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

This study highlighted the implications of the absence of well-delineated criteria for the workplace-effective mobility of employees with disabilities in South Africa for their employment, development and organisational mobility. In response to the dearth of research on workplace-effective mobility, and cognizant of the importance of well-delineated workplace criteria to oppose continuing workplace prejudice and discrimination against employees with disabilities, this two-phase sequential triangulation study aimed to identify and confirm criteria and compile a theoretical model for workplace-effective mobility of employees with disabilities. The study has significance for the achievement of greater workplace equity and redress, which will enhance the strategic human resources management and the productive image of employees with disabilities, as well as reduce welfare costs by enabling more people with disabilities to access paid employment opportunities. To attain the study objectives, the study was done in two phases. The first was a qualitative phase during which focus group interviews with participants with disabilities were conducted. The second phase involved a five-point Likert scale-based Delphi process with industrial and organisational psychologists. Focus group participants were formally employed or self-employed in various organisations and were recruited from four disability categories (people who are blind or deaf, or have a physical or speech impairment) in four provinces in South Africa (the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape). The industrial and organisational psychologists who participated in the Delphi phase were used as experts with prior experience in the employee recruitment area. The study found that workplace-effective mobility is (a) a multi-dimensional concept comprised of a positive self-concept, self-efficacy, workplace accessibility, a sense of coherence and a positive sense of independence, which form the crux of criteria for workplace-effective mobility; (b) a result of self-efficacy beliefs, enabling organisational practices and workplace accessibility; and (c) at the heart of the pursuit for workplace equity to redress prejudice and discrimination against employees with disabilities in the workplace. The participating experts also reached consensus in their understanding of the term workplace-effective mobility. Within-group differences were identified for a number of categories; and therefore it is recommended that future research should be conducted on distinct categories of disabilities. Using the identified dimensions (positive self-concept, self-efficacy, workplace accessibility, sense of coherence and a positive sense of independence) and outcomes (organisational and personal effectiveness), a theoretical model of workplace-effective mobility was compiled. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

In this study the researcher set out to determine the levels and the causes of workplace stress, as well as the consequences of stress in terms of witnessed and experienced aggression in the workplace, anxiety, depression, and worry for a sample of 205 subjects. To achieve this, the following tests were used: 1) Experience of Work and Life Circumstances Questionnaire, 2) the Aggression in the Workplace Questionnaire, 3) the IPAT Anxiety Scale,4) the Beck Depression Inventory, and 5) the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. The subjects’ ability to cope withexperienced stressors in relation to social problem solving was examined with the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised. The raw data were analysed by means of the usual descriptivestatistics. In addition, inferential statistics including z-tests, t-tests, analysis of variance and posthoc analyses (Scheffé) were conducted for the following groups: total group, gender, marital status, age, organizational type, qualification and position level. Results indicate that most of the subjects in the sample experienced normal levels of stress, indicating that the participants generally experienced their circumstances within or outside the workplace as satisfactory. Generally, the results also indicated that their expectations regarding their work situation were met. With reference to the consequences of stress, the total sample reported low levels of witnessing and experiencing workplace aggression, normal levels of anxiety, low levels of depression and worry. Good overall social problem solving suggests the ability to cope with demands and stressors within and outside the workplace. Generally, Pearson correlations indicated significant relationships between a) levels of stress as experienced by subjects and b) witnessed and experienced workplace aggression, c) anxiety, d) depression, e) worry and f) social problem solving. That most of the subjects in this sample were able to deal effectively with the demands and stressors placed on them, from within and outside the workplace suggests the ability to use effective problem-focused coping involving social problem solving which for most participants, was due to a positive problem orientation and effective rational problem solving skills. These findings may be useful as part of a stress management programme to help employees deal with stress proactively by becoming more effective problem-solvers. In terms of a salutogenic paradigm, and consistent with recent developments in positive psychology, the findings indicate that more attention should be paid to possible reasons why some employees appear to cope with stress more effectively than others. / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / PhD / unrestricted

Although social capital had been found to solve collective action problems, social capital at work or workplace social capital has only recently begun to be researched. This is noteworthy given that most of our waking hours are spent in the workplace. While workplace social capital is suggested to improve workplace performance, job satisfaction had been found to improve workplace performance. However, workplace social capital and job satisfaction have never been examined together with regard to workplace performance. Furthermore, most studies on workplace performance have focused on developed countries with evidence from developing countries is lacking. The aims of this thesis were to investigate 1) whether workplace social capital affects job satisfaction; 2) the relationship of social capital, job satisfaction and workplace performance; 3) whether individual characteristics differ in determining job satisfaction in developed and developing countries; and 4) whether context of organisations in developed and developing countries differ in determining the relationship of social capital, job satisfaction and workplace performance. To achieve those aims, this thesis selects two sets of secondary data representing developed countries: EWCS2010 in Europe combining workers with their regions and countries and WERS2011 in Britain linking workers to their workplaces; while primary data froma developing country have been gathered from public hospitals in Indonesia associating workers with workplaces. As such, this thesis exploits two approaches using structural equation modelling in multilevel models. First, the customary Macro-micro approach is used to examine the relationship between workplace social capital and job satisfaction treating both variables as latent constructs. Second, the less common micro-Macro approach is exercised to investigate the relationship between workplace social capital, job satisfaction and workplace performance. Results from developed countries show that workplace social capital is positively associated with individual outcomes such as job satisfaction and well-being even in times of financial crisis. Comparing the results between developed and developing countries, workplace social capital is positively significantly associated with job satisfaction in Britain and in Indonesia. With regard to higher level outcomes, workplace social capital is associated with better financial performance, while job satisfaction is associated with higher quality in British general industry. Turning to results from Indonesia, workplace social capital is associated with lower expenditure per bed; job satisfaction, however, failed to be associated with any workplace performance measures. Several individual and workplace characteristics in both developed and developing countries have similar influences on job satisfaction and workplace performance. Nevertheless, there are some contrasting results regarding the influence of those characteristics in developed and developing countries.

One of the most common office designs is the traditional office. As the technology has developed, it has enabled a new office design to evolve, the activity-based office. The activity-based office is more flexible and the employees get greater freedom in terms of being able to decide where, when and how they want to perform their tasks. As the employees work largely independently and take own responsibility for their tasks, the leader has reduced control compared to the traditional office. To get a well-functioning activity-based workplace, trust must be created between the leader and employees as this is a presumption for good business relationships. The purpose of the study is to get a deeper understanding of how trust is created between a leader and the employees in the activity-based workplace. Trust is something that is created mutually, and our study is based on three trustbuilding qualities, ability, benevolece and integrity. To collect the empirical data two semistructured interviews with Skanska and Vasakronan were performed. The conclusion of our study is that trust in an activity-based workplace is created by the factors; Presence, independence and own responsibility, communication, responsiveness, attention, caring, openness and honesty, competence and respect. Trust does not differ at a traditional office compared to an activity-based, but trust gets a different meaning depending on which office design that is utilized. / Ett traditionellt kontor är en av de vanligaste kontorsutformningarna, där medarbetarna har en fast sittplats och kan utföra sina uppgifter koncentrerat. I takt med att teknologin utvecklats har nya kontorsutformningar växt fram. En av dessa kontorsutformningarna är det aktivitetsbaserade kontoret som är mer flexibelt och öppet än det traditionella kontoret. De anställda har inga fasta sittplatser utan väljer sittplats utifrån vilka uppgifter de har för dagen, det gör således att individerna har en stor frihet att bestämma var, när och hur de ska utföra sitt arbete. I och med denna frihet blir det svårare för ledaren att få samma kontroll och ledaren måste istället förlita sig på att medarbetarna utför sina uppgifter på ett korrekt sätt. Det aktivitetsbaserade arbetssättet innebär således att medarbetarna måste ta ett stort eget ansvar och kunna arbeta självständigt. Syftet med studien är att få fördjupad förståelse för hur förtroende skapas mellan ledare och medarbetare på en aktivitetsbaserad arbetsplats. Förtroende är något som skapas ömsesidigt och definieras som ett attribut för ett förhållande mellan två utbytespartners. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten för hur detta förtroende skapas baseras på begreppen välvilja, integritet och förmåga. Välvilja handlar om lojalitet, att som medarbetare och ledare hjälpa varandra men också visa omtanke. För att kunna göra detta krävs det en närvaro från ledaren och detta underlättas på den aktivitetsbaserade arbetsplatsen då ledaren sitter ute bland medarbetarna. Integritet och andra sidan handlar om att en person gör det som den har sagt att den ska göra. På det aktivitetsbaserade kontoret betyder det att ledaren förväntar sig att medarbetarna utför sina arbetsuppgifter på ett korrekt sätt trots att ledaren har minskad kontroll. Den sista faktorn förmåga behandlar i vilken utsträckning en part uppfattas ha den kompetens som gör det möjligt för personen att ha inflytande inom ett visst område. Ledaren måste förvänta och förlita sig på att medarbetaren har den kompetens som krävs för att utföra sina uppgifter självständigt. Till vår studie har vi haft semistrukturerade intervjuer med två företag, Skanska och Vasakronan. Skanska är ett byggföretag som utvecklar, bygger och underhåller fysiska levnadsmiljöer. Vasakronan är inom fastighetsbranschen och äger, förvaltar och utvecklar kontor och butiksfastigheter. Slutsatsen av vår studie är att förtroende på en aktivitetsbaserad arbetsplats skapas genom närvaro, självständighet och eget ansvar, kommunikation, lyhördhet, uppmärksamhet, omtanke, öppenhet och ärlighet, kompetens och respekt. Förtroendet skiljer sig inte på ett traditionellt jämfört med ett aktivitetsbaserat men förtroendet får en annan innebörd beroende på vilken kontorsutformning som används.

A novel approach was used to investigate differences between groups using computer-mediated and face-to-face communication. In a laboratory setting, three-person groups completed three survival themed tasks. The tasks were related in that the output of a preliminary task became the input of the sequent task.

The present study empirically examined working behaviors of men and women within a self-managed working environment. Three models of women and work were studied. Results indicated women exhibited higher levels of job meaning and continuance commitment. The more self-managed production team exhibited higher levels of growth need strength, support from co-workers, continuance commitment, task significance and lower levels of role conflicts. Support teams exhibited higher levels of autonomy and satisfaction with pay. Path analysis, testing a model based on Astin's sociopsychological model indicated direct effects from expectancy to general satisfaction, from gender to expectancy, and task significance to gender. An alternative model showed direct effects between general satisfaction and expectancy, satisfaction with pay, task significance and expectancies, and between satisfaction with pay and teams.

Derived from sociotechnical systems theory, autonomous or self-managed work groups are a form of work design in which employees are multi-skilled, take responsibility for the group's tasks, and have discretion over the decisions which impact group performance. Previously collected survey data from 602 employees of a southwestern manufacturing firm were examined via factor analyses and multivariate analysis of variance. Significant differences were found for self-managed work group members versus traditional job holders regarding enhanced organizational involvement and enhanced work responsibility. However, there was no evidence of an age effect nor interaction regarding age. This study provides evidence to other action researchers and organizational decision makers that an "older" work force should not be considered a barrier to implementing this type of work design

Denna studie har syftat att bidra med en förståelse av arbetsplatskonflikters socialiserande funktioner samt belysa konflikter som en vardaglig handlingsrepertoar inom organisationer. Jag ämnade att undersöka hur anställda socialiserades in i de konflikter som uppstod på arbetsplatsen och vad dessa konfliktförlopp hade för betydelse för delaktiga individer. Studiens empiriska material har bestått av semistrukturerade intervjuer, i vilket målgruppen har varit kvinnor tillhörande kvinnodominerade serviceyrken i Sverige. De kvinnor som intervjuats har berättat om egenupplevda konflikter på deras arbetsplatser. Analysen har bearbetats med utgångspunkt i Wengers (1998) teori om praktikgemenskaper samt Hochschilds (2012) studie om känsloarbete. Resultaten visade av de normer och värden som fanns inom arbetsgruppen var avgörande för kvinnornas sätt att agera i konflikter. I de arbetsgrupper där arbetsrelationer hölls på en formell nivå och emotionella band inte var framträdande förekom få meningsskiljaktigheter samt neutrala konfliktageranden när diskussioner uppstod. I de arbetsgrupper där emotionella band mellan kollegor var starka utagerades konflikter mer irrationellt och det fanns en rädsla för att ifrågasätta sociala strukturer inom gemenskapen. Detta resulterade i att konflikter ofta undveks och att individer istället använde ett selektivt utagerande av emotioner, förmedlade till specifika kollegor. Resultaten visade att den strategiska kommunikationen som förekom på samtliga arbetsplatser både hade en sammanhållande funktion samt skapade grupperingar och osäkerheter inom arbetsgruppen. Slutligen visade resultaten på att en specifik hantering av emotioner påverkade ageranden i konflikter negativt samt att det fanns starka behov av att ventilera emotioner i samband med konflikter. I de arbetsgrupper där emotioner visade sig framträdande flydde man från konflikter med orsak av att nära relationer gjorde konflikter med kollegor mer komplexa. När konflikterna sedan iscensattes blev emotionella uttryck dominerande i konflikterna. / The aim of this study was to contribute to an understanding of the socializing functions of workplace conflicts and illustrate these conflicts as everyday repertoires within organizations. I intended to research how employees could be socialized into conflicts in the workplace and what these conflicts meant for the individuals involved. The study's empirical material consisted of semi-structured interviews, in which the target group has been women belonging to women-dominated service professions in Sweden. The interviews focused on their personal experiences of conflicts in their workplaces. The analysis has been based on Wenger's (1998) theory communities of practice and Hochschild's (2012) study on emotional work. The results demonstrated by the norms and values ​​that existed within the working group were crucial to individual’s way of acting in conflicts. In the working groups where relationships were held on a formal level and the relationships between colleagues were not personal, the conflicts were few and small conflicts did not grow into major conflicts. In the working groups where emotional ties between colleagues were strong, conflicts became more irrational and there was a fear of questioning social structures within the community. As a result, conflicts were often avoided and individuals instead used a selective expression of emotions, conveyed to specific colleagues. The results showed that the strategic communication that went on in all the workplaces had a cohesive function but also created groupings and uncertainties within the workgroups. Finally, the results showed that a specific way of handling emotions affected conflict behavior negatively and that there was a strong need to ventilate emotions related to conflicts. In those working groups where emotional relationships between colleagues dominated, they often escaped from conflicts because close relationships made conflicts more complex. When conflicts took place, emotional expressions became dominant in the conflicts.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which religiosity and spirituality affected daily work practices and leader/follower trust levels in foodservice and nutrition directors and their subordinates. A similar 72-item survey questionnaire was developed for both the directors and employees, which was completed by 129 directors and 530 employees. Both questionnaires contained questions on demographics, religious influences on work practices, trust characteristics, and three validated measures of religiosity: 1) worship service attendance (1=Religiosity Score), 2) influence of spiritual beliefs on daily life, and 3) frequency of prayer (2 + 3=Spirituality Score). Frequency data was gathered for all questions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's Correlation were used to assess the relationship of directors' and employees' Religiosity and Spirituality Scores compared to their daily work practices and trust levels. Two-sample t-tests evaluated differences in directors' and employees' perceived trust levels toward each other. Most directors and employees were women and Caucasian. Most of the directors and employees had earned a Master's degree and bachelor's degree, respectively. The religion most frequently reported was Protestant. Data analysis of the Religiosity and Spirituality Scores and demographics showed some differences in ethnic group, gender, age, and education level, although there was no consistently identified trend. Well over one-third of directors (40.3%) and employees (36.3%) attended worship services at least four times the previous month. The more directors and employees attended worship services, the more likely they were to demonstrate specific spiritual actions and attitudes at work. Generally, religiosity and spirituality did not appear to influence perceived trustworthiness in directors and employees. However, both directors and employees were rated as being highly trustworthy by their counterpart(s). Directors and employees tend to over-rate their own trustworthiness when compared to ratings by the opposite discipline. Degree of religiosity and spirituality did not consistently affect the way directors and employees rated each others' trustworthiness though it was related to how they perceived their own trustworthiness. Directors expected that their employees were more committed to their jobs than they actually were.