This study presents a qualitative analysis of the dichotomy between official HIV and AIDS policy and its implementation in a Human Rights based, United Nations (UN) agency, located in South Africa. The study demonstrates that although HIV and AIDS policy is an intrinsic part of the commitment of this large organisation, the implementation of the policy, in the form of a Workplace Wellness Programme supported by budgetary resources, is weak and incomplete. The thesis integrates detailed vignettes in drawing attention to how personnel in the South Africa office perceive and experience the implementation of HIV and AIDS policy. Additionally, the voices of bureaucrats are also integrated in an effort to interrogate management attitudes and mindsets on matters of policy and treatment of staff. The study explores staff members’ sense of being stigmatised and discriminated, when living with the virus and their responses to it. In this, I bring a personal perspective to the study, by relating my own views of living with a potentially life-threatening disease to the views of the participants in the workplace in which the study is conducted. Classical Weberian and contemporary accounts of ‘bureaucracy’ and the organisational ‘rule book‘ are drawn upon. It is argued that whilst the value systems and politics of managers in the United Nations system lead them to be defined as progressive, some of the practices within their own institutions are contradictory, indifferent and manipulative leading to the perpetuation of discrimination and anxiety amongst HIV-positive staff. Thus, human agency and ingenuity supersedes organisational structure and the rigour of organisational policies and rules. The contradictions highlighted necessitate a careful scrutiny of organisational dynamics, within the wider international development scenario, and organisational introspection within individual UN offices vis-à-vis HIV and AIDS policy implementation. It is envisaged that the study will induce the commissioning of a larger study carried out by an independent body and funded by the United Nations, enabling the validation and enhancement of the argument presented in the case study and provide more recommendations for the way forward for the United Nations. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Sociology / unrestricted

This study focuses on the diverse leadership issues a Swedish primary school faces when responsibilities are not clearly defined between the management/operative organisation and the development organisation. To illustrate this, research results are analysed using Liljenberg’s model ‘Tensions in relation to the development aspects of school organisation’. The five aspects of the model are; Organisational Structure, Goals, Vision and Values, Responsibility and Decision-making, Reflection and Evaluation and Attitudes. They are used to identify to which extent the management team’s focus is operationally or developmentally oriented and how decisions are made. The information is derived from observations, document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The survey shows that the management team deals mostly with operational issues though what issues belong to the running of a school as compared to pedagogical development becomes difficult to distinguish as they can overlap. When it comes to which direction or solutions the school takes, other groups are influential without regard to the designated development group. This division shows that the school has a distributed leadership. The results indicated that without clearly defined division of labour, area of responsibility and leadership, the different groups within a school are less effective and would benefit from an overhaul. / Den här undersökningen fokuserar på en låg- och mellanstadieskolas ledningsgrupps frågor, för att se på fördelningen mellan driftsorganisationens och utvecklingsorganisationens frågor. För att belysa detta har undersökningens resultat analyserats utifrån en modell av Liljenberg över spänningsfälten mellan drifts- och utvecklingsorganisationen. Modellens fem aspekter är; organisationsstruktur, mål, vision och värden, ansvarstagande och beslutsfattande, reflektion och utvärdering samt attityder. Dessa har använts för att identifiera i vilken utsträckning ledningsgruppens fokus är drifts- eller utvecklingsorienterat. Ledningsgruppens arbete har undersökts i en fallstudie bestående av observation, dokumentanalys och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Undersökningen visar att den undersökta ledningsgruppen mest hanterar driftsfrågor, trots att det är svårt att utskilja vilka frågor som handlar om att driva skolan eller att utveckla den. När det handlar om utvecklingsfrågor visar det sig att det också finns andra grupperingar än ledningsgruppen där dessa frågor diskuteras. Det kan handla om förstelärarnas uppdrag eller vad resursteamet planerar i utbildningsväg. Denna uppdelning visar på att skolan har ett distribuerat ledarskap. Den här undersökningen visar att utan en tydlig fördelning av arbetsuppgifter, ansvarsområden och ledarskap blir skolan inte så effektiv som den skulle kunna vara, och att strukturen skulle gynnas av en översyn.