No / Workplace email is quickly evolving to keep up with those who use it---and perhaps to make way for the next killer application. Has email redefined human communication and interaction? How have organizations and employees incorporated email into their processes? This article aims to answer these questions and start a discussion around issues of email in the workplace. We report the results of a quantitative survey on the role of email in organizations. This survey, which involved administering an email questionnaire to 600 employees of 50 U.K.-based organizations, found email to be extremely pervasive within organizations. It is considered a valuable medium of communication that sits comfortably amidst verbal and written media. The survey also demonstrated that attitudes toward and patterns of email usage are differentiated by gender, as well as by psychological issues such as confidence levels. Also, despite the increase in factors that might hamper the effectiveness and efficiency of email, such as spam and viruses, the survey findings suggest organizations have implemented an infrastructure to manage these issues so they have a limited impact on end users.

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No / This report, by Helge Hoel and Sabir I Giga of the University of Manchester Business School, with contributions from Brian Faragher, can be accessed here. The research has resulted in the successful completion of the first academic anti-bullying intervention study, comparing the effectiveness of interventions across different organisational contexts and involving the implementation of a complex design in order to apply scientific rigour. Phase 1 established for the first time the apparent scale of bullying at work, and the sectors in which it appears to be most prevalent. Research evidence obtained from this work was input to phase 2 which was completed in 2006 and was designed to Establish a risk assessment tool kit for assessing the risk of bullying in organisations Identify the interventions most likely to be effective in given situations Although the study was unable to establish beyond doubt the efficacy of a particular intervention, there is evidence to suggest that theoretically sound, well planned and aptly delivered interventions can make a difference, particularly when sufficient time is allocated and the proportion of staff being trained is significant enough to have an impact upon behaviour. A conference to launch the findings of this research took place in November 2006. It attracted substantial media attention. The application of these tools in organisations where bullying does occur had the capability to substantially improve morale and staff retention, and to reduce risk of claims for compensation or at employment tribunals.

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Yes / The survey considered this was a greater burden compared to cancer (16%) and heart disease (16%), suggesting reducing mental ill health should be a priority for public health (Davies 2014). [...]the impact of stigma associated with poor mental health prevents individuals from accessing services that have the capacity to improve lives (Corrigan et al, 2014). To support organisations to reduce sickness absence, NICE published its "Workplace health: management practices" guidelines in 2016 (NICE, 2016), and the more recent "Healthy workplaces: improving employee mental and physical health and wellbeing" (NICE, 2017) shows workplace health now features high on the Government's agenda. [...]transformational programmes have sought to create a sea change in the way mental healthcare is delivered, from a mainly medical model approach, considered denigrating, paternalistic, inhumane and reductionist (Shah and Mountain, 2007), to that of a biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977)With its emphasis on a more broad and integrated approach to human behaviour, this model requires the use of effectivecommunication skills in service delivery, to extend care beyond that of the individual to include family members and to emphasise the importance of illness prevention as well as treatment provsion (Dogar, 2007). The case for mental health promotion at work Considerable emphasis is now being placed on the importance of positive mental health and wellbeing as mental health is now considered a priority for the Government, with recent policies aiming to create a parity with physical health.

Yes / This study will undertake a preparatory phase summarising the body of literature on midwifery students’ knowledge, understanding and experiences of workplace bullying, and violence.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature and degree of occupational gender segregation across the functional fields in South Africa and to determine if existing “supply-side” explanations serve to explain the phenomenon through an attitudinal survey of the females in the sample. The UNISA first year MBL students were requested to complete the survey during their August Centre Visit at the SBL Sasol auditorium in Midrand. The survey consists of two sections. Section A determined the gender of the sample element and subsequently their functional field of occupation, which enabled the calculation of the Karmel and MacLachlan Index per functional field. The Finance, General Management, Information Technology, Operations and Production and Procurement, Buying and Logistics fields showed high levels of integration, while the Marketing, Sales and Customer Service field showed low levels of segregation in favour of women. Human Resources was strongly female dominant, while Research and Development was strongly male dominant. The “Other” field showed the highest level of segregation in favour of women. Section B contains the attitudinal Likert scale questions to measure the extent to which the various supply-side explanations determine the women’s career decisions. There seem to be certain explanation types, such as Exchange Utility and Reward, which serve as strong selection criteria and other factors that play a lesser role, such as Teaching Styles and Self-Image. Based on the averages the Occupational Sex-Typing, Self-Efficacy and Parental Influence explanations showed no agreement from any of the sample elements. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature and degree of occupational gender segregation across the functional fields in South Africa and to determine if existing “supply-side” explanations serve to explain the phenomenon through an attitudinal survey of the females in the sample. The UNISA first year MBL students were requested to complete the survey during their August Centre Visit at the SBL Sasol auditorium in Midrand. The survey consists of two sections. Section A determined the gender of the sample element and subsequently their functional field of occupation, which enabled the calculation of the Karmel and MacLachlan Index per functional field. The Finance, General Management, Information Technology, Operations and Production and Procurement, Buying and Logistics fields showed high levels of integration, while the Marketing, Sales and Customer Service field showed low levels of segregation in favour of women. Human Resources was strongly female dominant, while Research and Development was strongly male dominant. The “Other” field showed the highest level of segregation in favour of women. Section B contains the attitudinal Likert scale questions to measure the extent to which the various supply-side explanations determine the women’s career decisions. There seem to be certain explanation types, such as Exchange Utility and Reward, which serve as strong selection criteria and other factors that play a lesser role, such as Teaching Styles and Self-Image. Based on the averages the Occupational Sex-Typing, Self-Efficacy and Parental Influence explanations showed no agreement from any of the sample elements. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

There are two important trends in organizations today: 1) the increasing use of teams and 2) the increasing diversity in the workforce. The literature is in tune with these organizational trends, evidenced by a dramatic increase in research on team performance and the effects of diversity. However, there are still contradictory findings of the effects of team diversity on team processes and outcomes. To shed light on these inconsistencies, the cognitive construct of team mental model is introduced as a mediator of the relationship between team cognitive diversity and team performance. Team mental model is an emergent cognitive state that represents team members' organized understanding of their task environment (e.g., Klimoski&Mohammed, 1994) and has been shown to improve team performance (e.g., Edwards, Day, Arthur,&Bell, 2006; Mathieu, Heffner, Goodwin, Salas,&Cannon-Bowers, 2000). Specifically, with a sample of 94 student teams I investigated how team cognitive diversity affects team mental model similarity and accuracy, and through them, team performance. In addition, I examined team information processing mechanisms as moderators of the relationships between team cognitive diversity and team mental model similarity and accuracy. The results suggest that cognition at the team level plays an important role in the effective functioning of decision making teams. Specifically, the combination of team mental model similarity and accuracy predicts levels of team performance and information integration is an important moderator linking cognitive style diversity to task mental models, team processes, and team performance. The research model developed and tested seeks to advance understanding of the "black box" linking team diversity to team outcomes (Lawrence, 1997) and to provide guidance to managers leading cognitively diverse teams.

Background: HIV/AIDS is believed to be one of the largest threats to the general business climates in Sub-Saharan Africa. The private sector has, in response, taken initiatives to reduce the impact of the epidemic by developing so called HIV/AIDS workplace programmes. The programs aim to create awareness regarding HIV/AIDS through the education and treatment of the disease. We want to examine the programs and discover the factors that may inhibit their implementation and progress, this, in order to improve the stability of the HIV/AIDS workplace programs. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis is to examine and investigate HIV/AIDS workplace programs, with the purpose of disclosing the primary factors that may affect their progress. Completion and results: This thesis demonstrates that the implementation and progress of HIV/AIDS workplace programs are highly affected by leadership, management, motivation and stigma. Managers, acting as role models, increase the employees’ motivation to participate in the workplace programs. In addition, their involvement helps to ensure the stability and progress of the workplace programs. The systematization of activities and allocation of resources, such as money and time, also play a significant part, regarding employee motivation. This in turn results in a higher level of employee participation. Due to tough market conditions and lack of clarity, concerning the relation between HIV/AIDS and productivity, managers often fail to invest the necessary resources needed, to ensure the stability of the HIV/AIDS workplace program. The involvement of managers and spread of information has a significant effect on stigma, decreasing the many false beliefs prevalent due to religion and culture. Based on the findings, theoretical as well as empirical, the lack of leadership and management, decrease in motivation and HIV/AIDS-related stigma are referred to as the three main obstacles which hinder the progress of HIV/AIDS workplace programs. HIV/AIDS is one of the world’s largest health problems, around 16 million children died, in 2009, due to the illness (The World Factbook 2011). 32 million individuals are infected, of which the majority live in Sub-Saharan Africa (The World Factbook 2011). Kenya is one of the most affected countries in the world. The lack of coordination of resources has resulted in a staggering limitation, only 5 percent of the Kenyan population receives sufficient aid (United States Agency International Development 2010). With the help of the workplace programs, instituted by the companies themselves, a new channel of reaching out to those in need has been opened. In this thesis, focus is laid upon HIV/AIDS workplace programs, which aim to spread information and treat HIV/AIDS. Attention has especially been given to the factors which affect the implementation and progress of the HIV/AIDS workplace programs. The found factors, especially those which affect the workplace programs negatively, are used in order to form proposals regarding how to overcome the obstacles. The proposals are based on empirical findings and theoretical framework. These are later developed further, by the authors, in order to reach congruence with the main purpose of the thesis; to examine and investigate HIV/AIDS workplace programs, with the purpose of disclosing the primary factors that may affect their progress.