Incivility within organizations is a rampant problem with dire consequences,including adverse effects on both job satisfaction and psychological states. This study was conducted to address the gap in the current literature that looks at incivility within organizations. To date, no studies have assessed the impact of bottom-up incivility (i.e., incivility that is directed from subordinates to supervisors) on supervisor targets. Thus, this study investigated the impact of bottom-up forms of incivility of supervisors’ mental and physical states, as well as their levels of job satisfaction. However, due to small sample sizes, the current research was expanded to address the effects of both bottom-up incivility and other forms of incivility (i.e., peer-to-peer and superior-to-subordinate). As a result, the study consisted of two samples: bottom-up targets (N = 19) and targets of all forms of incivility (N = 89). In the bottom-up sample, results showed that instances of bottom-up incivility are a significant predictor of lower levels of job satisfaction. In the sample of targets of all forms of incivility, the results indicated that incivility was a significant predictor of lower levels of mental health. In the sample of targets of all forms of incivility, hierarchical regression analyses also showed that the effects of incivility on physical health were mediated by mental health.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att behandla vilka explicita och implicita strategier första linjens chefer har för att åstadkomma lärande i vårdarbetet. Uppsatsen har en kvalitativ ansats. Tidigare forskning visar att lärande i arbetet är en framgångsfaktor för de flesta organisationer. Forskning och utveckling gör att behovet av lärande ökar. Den varierande utbildningsbakgrund som personalen har gör att cheferna måste komplettera, utveckla och underhålla personalens kunskap vilket tar mycket tid. Ökat lärande gör personalen mer anställningsbar. I studien intervjuas åtta första linjens chefer. Ett fåtal chefer har en nedtecknad tydlig strategi för lärande. Chefens roll har förändrats då lärandefrågor tar allt mer av deras tid. Utbudet av utbildning är störst för sjuksköterskor. Undersköterskor/skötare får sin utbildning mest genom internutbildning. Cheferna tvingas till ständiga prioriteringar eftersom resurserna är begränsade. Lärande i vårdarbetet är intressant eftersom det är en multiprofessionell organisation. Det finns möjlighet att lära av varandra. Ett önskemål är att lära genom tvärprofessionella team där läkarna är viktiga, men det fungerar inte. Patientfokus är starkt och det gör att personalen väljer bort utbildning när tiden inte räcker till.

<p>The focus of the study is the teacher in the under-resourced schools in the townships of the Western Cape. The purpose is to discover how teachers learn to cope under adverse working conditions.</p>

This thesis examines the role of management with regard to reducing and preventing workplace incivility through a care-focused and conflict transformation theory lens. The discussion on workplace incivility is expanded through an exploration of two theories: care-focused theory and conflict transformation theory. These theories are integrated into one theoretical framework, The Care-Centered Moral Imagination Framework (CMIF), which is applied to current literature recommendations on reduction and prevention of workplace incivility. The current literature recommendations were summarized through an ethnographic content analysis on existing academic studies conducted on workplace incivility. The result is a précis of current themes in the literature with regard to managing workplace incivility followed by a discussion of missing elements of management as determined through the application of the CMIF. These elements were rolled into ten valuable actions: care ethic, humility, pragmatism, treasure relations, embracing change and diversity, relationship building, dialogue, engagement, understanding and reflect and critique, that were recommended for managers to adopt and model in the workplace. The actions are suggested strategies for managers to use in the workplace when engaging with workplace incivility. I discuss suggestions and implications of the research in the concluding remarks. / Graduate / 0617 / 0344 / 0534 / lynn_86@msn.com

Thesis (MComm) -- Stellenbosch University, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The plethora of differences that characterise the South Africa population has become a definite concern for organisational management and is of significant importance to the industrial world itself. The need to critically assess people’s perception and attitude towards diversity within the organisation, and ultimately serving to inform management seeking to build an ethically diverse, healthy and productive workforce, served as a prime motivation for this study. The objective was to demonstrate that humans are complex beings and that attempts to minimise the complexity by simply containing that complexity within the bounds of a unidimensional solution are guaranteed to fail. It is for this reason that diversity management within an organisation requires the need to manage an infinite and changing variety of social variables which to varying degrees, impacts on social interaction and people’s attitude towards diversity. Having completed a literature study concerning the possible antecedents of attitude towards diversity, and taking into account various suggested future directions for diversity research, it was decided that the present study would focus on three specific variables: attitude towards diversity, emotional intelligence and diversity complexity. The primary goal was to design and conduct a scientific investigation into the relationships between the latent variables; in hope of ultimately informing management seeking to build an ethically diverse, healthy and productive workforce who value the individuality of others. Available literature was studied in order to understand and comprehend whether any relationships could be theoretically drawn between the constructs. Several hypotheses were proposed and a conceptual model, explaining the relationships between these constructs, was developed. Thereafter, both the postulated relationships and the conceptual model were empirically tested using various statistical methods. Existing measuring instruments were utilised in this study, and included the Cultural Diversity Belief Scale (Rentsch, Turban, Hissong, Jenkins & Marrs, 1995), the Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Palmer, Stough & Gignac, 2008), and the Reaction- To-Diversity-Inventory (De Meuse & Hostager, 2001). The sample consisted of 237 selected individuals from various South African organisations. The content and structure of the constructs that were measured by the instruments were investigated by means of confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. The results indicated that in all cases, the refined measurement models achieved good fit. Subsequently, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to determine the extent to which the conceptual model fitted the data obtained from the sample and to test the relationships between the constructs when taking the complete conceptual model into account. Overall, it was found that good model fit was indicated for the structural model. Regression analyses also found some support for the stated hypotheses. Eight of the ten stated hypotheses in this study were corroborated. Although several significant links were established between the latent variables, a notable unique result of this research presented itself in the significant positive relationships uncovered between the exogenous latent variable, emotional intelligence, and the endogenous latent variables of valuing individual differences and positive perceptual depth. These significant positive relationships provide empirical evidence of the significant relationships between emotions, attitudes and perceptions. Moreover, the analysis of the modification indices for the structural model, suggested that the addition of one path to the existing structural model would probably improve the fit of the model. Recommendations are made in terms of possible avenues for future research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die uiteenlopende verskille, wat 'n kenmerk van die Suid-Afrika bevolking geword het, is 'n definitiewe uitdaging vir organisatoriese bestuur en is ook van groot belang vir die sakewêreld. Die behoefte om mense se persepsies en houdings teenoor die diversiteit binne die organisasie krities te evalueer, wat uiteindelik ook dien om bestuur, wat op soek is na die bou van 'n etiese, gesonde en produktiewe arbeidsmag, te help, het as die primêre motivering vir hierdie studie gedien. Die doel was om aan te toon dat die mens ‘n komplekse wese is en dat pogings om dit gering te skat deur kompleksiteit net binne die grense van 'n een-dimensionele oplossing te ontleed, gewaarborg is om te misluk. Dit is om hierdie rede dat diversiteitsbestuur binne 'n organisasie die bestuur van ‘n oneindige en veranderende verskeidenheid van sosiale veranderlikes noodsaak, wat, sosiale interaksie en mense se houdings teenoor diversiteit verskillend kan beinvloed. Na die voltooiing van 'n literatuurstudie oor die moontlike determinante antecedenten van die houding teenoor diversiteit, en met inagneming van die toekomstige rigtings vir diversiteitsnavorsing, is daar besluit dat die huidige studie op drie spesifieke veranderlikes sal fokus: houding teenoor diversiteit, emosionele intelligensie en diversiteitskompleksiteit. Die primêre doel was om ‘n wetenskaplike ondersoek te ontwerp en uit te voer rakende die verwantskappe tussen die latente veranderlikes; in die hoop om bestuur te help om ‘n gesonde en produktiewe arbeidsmag te bou wat ook die individualiteit van ander waardeer. Beskikbare literatuur is bestudeer ten einde te verstaan of enige verbande tussen die teoretiese konstrukte gevind kan word. Verskeie hipoteses is geformuleer en 'n konseptuele model, waarin die verband tussen hierdie konstrukte verduidelik word, is ontwikkel. Daarna, is die gepostuleerde verwantskappe en die konseptuele model empiries met behulp van verskeie statistiese metodes getoets. Bestaande meetinstrumente is in hierdie studie gebruik en sluit in die ‘Cultural Diversity Belief Scale,’ (Rentsch, Tulband, Hissong, Jenkins & Marrs, 1995), die ‘Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory,’ (Palmer, Stough & Gignac, 2008), en die ‘Reaction-To-Diversity-Inventory,’ (De Meuse & Hostager, 2001). Die steekproef het bestaan uit 237 gekose individue uit verskillende Suid-Afrikaanse organisasies. Die inhoud en die struktuur van die konstrukte wat deur die instrumente gemeet is, is deur middel van bevestigende en verkennende faktorontledings ondersoek. Die resultate dui daarop dat in al die gevalle, die verfynde metingsmodelle goeie passings getoon het. Daarna is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) gebruik om te bepaal tot watter mate die konseptuele model die data pas, en om die verwantskappe tussen die konstrukte te toets wanneer die volledige konseptuele model in ag geneem is. Algeheel is daar goeie passing vir die strukturele model gevind. Regressie-analises het ook ‘n mate van bevestiging vir die gestelde hipoteses gevind. Agt van die tien hipoteses is was in hierdie studie bevestig. Alhoewel verskeie belangrike verwantskappe tussen die latente veranderlikes gevind is, is daar 'n unieke resultaat gevind met betrekking tot die positiewe verband tussen die eksogene latente veranderlike, emosionele intelligensie, en die endogene latente veranderlikes van waardering van individuele verskille en positiewe perseptuele diepte. Hierdie positiewe verwantskappe verskaf empiriese bewyse vir die beduidende verband tussen emosies, houdings en persepsies. Verder, het die analise van die modifikasie indekse vir die strukturele model aangedui dat die byvoeging van ‘n addisionele roete waarskynlik die bestaande strukturele model se passing kan verbeter. Aanbevelings word ten slotte gemaak in terme van moontlike rigtings vir toekomstige navorsing.

The increasing globalization of the market has rendered the competitive situation for companies worldwide more fierce than ever with order winners becoming order qualifiers and the demand continues to rise. Especially, the situation has become more complex for SME´s that are suppliers to large global companies. To ensure themselves that the suppliers are conforming to the high standards set by the large companies. In mediating the quality of the production as well as having a well-performing production, practitioners are using the term industrial look and feel to encapsulate a production that both deliver and looks the part. However, this term is loosely used, and a clear definition of it is missing, hence creating problems when the term industrial look and feel is used in production line design. In this study, the authors aim to investigate the possibilities of providing a clear definition of the term industrial look and feel and what it involves. Further, the authors want to investigate what are the important aspects to consider when designing a production line considering industrial look and feel. The study was directed by these three research questions: * How can Industrial Look and Feel be defined? * How does Industrial Look and Feel contribute to increased performance of a production line? * What is important to consider when designing a production line considering industrial look and feel in an HMLV environment? To answer the research questions a case study has been conducted at a company producing the robust data communication equipment and a literature review was conducted with the aim of understanding the concepts included in the term industrial look and feel. The study resulted in a definition of industrial look and feel, how industrial look and feel may contribute the production performance and important aspect to consider and include in the design of a production line considering industrial look and feel. Taking the newly defined concept of industrial look and feel into consideration, a concept assembly line was developed at the case study company.

Workplace bullying is a sensitive issue and a psychological terror in the workplace, with severe effects on employees’ and organisations’ health, dignity, employee relations, and wellbeing. As a vital link between different constituencies in the organisation, human resource (HR) practitioners face many challenges in their attempt to address and manage workplace bullying, while simultaneously striving to promote employee wellbeing and positive employee relations. This study endeavoured to explore workplace bullying from the point of view of HR practitioners tasked with identifying and dealing with bullying in the workplace, and to develop a substantive theory of workplace bullying from their perspectives. The empirical study, conducted in two tertiary institutions in South Africa, employed grounded theory as a methodological approach with nine HR practitioners selected by non-probability purposive sampling, which is congruent with a grounded theory methodology. Selection criteria were applied to sample participants on the basis of relevance and acceptability. A qualitative, constructivist grounded theory research design was used to explore HR practitioners’ perspectives on workplace bullying with data gathered by means of in-depth interviews and official documents to gain insight and understanding of their experiences of workplace bullying. In-depth interviews were audio-recorded and data transcribed verbatim, analysed and interpreted using grounded theory coding strategies, memo writing and theoretical sampling. Findings were supported by verbatim quotes and a literature review. The study proposes a substantive workplace bullying theory and a conceptual workplace bullying framework to guide organisations and highlight the practical value for empowering the HR practitioners. It addresses the need to manage workplace bullying in the organisation and help management be more knowledgeable about bullying, effectively fostering a zero-tolerance culture. The study revealed that the HR practitioner’s role is torn between a responsibility to the business goals and management, and to support and championing the case of the targets in potential bullying situations. It should contribute to the limited body of knowledge on HR practitioners’ perspectives on workplace bullying within the South African context. / Psychology / D.Phil. (Philosophy)

The teambuilding event refers to the structured attempt to improve or develop the effectiveness of a group of people who work together. It is a method used to improve productivity by getting subordinates to work together. It helps to generate teamwork so it enhances lateral and vertical communication where participants develop a sense of interpersonal trust and support. Group dynamics refer to the cause-and-result relationship which exists in a group and the study of its development. This research aims to interpret the group dynamics of a structured teambuilding event. A sample of 40 cabin controllers of a South African airline was used, who were divided in four separate groups. The teambuilding event was requested by the airline and participants were aged between 21-60 years old. The results of this introductory case study indicated that group dynamics can successfully be interpreted in a teambuilding event. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

Notre travail de recherche s’intéresse à l’usage des technologies dans les interactions professionnelles, et en particulier dans des centres d’appel. Nos analyses s’appuient sur trois champs disciplinaires que sont l’Ethnométhodologie, l’Analyse Conversationnelle et les Workplace Studies. Notre étude cherche à contribuer à la réflexion sur des interactions médiées par les technologies en milieu professionnel afin de rendre compte des pratiques émergentes des participants et comprendre l’organisation séquentielle complexe des interactions entre conseiller/opérateur et patient/client s’appuyant sur l’utilisation de ressources technologiques. La thèse s’articule en une partie introductive et trois parties analytiques. La première étudie les modifications de cadre participatif en tenant compte du dispositif technologique comme point d’ancrage de l’activité des participants. Nous avons distingué deux configurations: i) soit le dispositif est ajusté par l’opérateur ; ii) soit l’opérateur s’ajuste au dispositif. La modification du cadre participatif peut être initiée de façon verbale ou non verbale, ou par l’un ou l’autre des participants.Dans une seconde partie, nous analysons l’intégration de l’écran comme artefact interactionnel dans l’activité des participants. Nous avons remarqué qu’ils rapportent à l’oral des informations écrites sur un écran, en employant des verbes introductifs du type « il dit que », que nous retrouvons dans les travaux sur le discours rapporté à l’oral. Nous avons voulu montrer le lien entre le cours d’action dans lequel sont engagés les participants et l’émergence de ces discours rapportés où la référence aux messages écrits peut transformer les écrans et les systèmes informatiques en « agents interactionnels ». La troisième partie se focalise sur un type d’appel où un client s’adresse au service pour résoudre un problème, et après vérification par l’opératrice, elle lui notifie un état a-problématique de son compte. Nous avons remarqué que l’activité de diagnostic opérée ici par l’opératrice dépend étroitement des informations du compte client indiquées sur l’écran. Ce sont ces données qui permettent à l’opératrice d’établir le diagnostic et de notifier l’état a-problématique du compte. / Our research focuses on the use of technology in interactions at work, particularly in the context of call centres. Our analyses draw on three theoretical domains: Ethnomethodology, Conversation Analysis and Workplace Studies. Our research seeks to contribute to current investigations on interactions mediated by technology in the workplace to reflect emerging practices of participants and to understand the complex sequential organization of interactions between councillor/operator and patient/user, based on the use of technological resources.The thesis comprises an introduction part and three analytical parts. The first part examines changes in participation framework taking into account the technological device as an anchor for the participant’s activity. For this, we distinguished two different configurations: i) the device is adjusted by the operator, or ii) the operator adjusts the device. The adjustment of the participation framework may be initiated through verbal or multimodal way, or by one or the other participant.In the second part, we analyze the integration of the screen as an interactional artefact in the participant’s activity. We noticed that they report oral information’s displayed on a screen, using introductory verbs such as "he said", which we found in the studies on reported speech in spoken interactions. We wanted to show the link between the course of action in which participants are engaged and the emergence of reported speech when referring to written messages that can transform the screens and the computer systems in “interactional agents”.The third part focuses on one type of call where a user call the service to solve a problem, and after verification by the operator, she notifies a status of his account. We noticed that the diagnosis activity reported by the operator is closely related to the user’s account information shown on the screen. These are data that allow the operator to diagnose and report the non-problematic status of the account.

Magister Educationis - MEd / The focus of the study is the teacher in the under-resourced schools in the townships of the Western Cape. The purpose is to discover how teachers learn to cope under adverse working conditions. In a systematic way, we try to uncover what workplace stress is, how it is defined and manifests itself. It also deals with the specific reasons why teachers in South Africa, and especially in poorer schools on the Cape Flats, suffer such heavy stress. A convenient way to examine issues of stress was to approach it from different angles or levels: the classroom level, the staff/relationship level, the organizational level and the Departmental (Governmental) level. At these levels the causes, manifestations and solutions to workplace stress were researched. A qualitative study was done to ascertain first hand from the experiences of affected teachers themselves, how they learnt to cope, how this learning came about and what the specific methods or strategies are which they employ to deal effectively with stress. The study concludes with a general summary of the most salient coping strategies that seem to work for most teachers. Recommendations to address stress at the four levels mentioned are finally made. / South Africa