This research aims to provide a theory of enterprise social networking that generates and/or sustains a culture of employee engagement within a chosen South African private sector company. Based on an extensive review of interesting literature and the application of a grounded theory process in a chosen case, this research work provides a theory of enterprise social networking sustaining and growing employee engagement together with an explanatory theoretical framework that makes the theory more practical. Employee engagement is defined as “the harnessing of organisation member’s selves to their work roles; in engagement people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances.” This research regards employee engagement as a three part concept composed of a trait (personality/cognitive) aspect, a state (emotional) aspect, and a behavioural aspect. Research has shown that employee engagement has an unequivocal positive impact on business outcomes, such as profitability, business performance, employee retention and productivity. Employee engagement can be regarded as a culture if it is abundant within the organization’s employee population. Gatenby et al. (2009) propose that employee engagement is fostered by creating the desire and opportunity for employees to connect with colleagues, managers and the wider organisation. This standpoint is supported by Kular et al. (2008) who state that the “key drivers of employee engagement identified include communication, opportunities for employees to feed their views upward and thinking that their managers are committed to the organisation.” Further indicators of employee engagement include strong leadership (particularly in the form of servant leadership), accountability, a positive and open organisational culture, autonomy, and opportunities for development. One of the key facets of employee engagement is connection. A complementary definition of social media, an umbrella under which enterprise social networks fall, is that “(it) is more of a relationship channel, a connection channel. Each and every tweet, update, video, post, is a connection point to another human being. And it’s the other human being who will determine your worth to them.” Social media provides participants with access to a larger pool of resources and relationships than they would normally have access to. This enlarged relationship/resource pool is a result of expanding human and social capital enabled through social media tools. In order to produce a theory of enterprise social networking sustaining and growing a culture of employee engagement a rigorous grounded theory methodology coupled with a case study methodology was applied. The case study methodology was used to identify a suitable research site and interesting participants within the site while the grounded theory process was used to produce both qualitative and quantitative data sets in a suitability rigorous fashion. The corroborative data was then used to discover and define the emergent theory.

Change and the management thereof has become an integral part of management. To survive and prosper in the future, organisations have to understand the internal and external forces of the constantly changing world in which they operate. One example of the implications of change is the role of the communication practitioner that evolved from that of a technician to a strategist during recent decades. The communication practitioner has to realise that research is an effective tool to prove the value of the communication function. This study explores the use of environmental scanning as a strategic tool for an organisation to obtain a competitive edge. Knowledge management and the measurement of relationships in communication are closely related to environmental scanning. Environmental scanning is a process by which an organisation learns about events and trends in the internal and external environment. It helps establishes relationships between these trends and considers the main implications for problem identification and decision making. Any scientific research should be done against a theoretical framework. The systems theory and the information gap theory provide the theoretical framework for this study. Empirical research was conducted amongst the principals, marketing directors; information technology directors and scenario planners of all universities, technikons and registered private universities in South Africa. A total response rate of 58.7% was realised. A major finding was that, although most universities and technikons conduct environmental scanning and rate it as very important, there is no formalised, strategically aligned effort to integrate the findings with the strategic direction of the institution. The impact of environmental scanning on the respondents’ institutions is rated as significant to very significant. A revised model of environmental scanning was subsequently proposed. This model can also serve as a basis for future research and development. In spite of the different ways in which environmental scanning is conducted and applied, it has potential as a strategic tool - specifically to improve the role and contribution of the communication practitioner in the realisation of organisational goals. / Dissertation (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Communication Management / DPhil / Unrestricted

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Computer mediated communication (CMC) fundamentally influences the function of communication. It influences the organization's management and administration, but it most affects the dynamics of middle and lower level employees. The most simplistic model is that of an electronic office in which its employees need to know and understand the role of CMC. The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance and satisfaction of co-workers who use CMC to communicate within their organization, and to check employees' performance when using CMC.

Professional interactions that are both functional and mutually beneficial are rare. The purpose of this study is to explore an application of a Third Culture Building (TCB) approach, a mutually constructed interpersonal process between two individuals, for Black American professionals (with advanced knowledge acquired from institutions of higher learning), to generate a new space in Predominantly White Institutions (PWis). These institutions include settings where the racial composition is becoming consistently more diverse (through past desegregation efforts). Although the U.S. has moved beyond integration and the monumental Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, racism and intercultural barriers that prevent functional cross-cultural communication still exist in these settings. This research is directed toward answering the question: How might Black American professionals generate a Third Culture space in PWis through cross-cultural social exchange? The research builds on my previous study where the TCB approach was found to be conducive for the intercultural barriers faced by Black Americans in PWis. The research emphasizes the perspective of Black Americans and de-emphasizes the perspective of White Americans, given the body of literature that points to their adaptation and intercultural interactions in the U.S. and in international contexts. A sample of six Black American professionals (ages 30 to 72; 4 men and 4 women) from my baseline study was invited to take part in this study. Respondents were chosen based on their backgrounds and similarity of race, to learn about their perspectives of the intercultural interactions in PWis. Participants live in the Midwest region of the U.S. Using interpretive, critical theory, and other qualitative approaches, the discussions from a focus group and interviews were transcribed and combined with the interviewer's notes. The participants' responses were organized around TCB frameworks and the interview questions, and then reduced to codes. Two evaluators reviewed the interview data, codes, and themes.

This research investigated how self-managed teams get the information they need to perform their job tasks. Two important factors prompted this study: the growing importance of self-managed teams in the workplace and the impact of the information system on team performance.

En el primer capítulo desarrollamos la importancia de la información en las organizaciones ya que es considerado un recurso fundamental. Luego el valor de la seguridad y su gestión para la vigencia y éxito de las organizaciones. Un tema importante es la concientización en seguridad que prioriza el rol crucial de las personas. También definimos la gestión de los intangibles dentro del enfoque Dircom, considerando a la comunicación para la presentación de nuestra propuesta y su repercusión en la cultura y reputación corporativa. En el segundo capítulo planteamos la problemática que es la falta de concientización en seguridad de la información en las instituciones educativas, lo cual nos lleva a investigar cómo se lleva a cabo para proponer una propuesta que ayude a solucionar el problema. En el tercer capítulo nos referimos a dos tesis que resaltan el factor humano para mejorar la concientización sobre seguridad de la información en una institución educativa y otra de otro sector empresarial respectivamente. En el quinto capítulo presentamos a nuestra población de estudio que son los públicos internos de dos instituciones educativas de San Juan de Lurigancho; los resultados de las entrevistas a especialistas sobre el tema y de dos encuestas realizadas a dicha población. Exponemos luego nuestra propuesta que consiste en definir un plan de comunicación para promover la concientización en seguridad de la información en una institución educativa. Finalmente concluimos que no existe una concientización sobre el tema y lo cual es necesaria para impactar en la cultura y reputación corporativa. / In the first chapter we develop the importance of information in organizations since it is considered a fundamental resource. Then the value of security and its management for the validity and success of organizations. An important issue is security awareness that prioritizes the crucial role of people. We also define the management of intangibles within the Dircom approach, considering communication for the presentation of our proposal and its impact on corporate culture and reputation. In the second chapter we raise the problem that is the lack of awareness in information security in educational institutions, which leads us to investigate how it is carried out to propose a proposal that helps solve the problem. In the third chapter we refer to two theses that highlight the human factor to improve awareness about information security in an educational institution and another in another business sector respectively. In the fifth chapter we present our study population who are the internal audiences of two educational institutions in San Juan de Lurigancho; the results of the interviews with specialists on the subject and of two surveys carried out with this population. We then present our proposal, which consists of defining a communication plan to promote awareness of information security in an educational institution. Finally, we conclude that there is no awareness on the subject and that it is necessary to impact corporate culture and reputation. / Trabajo de investigación

Данная работа посвящена исследованию трудностей перевода деловых писем с китайского языка на русский и английский, а также разработке рекомендаций по их преодолению. Составлена сравнительная таблица определений западных, китайских и российских исследователей, позволившее дать определение «деловой коммуникации»；Создана сравнительная таблица особенностей деловой коммуникации в Китае, России и Великобритании；Создана таблица, наиболее полно и подробно классифицирующая деловые письма ；Рассмотрены лексика, синтаксис, морфология, экстралингвистические особенности китайского языка. указанные классификации, определения могут быть полезны в педагогической деятельности в сферах лингвистики, психологии, переводоведения, менеджмента, экономики, а также в дальнейших исследованиях по изучению преодолений трудностей при переводе деловых писем с китайского языка. / This work is devoted to the study of the difficulties of translation of business letters from Chinese into Russian and English, as well as the development of recommendations for overcoming them. The comparative table of definitions of the Western, Chinese and Russian researchers, which allowed to define "business communication"；The comparative table of features of business communication in China, Russia and Great Britain；The table which most fully and in detail classifies business letters ；The lexis, syntax, morphology, extra-linguistic features of Chinese language are created. These classifications, definitions can be useful in pedagogical activities in the fields of linguistics, psychology, translation, management, economics, as well as in further research on the study of overcoming difficulties in the translation of business letters from Chinese.

This thesis investigates the applications and implications of Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) technology in international entrepreneurship. The research questions focus on how GPT can serve as a strategic tool, communication tool, and knowledge leverage tool, and how these applications influence decision-making, enhance performance, The findings from the analysis chapters highlights that GPT significantly contributes to strategic planning, market analysis, and operational management, thereby enhancing decision-making and performance. GPT technology, acting as a potent communication tool, nurtures more robust client relationships and eases cross-cultural interactions, courtesy of its superior language processing capabilities. The thesis discusses how these capabilities of GPT can lead to reduced miscommunications and enhanced client satisfaction. This, in turn, contributes to cost savings by retaining existing customers and attracting new ones, thereby enhancing profits. Moreover, The main theoretical implications that this  thesis has resulted in will showcase the time efficiency brought by automated, high-quality communication that reduces man-hours spent on routine interactions, freeing resources for strategic tasks for international entrepreneurship.  Furthermore, this study enriches the literature on generative AI exemplified by models like GPT in the world of international business, particularly within the context of international entrepreneurship. It offers essential insights that can guide international entrepreneurs in understanding the potential advantages of integrating GPT technology into their business operations.

M. Tech. (Department of Information and Communications Technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Global companies tend to have problems in knowing the systems, assets and resources they have within their global footprint. This tends to be costly to the company as there tends to be purchases of the same systems, assets and resources that are already available in another business unit or department within the company. This leads to money being wasted on research, procurement and/or training, to name a few. You can't manage what you don't know about. This thesis will show how the visualisation of corporate data is possible and has sustainable benefit to a company. Knowing the status of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) environment in a company at some point in time is crucial in planning and implementing strategies with the future in mind. Global View, which will be explained in this thesis, is key in facilitating the extracting of information from all the sites globally and presenting the information in a logical and structured way. Information gathering from these sites using Global View needs to be done in an auditing fashion with the focus on accurate and precise information with an option which would allow the audit to be a continuous and automatic process. Global View is a tool to facilitate the implementation of ICT Industrialization through a process of gathering the relevant ICT information worldwide with specific reference to each site. Global View displays the relevant information from systems, assets, resources and environments in an easily accessible format. The functionality that is built into the concept in this thesis is the geographical and geospatial orientation which is linked to the relevant sites as well as time references related to Greenwich Mean Time to make users aware of differences in time when communicating with people in other countries either individually or multiple sites simultaneously.