While innovation, individualisation, human rights and quality of life are acknowledged and valued by modern society, changes in the workplace such as a focus on efficiency, globalisation, restructuring, downsizing, acquisitions and merges impact, often negatively, on a workforce. A better understanding ofthese forces, as well as understanding the deeper needs of employees in organisations, should be pursued in order to optimise the workplace. South Africa is currently experiencing a skills shortage while the unemployment figures are well above 40 percent. As it is often said, the distinguishing economic resource in the twenty-first century is not commodities, but the human resource that organisations need to attract, develop and motivate in order to retain the correct type of employees. An approach is needed where both positive outcomes for the individual worker and the organisation may be achieved, including organisational performance, effective management of change, greater employee engagement and commitment, and effective talent management. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify any relationship that might exist between psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and work engagement and to determine whether psychological empowerment may predict job satisfaction and work engagement. A cross-sectional survey design was used in the study. One-hundred-and-fifty- three (N = 153) employees participated in the study in a surface coatings manufacturing organisation in Gauteng. The Psychological Empowerment Scale (MEQ), Revised Job Satisfaction Scale (JSQ), and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were used. The results indicated that a statistically significant positive correlation between intrinsic motivation and work engagement (practically significant, medium effect) and meaning, correlated positively (practically significant, medium effect) with intrinsic motivation and work engagement. Extrinsic motivation correlated statistically significantly (practically significant, large effect) with work engagement. VI The regresslOn analysis indicated that 34 percent of the variance explained in work engagement is predicted by psychological empowerment (i.e. influence (impact and self-detennination), meaning, and competence) and job satisfaction (i.e. extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation). No statistically significant differences regarding psychological empowerment could be found between tenure and educational levels. However, statistically significant differences were found for gender and language groups. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

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Syfte: Studiens syfte är att skapa en förståelse för hotellreceptionisters upplevelser av ansvarsdelegering samt hur det påverkar deras motivation till att vilja göra det lilla extra i sin yrkesroll. Som ett led i detta vill vi även komma underfund med hur hotellchefer ser på ansvarsdelegering och hur de använder sig av det. Metodik: En tvärsnittstudie inom hotell har tillämpats som undersökningsdesign med en induktiv ansats. Datan har producerats fram genom en kvalitativ metod där semi- strukturerade intervjuer har genomförts. Slutsats: Hotellchefer använder sig främst av ansvarsdelegering för att skapa gästnöjdhet och hotellreceptionister vill ha befogenheter för att kunna tillgodose gästernas behov. Det finns en mängd faktorer som kommer att påverka utfallet av delegeringen så som feedback, matchning av person och uppgift samt att det finns rätt verktyg och kompetens. Mer ansvar bidrar till att hotellreceptionister blir motiverade till att göra ett gott arbete, under förutsättningen att ansvarsdelegeringen sker på rätt sätt. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of hotel receptionists experiences of delegation of responsibility and how it affects their motivation for wanting to go the extra mile in their professional capacity. As part of this, we also want to figure out how hotel managers look at delegating responsibilities and how they use it. Methodology: A cross-sectional study of hotels has been used as a research design with an inductive approach. The data has been produced through a qualitative approach in which semi-structured interviews were conducted. Conclusion: Hotel managers primarily use delegation of responsibility to create guest satisfaction and hotel receptionists want to have authority to satisfy the guests' needs. There are a lot of factors that will affect the outcome of the delegation such as feedback, the individuals willingnes to have more responsibility and having the right tools and competence. More responsibility contributes to more motivated hotel receptionists, under the premise that the delgetion of authority is done the right way.

This study looks at black empowerment in five rural Mississippi towns with black mayors by analyzing the impact they have had in attempting to alter the socioeconomic status of blacks in their respective towns. The following indicators were used to measure the political effectiveness of black mayors in reordering the socioeconomic status of blacks: (1) distribution of governmental services to the black community; (2) employment and economic development; (3) housing; and (4) health care. This study was initiated because of the recent changes in the political position of blacks in Mississippi and the American South in general. It was also Chief Oliver Anderson. 34 In May 1979, United States District Court Judge Orman R. Smith, Jr., awarded Crowe $10,000 in damages. And six months later Crowe was awarded $11,000 in attorney's fees and $1,363.97 in expenses for the suit he brought against city officials after he lost in the 1973 municipal election. A third case is pending in federal court alleging that Crowe was deprived of the right to be on the ballot in the 1977 city election, an election in which he ran for Alderman. The current suit further alleges that Mound Bayou officials denied many residents the right to vote in the 1977 municipal election. In addition, the suit charges that officials rigged the city voting machines to reject ballots that were not marked for a slate of candidates controlled by Mayor Lucas; as a result over 1,100 votes were invalid. The final intrablack conflict to be mentioned centers around a move to change the name of the local high school from John F. Kennedy Memorial High School back to its original name - Mound Bayou High School. In 1963, immediately; after the death of President John F. Kennedy, the Interview with Milburn Crowe, 10 March, 1980. undertaken because of the need to question those social scientists who accept the usual assumption that voting and black empowerment are prior conditions for changing the socioeconomic status of blacks in the American South. The findings of this study, however, reveal that voting and black empowerment will bring few changes in the socioeconomic makeup of the black community. In fact, the economic plight of black constituents and the fiscal situations of political subdivisions controlled by blacks will, in many cases, worsen.

0 Abstract The use of educational interventions to increase female educational attainment in developing countries has the potential to both provide women with more advantageous economic opportunities and contribute to economic growth. Achieving gender equality in education is an important first step towards achieving gender equality in the labor market. This thesis examines educational intervention programs that promote female education in rural Cambodia, and focuses in particular on conditional cash transfers. One such conditional cash transfer program in Cambodia is examined in more detail to determine its effectiveness. A qualitative evaluation was conducted in the form of focus groups and interviews with students, parents, and community members in the villages where the program was implemented. While the results of the study confirm the effectiveness of conditional cash transfers in increasing female attendance in school, the evaluation also revealed other factors that influence girls to stay in school. The study concluded that increasing the number of university-educated females in a girl's life through a mentoring program could have a positive effect on female educational attainment. Though further quantitative study is needed to investigate the effectiveness of such an intervention, this approach...

From March 2006 until March 2008 I worked and did research with young people in El Salvador. I coordinated a local youth participation project in the capital, where, at the same time, I conducted fieldwork for my PhD research. The youth project aimed at empowering young people through participatory action research (PAR) and, together with the young participants, I critically reflected on the empowering impact of this participatory process. While participatory researchers and practitioners traditionally stress the importance of critical consciousness and critical discourse as the principal motors for individual and social transformation, my research with the young people particularly confronted me with the power of emotions and embodied knowledges. This research focuses in particular on the politics of emotions; their role in confirming exclusion and oppression and in facilitating empowerment and resistance. In this thesis, I bring together different bodies of theory. I start from the critical literature on PAR and from a poststructuralist account of power and empowerment. I build on an understanding of emotions as socio-culturally constructed and, at the same time, as deeply embodied phenomena. I look into emotional geographies considering emotions as relational and as always functioning within power relations and I use non-representational theory to challenge the privilege of cognition by focussing on practical and embodied knowledges and explicitly recognising their political and empowering potential. I conclude that although participatory researchers have increasingly extended and refined their understanding of power and empowerment, they still focus too much on critical reflection, discourse and conscious/linguistic representation as key to personal and social change. This focus has distracted their attention from the way power works through emotions and embodied knowledges. I believe that participatory researchers should become more sensitive still to the subtleties of power by paying more explicit attention to how emotions and embodied knowledges function within power relations to reproduce or challenge the existing status quo. Such a focus also opens new doors to new ways of empowerment (and politics) by considering alternative methods and media directly engaging with the power of emotions and embodied knowledges to shape the social world.

There is an ongoing discussion about trusts significance and role in the reliance on accounting performance measures (RAPM) field and organizational behavior. This knowledge gap has led to opposite findings but still many researchers give recognition to the concept that trust may be crucial and significant in management control. Considering previous research a continuation is necessary and since it seems that the researchers have come to an impasse, it is time to include different variables that can help to explain the variation in the relationship. The main purpose of this study is to challenge the research gap and change the dependent variable; instead of behavioral outcome this study investigates performance. Is it possible that mutual trust, high budget participation and empowerment together have an impact on organizational performance? If so, is it possible that these variables together can lower the information asymmetry and increase performance? A qualitative research method is used to investigate these questions in form of a critical incident survey and semi structured interviews. To test if there is any connection or correlation between the variables a supportive correlation analysis is conducted in the program SPSS. The results have shown that there is a connection and correlation between the variables trust, budget participation and empowerment. When these variables function together it is possible to see a greater organizational performance. When there is mutual trust and high budget participation there is more willingness to disclose information directly. This study has contributed to the current knowledge gap and provided new theoretical and empirical insight. Keywords: Trust, budget participation, empowerment, information asymmetry, organizational performance.

Bakgrund: Många barn har övervikt vilket ofta medför övervikt även senare i livet. Det är viktigt att tidigt etablera goda levnadsvanor och barnhälsovården har en viktig roll i detta. Grunda Sunda Vanor vill med hjälp av ett bildmaterial hjälpa sjuksköterskorna att främja goda levnadsvanor och möjliggöra att familjen blir mer delaktig i hälsobesöket. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att arbeta med ett hälsofrämjande pedagogiskt bildmaterial inom barnhälsovården. Metod: Studien utformades som en kvalitativ intervjustudie med semistrukturerade frågor. I studien medverkade 15 sjuksköterskor och analysen genomfördes utifrån Graneheim och Lundmans innehållsanalys. Resultat: Tre kategorier identifierades; materialet ger struktur då det är ett stöd i sjuksköterskorna hälsofrämjande arbete, materialet fungerar som ett kommunikations-hjälpmedel då bilderna leder till ökad förståelse samt stimulerar ett neutralt förhållningssätt i relation till familjerna och materialet gör familjen delaktig i samtalen kring levnadsvanor genom att skapa en dialog. Slutsats: Materialet fungerade som en checklista och sjuksköterskorna kunde rikta information efter familjens egna behov. Bilderna väckte intresse och involverade familjen i samtalet vilket medförde att samtalet blev enklare. Relationen mellan profession och familj blev mer jämställd, vilket ökade möjligheten att uppnå empowerment. / Background: Children who are overweight are more likely to become overweight or obese as adults. It's therefore important to establish good eating habits early, and the child health care has a significant role to play. Grunda Sunda Vanor is an image based tool which helps nurses encourage healthier lifestyles and interaction between families and health professionals. Aim: The objective of the study is to showcase the experience of working with imagery to promote health and manage child obesity within children’s health. Methodology:  The study was based on qualitative interviews with semi-structured questions. 15 nurses were interviewed and the results were analysed through Graneheim and Lundman’s analysis of content. Results: Identified categories within the results were; structure as the tool helps nurses to promote health, communication since it increases understanding and promotes a neutral approach and involvement of the family. Conclusion:  The material served as checklist and helped the nurses tailor the information to the needs of individual families. The imagery created curiosity and made the family feel involved. The relationship between the family and the health professionals became more neutral, which increased the opportunity to achieve empowered

This research explored the experiences of mentors mentoring institutionalised children under the auspices of Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Africa (BBBSSA). Children who become wards of the state and are placed in Children’s Homes may have had a number of their emotional needs unmet during developmental stages, manifesting in a variety of ways not least of which might be the development of an institutionalised mentality. These children are disadvantaged at age 18 when they enter the world with limited resources, infrastructure or the ability to be self-reliant. Mentoring may represent a means of ameliorating these repercussions and this qualitative research included exploring whether mentors engaged in any strategies to empower their protégé to reduce the effects of an institutionalised mentality, the successes achieved through the mentoring process as well as encountered challenges. The sample was purposively chosen and the seven participants had mentored for longer than a year at a Children’s Home. The data was gathered from them via semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed in light of the research questions, research tool and any subsequent themes that emerged. Mentoring through a programme appeared to enhance relationship longevity because of the structure it created. While growing themselves through the process, mentors reflected that preparing their protégé for adulthood was a concern. The mentors discussed that while not familiar with the concept of an institutionalised mentality per se, they recognised this as a challenge their protégés faced and described their attempts to empower them on mental, emotional and physical levels reporting small successes in often challenging circumstances. The study concludes that mentoring programmes offer a valuable tool in the preparation of institutionalised children for their emancipation from State care and should be capitalised on. Recommendations are made for policy makers, BBBSSA and the Children’s Home in light of these experiences.

Thesis advisor: Lisa Sowle Cahill / The goal of this dissertation is to elaborate a contextual gendered African Christian social ethics that addresses the oppression and marginalization of working women in Africa. The author argues that in order to meet this goal, it is necessary to contextualize CST, to introduce a feminist hermeneutics along with works from African women theologians, to include African liberation theology and to add the analysis of the social sciences. The dissertation has four chapters. The first chapter presents how CST (Roman magisterium and African bishops) has tackled the issue of the empowerment of workers in general and that of women in particular in post-conciliar documents. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of CST. The following chapters address those weaknesses. The second chapter offers a systematic analysis of the condition of working women with the help of social sciences. The third chapter presents the theoretical components of a gendered African social ethics. The latter relies on African liberation theology, CST principles, and elements of feminist thought. The fourth chapter deepens the analysis of the notion of empowerment and suggests four concrete practices to empower working women, namely, socializing the feminine, the church’s conversion, biblical storytelling and partnering with other institutions / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.