Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This study examined the motivation of outdoor staff working in multi-activity residential centres. The study took place against the background of an outdoor industry undergoing major legislative and cultural changes. These changes were discussed at length. Notable amongst the outcomes of the discussed changes was a need to improve staff retention within multi-activity residential centres. The motivation of staff was studied with this in mind. Following an initial pilot study, there were three major phases to the research. These were, a mail-shot questionnaire, focus group interviews and an investigation of personal constructs using a repertory grid (rep grid) technique. Structuring the study in this way allowed for quantitative data to be given depth and developed through qualitative techniques. Following a discussion of the major motivational theories, Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory was nominated as the grounding theory upon which the study was structured. This motivational theory a spect of the study was balanced with consideration of the social and cultural aspects of working in the outdoor industry. The major finding of the study was that outdoor staff are heavily motivated by autonomy, responsibility, challenge, altruism and variety. They are most strongly de-motivated by external factors, notably poor centre administration and inadequate resources. A multilayered motivational model was developed to give structure and synthesis to these findings. It was also found that outdoor staff are less interested in linear career progression in the conventional understanding than in progression through personal and professional development. It was noted, however, that this progression was subject to lifestage changes. Although outdoor staff were found to be transitory it was put forward as a recommendation that challenge and variety could be found from within a stable employment situation and that, as a result, the outdoor industry needed to adopt a different approach to career structure. A second model, the redeveloped career pyramid, was suggested to demonstrate these recommendations.

There is empirical data that illustrate that entrepreneurial activity and economic growth have a positive correlation. This study discusses the importance of corporate entrepreneurs in organisations, and the need to retain them in the organisation to continue leveraging on their skills.Previous research on staff retention focussed mainly on the environment, rewards, and role ambiguity. This study goes further by using previous corporate entrepreneurship models to test for staff retention.A quantitative approach was taken, using a questionnaire that tested corporate entrepreneurs. The Questionnaire had organisational factors (independent variables) on corporate entrepreneurship and the dependent variable. The population consisted of 150 corporate entrepreneurs from a South African company which has branches in South Africa, Korea, China and Japan.The results indicated that the autonomy and organisational boundaries has the highest impact with regards to corporate entrepreneurs staying with the organisation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Company A has experienced high voluntary staff turnover at middle management level between 2007 and 2009. During this period 35% of middle managers have resigned and, this has resulted in significant financial costs being incurred. This research focused on understanding what factors would make the current middle managers stay in Company A’s employment and what the financial impact has been due to these resignations. The research concluded that career development, people development by line manager, feedback of own work, a line manager who teaches and coaches subordinates, and working with a knowledgeable line manager, were the top five factors that would make the current middle managers stay in Company A’s employment. The research further concludes that there was a gap between Company A’s retention initiatives and what the middle managers actually value, thus the resignations. The research has also established that the middle managers’ resignations have had a significant financial impact on the organisation.

Company A has experienced high voluntary staff turnover at middle management level between 2007 and 2009. During this period 35% of middle managers have resigned and, this has resulted in significant financial costs being incurred. This research focused on understanding what factors would make the current middle managers stay in Company A’s employment and what the financial impact has been due to these resignations. The research concluded that career development, people development by line manager, feedback of own work, a line manager who teaches and coaches subordinates, and working with a knowledgeable line manager, were the top five factors that would make the current middle managers stay in Company A’s employment. The research further concludes that there was a gap between Company A’s retention initiatives and what the middle managers actually value, thus the resignations. The research has also established that the middle managers’ resignations have had a significant financial impact on the organisation.

Many scholars, consultants and practitioners have recently focused their attention on ownership as a psychological phenomenon. It is theorised that formal ownership can produce positive attitudinal and behavioural effects through psychologically experienced ownership, and that the psychological sense of ownership may form an integral part of the individual’s relationship with the organisation. It is suggested that the presence of psychological ownership among organisational members can have a positive effect on organisational effectiveness and promote staff retention. Psychological ownership is defined as a state in which individuals feel as though the target of ownership or a piece of it is “theirs” (i.e. “It is mine!”). The main aim of the study was to explore psychological ownership from a theoretical and content validity perspective in order to develop a multi-dimensional measure of psychological ownership for South African organisations. The measure could be utilised as both a measurement and diagnostic tool to determine psychological ownership. The research methodology followed an extensive literature review of scholarly articles. A multi-dimensional framework for psychological ownership was developed, consisting of promotion-orientated and prevention-orientated psychological ownership dimensions. Promotion-orientated psychological ownership consists of six theory-driven components: self-efficacy, self-identity, sense of belonging, accountability, autonomy and responsibility. Territoriality was identified as a preventative form of psychological ownership. A panel of nine scholarly experts evaluated the validity of items and the entire theory-based instrument. Lawshe’s (1975) quantitative approach to content validity was applied in this study. The instrument was administered to a non-probability convenience sample N = 712). The sample comprised employed professional, highly skilled and skilled individuals in various South African organisations operating in both the private and public sector. The sample was randomly split into two subsets. A sample of n = 356 was used for the development of a model and the remaining half was used for validating the results that were attained from the first half. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the one subset n = 356). Parallel analysis signified four significant factors. The study resulted in a four-factor measure comprising 35 items that was named the South African Psychological Ownership Questionnaire (SAPOS). The four factors of the SAPOS were labelled Identification, Responsibility, Autonomy and Territoriality respectively. Results of the second-order factor analysis confirmed the existence of two distinctive dimensions: promotion-orientated and prevention-orientated psychological ownership. Promotion-orientated psychological ownership comprises three components: Identification, Responsibility and Autonomy. Territoriality was identified as a dimension of preventative psychological ownership. Examination of internal consistency revealed highly satisfactory Cronbach alpha coefficients for all four factors (Identification: _= .939; Responsibility: _= .871; Autonomy: _= .874; Territoriality: _= .776). Confirmatory factor analysis on the second subset of the sample (n = 356) confirmed the four-factor model. The chi-square/df ratio (1.7), CFI (.904), RMSEA (.045), and SRMR (0.59) values met the minimum recommended standards, indicating a reasonable fit. According to the results, all items demonstrated adequate convergent validity. Examination of the variance-extracted estimates confirmed discriminant validity within the model. Evidence of criterion-related validity was provided. Promotive psychological ownership was positively related to affective commitment and job satisfaction and negatively related to turnover intentions. Independent sample t-tests and the analysis of variance technique indicated that differences exist between employees varying in biographical variables with regard to the specific dimensions (Identification, Responsibility, Autonomy and Territoriality) underlying the concept of psychological ownership. The theoretical relevance of this study is its expansion of the five-dimensional theorydriven measure of psychological ownership developed by Avey and colleagues (2009). This study expanded on their theoretical model by adding two additional promotionfocused dimensions, namely Autonomy and Responsibility. The existence of a new measure will further contribute to the body of knowledge by filling the void for such a measuring instrument for South African organisations. The methodological relevance of this study is the contribution of a multidimensional scale evidencing substantial reliability and validity for evaluating people’s psychological ownership toward their organisation. The practical relevance of this study is the contribution of a multi-dimensional measure of psychological ownership that can be utilised by Human Resource professionals and managers for clarifying psychological ownership of employees within the specific context of a multi-cultural society such as that in South Africa. Understanding and utilising the measure has the potential to increase staff retention and productivity. If a sense of psychological ownership can be created among employees by addressing the factors measured by the instrument, an enhanced workplace can be established, ensuring sustainable performance during uncertain economic times. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

The goal of my work was to analyze the issue of selection, posting and employees management on the projects in the European Union and proposal for optimalization of processes associated with this issue for the company Teradata.

Thesis (M. Tech. Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences--(Vaal University of Technology, 2010)). / Organisations are starting to think and operate more strategically and are beginning to realise that their survival depends on information. Information management relates to management activities concerning information. Information and the supporting systems are important business assets for establishing and leveraging information-based resources and competence, which allow organisations to compete and survive in the current competitive economic markets. In order for the information management department to support business optimally, they need to retain existing talented people who have the essential knowledge, expertise and competencies to do the work. Adding to this is the need to make the job environment more attractive to current and future job applicants. In order to do this, the management team of the information management department need to understand why people behave as they do. They must have the ability to control, direct and change behaviour, as well as be able to use the right motivation to make the job environment within the information management department more attractive. The purpose of this study is to examine staff retention in an information management environment. The literature study explores the theoretical framework of staff retention, motivation and job satisfaction. A quantitative research approach was followed and a questionnaire was used to elicit data from 50 employees working in an information management department of a petrochemical organisation. The questionnaire was used to measure employee job satisfaction levels and to identify job satisfaction factors. The findings reveal that communication, good working conditions, job security, opportunities for learning and growth, and recognition are seen in this order as being the most important job satisfaction factors. It is clear that employee expectations for job satisfaction are not met in the areas of recognition and good supervision/leadership. In addition, it is noted that employee expectations for job satisfaction are only partially met in the areas of communication, opportunities for learning and growth, promotional opportunities and compensation/pay. The value of this research is that it makes a useful contribution to the current knowledge of the management team in the information management department. The research information collected through this study can be used to establish the optimal mix of motivating factors in order to ensure that current employees are retained and that a sought-after working environment for new appointments is created.