South Africa's business environment is changing dramatically. Companies are continuously placed under pressure to reform. Government introduced clear guidelines in the form of transformation strategies to assist companies in moving towards a more democratic, non-racial and fully representative organisational structure. The two major strategies are coined Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action. The aim of the strategies is to empower and uplift the previously disadvantaged communities of the Apartheid era. These communities include black people; who consist of Africans, Coloureds and Indians; women and disabled individuals. However, these strategies are perceived with mixed emotions. A sense of negativity is evident within the attitudes of all race groups. This may give rise to a new problem in the workplace: pessimism. Pessimism is associated with undesirable characteristics such as external, unstable and specific explanations for bad things and has emotional links to depression. Pessimists view problems as long lasting and inescapable, and tend to blame all misfortunes on their own ineptness and incompetence. On the other hand, optimism is associated with characteristics such as positive mood and good morale, happiness, perseverance and effective problem solving, achievement and health and even a long life and freedom from trauma. It is characterised by internal, stable and global explanations for bad things. A cross-sectional design with an availability sample (N 68) of junior and middle management workers working in a multinational industry was used. Nonprobability purposive sampling was applied in the selection of the study population. The results indicated that males experience more dispositional pessimism than women. Black employees also experienced more dispositional pessimism and optimism than white employees, and employees who attended Affirmative Action induction programmes displayed higher levels of optimism than those who have not attended such programmes. If the tendency towards pessimism increases the result may have devastating effects on the organisation as a whole. It is possible that performance will decline and organisational targets will not be reached. To address these issues organisations may need to change their structural planning in order to utilise males more productively, and to enhance a sense of empowerment. Companies should formulate clear goals with regard to what they want to gain from Affirmative Action programmes. Programmes should also be constantly revised and continuing evaluations must be carried out in order to track the effect of the programmes on the workforce. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Transformation in the civil consulting engineering industry has been addressed, but there are still some shortcomings. This transformation is based on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, Affirmative Action and Employment Equity. > The main aim of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment is to redress historical inequalities in such a manner that it does not impact negatively on existing enterprises. > The aim of Affirmative Action is to promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination and the implementation of Affirmative Action measures. The aim is to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups in order to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels of the workforce. > The main aim of Employment Equity is to promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination and to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups. The existing drive to successfully implement transformation in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector creates the opportunities for suitably qualified and experienced black engineering candidates to be selected for appointment above an equally qualified and experienced white candidate who applies for the same position. Although Civil Engineering as we know it in South Africa is only 105 years old, it has a rich history and contributed substantially to turning South Africa into a jewel and economic hub on the African continent. The Civil Consulting Engineering Sector forms part of the Construction Sector and abides by the set of rules that has been compiled for the construction sector, known as the Construction Sector - Broad-Based Black Economic Charter - Version 6, 2006. This Construction Sector - Broad-Based Black Economic Charter - Version 6 is intended to assist all existing as well as any future businesses or stakeholders by providing a framework for the construction sector to address Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, enhance capacity and increase the productivity of the sector to meet world standard. The Government's strategy or vision is to utilise Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment as a tool to redress past inequalities and to broaden, expand and increase the country's economic base by including everybody that can participate in and contribute to the South African economy. The envisaged spin-offs from the implementation of this strategy by the Government would be to accelerate economic growth and this would then lead to job creation, and consequent poverty eradication. The Government intends to achieve Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment by making use of a balanced approach that includes contributions and measures that will mainly readdress ownership, control, employment equity, skills development, procurement, enterprise development and Corporate Social Development. This approach by Government will further address additional elements as indicated on the Broad-Based Black Economic scorecard. Transformation in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector is currently hampered by a shortage of suitably qualified and experienced black engineering candidates that can be employed in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector. The researcher is also employed in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector and therefore experiences all the frustrations on a daily basis, which inspired this research to determine the status quo with regard to transformation in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Due to socio-political transformation, South Africa has been subjected to dramatic changes that influenced employment relationships, employment contracts between employees and employers arid the psychological contract of employees. Due to all these socio-political changes different groups of employees experience differences in their psychological contracts and have certain expectations that their organisation should fulfil. The general objective of this research is to determine the psychological contract of designated and non-designated groups of a banking institution in the North West Province. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data and reach the objectives of this study. Stratified random sample (n = 131) was taken from permanently appointed designated and non-designated employees of different branches in a South African banking institution in the North West Province. A structured, self-completion questionnaire was used to collect the data. The Psycones Questionnaire and discrimination and affirmative action questions were selected from different existing questionnaires and were used to compile the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (e.g. means, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis) were used to analyse the data. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationships between the variables. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the effects of the variables in this study, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to assess the differences in the experience of affirmative action policies of demographic groups. Item-level analysis is performed by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that designated and non-designated groups of employees do not experience a difference in their breach or violation of their psychological contracts when affirmative action policies are correctly implemented and communicated. Based on the findings of this study organisations are advised to ensure that affirmative action policies are implemented correctly and communicated to all groups of employees, and then designated and non-designated employees would not differ in their experience of violation in their psychological contracts. Limitations in the research are identified and recommendations were made. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

South Africa's business environment is changing dramatically. Companies are continuously placed under pressure to reform. Government introduced clear guidelines in the form of transformation strategies to assist companies in moving towards a more democratic, non-racial and fully representative organisational structure. The two major strategies are coined Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action. The aim of the strategies is to empower and uplift the previously disadvantaged communities of the Apartheid era. These communities include black people; who consist of Africans, Coloureds and Indians; women and disabled individuals. However, these strategies are perceived with mixed emotions. A sense of negativity is evident within the attitudes of all race groups. This may give rise to a new problem in the workplace: pessimism. Pessimism is associated with undesirable characteristics such as external, unstable and specific explanations for bad things and has emotional links to depression. Pessimists view problems as long lasting and inescapable, and tend to blame all misfortunes on their own ineptness and incompetence. On the other hand, optimism is associated with characteristics such as positive mood and good morale, happiness, perseverance and effective problem solving, achievement and health and even a long life and freedom from trauma. It is characterised by internal, stable and global explanations for bad things. A cross-sectional design with an availability sample (N 68) of junior and middle management workers working in a multinational industry was used. Nonprobability purposive sampling was applied in the selection of the study population. The results indicated that males experience more dispositional pessimism than women. Black employees also experienced more dispositional pessimism and optimism than white employees, and employees who attended Affirmative Action induction programmes displayed higher levels of optimism than those who have not attended such programmes. If the tendency towards pessimism increases the result may have devastating effects on the organisation as a whole. It is possible that performance will decline and organisational targets will not be reached. To address these issues organisations may need to change their structural planning in order to utilise males more productively, and to enhance a sense of empowerment. Companies should formulate clear goals with regard to what they want to gain from Affirmative Action programmes. Programmes should also be constantly revised and continuing evaluations must be carried out in order to track the effect of the programmes on the workforce. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Transformation in the civil consulting engineering industry has been addressed, but there are still some shortcomings. This transformation is based on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, Affirmative Action and Employment Equity. > The main aim of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment is to redress historical inequalities in such a manner that it does not impact negatively on existing enterprises. > The aim of Affirmative Action is to promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination and the implementation of Affirmative Action measures. The aim is to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups in order to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels of the workforce. > The main aim of Employment Equity is to promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination and to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups. The existing drive to successfully implement transformation in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector creates the opportunities for suitably qualified and experienced black engineering candidates to be selected for appointment above an equally qualified and experienced white candidate who applies for the same position. Although Civil Engineering as we know it in South Africa is only 105 years old, it has a rich history and contributed substantially to turning South Africa into a jewel and economic hub on the African continent. The Civil Consulting Engineering Sector forms part of the Construction Sector and abides by the set of rules that has been compiled for the construction sector, known as the Construction Sector - Broad-Based Black Economic Charter - Version 6, 2006. This Construction Sector - Broad-Based Black Economic Charter - Version 6 is intended to assist all existing as well as any future businesses or stakeholders by providing a framework for the construction sector to address Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, enhance capacity and increase the productivity of the sector to meet world standard. The Government's strategy or vision is to utilise Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment as a tool to redress past inequalities and to broaden, expand and increase the country's economic base by including everybody that can participate in and contribute to the South African economy. The envisaged spin-offs from the implementation of this strategy by the Government would be to accelerate economic growth and this would then lead to job creation, and consequent poverty eradication. The Government intends to achieve Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment by making use of a balanced approach that includes contributions and measures that will mainly readdress ownership, control, employment equity, skills development, procurement, enterprise development and Corporate Social Development. This approach by Government will further address additional elements as indicated on the Broad-Based Black Economic scorecard. Transformation in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector is currently hampered by a shortage of suitably qualified and experienced black engineering candidates that can be employed in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector. The researcher is also employed in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector and therefore experiences all the frustrations on a daily basis, which inspired this research to determine the status quo with regard to transformation in the Civil Consulting Engineering Sector. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Due to socio-political transformation, South Africa has been subjected to dramatic changes that influenced employment relationships, employment contracts between employees and employers arid the psychological contract of employees. Due to all these socio-political changes different groups of employees experience differences in their psychological contracts and have certain expectations that their organisation should fulfil. The general objective of this research is to determine the psychological contract of designated and non-designated groups of a banking institution in the North West Province. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data and reach the objectives of this study. Stratified random sample (n = 131) was taken from permanently appointed designated and non-designated employees of different branches in a South African banking institution in the North West Province. A structured, self-completion questionnaire was used to collect the data. The Psycones Questionnaire and discrimination and affirmative action questions were selected from different existing questionnaires and were used to compile the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (e.g. means, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis) were used to analyse the data. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationships between the variables. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the effects of the variables in this study, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to assess the differences in the experience of affirmative action policies of demographic groups. Item-level analysis is performed by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that designated and non-designated groups of employees do not experience a difference in their breach or violation of their psychological contracts when affirmative action policies are correctly implemented and communicated. Based on the findings of this study organisations are advised to ensure that affirmative action policies are implemented correctly and communicated to all groups of employees, and then designated and non-designated employees would not differ in their experience of violation in their psychological contracts. Limitations in the research are identified and recommendations were made. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

In this thesis we have studied equality and equity from an HR perspective in South Africa. The study is partly made from an inductive approach and an analytical interpretation in line with hermeneutic has been used. The data is mainly contracted from interviews with HR professionals within various South African organizations. A mix of snowball and convenience sample has been used and among our respondents there are a variety and mix of the following variables: gender, position (manager/practitioner), race (blacks/white) and organization sector(public/parastatal/private). Our main findings are that equality and equity are highly debated topics and that the laws regulating them have a major effect on the HR professionals’ dailywork. The study gives us various perspectives of employment equity but a majority of our respondents do believe that the regulation of employment equity is needed. We find that there are obstacles for achieving equality in South African workplaces and our respondents have given us examples of different ways of how to tackle them. Many of our respondents are also of the opinion that there is a lack of implementation of the regulations and that it is time to rewrite several Acts.

International research has shown conclusively that the struggle for employment equity and gender equality is a major challenge to both the private and the public sectors. In South Africa, with the legacy of colonialism and apartheid fresh in one's mind the question of gender equality and equity has been debated thoroughly both in academic and other intellectual forums as well as in political platforms. The reality is that both the elements of equity and equality in terms of gender are elusive in terms of actual implementation in South Africa. The present thesis is a policy-oriented examination of the process and implementation of gender equity at a "Historically Black Institution", the University of Durban Westville, which in 2004 will join the University of Natal to create the University of KwaZulu Natal. It is thus, a case study of the implementation of existing legislation associated with affirmative action and employment equity. The thesis recognises the reality that women in South Africa face a great number of challenges because they still lag far behind in the equity stakes at all levels of society and economy. This reality is based on a number of macro and micro roots and present circumstances. Thus one of the reasons for choosing UDW as a case study was to uncover such reasons and roots, examine and analyse their dynamics and draw significant lessons. This was because UDW had led provincial and national struggles for transformation for many years. UDW staff, for example, was in the forefront of the creation of UDUSA and its relentless efforts for transformation in education, before and after 1990. The concepts of affirmative action and gender equity are examined in their national and international dimensions in the literature review. As affirmative action has its supporters and detractors, the debates were examined in their social and historical contexts. The various theories and societal applications of the quota and target strategies were touched upon in this section of the thesis that utilised both international and national literature as its guide in the understanding of the dynamics of a much debated, disputed and challenging phenomenon. The post-1994 South African legislation that made gender equity and affirmative action an inseparable ingredient of the new democracy was examined in direct relation to the measures, rules and regulations that inform public policy on these phenomena. The Employment Equity Act and the Skills Development Act were scrutinised in order for the reader to comprehend their vital role in the shaping of new relationships and societal and legal dynamics. The relevant historical and recent South African literature dealing with gender equity was examined in order to give the reader the picture of the debates and viewpoints that informed the process from apartheid to the post 1994 period. This section acclimatised the reader with the various initiatives and forums that were to become the stepping stones for the policy strategists of the post- I 994 Department of Education. The empirical component of the thesis was based on both comparative quantitative and qualitative methods. Primary documents related to human resource realities at UDW were analysed. There followed a thorough scrutiny of the "3 Year Rolling Plans" of the University, i.e. the official documents that unveiled the strategic initiatives of its leadership to implement affirmative action and gender equity. Additionally, the empirical, mostly qualitative analysis of a large number of interviews of key stakeholders and role players, revealed a set of social, historical, administrative and political dynamics associated with these processes. In the pursuit of the empirical realities characterising gender equity at UDW, the following hypotheses were formulated: Although there were affirmative action initiatives there was a narrow focus on race that excludes gender equity as a powerful ingredient of equity within the institution. The participation of stakeholders and role players at UDW regarding gender equity initiatives was limited. The dissemination of information regarding major steps to address affirmative action and equity at UDW was restrictive. There were limited efforts to review and monitor equity targets and plans. The non-existence of gender-related forums, committees, monitoring and review structures was a major impediment in the achievement of gender equity. Gender equity never became a key priority area at UDW. Capacity building efforts at UDW for all levels of staff were limited 8. There was no tangible research or other such incentives for women researchers at an institutional level at UDW. Monitoring and review mechanisms to ensure the advancement of women to decision-making and leadership positions were non-existent. Following the empirical analysis, at both qualitative and quantitative levels, it was shown that all hypotheses were confirmed in their entirety. Some reasons for such a reality were identified in the study as historical legacies; apathy amongst staff in general; poor management and leadership, a lack of political will on the part of management etc. This seems a disturbing picture; however, it cannot disguise the achievements that several UDW constituencies have gained through their relentless struggles and continuous sacrifices. The new paradigm of transformation in terms of gender equity and equality cannot be based only on a number of legal measures promuigated by the new government. In fact, it is up to the leadership of institutions, stakeholders, and role players to ensure implementation of progressive legislative frameworks. There was change at UDW but it lacked solid policy guidelines, direction of energy, as well as the honest, continuous and active participation of all the stakeholders and role players. There was little evidence of well-coordinated cooperative efforts that could carry transformation forward. The legacy of struggle of UDW should not become a burden to the new institution, but its management culture and organisational dynamics could. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Durban-Westville, 2004.

This research focused on affirmative action, equity in the workplace, skills development and training. It examined the manner in which policies and practices aimed at realising representativeness were implemented by the City of Cape Town. Reasons for the slow progress made at realising representativeness in the City of Cape Town were identified as well as the shortcomings of current policies, procedures and practices.

<p>This study focused on Black Economic Empowerment and gender in the liquid fuels industry. It explored the possible means of empowerment and questions the seriousness of organizations to institute programmes that are gender sensitive. The liquid fuels industry in South Africa served as the pinnacle of the apartheid state. It possessed the strength to survive the onslaught of the economic sanctions imposed as a result of apartheid. It was because of these stringent economic sanctions that it was forced to survive on its own with limited assistance. The advent of democracy in 1994 gave this industry the impetus to grow in terms of Gender and Black Economic Empowerment.</p>