food banks and food recovery organizations. There were citizens who had not previously relied on free food services who found themselves in drive through pickups, waiting for pre-packaged food boxes or the occasional you-pick operation to feed their families and themselves. The increase in demand for free food services was reacted to by those leading and directing the free food distribution sites through a time of crisis. This qualitative study serves to analyze food recovery organization (FRO) leadership strategies and principles that guided their decision making and problem-solving skills in response to food shortages and supply chain issues. The merge of the eight pillars of transformational and servant leadership theory provided propositional pillars that were tested in practice through interviews with FRO leaders in Appalachia. The discovery of how these leadership strategies were enacted during a time of crisis will guide the development of a training curriculum for nonprofit leaders in the future.

The competitive environment of the 21st century, failure of U.S. companies, and the financial crisis of 2008 have moved leadership expectations to the forefront of research. However, there is a lack of empirical research about organizational reporting outcomes of self-identified servant leadership (SL) organizations compared to self-identified nonservant (non-SL) organizations. Guided by Greenleaf's SL theory, the purpose of this study was to compare information on organizational data for triple bottom line (TBL) reporting outcomes in SL organizations and non-SL organizations. Using causal comparative research design and global reporting initiative data with a sample of 12 organization reports, reporting outcomes were compared from 6 SL and 6 non-SL organizations. The independent variables were SL and non-SL organizations. The dependent variables were TBL outcomes (social, financial, and environmental) with 55 intervening variables such as economic impact, greenhouse gas emissions, and human rights. Data analysis included descriptive statistics such as comparative analysis of the total and average of reporting outcomes and inferential statistics such as t tests. Findings of the study showed no statistically significant differences existed between TBL reporting outcomes of SL and non-SL organizations. Implications for positive social change lie in the focus on humanism in leadership in which organizational reports provide reliable outcome data for future community building and influence on social good.

Titel: Kompetens, autonomi och samhörighetens betydelse för arbetsmotivation – En studie om medarbetares motivation inom upplevelseindustrin Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi   Författare: Josefin Tangen, Pauline Wiberg   Handledare: Monica Wallmon, Maria Fregidou-Malama   Datum: 2018 – januari   Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för hur individens grundläggande behov av kompetens, autonomi och samhörighet påverkar arbetsmotivation inom upplevelseindustrin.   Metod: Studien utgår från en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Sammanlagt 10 intervjuer genomfördes med medarbetare inom upplevelseindustrin. Det insamlade materialet har analyserats med hjälp av en tematisk analys.   Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet av studien visar att samtliga tre grundläggande behov påverkar arbetsmotivationen hos medarbetare inom upplevelseindustrin, samt att ledningen arbetar med att främja dessa tre behov. Respondenterna anser att ledningen arbetar med att främja samhörighet på ett tillfredställande sätt men att arbetet med att tillgodose behovet av kompetens och autonomi kan förbättras. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Då flertalet respondenter poängterat att positiv återkoppling från kunder är av stor betydelse, föreslår vi att fortsatta studier kan undersöka om kundens återkoppling möjligen upplevs viktigare än ledarens återkoppling för medarbetare inom upplevelseindustrin. Ytterligare förslag till fortsatt forskning är att genomföra en mer omfattande studie för att skapa djupare förståelse, eftersom att denna studie är begränsad till endast tio intervjuer. Då studien endast utgår från ett medarbetarperspektiv skulle framtida forskning avseende behovstillfredsställelse och arbetsmotivation utifrån ett ledningsperspektiv bidra till ökad förståelse inom ämnet.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Genom denna studie har vi ökat förståelsen för hur individens tre grundläggande behov påverkar arbetsmotivation inom upplevelseindustrin, som är ett outforskat område. Denna studie tillför således ett teoretiskt bidrag gällande ett nytt område, upplevelseindustrin, till den befintliga forskningen avseende arbetsmotivation. Vi menar också att denna studie bidrar till praktiken då vi uppmärksammat och studerat medarbetarens centrala roll inom upplevelseindustrin. Denna studie kan således ge ett bidrag till ledare inom upplevelseindustrin i deras arbete med att motivera medarbetare, vilket i det förlängda leder till en positiv upplevelse för kunden och en lönsam verksamhet.   Nyckelord: Upplevelseindustrin, arbetsmotivation, kompetens, autonomi, samhörighet, Self-Determination Theory, Servant Leadership. / Title: The importance of competence, autonomy and relatedness for employee motivation - a study about employee motivation within the experience economy   Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration   Author: Josefin Tangen, Pauline Wiberg   Supervisor: Monica Wallmon, Maria Fregidou-Malama   Date: 2018 – January   Aim: The aim of this study is to increase the understanding of how the individual's basic needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness affect employee motivation within the experience economy.   Method: The study is based on a qualitative approach. A total of 10 interviews were conducted with employees in the experience economy. We analyzed our material using a thematic analysis.   Result & Conclusions: The result of this study shows that all three basic needs affect employee motivation within the experience economy. This study also shows that management is working to promote these three basic needs. Respondents believe that their need of relatedness is promoted in a satisfactory manner, but that efforts to meet the need for competence and autonomy can be improved.   Suggestions for future research: Since the majority of respondents emphasized that positive feedback from customers is of great importance, we suggest that further studies investigate if customer feedback is possibly more important than the leader’s feedback for employees in the experience economy. Since this study is confined to only ten interviews another proposal for future research is to do a more extensive study in order to create deeper understanding. As the study is based solely on an employee perspective, we suggest that further studies can investigate need satisfaction and employee motivation from a management perspective to contribute to deeper understanding within the matter. Contribution of the thesis: Through this study, we have increased the understanding of how the individual's three basic needs affect employee motivation in the experience economy, which is an unexplored area. Therefore, this study adds a theoretical contribution to existing research in employee motivation in terms of a new field, the experience economy. We also believe that this study contributes to the practice as we have noted and studied the central role of employees in the experience economy. This study can therefore contribute to leaders in the experience economy in their efforts to motivate employees, which in the long run leads to a positive experience for the customer as well as a profitable business. Key words: Experience economy, employee motivation, competence, autonomy, relatedness, Self-Determination Theory, Servant Leadership.

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Introduction: As jobdemands in the healthcare system increases, one of the main protective factors involves support within the work environment. Limited knowledge exists about the work environment of nurse assistants and their well-being at work. A relatively small number of studies on this topic in the Nordic countries, and their results indicate high job demands and risk for negative health outcomes. Purpose:This study aimed to investigate nurse assistants’ perception of job demands, the servant leadership of their next superior, job satisfaction, symptoms of emotional exhaustion, and physical well-being at work. It was also investigated whether perception of servant leadership of their next superior related to job satisfaction and symptoms of emotional exhaustion. Methods: Questionnaires sent to all nurse assistants with registered email addresses at the Icelandic Nurse Assistants Association yielded 588 participants (49% response rate). A new Dutch inventory on servant leadership (SLI) was used to measure perception of servant leadership in nursing; additional questions explored work environment, demands, control and support at work, symptoms of burnout, and job satisfaction. To answer the research questions, a cross-sectional descriptive designwas used Results: The majority of participants experienced high job demands and reported on control and support at work. Despite high levels of burnout, the majority of nurse assistants were satisfied at work. Servant leadership was practiced some what within nurse assistant’s workplaces. The correlation between perception of servant leadership, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion was significant for all SLI sub-factors except courage, and the strongest correlation was for empowerment, humility, and stewardship as sub-factors of servant leadership. Conclusion: This study highlights supportive factors within the work environment, particularly regarding the leadership-empowering role of servant leadership in nursing. Results showhow thissupportis related to nurse assistants ́ well-being at work andsuggeststhat servant leadership can support health promotion within the work environment of nurse assistants. These findings are valuable for nurse assistants, nurse managersand leadershipin the health care system, thus contributingto public health / <p>ISBN 978-91-86739-28-7</p>

This dissertation explores the memories and motivations of women who helped mold Pan-African cultural nationalism through challenging, refining, and reshaping organizations influenced by Kawaida, the black liberation philosophy that gave rise to Kwanzaa. This study focuses on female advocates in the Us Organization, Committee for a Unified Newark and the Congress of African People, the East, and Ahidiana. Emphasizing the years 1965 through the mid-to-late 1980s, the work delves into the women’s developing sense of racial and gender consciousness against the backdrop of the Black Power Movement. The study contextualizes recollections of women within the groups’ growth and development, ultimately tracing the organizations’ weakening, demise, and influence on subsequent generations. It examines female advocates within the larger milieu of the Civil Rights Movement’s retrenchment and the rise of Black Power. The dissertation also considers the impact of resurgent African-American nationalism, global independence movements, concomitant Black Campus, Black Arts, and Black Studies Movements, and the groups’ struggles amidst state repression and rising conservatism. Employing oral history, womanist approaches, and primary documents, this work seeks to increase what is known about female Pan-African cultural nationalists. Scholarly literature and archival sources reflect a dearth of cultural-nationalist women’s voices in the historical record. Several organizational histories have included the women’s contributions, but do not substantially engage their backgrounds, motives, and reasoning. Although women were initially restricted to “complementary” roles as helpmates, they were important in shaping and sustaining Pan-African cultural-nationalist organizations by serving as key actors in food cooperatives, educational programs, mass communications pursuits, community enterprises, and political organizing. As female advocates grappled with sexism in Kawaida-influenced groups, they also developed literature, programs, and organizations that broadened the cultural-nationalist vision for ending oppression. Women particularly helped reformulate and modernize Pan-African cultural nationalism over time and space by resisting and redefining restrictive gender roles. As such, they left a legacy of “kazi leadership” focused on collectivity, a commitment to performing the sustained work of bringing about black freedom, and centering African and African-descended people’s ideas and experiences.

Background: Based upon two important phenomena within the manufacturing industry an upcoming agile era is being proposed within this thesis, those phenomena have shown a shift in the focus of attention for companies within the manufacturing industry in the past. The first phenomenon is being referred to as “physical product development saturation” and the second phenomenon is “lean saturation”, which are introduced in order to give importance to the aspiration for a new emphasis to remain competitiveness and create more value within the manufacturing industry. Where in the past the focus was on physical product development, this in order to enhance and or invent new products. This was followed by the need for a more efficient way of working by eliminating wastes (Lean), although both phenomena are about to reach their limits with respect to the extra value they (can) create. The forthcoming agile era allows for a new way of value creation, this by adaptivity. This introduces the potential of a new way to create value, this being done by the agile way of working. Purpose: The research in this thesis aimed to find an answer to the question of how companies within the manufacturing industry could adopt an agile way of working in order to allow for a new way of value creation. Method: This research was approached by conducting a qualitative study. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted, with companies from the manufacturing, IT and consultancy industries. The collected data was then sorted and analysed systematically to generate knowledge and draw upon conclusions to answer the proposed research questions. Conclusion: In order to successfully adopt the agile way of working, within an organization in the manufacturing industry, the challenge is to create awareness and an understanding of the value and benefits an agile way of working could create, especially for the middle-management. This could be done by explaining an agile way of working as an extension to Lean. Furthermore, the tools &amp; processes of the agile way of working could be experimented with in order to start “doing agile”, this finally resulting in creating an understanding of the potential power of an agile way of working. Whereas, an agile way of working is being characterized by an encouraging, transparent culture led by a servant leadership style by making use of empowerment to stimulate value creation. Ultimately, resulting in adopting an agile way of working and achieving “becoming agile”. / <p>Thesis written in the  context of the study program “Engineering Management”.</p>