Recognising the injustices of South Africa’s apartheid past, there is a responsibility on employers to ensure that employment equity practices are implemented, without harming important aspects regarding the employment relationship, such as the psychological contract. The psychological contract is a construct that is relevant to employment and yet there is little research on the influence of external regulations on the psychological contract. To cater for this void, this study therefore focussed on the effects that employment equity legislation and practices have on the psychological contract. In this regard special attention was given to the influence of employment equity on employees’ intention to resign, which forms an important part of the psychological contract. The study also focussed on the differences that exist between the three social groupings that are present in South African organisations, namely white males, Africans and a group consisting of white females, Coloureds and Indians, regarding their perceptions about how employment equity influences the psychological contract. A structured questionnaire comprising standardised scales was used to explore the effect of employment equity legislation on the psychological contract in the context of a tertiary institution. A sample of 399 employees from a tertiary institution participated in the study. A number of statistically significant relationships between the research variables were evident for each of the three groupings of participants. The overall outcome of the study was that employment equity does not have a significant effect on the psychological contract in a tertiary institution and no significant differences were found between the responses of the three social groupings involved in the study. This study makes an important contribution to an area potentially rich in research opportunities; with subsequent meaningful practical implications for managers implementing employment equity strategies. / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Orientation – Talent Management Practices and the Psychological Contract are two distinct constructs and it appears that Talent Management influences the Psychological Contract, with the result being a stronger Psychological Contract. Research Purpose – The study aims to determine the relationship between Talent Management and the Psychological Contract. Motivation for the Study – The world of work and the Psychological Contract have changed. Employees value knowledge, skills and experience more than being loyal to an organisation. Today, turnover is a lot higher than it was a few years ago. Talent Management may be a successful intervention to strengthen the Psychological Contract. Research Design, Approach and Method – Two instruments, namely Talent Practices and the Psychological Contract Inventory, were administered online and paper-based to a sample of 556 employees in Pretoria and Centurion. 102 completed questionnaires were obtained. Responses were analysed using quantitative techniques and correlation analysis. Main Findings – Results confirm that generally good Talent Management practices are associated with a positive Psychological Contract. Practical / Managerial Implications – The study provides evidence that management can use Talent Management Practices to strengthen the Psychological Contract, leading to lower turnover, improved motivation and productivity, loyalty, etc. The study therefore emphasises that it is important for management to implement Talent Management Practices. Contribution / Value Add – The findings of the study indicate a generally positive relationship between Talent Management and the Psychological Contract. The study focuses -on the importance of implementing Talent Management practices in order to strengthen the Psychological Contract. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

In academia, after a reasonable probationary period of service and upon the achievement of tenure, the recipients of tenure are entitled to a continuing appointment at an institution without mandatory retirement and with only limited grounds for revocation. Advocates of tenure argued that it protected academic freedom through economic security. Opponents of tenure argued that it fostered inefficient and unproductive behavior. This dissertation developed a framework for examining academic tenure in U.S. economics departments. I constructed a dataset of tenured U.S. economics professors who were Ph.D. recipients between 1990 and 2006 and tracked their publications. In the first chapter, based on difference-in-difference analysis I found that tenure has a direct effect on the choice of research direction/focus. In general, tenured groups had a higher degree of specialization than non-tenured groups after they received tenure. For some tenured groups, even if their extent of specialization decreased after tenure, when I controlled for unobserved heterogeneity, tenure still had a positive effect on extent of specialization. This result suggested that the job security provided by tenure made tenured faculty more narrowly focused on their research. Using path analysis in the second chapter, my finding suggested that the extent of specialization was one of the key factors which might influence a scholar’s productivity. In addition, the extent of specialization helped explain gender differences in academic productivity. The results revealed that the effect of gender on productivity through the degree of specialization was more notable among older generations, and in most fields, gender differences in extent of research specialization mediated gender difference in research performance; although there were some fields in which gender difference in the research process could not explain gender difference in research performance. The third chapter expanded our understanding of advancement in academics by exploring a new dimension of inquiry: whether the extent of specialization in scholars’ research programs improved promotion prospects. Using discrete event analysis, my research showed that the extent of research specialization contributed to career acceleration, although gender difference on the prospects of advancement in academics was not significant.

L’expression de la « bilatéralisation du cautionnement » suggère que ce dernier ne serait plus un contrat unilatéral par lequel seule la caution s’oblige. Dans un premier temps, l’étude de cette hypothèse permet de revenir sur le critère de l’unilatéralité du cautionnement, afin d’en proposer une définition et d’examiner dans quelles conditions ce caractère unilatéral peut varier. La démarche entreprise à l’endroit de la qualification du cautionnement se prolonge ensuite dans le but de vérifier ce qu’il reste du régime du contrat unilatéral en la matière. Il apparaît ainsi que le cautionnement est toujours un contrat unilatéral, et que le droit continue de le traiter comme tel. Dans un second temps, l’étude propose d’analyser la qualification et le régime des sujétions légales et prétoriennes qui sont à la charge de la plupart des créanciers cautionnés depuis une trentaine d’années. En droit du cautionnement, les sujétions légales sont des incombances, une qualification puisée dans les droits suisse, allemand, et belge. En droit commun, le créancier est assujetti par le devoir de bonne foi, de loyauté ou encore de cohérence comportementale, qui exprime la force obligatoire du cautionnement mais ne révèle aucune obligation contractuelle à proprement parler. Quant au régime de l’assujettissement du créancier, il est guidé par la déchéance en droit du cautionnement, et par la responsabilité civile en droit commun. En somme, ce n’est pas le caractère unilatéral du cautionnement qui change, mais les éléments qui en font douter qui doivent être appréhendés autrement, dans la théorie du droit des obligations comme dans la pratique du procès. / The expression « bilatéralisation du cautionnement » (« Bilateralisation of Suretyship ») implies that the contract of Suretyship is no longer a unilateral contract whereby the Surety is the only obliged party.. First, the study of this hypothesis enables to reexamine the criterion of the unilateral feature of the suretyship contract, in order to propose a definition and to examine in what conditions this unilateral feature may vary. The approach chosen for the characterization of the suretyship is then carried on, in order to verify what is left from the regime of unilateral contracts in the domain of suretyships. It appears that suretyship is always a unilateral contract, and that French law continues to treat it that way.. Second, the study is carried on by the analysis of the characterisation and the regime of the legally- and judicially-imposed duties on the beneficiaries of a suretyship for thirty years. In suretyship law, the legal duties are « incombances », a norm inspired from the laws of Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. In civil law, the creditor is bound by the duty of good faith, loyalty or even behavioral consistency, which all exprès the binding power of the contract of suretyship but hide no contractual obligation per se, strictly speaking. As for the régime of duties imposed upon the creditor, it is dominated by the sanction of forfeiture in suretyship law, and by civil liability in civil law. In the end, changes do not affect the unilateral aspect of the suretyship contract ; they should alter the way we approach the elements that cast a doubt on it, be it in the law of obligations of in the judicial practice.

The association the alignment of the psychological contract has to workplace outcomes in the South African emerging market context was investigated at a total psychological contract level but also on a psychological contract construct level. The results of 106 manager and employee dyads supported that there are correlations between psychological contract alignment and the performance of employees as rated by their manager, the commitment of the employee to the organisation and the propensity of the employee to leave the organisation. Models were developed that indicated alignment on loyalty aspects explaining the performance outcome and that a combination of alignment on fulfilment and performance support explained the commitment and propensity to leave outcome. Differences in responses between same gender dyads and different gender dyads were explored, as well as between same population group and different population group dyads with no statistically significant differences observed. The results of the study are discussed in terms of its practical use for general and human resource management. Further related research areas are suggested: the association of psychological contract alignment to propensity to leave in a positive economic climate, the degree of bias in performance ratings by managers when highly committed to the employee. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Tobacco plays a very significant role in Malawi’s economy by being the largest foreign exchange earner for the economy. The Integrated Production System was implemented in 2012 to promote contract production and also improve quality of tobacco which would therefore fetch higher prices for farmers. Contract farming has been believed to be potentially beneficial, but many farmers still choose not to produce under contract. This study examines factors that influence farmers’ tobacco contracting decisions. 300 farmers were interviewed for the study using a structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed with logit model using SAS software. Expected auction market price, expected fertilizer cost for contract tobacco production, and the number of years farmers have grown tobacco are negatively related to producers’ adoption of contract production. Expected contract market prices, expected non-contract fertilizer cost, loan expectations, number of years farmer has previously contracted and offarm income are positively related to contract adoption .

No description available.

No description available.

Introduction: Prevalence of chronic conditions continues to rise in North America. Despite the lack of evidence supporting their use, patient contracts are commonly used by medical professionals to manage such conditions. To date, literature reviews on patient contracts has been limited to randomized controlled trials, with specific purposes and limited populations. The purpose of this study is to describe ‘for what’ and ‘how’ medical contracts are being used for the management of chronic medical conditions. Methods: In order to capture and describe the breadth of knowledge around medical contracts in the literature, a scoping review was conducted. This inclusive approach allowed for analytic reinterpretation of research activity, gaps in the literature to be identified and further avenues of inquiry to be opened. Database searches included Medline, EMBASE, AMED, PsycINFO, Cochrane, CINAHL and Nursing & Allied Health. Results: A total of 7,528 articles resulted from the original search. Seventy-six articles were included in the final review. Multiple types of studies were represented with limited follow-up durations. Extensive variety was seen for contract target population, clinical setting and co-interventions. Purposes for initiating contracts included: 1) behavior change and skill development, including goal development and problem solving; 2) altering beliefs and knowledge, including motivation and perceived self-efficacy; 3) improving interpersonal relationships and role clarification; 4) improving the quality and process of chronic care; and 5) altering objective and subjective health indices. In relationship to how contracts are used, their development, application of behavioral theory, inclusion of patient input, training for their use and implementation processes were inconsistently described. Conclusion: More research is required to determine if contracts are capable of accomplishing their intended purposes. Questions remain regarding their rationale, development and implementation. / Thesis / Master of Public Health (MPH) / Rates of chronic medical conditions continue to rise in North America. To manage such conditions, medical professionals commonly use patient contracts, defined as any type of agreement by which one or both parties agree to a set of behaviors related to the care of the patient. The purpose of this study is to describe ‘for what’ and ‘how’ medical contracts are being used for the management of chronic medical conditions. A scoping literature review was undertaken. Extensive variety was seen in the literature for contract target population, clinical setting and co-interventions. Purposes for initiating contracts included: 1) behavior change and skill development; 2) altering beliefs and knowledge; 3) improving interpersonal relationships; 4) improving the quality and process of care; and 5) altering objective and subjective health indices. Contract development and implementation processes were inconsistently described. More research is required to determine if contracts are capable of accomplishing their intended purposes. Questions remain regarding their rationale, development and implementation processes.

Government increasingly contracts out public functions to the private sector. While theory about contract performance management is abundant, there is little empirical evidence on contract performance. Additionally, the public management contract literature emphasizes management strategies to produce desired performance but largely disregards how the structure of ex post contract settings influences individual contract performance. In this dissertation, I develop theory and measures to assess how structural variables influence contract performance on quality dimensions. I focus on networked structures of exchange between contracted programs and government funders and the way exchange is situated in a larger environment. The empirical basis for my dissertation is a set of government funded residential services programs for delinquent youth. The outcome variable is a measure of program quality created by the government funder. Predictor variables include competition at the program and parent organization level and the overall presence of public and nonprofit programs in the contract network. I also examine the effects of organizational form on performance. Most programs are contracted to nonprofit and for-profit organizations with a small number of programs directly provided by government. The mixed market provides an opportunity to test existing theory about organizational form and performance. I use hierarchical linear models (HLM) and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to examine how structural variables influence performance. In the HLM analysis, I find some support for my hypotheses about structural predictors of performance. In the QCA analysis, I find that effects of organizational form are conditional upon structural variables. It appears that nonprofit and public programs perform well under a variety of conditions while for-profit programs are more likely to perform acceptably when they are constrained by structural factors like competition. This dissertation makes theoretical, empirical and practical contributions to the field of public management. Following recent, scholarly tradition, I examine the changing role of government and its increasing use of the nonprofit and for-profit organizations to deliver government services. I incorporate structural theory into the contract management literature and demonstrate the structure of contract settings influences performance. I also develop formal measures of competition in contract settings. I also find that HLM and QCA can be complementary analytical tools and provide a richer picture of causal processes when used on the same dataset.