The need for change and improvement in the construction sector has been well documented. The recent economic downturn, greater levels of competition, increasing product complexity, regulatory requirements and tougher environmental targets are all examples of current challenges that continue to add weight to this requirement and accelerate the pace in which the sector must respond. It is widely agreed that it is through innovation, which can be defined as the successful exploitation of an idea, that construction firms will be able to create and exploit solutions in response to many of these challenges. In response, more and more construction firms are seeking ways to manage innovation in a more strategic and conscientious manner. However, there is little practical guidance for construction professionals on how this can be achieved and progress towards the optimisation of intra-organisational innovation in construction is widely considered to have been slow. Progress has been hindered by a lack of research and understanding of innovation in the construction context. There is an urgent need to address this and equip construction firms with practical and effective approaches for improved innovation management. This thesis presents an action research project that has developed and tested two interventions aimed at improving the management of innovation at the intra-organisational level within a major construction, engineering and associated services firm. The first intervention comprised of a stage-gate idea management process, a support network of innovation champions and a web-based tool for capturing, storing and reporting on ideas, with the purpose of providing a new platform for innovation outside the normal scope and boundaries of a single project. The second intervention included an online resource that provided tools and guidance for innovation with the purpose of promoting and providing practical support for those seeking to facilitate innovation in their projects or teams. Evaluation of the first intervention has revealed a number of important results, including the improved performance of budgets for innovation, increased employee satisfaction with levels of support for innovation, improvement in self-reported innovation performance and an increased portfolio of innovation projects. Usability testing of the second intervention suggests that it is a valuable tool that encourages and supports innovation at the project level. The thesis concludes by outlining a number of recommendations for consideration by the industry, along with suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this master’s final paper – is to analyze the expression of organisational climate at the science institution using standardised test made by prof. G.Merkys united group climate crisis test. Organisational climate test consist of 156 questions. Test was done anonymous. We questioned 80 person from 10 different subdivisions. Using typical SPSS program was made data. Special psychometrical coefficients show that the testing information is reliable. It was stated big indication spill. It shows that in some subdivisions organisational climate and communication are very effective, in others only medium and there are some possibilities to improve it.

Loneliness in the workplace has received relatively little attention in the literature. The research surrounding loneliness tends to focus almost exclusively on personal characteristics as the primary determinant of the experience, and largely ignores the workplace as a potential trigger of loneliness. As such, personality tends to be overestimated as the reason for loneliness, whilst only modest emphasis is given to environmental factors, such as organisational environments. Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis was to explore the notion of loneliness in the workplace, with a particular emphasis on examining the antecedents and outcomes of its development in work contexts. The first stage of the research included the development and empirical examination of a scale measuring work-related loneliness. A 16-item scale was constructed and tested for its reliability and factor structure on a sample of 514 employees from various organisations. Exploratory factor analysis indicated two factors best represent the data, namely Social Companionship and Emotional Deprivation at Work. For the main study, a theoretical model was constructed whereby various antecedents (personal characteristics, social support, job characteristics, and emotional climate) were hypothesised to influence the development of work-related loneliness, which in turn was thought to affect employee attitudes and wellbeing. Employees from various organisations were invited to participate in the online research via email, which generated 362 submissions from diverse occupational groups. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to assess the hypothesised model, which was evaluated against a number of fit criteria. The initial results provided limited support for the Loneliness at Work Model. Consequently, a number of adjustments were necessary to obtain sufficient fit. The modified model suggests that organisational climate (comprising climate of fear, community spirit at work, and organisational fit) serves to simultaneously predict the emotional deprivation factor of loneliness (made up of seven items) and employee attitude and wellbeing. The results indicate that environmental factors such as fear, lack of community spirit, and value congruence play a role in the experience of work-related loneliness and have an overall negative effect on employee withdrawal behaviours and job satisfaction. The findings from this study offer insight into possible areas for organisational intervention and future research.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The devolution of health programmes from external to local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is a relatively new phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa. The special characteristics of the devolution of complex programmes pose both managerial and employee challenges, which previous change management research has not adequately addressed. Furthermore, earlier research has mainly viewed organisations as isolated and independent entities, whereas programmes that aim at large-scale interventions, such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) projects, are embedded in their organisational context. Ineffective implementation of the PEPFAR antiretroviral therapy (ART) devolution process is a potential threat to programme sustainability in Nigeria.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / In academic sector, especially the Universities and many other organizations, the human factor is the most important element of the organization and its functions exert a huge influence on the effectiveness, efficiency and success of the organization. Therefore, discretionary behaviours such as OCB among employees in such organizations like any other organizations are crucial for organizational effectiveness and performance. Thus, improving the organizational citizenship behaviours of employees in such organizations in order to promote organizational effectiveness, performance and success is one of the fundamental challenges and principal tasks facing managers. The primary aim of this study is to examine and understand the influence of transformational leadership and organizational climate on organizational citizenship behaviour among support staff. .The secondary objective is to make recommendations to organizations on the importance of transformational leadership in promoting OCB thereby providing recommendations to OD and HR practitioners on the best practice on the pro-organizational behaviour.

The effective management of organisational climate has become an increasingly important ingredient for business success. This has resulted in a need for up-to-date research and information on the subject, leading to the development of various measurement instruments. The main purpose of this study was to validate the Organisational Climate Measure (OCM) for the South African context. The OCM is designed to serve as a global multi-dimensional measure of organisational climate and is based on the competing values model developed by Quinn and Rohrbaugh. In this study a comprehensive literature review was conducted prior to the OCM’s administration to a sample of 200 individuals currently employed in a South African organisation. The reliability and validity of the OCM was evaluated by means of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis. The results indicated strong correlations between factors and a good model fit. It was concluded that the OCM is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring organisational climate within the South African context. Copyright / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

This study explored the relationship between leadership styles and organisational climate by means of quantitative research. Data from an organisational climate survey was used during the analysis. The results indicate that there was a positive correlation (0,749 at the 0,01 level) between leadership styles and organisational climate, thus supporting the research hypothesis. A standard multiple regression analysis was conducted and three leadership styles were found to predict 55,6% of the variance in organisational climate. The Authoritative leadership style made the largest unique contribution to the variance in organisational climate. The interaction between biographical and organisational variables and leadership styles and organisational climate was studied by means of t-tests and ANOVAs. Although statistically significant differences were found, these terms were of little practical significance and the effect sizes were generally small. The study concludes with recommendations for Industrial and Organisational Psychology practices and further research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This study explored the relationship between leadership styles and organisational climate by means of quantitative research. Data from an organisational climate survey was used during the analysis. The results indicate that there was a positive correlation (0,749 at the 0,01 level) between leadership styles and organisational climate, thus supporting the research hypothesis. A standard multiple regression analysis was conducted and three leadership styles were found to predict 55,6% of the variance in organisational climate. The Authoritative leadership style made the largest unique contribution to the variance in organisational climate. The interaction between biographical and organisational variables and leadership styles and organisational climate was studied by means of t-tests and ANOVAs. Although statistically significant differences were found, these terms were of little practical significance and the effect sizes were generally small. The study concludes with recommendations for Industrial and Organisational Psychology practices and further research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This study explored the theoretical aspects of Lean Manufacturing principles and identified the practical implementations for a gold processing plant. The success rate of Lean implementations is currently as low as 5% and can be attributed to the failure of management to address the effect of implemented changes on the employees. With this risk in mind, the study included a measurement of the worker perception towards change and organisational climate. The impact of Lean Manufacturing principles was thus quantified by means of practical projects, including an empirical study of how open employees are towards change implementation. The plant process was described and the flow of value was mapped in a Value Stream Map (VSM). The applied principles resulted in three proposed improvement projects with the potential of reducing operating cost, generating additional revenue and eliminating waste. The proposals included reducing lead times through the plant for the two feed sources, namely reef and waste material by 4% and 51% respectively; improved recovery of fine carbon as a by-product of the treatment circuit; and lastly, reducing the lead time for conducted elusions by improving the “flow” of solution throughout the batch process. The quantified financial benefits of the improvements were an estimated additional revenue of R180,000 per month and a further cost saving of R4,000 per month. This study explained that multiple spin-off benefits are realized when improvements are based on Lean Manufacturing principles. Some additional benefits were listed but not quantified in this study. It is important to notice that these specific identified improvements did not require additional capital expenditure, nor long lead times to be implemented. Requirements included an open mind towards change management, time and effort. A survey was conducted to measure the employees’ readiness for change management and the stability of the organisational climate. In the South African mining context, there are external factors impacting on operations of which labor, unions and worker productivity are among the foremost aspects of current concern. This served as motivation for the survey to test employee readiness for Lean Manufacturing changes to be implemented. The statistical internal consistency of the questionnaire, as expressed by the Cronbach alpha coefficients, was acceptable at 0.773 and 0.759 for the change management and organisational climate factors respectively. The p-values and effect sizes were determined within the T-test and ANOVA tests. The group consisting of different years’ experience yielded the most statistical differences in the way that the organisational climate section was completed. The indication was that highly experienced employees answered the questionnaire significantly different than the other groups. The average scoring for the section was above the average and therefore was not considered to be a significant risk to implementation. The group is considered ready for change implementation and the plant should proceed to implement the identified Lean projects. The success and sustainability of the projects can encourage additional improvements. The recommendation is to revisit the future VSM after completion of the projects to identify the next level of improvements for implementation. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study explored the theoretical aspects of Lean Manufacturing principles and identified the practical implementations for a gold processing plant. The success rate of Lean implementations is currently as low as 5% and can be attributed to the failure of management to address the effect of implemented changes on the employees. With this risk in mind, the study included a measurement of the worker perception towards change and organisational climate. The impact of Lean Manufacturing principles was thus quantified by means of practical projects, including an empirical study of how open employees are towards change implementation. The plant process was described and the flow of value was mapped in a Value Stream Map (VSM). The applied principles resulted in three proposed improvement projects with the potential of reducing operating cost, generating additional revenue and eliminating waste. The proposals included reducing lead times through the plant for the two feed sources, namely reef and waste material by 4% and 51% respectively; improved recovery of fine carbon as a by-product of the treatment circuit; and lastly, reducing the lead time for conducted elusions by improving the “flow” of solution throughout the batch process. The quantified financial benefits of the improvements were an estimated additional revenue of R180,000 per month and a further cost saving of R4,000 per month. This study explained that multiple spin-off benefits are realized when improvements are based on Lean Manufacturing principles. Some additional benefits were listed but not quantified in this study. It is important to notice that these specific identified improvements did not require additional capital expenditure, nor long lead times to be implemented. Requirements included an open mind towards change management, time and effort. A survey was conducted to measure the employees’ readiness for change management and the stability of the organisational climate. In the South African mining context, there are external factors impacting on operations of which labor, unions and worker productivity are among the foremost aspects of current concern. This served as motivation for the survey to test employee readiness for Lean Manufacturing changes to be implemented. The statistical internal consistency of the questionnaire, as expressed by the Cronbach alpha coefficients, was acceptable at 0.773 and 0.759 for the change management and organisational climate factors respectively. The p-values and effect sizes were determined within the T-test and ANOVA tests. The group consisting of different years’ experience yielded the most statistical differences in the way that the organisational climate section was completed. The indication was that highly experienced employees answered the questionnaire significantly different than the other groups. The average scoring for the section was above the average and therefore was not considered to be a significant risk to implementation. The group is considered ready for change implementation and the plant should proceed to implement the identified Lean projects. The success and sustainability of the projects can encourage additional improvements. The recommendation is to revisit the future VSM after completion of the projects to identify the next level of improvements for implementation. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015