South Africa's business environment is changing dramatically. Companies are continuously placed under pressure to reform. Government introduced clear guidelines in the form of transformation strategies to assist companies in moving towards a more democratic, non-racial and fully representative organisational structure. The two major strategies are coined Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action. The aim of the strategies is to empower and uplift the previously disadvantaged communities of the Apartheid era. These communities include black people; who consist of Africans, Coloureds and Indians; women and disabled individuals. However, these strategies are perceived with mixed emotions. A sense of negativity is evident within the attitudes of all race groups. This may give rise to a new problem in the workplace: pessimism. Pessimism is associated with undesirable characteristics such as external, unstable and specific explanations for bad things and has emotional links to depression. Pessimists view problems as long lasting and inescapable, and tend to blame all misfortunes on their own ineptness and incompetence. On the other hand, optimism is associated with characteristics such as positive mood and good morale, happiness, perseverance and effective problem solving, achievement and health and even a long life and freedom from trauma. It is characterised by internal, stable and global explanations for bad things. A cross-sectional design with an availability sample (N 68) of junior and middle management workers working in a multinational industry was used. Nonprobability purposive sampling was applied in the selection of the study population. The results indicated that males experience more dispositional pessimism than women. Black employees also experienced more dispositional pessimism and optimism than white employees, and employees who attended Affirmative Action induction programmes displayed higher levels of optimism than those who have not attended such programmes. If the tendency towards pessimism increases the result may have devastating effects on the organisation as a whole. It is possible that performance will decline and organisational targets will not be reached. To address these issues organisations may need to change their structural planning in order to utilise males more productively, and to enhance a sense of empowerment. Companies should formulate clear goals with regard to what they want to gain from Affirmative Action programmes. Programmes should also be constantly revised and continuing evaluations must be carried out in order to track the effect of the programmes on the workforce. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

This paper examines the behavior of the regret-averse multinational firm under exchange rate uncertainty. The multinational firm simultaneously sells in the home market and exports to a foreign country. We characterize the multinational firm's regret-averse preferences by a modified utility function that includes disutility from having chosen ex-post suboptimal alternatives. The extent of regret depends on the difference between the actual home currency profit and the maximum home currency profit attained by making the optimal production and export decisions had the multinational firm observed the true realization of the random spot exchange rate. We show that the conventional results that the multinational firm optimally produces less, sells more domestically, and export less abroad under uncertainty than under certainty holds if the multinational firm is not too regret averse. Using a simple binary model wherein the random spot exchange rate can take on either a low value or a high value with positive probability, we show that the multinational firm may optimally produce more, sell less domestically, and export more abroad under uncertainty than under certainty, particularly when the multinational firm is sufficiently regret averse and the low spot exchange rate is very likely to prevail.

This dissertation explains the extent and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy in multinational states. Its main argument is that the viability of territorial autonomy hinges on the relative economic importance of the minority-inhabited region for the central government. If the fiscal resources of the minority-inhabited region are critical for the funding of the central government’s policy objectives, autonomy is likely to be limited and short lived. If those resources are not as crucial for the governability of the entire state, autonomy is likely to be more extensive and durable. The importance of the minority-inhabited region depends on two sets of factors. The first is the relative level of economic development of majority and minority-inhabited areas. The second is the strategy of governance adopted by the central state elites. Strategies of governance determine the extent of the fiscal burden that the central government will place on the population of the state, thereby exerting significant influence on accommodative outcomes. The theoretical framework developed in this dissertation refers to statist (high spending) and laissez-faire (low spending) strategies of governance. The framework is tested in four multinational states: the former Yugoslavia, the former Czechoslovakia, Canada and Spain. The empirical chapters combine structured-focused comparison with longitudinal case study analysis. The cases largely bear out the hypotheses presented in the dissertation. However, analysis of the cases also demonstrates the importance of minority-group influence at the central state level in accounting for accommodative outcomes. In cases where minority elites have extensive influence at the centre, attempts at limiting the autonomy of minority-inhabited regions tend to be unsuccessful. This thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the design and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy, which have important consequences for the stability and viability of multinational states.

This dissertation explains the extent and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy in multinational states. Its main argument is that the viability of territorial autonomy hinges on the relative economic importance of the minority-inhabited region for the central government. If the fiscal resources of the minority-inhabited region are critical for the funding of the central government’s policy objectives, autonomy is likely to be limited and short lived. If those resources are not as crucial for the governability of the entire state, autonomy is likely to be more extensive and durable. The importance of the minority-inhabited region depends on two sets of factors. The first is the relative level of economic development of majority and minority-inhabited areas. The second is the strategy of governance adopted by the central state elites. Strategies of governance determine the extent of the fiscal burden that the central government will place on the population of the state, thereby exerting significant influence on accommodative outcomes. The theoretical framework developed in this dissertation refers to statist (high spending) and laissez-faire (low spending) strategies of governance. The framework is tested in four multinational states: the former Yugoslavia, the former Czechoslovakia, Canada and Spain. The empirical chapters combine structured-focused comparison with longitudinal case study analysis. The cases largely bear out the hypotheses presented in the dissertation. However, analysis of the cases also demonstrates the importance of minority-group influence at the central state level in accounting for accommodative outcomes. In cases where minority elites have extensive influence at the centre, attempts at limiting the autonomy of minority-inhabited regions tend to be unsuccessful. This thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the design and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy, which have important consequences for the stability and viability of multinational states.

We approached a multinational manufacturing company that wants to reduce its employee turnover among white collars workers. Thailand's current labour shortage requires an ability to retain employees and a quantitative survey is conducted to measure the perceived job satisfaction. Job Satisfaction is a key component in strive for employee retention. The study identifies and analyzes organizational reasons that contribute to job satisfaction and that can contribute to increased employee retention. By investigating perceived job satisfaction amongst white collar worker, aims the study to find factors that are central to employee retention and how the most central factors can be strengthen and developed by the organization. The study creates an understanding of the benefits of employee retention strategies and the results may support the organization in the development of these. The conclusion is that organizational effort within work design, leadership, social support; development, compensation & benefits, and work-life balance are essential for employee retention. The study indicates that employees‘ annual development, competitiveness within compensation & benefits and a leader that lives up to the employee's expectations have an influence on the perceived job satisfaction. A continuous effort to increase job satisfaction reduces employee desire of movement. The pros of staying and the risks of leaving the organization increases and the result is an increased opportunity for employee retention / Vi kom i kontakt med ett multinationellt tillverkningsföretag som vill minska sin personalomsättning bland tjänstemän. Thailands rådande arbetskraftbrist ställer krav på en god förmåga att behålla personal och en kvantitativ undersökning genomförs för att mäta den upplevda arbetstillfredsställelsen. Arbetstillfredsställelse ses i tidigare studier som en nyckelkomponent för arbetet med personalbehållning, och vår studie fortsätter i samma riktning. Syftet är att finna och analysera organisatoriska grunder i arbetstillfredsställelse som kan bidra till ökad personalbehållning. Genom att undersöka tjänstemännens upplevda arbetstillfredsställelse kan vi besvara vilka faktorer som är centrala för personalbehållning och hur de mest centrala faktorerna kan stärkas och utvecklas av organisationen. Resultatet ökar förståelsen av fördelarna med personalbehållningsstrategier och kan stödja organisationen i utvecklingen av dessa. Slutsatsen är att organisationens arbete med Arbetsdesign, Ledarskap, Socialt stöd, Utveckling, Kompensation &Förmåner samt Balansen mellan privat- och arbetslivs är centrala för deras personalbehållning. Studien indikerar även att årlig utveckling hos de anställda, konkurrenskraftiga kompensationer & förmåner och en ledare som lever upp till de anställdas förväntningar har en stark inverkan på arbetstillfredsställelsen. Ett kontinuerligt arbete för ökad arbetstillfredsställelse minskar de anställdas önskan om att byta arbete. Fördelarna med att stanna kvar samt riskerna med att lämna organisationen ökar och resultatet blir en förbättrad möjlighet till personalbehållning

With the spreading of globalization during 1980s, discourses about demise of nation states and relevance of post-national forms of institutions for contemporary politics have been widely accepted in social sciences. Cosmopolitanism, with its suggestions of extending democracy and citizenship beyond national boundaries, being world citizens, and creating universal political institutions has been considered as the project in line with these supposed conditions of globalization. This study evaluates theories in social sciences that are in favor of cosmopolitanism as a political project appropriate for the globalized world. It is argued that supporting disappearance of national borders and emergence of world citizenship is talking from the perspective of an upper class minority who have necessary resources to travel to other countries and who don&rsquo / t experience visa difficulties. It is claimed by some social theorists that a transnational capitalist class started to emerge. Although members of this class live in separate countries, they have common interests and similar lifestyles with each other much more than they have with their fellow nationals. These people regard themselves as world citizens, as they have a high access to foreign countries and share common lifestyles with foreigners. In this study, in the case of Turkish high level managers in a multinational corporation, it is aimed to describe the life style characteristics of these managers, considering the life style conceptualization of Bourdieu, and to understand to what extent these managers can be regarded as a part of transnational capitalist class, and whether they perceive themselves as world citizens.

Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

This study conceptualizes inpatriates – foreign nationals who are temporarily assigned to the corporate headquarters (HQ) of a multinational corporation (MNC) – as knowledge agents that link the HQ to its subsidiaries. Along these lines, the thesis examines the determinants of knowledge sharing between inpatriates and HQ staff as well as the resulting implications for inpatriates’ careers. Integrating research on international assignments and MNC knowledge flows with social capital theory, the main argument is that inpatriates can only share their local subsidiary knowledge with and learn from HQ employees if they establish social capital with them. The empirical investigation of inpatriates as the study’s principal unit of analysis follows a multi-method approach. First, a qualitative and inductive case study based on 13 interviews with inpatriates at three German MNCs is conducted, aiming to provide a deeper understanding of the inpatriate phenomenon. The interview findings highlight inpatriates’ role as knowledge conduits and derive various factors that may impact on inpatriates’ knowledge sharing, such as inpatriates’ acculturation attitudes, their host language fluency, host ethnocentrism and available organizational support.

Processes of rationalisation and restructuring within the international drug industry in the past decade have altered the conditions for governance of Australia’s pharmaceutical sector. This thesis demonstrates that the balance of power within the domestic policy network shifted to favour multinational suppliers of prescription drugs after the Government in the late 1980s embraced the objective of making the regulatory and policy environment more user-friendly. The emphasis of state activities has moved away from welfare and public interest objectives towards provision of direct support for capital accumulation under conditions of globalising capitalism. / The domain of pharmaceutical policy was historically characterised by corporatist bargaining between strong regulatory agencies within the Commonwealth Department of Health and centralised associations representing producer and professional interests. Following recent reform of these agencies and a reordering of their relative authority, the pattern of interaction within the policy network has become more open and politicised, with more active participation of groups representing consumers, patients and the research and development (R&D) community. Conversely, the capacity of Australian state agencies to manage and control sectoral change has diminished. A greater degree of pluralism at the level of interaction between the state of interest groups has evolved within the context of the principal trend towards marketisation and commodification within the drug sector. / These conclusions arise from the empirical analysis of developments in the international pharmaceutical industry, including the formation of a transnational regulatory regime, and changes in domestic policy and regulatory practices. The thesis traces the ascendance of governance through the market mechanism at the expense of direct state control or corporatist bargaining. The investigation gives particular attention to: the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Program introduced in 1987, notably the Factor (f) scheme (which provides notional drug price increases in exchange for expanded industry activity); and the politics of brand substitution and generic drugs. / It is shown that the Australian Government in the period under consideration, irrespective of party political composition, has pursued purposefully a policy of international integration derived from an acceptance of the imperative of retaining and attracting foreign capital. While the Factor (f) program as designed to sustain bargaining between the state and the multinational industry, it is demonstrated that the Department of Industry proved unable to maintain and generate support for strategically oriented industry policy. / The changes identified and analysed in this thesis are consistent with the hypothesis of a hollowing out of the state associated with the decline of the Fordist model of accumulation and the Keynesian welfare state. A feature of this transition is the subordination of social policy to the imperatives of innovation, flexibility and international competitiveness.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2009. / Title from title page (Digital Archive@GSU, viewed July 6, 2010) John Duffield, committee chair; Jelena Subotic, Scott Graves, committee members. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-56).