The objectives of this study were to (1) establish whether a relationship exists between individuals’ perception of organisational culture, measured by the South African Cultural Instrument (2005) and lifelong learning, measured by the Dimensions of the Learning Organisation Questionnaire (2003); and (2) determine whether the participants differed with regard to these variables in terms of sociodemographic contextual factors such as age, race, gender, education, years of service, disability status and job level. A quantitative study, using primary data, was conducted on a convenient sample (N=257) of full-time public service officials in a South African public service organisation. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses revealed statistically significant positive relationships between individuals’ perception of organisational culture and lifelong learning. Significant differences were found in the perception of these variables for individuals with different years of service and for individuals of different age groups. The findings should contribute valuable knowledge to the field of organisational behaviour, which could be used to promote a lifelong learning culture in public service organisations. The study concludes with recommendations for future practice / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This research deals with organisation culture in the Chemical Industry, with specific reference to the culture in Gas Production. In the literature survey, the concept 'organisation culture' is studied theoretically from the perspective of Burke and Litwin. Theoretically, differences may occur between the current and desired organisation culture, between divisions and between levels of authority. The conclusion is drawn that culture change involves the whole organisation. In the empirical investigation, the Organisation Culture Index is applied to 36 employees at management level and 138 at employee level. The empirical findings show that there are significant differences. The empirical findings therefore support the theoretical findings that a single culture does not always exist in an organisation. This research also confirms that the culture in this organisation may not be appropriate for the present era. / Hierdie navorsing ondersoek organisasiekultuur in die Chemiese Bedryf, met spesifieke verwysing na die kultuur in Gasproduksie. In die literatuuroorsig word die konsep "organisasiekultuur" teoreties vanuit Burke en Litwin se perspektief beskou. Teoreties kan verskille in organisasiekultuur tussen die huidige en die verlangde organisasiekultuur, tussen afdelings en tussen gesagsvlakke voorkom. Die afleiding word gemaak dat kultuurverandering die totale organisasie betrek. In die empiriese ondersoek word die Organisasiekultuurindeks op 36 werknemers van die bestuursgroep en 138 van die werknemersgroep toegepas. Uit die empiriese bevindinge blyk dit dat daar betekenisvolle verskille in organisasiekultuur voorkom. Die empiriese bevindinge steun die teoretiese bevindinge dat daar nie altyd sprake is van 'n enkele kultuur in 'n organisasie nie. Daar word ook vasgestel dat hierdie organisasie se organisasiekultuur nie toespaslik is vir die huidige era nie. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This dissertation investigates the relationship between work performance and the sense of coherence, using the salutogenesis approach and the influence of employees' biographical variables on work performance. The sense of coherence construct is discussed and conceptualised in terms of its comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. Similarly, work performance is discussed and conceptualised in terms of its dimensions and dynamics. The integration of the literature study characteristics such as the cognitive, affective, conative and interpersonal characteristics were discussed. The research was conducted among 80 employees at a banking institution. The quality of life questionnaire and performance appraisal ratings were used. The relationship between biographical variables such as age, marital status, gender, qualifications, tenure, functional department and work performance were investigated. The results confirmed the empirical investigation that there was not a significant relationship between work performance and SOC. However, a significant relationship was found between job category and work performance, and between age and work performance. Finally, recommendations made for future research included using a bigger sample size in order to improve the generalisation of the findings to other organisational environments, and to further determine the relationship between other aspects of work performance (not just the KPAs) such as the human attributes of work performance and SOC. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

A survey of literature has revealed that there is a need for a reliability study of the Denison Organisational Culture Survey (DOCS) for use in a financial institution in South Africa. The major objective of this research was therefore to determine the internal consistency reliability of the DOCS - in other words, to determine the accuracy or consistency with which the set of survey items measures one particular scale. The total sample of 2 735 individuals used in this research consisted of both male and female full-time employees of a financial institution in South Africa. The results of this introductory study on the reliability of the DOCS in South Africa demonstrated clear support for similar research conducted abroad and proved to be compatible with the cognitive-behaviouristic psychology movement's original concept of organisational culture. The reliability of the DOCS, as applicable to this South African sample, reflects statistical significant internal consistency. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Comm.

This study investigated the causes of employee dissatisfaction by means of a case study of the Business Application Solution Centre (BASC) at the Eskom Academy of Learning (EAL). The rationale for the study was to contribute further to a general understanding of employee dissatisfaction. This study highlighted the issue of the under-representation of blacks and females (of all races) in senior positions, and further emphasised appointment and recruitment issues that promote unfair labour practices, organisational culture and structure issues that undermine workplace relations, and the extent to which management responds to the abovementioned issues. A mixed method approach was employed to gather data from BASC employees. Qualitative data was collected by means of one focus group discussion and nine in-depth, face-to-face interviews. For the focus group and face-to-face interviews, purposive sampling was used for the selection of respondents, in order to ensure representation on all race, gender and occupational strata. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for both the focus group and face-to-face interviews. The questioning route was guided by the themes of gender, appointment and recruitment issues, culture and structure issues, and management response and practice. Quantitative data was collected by means of an online survey. Even though the online survey link was sent to employees on all strata, top managers did not participate. The use of a web-based online survey had an element of immediacy and also ensured maximum confidentiality, as responses were transferred to a development server with no link or trace to the respondents. The study revealed many underlying causes of employee dissatisfaction, such as the following: (1) the main drivers of black and female under-representation in top positions were lack of skills development, mentoring and career-pathing; (2) among the recruitment and appointment practices leading to employee dissatisfaction was the appointment of employees to ‘acting’ rather than permanent management positions; (3) there was a perception that managers abused their authority by promoting their favourites and overlooking those who they did not like; (4) although an affirmative action (AA) policy had been implemented at BASC, it was felt that employees should be appointed and promoted on merit, and that this should be accompanied by mentoring; (5) in some instances, the hiring of consultants deprived employees of opportunities to perform critical tasks. The fact that consultants were paid more than employees was also a source of discontent; (6) appointment criteria were non-transparent, and respondents revealed that they knew who was going to be appointed even before the recruitment process had been completed; (7) a bureaucratic culture was found to be the main organisational culture issue undermining workplace relations. On the other hand, a culture of teamwork appeared to reduce dissatisfaction and enhance unity; (8) the major organisational structure issues undermining workplace relations were managers who lacked managerial competencies and unequal payment on the same grade; (9) employees who stood their ground were given a low rating during performance appraisals. Others were bullied by senior managers and colleagues, who were rude towards them; (10) a hostile working relationship between managers and employees was caused by managers who lacked human resource skills; and (11) junior managers were undermined by employees who bypassed them and went straight to senior managers to discuss workplace issues. This study addresses both the general lack of information regarding the causes of employee dissatisfaction in South Africa, and of employee dissatisfaction in the information and communication technology (ICT) workplace environment. The findings of the study will also contribute towards a better understanding of the general causes of employee dissatisfaction. The results of this study suggest that more in-depth investigations of the causes of employee dissatisfaction are necessary to fully address this issue, and in order to ultimately prevent a further increase in the rate of employee turnover. Some implications for further research became apparent during the course of this study: similar studies on employee dissatisfaction should be conducted with top managers; studies on the experience of managers appointed to acting positions should be undertaken; and follow-up studies on employee dissatisfaction should be conducted as causes are addressed and relevant interventions are implemented. / Business management / D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)

The objective of this study was to determine (1) if there is a difference between Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y employees’ perceptions of organisational culture and if so, (2) to determine if generational sub-cultures are formed within an organisation as a result of these different perceptions. A quantitative research design was chosen, and employees (n = 455) in a large South African information and communication technologies (ICT) sector company, selected through proportionate, random, stratified sampling, completed the South African Culture Instrument (SACI). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data, and the results of this study indicate that generational sub-cultures can be identified in the organisation, based on significantly different perceptions of five of the seven dimensions of organisational culture examined. This study therefore contributes to the body of knowledge on organisational culture and the formation of sub-cultures at a generational level and can be used to enhance organisational talent and management strategies. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether organisational restructuring of business units within a South African Fast Moving Consumer Goods company had any effect on the organisational climate of the organisation. An organisational climate survey was used before and after the restructuring over a two-year period. Five manufacturing plants formed part of the study; with four plants undergoing the restructuring (experimental group) and one plant being the control group, where no organisational restructuring took place within the two-year period under review. The total population consisted of 3700 employees. The samples for 2010 and 2011 were drawn from the population of the five manufacturing plants’. The sample of employees that took part in the survey from the five manufacturing plants was, in 2010, 778 versus a headcount of 1802, yielding a response rate of 21.02%, and in 2011, 904 versus a headcount of 1736, yielding a response rate of 24.43%. The research results show that organisational restructuring did have a significant impact on organisational climate; with a drop in the organisational climate from 2010 prior to the organisational restructuring, to 2011 after the organisational restructuring at four of the manufacturing plants (experimental group). Interestingly, the control group (the 5th manufacturing plant) also showed a significant drop in its organisational climate scores from 2010 to 2011; without organisational restructuring taking place. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / MCOM (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The NGO sector is continuing to diversify, experiencing increasing competition from the for-profit market and pressure from the state looking for support through service delivery. There are growing internal and external calls for the development of appropriate evaluation methods within NGOs, intended to provide a much needed transparency, and to monitor and evaluate the sector’s accountability, legitimacy, and credibility – the very politics of its image and identity. As a result many NGOs are adapting their strategic behaviour to increase their efficacy to meet these new challenges. Professionalization or corporatization is said to be transforming NGOs into new regimes of efficiency, leading to their absorption of increasingly commercial practices. How professional NGOs go about their business has become as important as what they do. Using an ethnographic approach and participant observation, this study reveals the many constraints and opportunities one such NGO faced as it employed strategies to professionalize, and the various forms of organising it exhibited in its political, economic and social context. I explore the social interface between the organisation and its environment, and again between the staff members and the organisation itself. The study explores the connectedness between the broader context and the local experience, which in turn informs the NGO’s shifting strategies. An ‘embedded’ understanding provides insight into the evolution of social processes behind the production of everyday life within the professional NGO, exploring how it arrives at a certain coherence in the face of multiple realities at the local level. Development literature is used as a point of departure before applying anthropological theory as a lens through which to interpret the research questions. I place the NGO in a historical context and depict the political nature of the state-NGO relationship within a contract culture and competitive market. Discourses around surviving the embedded contradictions within accountability and legitimacy are explored. I reveal the pains of institutional and cultural evolution within the organisation under the push to professionalize as staff search for meaning and agency in everyday practice. And finally, I describe how the professional NGO negotiates an identity through both the external and internal politics of representation. There is no simple trajectory for professional NGOs. I find instead a competitive fight for survival and increasing dependence on political and economic savvy. The professional NGO has to constantly re-define and re-affirm its mission, while staff members weather the effects of this ongoing change and are forced to continually reconcile the very meaning of their work and identity to make sense of this experience. As an organisational study this contributes to an understanding of one professional NGO’s survival strategies in context, its organisational culture as an activity, and individual sense-making and identity formulation in the local setting. This study hopes to reveal what is gained and lost through employing the strategy to professionalize, and add to a growing body of research narrating the evolution within the NGO sector, informing questions currently being asked by state, business, and civil society groups.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Leadership has always been, and always will be, central to human affairs, whether from a political, societal, religious, business or any other view. Both the need for leadership in managerial jobs and the difficulty of providing effective leadership in these jobs has grown considerably more, to include even lower level managerial, technical and professional employees. An important objective of this research report was to investigate the Eastern Cape Department of Health’s (ECDoH’s) current business practices and culture, as perceived by its leadership and management. The aim was to understand and document reasons for perpetual underperformance and to suggest ways of transforming the organisation’s culture and practices into a high performing organisation on a sustainable basis. To achieve the above objectives, this research report uses the Beehive Model of Organisational Renewal, developed by Christo Nel of the Village Leadership Consulting, which looks at seven elements of workplace practices that are benchmarked against international best practices. These seven elements are strategy execution, change leadership, structure, business discipline, talent creation, rewards and recognition and stakeholder value. The Beehive Model of Operational Renewal assumes that it is possible for any organisation to achieve greatness, to be a high performing organisation based on the conditions that success is by choice and not by accident; it is a long and winding journey and requires full executive acceptance, commitment and resolve to achieving a high performance organisation (HPO) status. The reviewed literature shows that cultures within successful organisations have characteristics of adaptability, alignment with external factors and the organisation’s vision and mission, and are biased towards action. It also suggests that when people are listened to, respected, supported and appreciated, in exchange they tend to go the extra mile in executing their jobs, even lifting the performance of individuals previously written off as mediocre. Depending on the desired type of culture, people behaviours, organisational symbols and systems will have to be modified to suppport and entrench the values of that organisation. Establishing a culture in an organisation is primarily a leadership role and culture and leadership are viewed as two sides of the same coin which cannot be separated. Literature suggests that long-term organisational change in the public sector is complex and problematic, because of the many stakeholders and short-term orientation of many political stakeholders. Change is particularly difficult because it has to overcome a longstanding tradition, uncertaintly and doubt amongst many people, fear of job loss and inertia and much Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za iv resistance, both visible and subdued. Healthcare staff all over the world face the challenge of a rapid introduction of technology in the form of electronic patient records, computerbased decision support tools and hospital information networks which are changing the traditional ways of doing things. Managing organisational culture is viewed as an essential part of the health system reform in most countries, where evidence shows that it will be a complex, multi-level, and uncertain process, requiring strategies unfolding over a period of years. For any change to be successful, it requires leadership – in fact, it is argued that leaders drive change from the top, through people and with people. Successful change is about leadership getting involved in driving the change at grass roots level, being authentic, honest and transparent. Leaders must balance the natural resistance people have to change with the time and space people need to reflect and accept the change and the directives that the leaders use to put pressure on the employees. In healthcare, many techniques have been employed to bring about changes to quality healthcare delivery. These include total quality management (TQM), lean management, learning organisation, business process reengineering and some leaders have used external consultants to influence change. None of these techniques was found to be successful without good leadership and a culture that embraces these changes. Arguably, people are the only competitive advantage any organisation has. Given that people are the executors of strategy, it is imperative that they get involved in its development. The use of systemic ways of developing strategy and making sure of its implementation using the balanced score card and strategy maps, is recommended. Linking company values and culture to the strategy leads to far greater organisational success. In most organisations human resources (HR) practices are still in the traditional back office. In the new economy, HR practices need to be transformed to deliver a new proposition, which adds value to the bottom line of the business by satisfying all stakeholder requirements, aligning people to performance and increasing organisational capabilities for sustainable performance. In the last decade, New Public Sector Management (NPSM) has emerged as a major reform strategy applied in varying degrees in a growing number of public sector organisations. Its main focus is to improve service delivery and to give rise to new management practices in the public sector. It emanates from a continued dissatisfaction with the performance of traditional public sector leadership and bureaucracy, reinforced by claims that the private sector is more efficient. Three building blocks for NPSM are described to reform public sector and these are responsibility, accountability and performance. In transforming public Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za v sector organisations, managers have to explicitly introduce policies within each building block – these policies contain leverage to influence clarity of purpose, agreements, power over decision-making, individual and team performance, and customer accountability. There are strong arguments to encourage clinicians to change their mindset and be retrained to lead the healthcare reform around the world. Some of the arguments are that clinicians are in the frontline, making decisions that determine quality and efficiency of care, having the technical knowledge to make sound strategic choices about longer-term patterns of service delivery. Clinicians are typically intelligent, well-trained and caring people who expressly choose this career to cure and comfort. A growing body of research supports the assertion that effective clinical leadership lifts the performance of health care organisations, as evidenced in a study which found that hospitals with the greatest clinician participation in management scored about 50% higher on important drivers of performance than hospitals with low levels of clinical leadership did. In another study, it was found that in 11 cases of attempted improvement in services, organisations with stronger clinical leadership were more successful, while another found that Chief Executive Officers (CEO) in the highestperforming organisations engaged clinicians in dialogue and in joint problem-solving efforts. The research findings show that the ECDoH is entrenched in the old economy values, meaning that business practices that were examined using the Beehive Model are rated in the risk/poor class. All seven elements scored in this poor class, with changed leadership, structures and talent creation constituting the poorest performers. This implies that the organisation is led from the top, leaders use power over others, there is widespread compression and incompetency at all leadership levels. It is unlikely that a single political head in the form of the Member of Executive (MEC) or a change in the head of department (HoD) will bring about the required astronomical transformation of the ECDoH. Only when the collective begins to accept the current predicament, can a total buy-in and commitment to high performance status begin. Finally, it is recommended that the ECDoH leadership transform their mindsets and adopt the new economy values of leading the organisation. They need to leverage on their positions of power to co-create a new culture, learn and adopt new change leadership skills, and transform the organisation’s HR proposition inside out. The executives are urged to consider funding a three to five year project of organisational renewal, using the Beehive Model and its related tools, to bring about sustainable change in the ECDoH.

A survey of literature has revealed that there is a need for a reliability study of the Denison Organisational Culture Survey (DOCS) for use in a financial institution in South Africa. The major objective of this research was therefore to determine the internal consistency reliability of the DOCS - in other words, to determine the accuracy or consistency with which the set of survey items measures one particular scale. The total sample of 2 735 individuals used in this research consisted of both male and female full-time employees of a financial institution in South Africa. The results of this introductory study on the reliability of the DOCS in South Africa demonstrated clear support for similar research conducted abroad and proved to be compatible with the cognitive-behaviouristic psychology movement's original concept of organisational culture. The reliability of the DOCS, as applicable to this South African sample, reflects statistical significant internal consistency. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Comm.