Researchers claim that to improve business and really make an impact on the market it is critical to develop organizational capabilities and create organizational learning. Business Intelligence (BI) has during the latest years gained lots of attention among organizations for being a tool that can help improve the business. However, even though organizational learning is critical at the same time as BI has become a main tool to improve the business the linkage between these two concepts has not been a topic for research. This thesis is taking an Organizational Behaviour Management (OBM) perspective when analyzing whether BI-tools create the right conditions for learning. A case study was made at Skanska Sverige AB where their three largest BI-tools were analyzed. The study was made in three steps; by an individual analysis of the tools, a questionnaire sent to all operational managers who uses the tools and by interviews with nine of these managers. The analysis of the tools indicated that the BI-tools at Skanska Sverige AB do not currently create the right conditions for learning. Few actions are taken because of the information in the tools.

This thesis investigates the implementation of the ‘Team-Teach’ behaviour support training programme in New Zealand. This school-wide training package develops generalised skills in behaviour management and de-escalation for students who are exhibiting extreme and violent behaviour. The Team-Teach framework also provides training in physical interventions that are designed for use in schools, and with children. The legal issues associated with the use of physical intervention are also addressed during the training in addition to recommended best practice for the development of policies and procedures. Prior evidence suggests that behaviour support training with a physical intervention overlay can result in increased confidence and safety for staff members and a reduction in the levels of physical intervention and incidents. The purpose of this study was to investigate participant opinion of Team-Teach training immediately after course delivery and further into implementation in addition to an investigation into the barriers and facilitating factors affecting the impact of Team-Teach within two New Zealand special schools. The research employs a mixed method pragmatic paradigm utilising document analysis, questionnaire and interview survey to ascertain the impact and implementation issues related to Team-Teach training. Quantitative analysis of course feedback ratings and attitudinal scales were combined with the qualitative thematic analysis of written comments and interview transcripts to inform the discussion. The results present a positive endorsement of Team-Teach training both immediately after the training course and further into implementation and compare favourably with the findings of previous international studies. Research participants reported a significant increase in personal confidence and a perceived reduction in incidences of extreme behaviour and physical intervention. The perceptions of research participants to initial training in New Zealand varied considerably between training providers and there were also notable differences between groups in different work roles and with different levels of experience. Research participants expressed concern over the lack of adaptation of the Team-Teach syllabus to embrace the New Zealand context. Research participants endorsed use of the ‘positive handling plan’ (PHP) as a way to legitimatise and standardise practice in difficult situations. It was however clear that neither school had developed genuine parental partnerships in either the creation or effective communication of these plans. There was a general agreement that parents should be able to access Team-Teach training but significant concerns were highlighted over how this could be achieved in practice. Research participants endorsed the Team-Teach model of training ‘in-house’ tutors to provide contextual and responsive internal capacity. There was a general agreement that the physical interventions taught were effective and appropriate for use with children. Participants clearly expressed concerns related to the teaching of too many physical interventions that were not required and recommended that training in physical interventions should be in class teams and specific to actual need. There was a clear indication that research participants believed this training should receive official recognition at the highest level as an acknowledgement that physical intervention is sometimes necessary in schools and that there is a legitimate way to achieve this.

This thesis seeks to study the phenomenon of transformational journeys in major organisations, defined as a process of radical change delivering dramatic and sustained improvement in market competitive performance within an aggressive timescale. This is characterised by strategic repositioning, alongside shifts in both strategic and organisational architecture, and is observable as periodic in the life of an organisation. A research framework for observation and explanation is taken from theories and research in strategic change, strategic intent and competitive advantage, strategic and organisational architecture, management process in transformation and typologies of transformational journeys. The primary research question, “how do top managers in different organisations lead and manage transformational change?” was addressed with an overall qualitative dual approach: firstly a pilot cross-company study with executives from 23 organisations to develop a high level typology and compare and contrast aspects of process; secondly longitudinally to examine in detail the complex interrelationships and aspects of emergent process. The prime empirical work was a main case study of Thames Water Utilities on a 7 year journey. Limited or secondary data was used from around 7 other longitudinal cases. The thesis conclusions make a number of specific propositions: around effective use of the descriptive framework and metaphor of a journey; on dependencies between aspects of context, content and process of change in transformation; on typologies of different journey management styles; on perceived conditions for success; and on practical applicability. Specifically, the adoption of “navigational leadership” capability, defined by a number of dimensions and characteristics, is explored as a new and emergent style appropriate in future business circumstances of increasing change and uncertainty. The research also concludes that such styles can be learnt and adopted by top teams.

Morale is a commonly used term both in business and society but the concept of morale is relatively poorly defined and understood. In a recent paper Liefooghe et al. (2004) expressed surprise that "when reviewing the literature, no strong theory to explain morale as such is in evidence, nor are there many empirical studies that offer solid ground to advise organisations"(p 1). This thesis aims to provide these theories and this empirical evidence in order to produce a better understanding of morale. This research identifies a number of deficiencies in the current understanding of morale. These range from elision with other concepts to disagreement about whether it is an individual or group phenomenon. In this study, four principal domains are examined: (i) what morale is; (ii) how it differs from other concepts; (iii) the antecedents of morale and (iv) its consequences. A mixed methods approach was adopted combining idiographic and nomothetic research. The idiographic phase of the research adopted a Straussian (1998) grounded theory approach, involving data collection from seven different organisations. The data was accrued from a combination of site visits, informal contacts, external research, and 203 semi-structured interviews which were supplemented with psychometric instruments. The data were then coded and analysed. Morale could be readily differentiated from other concepts and emerged as a phenomenon with three dimensions: affective, future/goal and interpersonal. It was also viewed as a single phenomenon which was generalisable across situations and rooted in the individual although perceived members of the group exerted considerable influence. The antecedents of morale impacted on the three dimensions outlined above. Its consequences were the zeal with which tasks are undertaken, creativity and engagement. The nomothetic element of the research developed a number of measurement scales, grounded in the qualitative phase. These allowed morale to be differentiated from other phenomena and offered insights into individual and group perceptions of morale and the influence of personality variables. Further quantitative research confirmed the three dimensional structure of the concept. The results of these two phases were then integrated to provide a picture of the phenomenon of morale, differentiate it from other concepts and elucidate its antecedents and consequences. An appraisal of the limitations of the research is also made. Finally the implications of this research for both academic researchers and practitioners are discussed along with suggestions for future research.

Despite considerable interest among South African scholars in learner behaviour management in South African schools, there is little literature on learner behaviour management in the context of cultural diversity. The present study investigates this essentially neglected space by focusing on learner behaviour management practices of teachers in culturally diverse classrooms of a high school in the Tshwane South District within the Gauteng Department of Education, South Africa. Cultural diversity is used as a lens to explore the practices of teachers. The theoretical underpinnings of culturally responsive classroom management are used to describe and to interpret learner behaviour management practices of teachers to determine whether the approaches and the resultant strategies that they use are culturally responsive. A qualitative case study approach was used, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews that included critical incident narratives obtained from teachers, analysis of pertinent documents and observations of 10 culturally diverse teachers who teach the same class consisting of culturally diverse learners, as well as of the Discipline Officer and two additional teachers that were identified through snowball sampling. The findings revealed that learner behaviour management practices of most teachers are not culturally responsive. This is a result of factors such as lack of recognition of their own ethnocentrism and biases, as demonstrated mainly by their unrealistic expectations, pessimistic attitudes and stereotyping perceptions; ignorance of learners‟ cultural backgrounds, as demonstrated mainly by teachers‟ denial and minimisation of the importance of understanding learners‟ cultural backgrounds (leading to misinterpretation of the behaviours of culturally different learners); lack of commitment to building a caring classroom community; lack of consciousness of the broader social, economic and political context of the South African education system; and lack of ability to apply culturally responsive classroom management strategies, which is exacerbated by lack of teacher education and development in this regard. The implication of these findings is that teachers need to possess an ethnorelative mindset, and to be interculturally competent. A key recommendation is that teachers should endeavour to move away from ethnocentrism towards being ethnorelative by developing an inclusive outlook, accepting cultural differences and adapting their perspective to take the cultural differences that influence learner behaviour into account. The study also recommends that teacher education programmes should prioritise teacher development on intercultural issues and the acquisition of intercultural competencies, as these aspects are crucial for teachers to appropriately manage the behaviours of learners whose cultural backgrounds are different from their own. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

Acknowledging the difficulties of achieving effective strategic management in practice, this thesis investigates how formal strategies quite often succeed in conditioning organisational actions even in firms such as professional service firms, which may lack effective measures for coercing action and which often depend on distributed decision-making. The fundamental question posed in this investigation is: what are the social processes that make strategies work? This thesis addresses that question by contributing to our understanding of strategy realisation as a continuing process of translating formal strategies into ‘strategies-in-practice’, i.e. the situated performance of strategies through choices, actions, and practices pertaining to the selection and accomplishment of concrete assignments. The thesis investigates this translation process in three small professional service firms, in which the responsibility for enacting the strategies lies with autonomous practitioners, making centralised strategy realisation difficult. Searching for integration rather than further fragmentation of different strands of strategy research, the thesis make use of Porterian activity systems theory, Giddens’ structuration theory, Wittgensteinian theory of rule-following, Searlean theory of intentionality, and the strategy-as-practice approach, in order to understand the translation process as the intentional structuration of practice. The thesis reports two main contributions, the first addressing a gap in strategy re-search, the second contradicting prevailing theories. The first contribution is an outline of a theory of strategy translation: how formal strategies are translated into strategies-in-practice, coping with insoluble strategic dilemmas, and achieving maintenance of strategic position and strategies-in-practice under pressure for unwanted change. Good strategies-in-practice are as much about managing dilemmas as about eliminating them. Second, in contrast to prevailing strategic positioning theory and generic strategies, this study documents the potential benefits of straddling strategically distinct services within a single activity system, in terms of: learning opportunities; work variation; better opportunities for attracting, developing, and retaining talented people; the possibilities of capitalising on client relationships; and the dynamics of routinisation of once-novel services.

Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are usually inattentive and disruptive in class, are at high risk for chronic academic achievement difficulties, and may develop problems in relationships with peers, parents, and teachers (DuPaul, Stoner, 2003). One of the primary goals of behavioural treatment for ADHD is to enable a student to develop adequate levels of self-control (Barkley, 1990; DuPaul & Stoner, 1994). Methods are needed in the classroom, which give the child or adolescent with ADHD, control over his or her condition and thus increased independence, more experiences with success, and increased resiliency. Listening to music has many therapeutic applications, including the development of cognitive skills such as attention and memory (Canadian Association for Music Therapy, 2006). Music is accessible to all teachers and students, and is an easy strategy to implement in classrooms. Yet, despite the knowledge that adolescents are active users of music media (North, Hargreaves, & ONeill, 2000), little research on music and ADHD participants has been completed. Through the use of a single subject case study, the purpose of this research was: look at the academic experience that an adolescent male diagnosed with ADHD faced in his life at school; and to gain a better understanding of how music could potentially affect his ability to self-regulate and cope with the detrimental effects of ADHD during in-class seat work and homework. Multiple interviews with one boy, his parents, and teachers across a 14-week period of time provided a primary source of data. Results indicated that the adolescents experiences with listening to music during school and homework increased the time that he was able to attend and concentrate. Unexpected gains included an increase in his ability to recall information during exams, and an increase in motivation, positive attitude, and mood towards school work as a result of enjoying listening to his favourite music. However, the study also involved the unexpected and disheartening discovery of clashing and competing voices that perhaps ultimately rendered the boys positive experiences with music insignificant, given the louder rule-and-order school culture. The pragmatic realities of working within a school context will need to be considered and strategically addressed if students are to benefit from practices that help even though they may be unconventional and not fully understood.

Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are usually inattentive and disruptive in class, are at high risk for chronic academic achievement difficulties, and may develop problems in relationships with peers, parents, and teachers (DuPaul, Stoner, 2003). One of the primary goals of behavioural treatment for ADHD is to enable a student to develop adequate levels of self-control (Barkley, 1990; DuPaul & Stoner, 1994). Methods are needed in the classroom, which give the child or adolescent with ADHD, control over his or her condition and thus increased independence, more experiences with success, and increased resiliency. Listening to music has many therapeutic applications, including the development of cognitive skills such as attention and memory (Canadian Association for Music Therapy, 2006). Music is accessible to all teachers and students, and is an easy strategy to implement in classrooms. Yet, despite the knowledge that adolescents are active users of music media (North, Hargreaves, & ONeill, 2000), little research on music and ADHD participants has been completed. Through the use of a single subject case study, the purpose of this research was: look at the academic experience that an adolescent male diagnosed with ADHD faced in his life at school; and to gain a better understanding of how music could potentially affect his ability to self-regulate and cope with the detrimental effects of ADHD during in-class seat work and homework. Multiple interviews with one boy, his parents, and teachers across a 14-week period of time provided a primary source of data. Results indicated that the adolescents experiences with listening to music during school and homework increased the time that he was able to attend and concentrate. Unexpected gains included an increase in his ability to recall information during exams, and an increase in motivation, positive attitude, and mood towards school work as a result of enjoying listening to his favourite music. However, the study also involved the unexpected and disheartening discovery of clashing and competing voices that perhaps ultimately rendered the boys positive experiences with music insignificant, given the louder rule-and-order school culture. The pragmatic realities of working within a school context will need to be considered and strategically addressed if students are to benefit from practices that help even though they may be unconventional and not fully understood.

Learners with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) traditionally display disruptive and other associated negative behaviour in the classroom setting. Behaviour management strategies utilised by the teacher in the school environment can assist in reducing this type of behaviour that impacts negatively upon their academic performance. This research study develops and investigates the effectiveness of a programme of practical behaviour management strategies designed to reduce disruptive behaviour of learners with ADHD in the classroom. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Psychology)

Learners with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) traditionally display disruptive and other associated negative behaviour in the classroom setting. Behaviour management strategies utilised by the teacher in the school environment can assist in reducing this type of behaviour that impacts negatively upon their academic performance. This research study develops and investigates the effectiveness of a programme of practical behaviour management strategies designed to reduce disruptive behaviour of learners with ADHD in the classroom. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Educational Psychology)