Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Virtual team research is very relevant today as organisations have become more distributed and the use of so-called distributed teams has become more common. These virtual teams allow organisations to combine expertise from almost anywhere through the use of information and communication technology (ICT) across space and time to complete interdependent organisational tasks. To date research efforts have yielded insights into many factors that affect virtual teamwork, but the research has become somewhat fragmented. By means of a case study approach, this research paper aims to provide virtual team leaders with a more holistic understanding of the factors that influence virtual team performance. The researcher interviewed five virtual team leaders who have many years of working experience with virtual teams. All the participants work in the ICT industry sector and make extensive use of distributed teams to perform day-to-day tasks, provide business services and to implement large scale projects. The research assignment was constructed by completing a detailed literature review in order to develop a broad framework to evaluate five broad virtual team perspectives that influence virtual team performance. The five perspectives included organisation design, leadership, human resources, ICT technology and process considerations. The following findings were identified for each of these perspectives. Organisational design perspective: The importance of a clearly defined organisation structure helps to create a better understanding of responsibility and ownership. It was also identified that an additional layer of management within the virtual team structure reduces some of the complexities of virtual team management and simplifies the communication structure. The study also provides further insight into the type of person, and the experience and skills of people suitable to work in the virtual team environment. Leadership perspective: The importance of management controls was identified, like process orientation, practical awareness and management awareness in terms of cultural and importantly emotional awareness. Practical considerations for the performance management and rewards systems include the need for a broader team focus rather than rewarding individualist behaviour and performance. Human resources perspective (people): The clear goals and objectives of the organisation or project create the necessary focus, direction and understanding that guide the individual virtual team members and allow them to self-regulate. This is further supported by the a shared understanding of functional and role requirements that promote ownership and accountability which are considered to be the basis for a successful empowering approach and which allow individual team members to make decisions within the boundaries of their functions. Subsequently, the effect of social and interpersonal factors was identified as having a significant impact on virtual team performance and success. The use of various activities to build relations and to create an informal connectedness improves communication and promotes team commitment, cohesion, knowledge and information sharing. Technology perspective: The use of technologies that share the relevant context and supporting information reduces ambiguity and provides a mechanism to share information. All participants make use of collaborative technologies to facilitate the day-to-day team interaction, with a preference for technologies that promote easy participation and sharing of information in real-time (synchronously). Interestingly, none of the respondents provide ICT tool training to improve the effective use of these communication technologies and they expect their virtual team members to be able to use all the relevant technologies as a basic skill. Process perspective: The reliance on clear and agreed processes is important in virtual teamwork and requires upfront alignment. The study identified that a shared understanding by all team members of the underlying delivery process, including all in-and-output controls is a critical success factor for virtual teamwork and, because of the fragmented nature of the delivery process, there is a greater reliance on the efficient facilitation and coordination of specialised work. It also further supports the additional layer of management, in which a team leader and project manager facilitate and coordinate the facilitation of work that relies on a well-developed communication structure.

This research study investigates the concept of workplace information literacy (IL) theoretically and empirically, focusing on the connections between information literacy and knowledge management (KM). This dissertation examines the relevance and applicability of current IL frameworks in a workplace environment by means of a review of the literature, a review of NHS Scotland documentation on its KM initiatives, and a phenomenographic study undertaken with frontline staff at NHS24, a nurse-led, 24/7 service of NHS Scotland that provides over-the-phone consultation and health information. For that study, a working definition of IL as ‘effective information use’ was employed. The concept of information literacy has been developed mainly within librarianship, researched mainly within educational contexts and focused on individual competence in information use. While its application to workplace environments has been assumed, comparatively little research has been done into workplace situations. On the other hand, the concept of knowledge management is directed at a wider organizational level. However, while there is a clear focus in the KM literature on the value of information and its importance for organizations, little attention has been paid to the theoretical and empirical developments of Library and Information Science (LIS) relative to information behaviour and effective information use. The findings of this research identified limitations in the current IL frameworks, notably the lack of consideration for people’s exchanges of knowledge and information and of the social sense making that influences information interpretation and application. The findings endorse views of learning and information use grounded in socio-constructive perspectives and a consideration of context as situated practice. The conclusions suggest the need for more collaboration between studies of IL and information behaviour, and for LIS research to focus more on workplace studies and knowledge management.

Bakgrund: För företag är alla ekonomiska aspekter viktiga, dit hör medarbetarnas hälsa som kan bli en stor kostnadspost. I dagens samhälle ökar stress och depression från arbetsplatsen trots gedigna kunskaper inom ämnet. Syfte: Studiens syfte är belysa kopplingen mellan medarbetarskap och arbetshälsa. Teori: Studien har sin utgångspunkt ur medarbetarskap och arbetshälsa. Tidigare forskning inom arbetshälsa har kopplats till medarbetarskapshjulet för att studera om något av medarbetarskapets fyra begreppspar kan förklara arbetshälsa i högre grad än något annat begreppspar. Metod: Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en enkät där antalet respondenter uppgick till 83 individer. Tidigare forskning har gjort det möjligt att koppla svaren från enkäten till möjliga påverkande faktorer för arbetshälsa inom medarbetarskap. Analys: I resultatet framkommer att det finns många faktorer som har samband med arbetsglädje. Det visade sig att kommunikation, samhörighet, relationer, uppskattning och utveckling har starka samband med den arbetsglädje som medarbetarna upplever. För faktorn stress visades samband med förtroende för chefen och kontroll. Slutsats: Medarbetarskap är ett bra redskap för att förhindra arbetsohälsa. Då arbetshälsa är komplext och många faktorer för arbetshälsa påverkar varandra bör inga av medarbetarskapets begreppspar bortses ifrån. / Background: For companies are every economic aspect essential. One aspect is the workplace health that employees feel whom can be a big cost. In our society is stress and depression increasing despite extensive knowledge in the topic for workplace health. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to illustrate the connection between followship and workplace health. Theory: The study has it starting point from followship and workplace health. Previous research in the topic for workplace health have been related to the wheel of followship to study if one of the four factors in followship can explain workplace health more than the other factors. Method: The empirical material have been collected from a quantitative research in form of a survey, is was 83 participants who responded. Previous research and literature have made it possible to relate the answers from the survey to factors affecting workplace health in the strategy of followship. Result: The result show that there are many factors that influence workplace happiness. It showed that communication, affinity, relations, appreciation and personal development have connections with workplace happiness. Factors that influence in stress is trust in the manager and control of the workday. Conclusion: Followship is a good tool to prevent workplace related illnesses. Workplace health is a complex topic and many factors for workplace health affect each other, therefore should none aspect of followship be ignored.

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

Recent concerns have arisen about the effects on counselors of working with trauma survivors. Vicarious traumatization may be a normal developmental process of adapting to client trauma material and may ultimately result in vicarious posttraumatic growth, or positive changes arising from vicarious trauma. Most studies have focused on individual variables or clinician coping strategies that predict vicarious traumatization. Taking a feminist approach to vicarious traumatization, this study examined the role of workplace context variables, such as sense of belonging in the workplace and support for vicarious trauma at work, on counselor vicarious traumatization and vicarious posttraumatic growth. Stratified random sampling was used to recruit counselors from domestic violence and rape crisis centers, and recruitment messages were sent to all psychology internship and postdoctoral sites in the United States which were accredited by the American Psychological Association. Surveys were completed by 234 counselors. Counselors reported sub-clinical levels of vicarious trauma symptoms (intrusions, avoidance, and hyperarousal resulting from work with trauma survivors). Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that amount and intensity of exposure to client trauma material positively predicted vicarious trauma symptoms, and sense of belonging in the workplace negatively predicted vicarious trauma symptoms. Intensity of exposure, work setting, and support for vicarious trauma at work predicted vicarious posttraumatic growth, so that counselors exposed to more graphic details of client trauma, those working in domestic violence or rape crisis centers, and counselors with more support for vicarious trauma at work reported more vicarious posttraumatic growth. The relation between amount of exposure and vicarious posttraumatic growth was moderated by intensity of exposure and by sense of belonging in the workplace. Counselors with low sense of belonging at work reported less vicarious posttraumatic growth when amount of exposure was high, whereas counselors with high sense of belonging reported more vicarious posttraumatic growth with high exposure. Results suggest that counselors’ reactions to client trauma material are normal rather than pathological, are largely due to exposure to client trauma, and can be affected by workplace context factors, especially sense of belonging in the workplace and support for vicarious trauma at work.

The primary goal of this study is to explore the impact of dominant cultural patterns associated with the contemporary workplace on organizational members' experience of time. First, in order to investigate such potential relationships, three temporal factors---varying levels of synchronicity, temporal compression, and temporal expansion---are identified as contemporary dominant cultural patterns. Next, these dominant cultural patterns are isolated to reflect three growing communication practices: multicommunicating, virtual work practices, and primary work location. With a review of the literature, these communication practices are tested with seven dimensions of time (present time perspective, urgency, pace, flexibility, punctuality, separation, and linearity). A secondary goal is to also examine both organizational members' temporal experience and communication practices with the impression management strategy, exemplification. Taken together, each goal and subsequent findings helps to inform our understanding of contemporary communication phenomenon. / text

<p>This case study aims to find out what characterizes the Brazilian company Semco and the Swedish company Freys hotels as private owned democratic companies, and whether the mechanisms used to apply and carry on the democratic process are sufficient or not to truly make the workplaces democratic. The way this study is conducted, is by analyzing the definition of workplace democracy and its managerial approaches. To be able to map and study the democratic process in the companies, the authors chose to analyze the parts of the organization that sustain democracy. These parts are structure, information/communication process, individuals and decision-making.</p><p>The theories applied, are theoretical thoughts and definitions of the managerial approaches (empowerment and participation) used to introduce democracy at the workplace. In addition a political framework for analyzing democracy is used. Five previous studies were also highlighted in the theory chapter, in order to reinforce the authors’ choice of theories and give a broaden understanding of the subject studied in this essay. For analysis, seven hypotheses characterizing a democratic company and the use of workplace democracy were tested. The analysis was carried out using collected primary and secondary data from books, articles, interviews and inquiries with employees from Semco and Freys Hotels. Another interview was conducted with Professor Carl Von Otter at the National Institute for Working Life, who explained the meaning of a democratic corporation. </p><p>The results show that the hypotheses can be used to describe workplace democracy. However, the managerial approaches are not sufficient to make a company democratic since</p><p>they can be used in order to restrain employee participation. Participation and involvement should be the basic idea that comes with employment. Another conclusion from the study is that the application and success of workplace democracy depends on the national context. </p>

Loneliness in the workplace has received relatively little attention in the literature. The research surrounding loneliness tends to focus almost exclusively on personal characteristics as the primary determinant of the experience, and largely ignores the workplace as a potential trigger of loneliness. As such, personality tends to be overestimated as the reason for loneliness, whilst only modest emphasis is given to environmental factors, such as organisational environments. Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis was to explore the notion of loneliness in the workplace, with a particular emphasis on examining the antecedents and outcomes of its development in work contexts. The first stage of the research included the development and empirical examination of a scale measuring work-related loneliness. A 16-item scale was constructed and tested for its reliability and factor structure on a sample of 514 employees from various organisations. Exploratory factor analysis indicated two factors best represent the data, namely Social Companionship and Emotional Deprivation at Work. For the main study, a theoretical model was constructed whereby various antecedents (personal characteristics, social support, job characteristics, and emotional climate) were hypothesised to influence the development of work-related loneliness, which in turn was thought to affect employee attitudes and wellbeing. Employees from various organisations were invited to participate in the online research via email, which generated 362 submissions from diverse occupational groups. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to assess the hypothesised model, which was evaluated against a number of fit criteria. The initial results provided limited support for the Loneliness at Work Model. Consequently, a number of adjustments were necessary to obtain sufficient fit. The modified model suggests that organisational climate (comprising climate of fear, community spirit at work, and organisational fit) serves to simultaneously predict the emotional deprivation factor of loneliness (made up of seven items) and employee attitude and wellbeing. The results indicate that environmental factors such as fear, lack of community spirit, and value congruence play a role in the experience of work-related loneliness and have an overall negative effect on employee withdrawal behaviours and job satisfaction. The findings from this study offer insight into possible areas for organisational intervention and future research.

This thesis considers the roles that social cognitions play in cycle commuting behaviour. Currently in the field of active travel there is a strong drive towards ecological theories, which often focus on the wider environmental factors that influence cycling. However, research into utilitarian cycling and related physical activities suggests that psychological factors also have an important role to play. In light of the current political climate within the UK and the numerous benefits that cycling for transport can incur, it was deemed important to further explore the role that social cognitions play in the decision to cycle commute. To date, there has been limited psychological research carried out into cycle commuting. Therefore, this thesis initially considers and critiques a number of relevant behavioural theories and psychological variables. The first study used semi-structured interviews along with interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the perception and attitudes of a group of cycle commuters (n = 8) and potential cycle commuters (n = 7) based in a workplace that supports cycling. The interest of this study was to identify if any differences and/or commonalities in social cognitions existed between the two groups. The findings indicated that potential cyclists are less aware of the range of benefits associated with cycling to work, and discussed more challenges and fewer coping strategies than regular and experienced cycle commuters. Whilst the study was inductive in nature, the findings to emerge suggest that cognitive variables involved in cycle commuting behaviour (motivations, barriers and coping strategies) could be aligned with a number of social cognition/ behaviour change theories. The second and third studies were similar in design and used cross-sectional questionnaires to investigate perceptions of barriers (Study 2 & 3), perceptions of benefits (Study 3), self-efficacy (Study 3) and decisional balance scores (Study 3) related to cycle commuting behaviour. These social cognitions were measured in relation to stage of change, gender and job role. Both investigations were carried out in workplaces that support cycling. Study 2 (n = 831) highlighted the important role that perceptions of barriers play in cycle commuting behaviour. Study 3 (n = 337) built on the previous two studies findings and demonstrated that perceived barriers and benefits and self-efficacy associated with cycle commuting were all significant predictors of cycle commuting behaviour, with barriers being the most powerful. The forth and final study used a pre- and post-test control trial design to evaluate a psychologically-orientated intervention that was theoretically based on the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour. The intervention was designed for people who were contemplating cycling to work. The small-scale intervention evaluation included one pre-test and two post-test measures that were collected over a four month period. The before and after results revealed that the intervention group (n = 17) significantly decreased their perceptions of barriers and progressed closer to action. This may be explained by increases in some of the processes of change that were reported. The control group (n = 16) reported no significant changes in their social cognitions, actions or in their use of the processes of change. These results suggest that the intervention designed, developed and trailed in this thesis is successful at encouraging people to cycle to work. Together, these four studies demonstrate that social cognitions do play an important role in cycle commuting behaviour. Throughout this thesis, perceptions of barriers associated with cycle commuting have shown to play a powerful role in explaining and predicting behaviour. Whilst barriers can be both perceived (subjective) and actual (objective), the small-scale intervention study has demonstrated that by psychological intervention alone perceptions of barriers can be significantly reduced.

The study is concerned about employers' liability to protect the mental welfare of employees alongside their physical health. The need for protection is demonstrated in several ways. Firstly, the introduction examines the statistical evidence of harassment in the workplace and its effect on its victims. Secondly, data was collected from nine participants who had taken their employer to court claiming that they had been bullied out of their jobs. These documents which were supplemented in some cases by personal statements, were analysed using the Glaser and Strauss Grounded Theory method tempered with Case Study method. Ethical issues coming to the fore during data collection supplied additional material for a chapter which eflects on problems researchers will encounter when working with vulnerable research participants. Analysis showed the importance of social support for victims and implicated the role the trade unions, the medical and legal professions plays in secondary victimisation for victims of workplace bullying. A review of existing legislation was conducted to determine if internal voluntary guidelines or new legislation would give best protection. Employer-led bullying was identified as the form on which internal guidelines have no impact. Workplace bullying was always found to be morally wrong and the issue of what is legally right but not morally right was discussed. The findings emerging from the analysis together with recommendation to place protection of harassment at work within Health and Safety policies was presented to opinion makers to gauge the level of interest in the investigator's recommendation that European Union Health and Safety officials should take the lead in advancing legislative change outlawing workplace harassment.