The objective of this Study was to identify any relationships that may exist Main job insecurity, burnout and organisational armament. To determine the levels of job insecurity, burnout and organizational commitment, how different demographic p u p s experience different levels of job insecurity and whether job insecurity can predict burnout and orgauisational commitment. A -sectional w e y design was used. A random sample of human resource workers (N = 146) was used & on a financial institution in Gauteng. The Job Insecurity Survey Inventory (JISI), Maslach Bumout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) wae administered with a biographical questionnaire. The regression analyses indicated that 29, 8% of the total variance was explained by job insecurity on burnout and that 28, 7% of the total variance was explained by job insecurity on organisational commitment / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

During the last few decades economic changes leading to transformations in the labour market have taken place in the industrialised world (Mauno & Kinnunen, 1999). These changes have had to be implemented as a result of economic recession, new information technology, industrial restructuring and accelerated global competition (Hartley, Jacobson, Klandermans & Van Vuuren, 199 1 ; Hellgren, Sverke & Isakson, 1999). South African organisations, to remain competitive in these harsh conditions, have been forced to improve organisational effectiveness and streamline operations (Human, Buitendach & Heyrnans, 2004). Many have had to engage in downsizing and restructuring in order to reduce labour costs and to improve competitiveness. These efforts usually result in the reduction of a large number of staff (Labuschagne, 2005). In addition to having adverse effects for those people who lose their jobs, it may also lead to increased stress among the survivors (Ashford, 1988; Ketz de Vries & Balazs, 1997). The primary objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, organisational citizenship behaviours and affective organisational commitment. Constructs were measured by means of the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), the Organisational Citizenship Behaviours Questionnaire (OCB), the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OC) and a biographical questionnaire. A cross-sectional survey design was conducted among the 80 employees of a privately-owed franchise store of a large retail supermarket. A response of 66 completed questionnaires was received. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

The world that is becoming more advanced and complex, induces acute competitiveness and immense challenges for organisations and employees. This, along with the increased demands from current operating economic conditions around the globe oblige organizations to embark on adaptive strategies such as downsizing, restructuring and temporary employment as a mechanism to sustain their continued existence in a hastened transformation era. Although these impetuses affect the content and structure of work directly, they also have indirect inherent effects as they create pressures of uncertainty and feelings ofjob insecurity. It is apparent that job insecurity may negatively affect employees' job satisfaction and affective organisational commitment. It is deemed important to identify the negative impacts of these changes on individual employees and devise change management and coping interventions to empower employees in lowering the stress that they may experience due to transformations within their organisations. Thus, the objectives of this research was to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, job satisfaction, affective organisational commitment and work locus of control and how demographic groups might differ in their experience of job insecurity among employees (N = 286) in a co-operation industry. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The constructs were measured by means of the Job Insecurity Scale (JIS), Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQAffective- subscale), Work Locus of Control Scale (WLCS) and a demographic questionnaire. The research method consists of a brief literature review and an empirical study. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of the MSQ, OCQAffective, and WLCS. Alpha coefficients were also computed to assess the internal consistency of the scales. Descriptive statistics, Pearson-product moment correlation coefficients, MANOVA, and ANOVA were used to analyse the data. Multiple regression analyses were used to further examine the potential mediating effect of work locus of control in the job insecurity-outcomes relationships. Simple principal component analyses confirmed appropriate factor structures for the JIS. MSQ and OCQ. Although Spector proposed that the WLCS is a unidimensional scale, various previous studies have obtained evidence supporting a two-factor structure. In a similar vein, simple principle component analysis delivered a two-factor structure. All scales used demonstrated an adequate level of internal consistency. Job insecurity indicated a practically significant positive correlation with intrinsic job satisfaction, although the relationship between job insecurity and extrinsic job satisfaction was not statistically significant. A statically significant positive correlation was found between job insecurity and affective organisational commitment. Work locus of control demonstrated a practically significant correlation with job insecurity. Work locus of control demonstrated a practically significant positive correlation with affective organizational commitment, as well as both job satisfaction dimensions. Regression analyses indicated that work locus of control mediates the relationship between job insecurity and intrinsic job satisfaction. Work locus of control was also found to be a mediator of the relationship between job insecurity and affective organisational commitment. It was established that employees with tertiary qualifications such as degrees and postgraduate degrees experienced lower job insecurity as compared to employees with lower qualifications such as Grade 10 to Grade 12. No further significant differences were established in terms of gender, culture, age and tenure in the experience of job insecurity. Conclusions are made, limitations of the current research are discussed and recommendations for the organisation and future research are outlined. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2007.

Due to constant changes and demands from external forces markets, today's employees are subjected to continuous change in the workplace in order for organisations to stay competitive. Changes include restructuring, downsizing, technological changes and so forth, which result in employees feeling less secure in their jobs compared to employees a few decades ago. This insecurity is a reality in the lives of employees and leads to a whole range of emotions and reactions toward these changes. The primary objectives of this research is to determine the nature of the relationship between job insecurity and affective organisational commitment, and also the nature of the relationship between job insecurity and the general health of employees in a specific petro-chemical organisation (N = 229). The final objective is to determine if work locus of control plays a mediating role in the above mentioned relationships. A cross-sectional survey design was employed. Constructs were measured using the following: the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) [where only the affective subscale was interpreted], the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Work Locus of Control Scale (WLCS) as well as a biographical questionnaire. Results indicated that a practically significant relationship of medium effect exists between job insecurity (both dimensions) and work locus of control, and also a practically significant negative relationship between job insecurity (cognitive subscale) and affective organizational commitment and between affective organisational commitment with work locus of control. No other practically significant relationships were found, although the relationship between the variables did prove to be statistically significant. Regression analysis confirmed that work locus of control fully mediate the relationship between affective job insecurity and affective organisational commitment and also between affective job insecurity with general health, whilst partial mediation by work locus of control was found between cognitive job insecurity and affective organisational commitment and cognitive job insecurity and general health. Conclusions and recommendations were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2007.

Organisations are faced with the reality of a constantly changing environment surrounding them. This brings about the need for changes and adaptations to the changing world around them (Rothmann, 2003). These changes are implemented in the form of restructuring, downsizing, mergers, evolving governmental policies and organisational change initiatives, which can result in high costs, lower productions and poor employee wellness (Van Tonder,2005). In South Africa, the organisations have to cope with change and adaptations to the global world which brings about the need for innovation, competitiveness, customer satisfaction and service quality to remain ahead in the industry which can bring strain on employees and the organisation as a whole (Malhotra & Mukherjee, 2003). ln education institutions, teachers have certain demands to cope with which include syllabus changes and growth, personnel shortages, higher student numbers, multi-lingual teaching and increased specialization (Jackson & Rothmann, 2006) The primary objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, job satisfaction, affective organisational commitment and sense of coherence. Contructs were measured by means of the Job Insecurity Questionnaire (JIQ), the Revised Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (JSQ), the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ), the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ) and a biographical questionnaire. A cross-sectional survey design was conducted among the 546 employees of various educational institutions in the Sedibeng District of Gauteng. A response rate of 315 completed questionnaires was received. No statistically significant relationship was found between job insecurity and job satisfaction, job insecurity and affective organisational commitment, and job insecurity and sense of coherence. There was a practically significant relationship found between job satisfaction, affective organisational commitment, and sense of coherence. Sense of coherence was also found to have no moderating effect on job insecurity and job satisfaction, and job insecurity and affective organisational commitment. Recommendations for the organisation and future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

Escalation of commitment is the voluntary continuation of investing resources into what appears to be a failing course of action whose outcome is uncertain. Investigation into the escalation of commitment phenomenon is important to organizations because such behavior could result in grave economic loss. This research investigates two cognitive biases that we posit lead to IT escalation of commitment, namely, attribution bias and overconfidence in an escalation decision, as well as desire to rectify past outcomes (DRPO) for its potential role as a mediator. To test our research model, 160 IT managers participated in a web-based role-playing experiment. Attribution was manipulated at two levels (internal and external), creating two treatment conditions. We posited that the participants assigned to the internal attribution condition would escalate their commitment to the failing IT project to a greater extent than participants assigned to the external attribution condition; that individuals that have a high, versus low, level of overconfidence would have a greater tendency to escalate; and that DRPO would mediate the effects of attribution and overconfidence on escalation of commitment. Attribution bias was significant at the .1 level, but in the opposite direction of what was hypothesized; overconfidence showed a significant main effect on escalation. The effect of attribution bias on escalation was significantly mediated by DRPO, but the effect of overconfidence on escalation was not mediated by DRPO. Implications of these findings for both research and practice are discussed.

Strategic innovation networks are formed to through collaboration and joint activities fuel the innovation performance and economic growth for the network members and the regions they are based in and their presence has been more and more common in recent times. Many studies have been made to explore the relations between the innovation performance and the network structure and some has suggested commitment as an intermediate variable. The effect of expectations on joining such network and especially the fulfillment of those expectations has however not been studied. This study explores, on the network level, the relationship between expectation gap, structure, commitment and innovation performance. A questionnaire was sent to all members of three Swedish strategic innovation networks in different industries and regions to collect data to check the relations. The result gives support to the results from previous studies with regard to relationship between network structure, commitment and innovation performance. Furthermore it indicates there is a negative relation between expectation gap and both network structure and commitment. The results of this can help network actors realizing the importance of managing expectations rather than experiencing the negative effects if they are not fulfilled.

The use of social networks, as a business tool is becoming more and more frequent in this day and age. Companies are exploring various ways in which to optimise social media in gaining a competitive advantage. Social platforms give organisations the ability to communicate better with their staff, to market their products more effectively to potential customers and also to drive behaviour within the workplace. Employee engagement, sense of belonging and organisational commitment can be considered as components of employee well-being. Companies are investing large amounts of resources to lower employee turnover by creating an environment that is favourable for the employee. Within the call centre environment a well established technological infrastructure exists. This creates a setting that is very prone to launch a social media platform. The average age of employees is also quite young, which in most cases means that they understand and interact on social networks with ease. The applications for social media also seems to become second nature for younger generations and this also speaks volumes as to implement social network strategies within working environments. The experimental research design included a pre- and post assessment with samples of 74 employees for the pre-test and 36 employees for the post test. A qualitative and quantitative approach was utilised in order to gain better insight of what employees define as social networks and what effect it has on employees. To measure the various constructs, the following instruments were utilised: Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), a self-constructed Sense of Belonging Questionnaire and the Affective Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (AOC). The results indicated that the exposure to a social network resulted in lower levels of employee engagement and lower levels of sense of belonging. The exposure to a social network however increased the levels of participants? affective organisational commitment. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Occupational risk management can be a catalyst in generating superior returns for all stakeholders on a sustainable basis. A number of companies in South Africa have implemented Cardinal Rules of Safety adopted from international companies to ensure the safety of their employees. The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of the cardinal rules on employee safety behaviour implemented at power stations in Mpumalanga. The empirical study was done by using a questionnaire as measuring instrument. The questionnaire was developed from a literature review and contains questions and items relevant to the initial research problem. The questionnaire comprised of five–point Likert scale type questions.The convenience sampling method was applied identifying 90 participants at three different power stations in Mpumalanga taking part in the study. Statistical analysis was performed by the Statistical Consulting Service of the North–West University using SPSS. Cronbach’s alpha co–efficients was used to determine the reliability of the factors. Descriptive statistics (Mean, standard, deviation, were used in the compiling of the profile of the results. While Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient was calculated to identify practically significant associations between variables and factors The research findings suggest that there is practical significant correlation between the factors that were measured. The opinion given by respondents suggests that cardinal rules of safety were implemented, given all the necessary support by management and enforced throughout the organisation. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

<p>In this dissertation I study the role of limited commitment in dynamic models. In the first part, I consider firms that face uncertainty shocks in a principal-agent setting but have only limited ability to commit to long-term contracts. Limited commitment firms expedite payments to their managers when uncertainty is high, a finding that helps to explain the puzzling large bonuses observed during the recent financial crisis. In the second part, I examine a dynamic investment model where firms invest in a risky asset but cannot hedge the risk of their investment because they lack the ability to commit to future repayments of debt. Once firms have access to exogenous supply of risk free assets they may, on the aggregate level, invest more in the risky asset because risk free technology allows them to grow richer in equilibrium. This result helps to explain the asset price booms in emerging countries when those countries experience substantial capital outflow.</p> / Dissertation