In the past fourteen years, South African business has experienced a period of significant transformation. The absorption of previously disadvantaged employees into higher skilled jobs is being nudged by measures such as employment equity legislation and affirmative action. Even though previously excluded racial and ethnic groups are being empowered and incorporated into management structures, overall progress has been slow. The research organisation seems to be a microcosm of the macro-environment with regard to the advancement of previously disadvantaged employees, consisting primarily of white employees (66%). Designated employees are represented in much smaller numbers: Indian (15%), African (15%) and Coloured (4%).The objective of this research was to gain an understanding of how designated employees experience working in a predominantly white business unit. Applying a qualitative research design, anecdote circles were used to facilitate the informal sharing of experiences amongst peers. Twelve individuals partook in the anecdote circles and 59 anecdotes were gathered. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to extract themes. Thirty-two themes were identified in the anecdotes that were grouped into seven super-ordinate themes: A debilitating organisational culture; A constructive work environment; Poor orientation and integration into the business unit; Demanding consultant role; Dissatisfaction with careers: Difficulty in handling the typical demanding client profile and Involved management style. Results indicate that designated employees find the organisational culture restrictive due to the bureaucratic nature of the organisation, the insensitivity towards cultural differences, the impersonal atmosphere in the organisation; the excessive use of acronyms; poor communication and ineffective support structures. In contrast they have a positive view of their work environment which is seen as flexible, with plenty opportunities for development and high standards of work. Good teamwork exists with designated employees receiving a lot of support from their project team members. Results show that designated employees experience poor orientation in the business unit, which results in a lack of knowledge regarding processes, tools, and ideal behaviour. They are left to find this information out for themselves and this leads to poor integration into the business unit. Designated employees find their role as consultant very demanding. They experience a lot of pressure on projects and are concerned about others' impression of them. They feel empowered in certain areas of their work life and enjoy taking responsibility for their work and development. Designated employees are dissatisfied with the direction that their careers are taking and feel frustrated by the lack of career advancement. They do not believe their managers have the power to address their concerns regarding their career. Furthermore they equate career progression with financial gain and this adds to their frustration regarding their careers. Designated employees are struggling to deal with difficult and demanding clients who neglect responsibilities and can be unreasonable. They admit that they are not sure how to handle these clients. Designated employees are satisfied with the level of interaction with their managers and the recognition they receive when a job is well done. Some indicate that they would prefer more guidance and support from their managers and they stress the importance of performance management and providing regular feedback. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An exploratory study, conducted in a clothing manufacturing plant, investigated the presence of a single psychological climate in an organisation, as well as the relationship between two increasingly important constructs namely: leader emotional intelligence and the psychological climate of an organisation. Of a total employee population of 1725 a sample of 600 participants were drawn. 297 Completed responses were returned for analyses. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted on both The Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT), which is designed to measure emotional intelligence, and the Organisational Climate Questionnaire of Koys and DeCotiis, which measures psychological climate. Stepwise discriminant analysis provided evidence to accept the proposition that a single psychological climate existed in the organisation. The results of a Pearson correlation analysis, multiple regression and discriminant analysis indicated that emotional intelligence is significantly, positively related to psychological climate as a dependant variable. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Eksploratiewe studie is onderneem in 'n klere vervaardigingsonderneming om ondersoek in te stel na die aanwesigheid van 'n enkel sielkundige klimaat, asook die verwantskap tussen twee belangrike konstrukte, naamlik emosionele intelligensie en sielkundige klimaat in 'n organisasie. 'n Steekproef van 600 deelnemers is geneem uit 'n populasie van 1725 waarvan 297 voltooide antwoorde ontvang en geanaliseer is. 'n Eksploratiewe Faktor Analise (EFA) is op beide die Swinburne Universiteit Emosionele Intelligensie Toets (SUIET), en die Organisasie Klimaat Vraelys van Koys en De Cotiis, wat onderskeidelik emosionele intelligensie en sielkundige klimaat meet, uitgevoer. Bewyse deur middel van stapsgewyse diskriminante analise is ingewin om die hipotese te aanvaar dat 'n enkel sielkundige klimaat in die organisasie aanwesig is. Die resultate van 'n Pearson korrelasie, meervoudige regressie en diskrimante analise het aangedui dat emosionele intelligensie beduidend, positief verwant is aan sielkundige klimaat as 'n afhanklike veranderlike.

The 21st century is characterised by a rapid technologically advancing environment, where organisations constantly change to gain and maintain a competitive advantage. The use of call centres in organisations has been in line with this technological advancement. South African organisations have not been an exception as they also have experienced the growth in call centres in the past few decades. Some of the benefits the business gains from the use of call centres include cutting costs and increased profits. However benefits to individuals working in call centres is not that obvious. Call centres have been labelled with such nicknames as electronic Sweatshops as they are characterised by poor working conditions, as individuals have to perform extremely routine tasks under extreme surveillance and harsh performance management systems. Such an environment has implications for the well being of individuals working in them. Previous research has indicated a relationship between organisational climate and employee well being. While this environment is viewed as toxic individuals continuously enter into it and some prosper than other, which brings into question whether the amount of control an individual perceives to have over his/her environment has any effect on their perception of the organisational climate. The main aim here is that work can be redesigned to benefit both the organisation and employees’ needs in the workplace. Therefore the aim of the current study is to investigate the organisational climate apparent in call centres, also looking at the relationship this construct has with Job Satisfaction, Life satisfaction and self esteem for call centre agents. The current research will also look at whether Locus of Control has an effect on this relationship. The findings of this research prove invaluable in its attempt to create awareness of the nature of work activities and quality of work life of call centre agents. The sample consisted of 97 call centre agents working in Johannesburg, South Africa. The results indicate there is a strong positive relationship between organisational climate including its subscales and Job Satisfaction, a weak and positive relationship between organisational climate and its subscale and Life satisfaction, while there was no observed relationship between organisational climate and self esteem. Furthermore the results indicated that Locus of Control does not moderate the relationship between organisational climate and job satisfaction, life satisfaction and self esteem.

The main objective of this research was to establish a model for emotional intelligence as a determinant of organisational climate. This model should help companies and organisational psychologists to better understand the interrelatedness of the two constructs in order to optimally enhance organisational performance. This research was conducted in a large organisation, utilising a large sample (n = 1 612) of employees in the financial services industry. During the first phase of this research, emotional intelligence was conceptualised from literature research within the trait paradigm and organisational climate as a molar construct. A theoretical model of emotional intelligence as a determinant of organisational climate was developed and suggested a link to organisational output. During the second phase of this research (empirical research), assessment instruments for emotional intelligence (the Gerber Emotional Intelligence Scale) and organisational climate (the High Performance Climate Questionnaire) were developed and validated. Thereafter an assessment instrument for work output was designed to test the link with performance. The structural equation model (SEM) produced a new best-fitting model of emotional intelligence, organisational climate and work output. The model indicates that emotional intelligence does not correlate with work output as expected, but organisational climate does correlates moderately with work output and explains almost 40% of the variance in work output. The strongest influence seems to flow from teamwork and management. The regression weights between emotional intelligence and organisational climate were trivial, although the model fit indices were all within an acceptable range. The researcher attributed the lack of support for the model to the characteristics of the employees of this type of organisation and concluded that emotional intelligence should not be seen as a determinant of organisational climate in this specific financial services sector. The results further indicate that significant differences exist between the organisational climate experiences of four biographical categories (race, position level, age and geographical region) and also for the categories of position level and age for work output. These differences need to be considered when developing future interventions. This research contributes towards a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between emotional intelligence, organisational climate and work output. The three newly developed questionnaires and the SEM could help researchers and practitioners to apply the research model in other industries and subsequently improve organisational outputs. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The main objective of this research was to establish a model for emotional intelligence as a determinant of organisational climate. This model should help companies and organisational psychologists to better understand the interrelatedness of the two constructs in order to optimally enhance organisational performance. This research was conducted in a large organisation, utilising a large sample (n = 1 612) of employees in the financial services industry. During the first phase of this research, emotional intelligence was conceptualised from literature research within the trait paradigm and organisational climate as a molar construct. A theoretical model of emotional intelligence as a determinant of organisational climate was developed and suggested a link to organisational output. During the second phase of this research (empirical research), assessment instruments for emotional intelligence (the Gerber Emotional Intelligence Scale) and organisational climate (the High Performance Climate Questionnaire) were developed and validated. Thereafter an assessment instrument for work output was designed to test the link with performance. The structural equation model (SEM) produced a new best-fitting model of emotional intelligence, organisational climate and work output. The model indicates that emotional intelligence does not correlate with work output as expected, but organisational climate does correlates moderately with work output and explains almost 40% of the variance in work output. The strongest influence seems to flow from teamwork and management. The regression weights between emotional intelligence and organisational climate were trivial, although the model fit indices were all within an acceptable range. The researcher attributed the lack of support for the model to the characteristics of the employees of this type of organisation and concluded that emotional intelligence should not be seen as a determinant of organisational climate in this specific financial services sector. The results further indicate that significant differences exist between the organisational climate experiences of four biographical categories (race, position level, age and geographical region) and also for the categories of position level and age for work output. These differences need to be considered when developing future interventions. This research contributes towards a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between emotional intelligence, organisational climate and work output. The three newly developed questionnaires and the SEM could help researchers and practitioners to apply the research model in other industries and subsequently improve organisational outputs. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The study examines and identifies the perceived favourable conditions needed for employees readiness to support improvements. In the context of Brunei, readiness research in public service organisations is underrepresented if not, non-existent. There is a need for a more comprehensive study that integrates the combined perspective of the interrelated conceptual elements of readiness, its climate and the organisation. Four key findings were identified based on 119 interviews and 665 surveys. Firstly, it was found that as employees self-organise to cope with chaos, an unintended conducive climate that is specific to the Brunei context evolves out of employees readiness to adapt and survive. Secondly, the essential climatic factors that trigger the minimum level of employee readiness are identified. Thirdly, the influential climatic factors that further amplify a higher level of employee readiness are identified. Finally, based on the shared multilevel perspective of employees, the statistical analysis result confirm the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between the identified climatic factors and employees readiness in terms of the way employees believe in, feel about and act towards improvement. Supported by qualitative findings, the essential climatic factors were identified as being communication, participation, clear task roles and responsibility, and top management s trust in subordinates. Similarly, the influential climatic factors were identified as being efficacy, organisational trust, organisational trusts in top management and top management support and participation. It is concluded that employees readiness can be incrementally developed towards improvement success; however, the contextual conditions need to be recognised and well-tailored. The development of a novel conceptual framework and model demonstrates how employees multidimensional readiness can be triggered and influenced to support improvements in a complex and adaptive organisation.

Frågeställningar: Hur påverkas deltagarnas kreativitet när agila metoder används i praktiken? Hur påverkar agila arbetsmetoder innovationsförmågan? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur ett litet IT-företag arbetar med att främja kreativitet genom att arbeta enligt det agila arbetssättet, för att på så sätt kunna påverka innovationsförmågan. Metod: Denna studie baseras på en fallstudie. Företaget är ett litet IT-konsultföretag som arbetar med systemutveckling. Företaget har 15 anställda och arbetar enligt det agila arbetssättet och de har två Scrum-team. Detta arbete har sin grund i den kvalitativa metoden med influenser av ett deduktivt förhållningssätt, då studien huvudsakligen baseras på semi-strukturerade intervjuer och observationer. Slutsatser: Slutsatserna som kan dras är att det agila arbetssättet påverkar kreativiteten genom att öka deltagarnas motivation. Det agila arbetssättet påverkar kreativiteten hos de anställda, då det är fritt att plocka de uppgifter som man själv vill i varje sprint bidrar det till att det kan öka både motivationen och nyfikenheten. En annan slutsats är att det agila arbetssättet påverkar deltagarnas kreativitet då det ger de anställda en mer frihet att planera sitt arbete och ger de möjligheten att själva lösa sin arbetsuppgift på sitt sätt, genom att exempelvis testa nya tekniker. Det agila arbetssättet påverkar deltagarnas kreativitet på så sätt att det kan minska stressen utifrån för själva arbetsgruppen. Detta på grund av att det är produktägaren som har den främsta kontakten med slutkunden.Det agila arbetssättet påverkar innovationsförmågan genom att i och med att det ständigt kommer in nya arbetsuppgifter som arbetsgruppen ska lösa och då arbetsuppgifterna skiljer sig mycket åt, bidrar det till en ökad dynamik och utmaning. En intressant slutsats var att produktägarna skapade en ometveten utmaning kopplat till de anställdas arbetsuppgifter då de anställda ansåg att kravspecifikationerna som de fick var svåra att förstå. Sista slutsatsen som kan dras är att det agila arbetssättet skapade en frihet hos de anställda att själva kunna prioritera bland sina arbetsuppgifter och metoden som de ska lösas på. / Research questions: How are participants' creativity affected when agile methods are used in practice? How do agile methods affect the ability to innovate? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how a small IT company works to increase creativity by working according to the agile approach, in order to be able to affect the capacity for innovation. Method: This study is based on a case study. The company is a small IT consulting company that works with system development. The company has 15 employees and works according to the agile approach and they have two Scrum teams. This work is based on the qualitative method with influences of a deductive approach, since the study is mainly based on semi-structured interviews and observations. Conclusions: The conclusions are that the agile methods affect creativity by increasing the participants' motivation. The agile way of working affects the creativity of the employees, as it is free to pick the tasks that you want in each sprint, it contributes to increase both motivation and curiosity. Another conclusion is that the agile methods affects the participants' creativity as it gives the employees more freedom to plan their work and gives them the opportunity to solve their task in their own way, for example by testing new technologies. The agile methods affect the participants' creativity in such a way that it can reduce the stress from outside the workgroup itself. This is because it is the product owner who has the main contact with the end customer.The agile way of working affects the ability to innovate because it is constantly entering new tasks that the working group has to solve, and the tasks are very different to each other, it contributes to increased dynamism and challenge. An interesting conclusion was that the product owners created an unconscious challenge linked to the employees' tasks, as the employees felt that the requirement specifications that they received were difficult to understand. The final conclusion is that the agile methods created freedom for the employees to be able to prioritize themselves among their tasks and choose how to solve the tasks.

The present studies were designed to advance theoretical understanding of employee adjustment during organisational change. There were two broad aims of the thesis. Firstly, the role of organisational climate factors in facilitating employee adjustment during change was examined by testing models based on Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) cognitive-phenomenological account of stress and coping processes. In particular, the concept of coping resources was expanded to examine organisational factors rather than individual attributes. Secondly, the extent to which organisational sub-groups differ in their perceptions of climate and levels of adjustment indicators during change was investigated. The research also aimed to inform diagnostic processes within organisational change management by examining the applied value of the empirical findings of each of the studies. The first two studies were empirical tests of a theoretical model of employee adjustment. Study 1 tested a model of employee adjustment to organisational change that examined employee well-being and job satisfaction as outcomes of positive adjustment during change. Firstly, pilot interviews with 67 hospital employees enabled salient aspects of the organisational climate that may facilitate adjustment during organisational change to be confirmed. Next, 779 employees in the same organisation completed a structured questionnaire that examined their perceptions of organisational coping resources, appraisals of change and adjustment indicators. Confirmatory factor analyses established the sound measurement properties of the proposed model and structural equation analyses provided evidence that supported the majority of theoretical predictions. Overall, the final model showed that employees who had positive perceptions about employee relations within the hospital, strong beliefs about the quality of patient care, and felt supported by their supervisors were more positive in their appraisals of the change and reported better personal adjustment. The effects of climate variables on adjustment were direct and indirect (mediated by change appraisals). A particularly influential variable in the model was the effectiveness of employee relations within the organisation. Study 2 tested a model of employee adjustment to organisational change which examined organisational commitment, turnover intentions and absenteeism as outcomes of positive adjustment during change. Firstly, as in Study 1, pilot interviews with 20 state public sector employees enabled salient elements of the organisational climate that may function as resources for coping with organisational change to be confirmed. Next, 877 employees in the same organisation completed a structured questionnaire that examined their perceptions of organisational coping resources, appraisals of change and adjustment indicators. Like Study 1, confirmatory factor analyses established the sound measurement properties of the proposed model and structural equation analyses provided evidence which supported most of the theoretical predictions. Overall, the final model showed that employees who had positive perceptions about customer service, believed that their leaders communicated a vision for the organisation, and felt supported by their supervisors were more positive in their appraisals of the change and reported better personal adjustment. The effects of climate variables on adjustment were direct and indirect (mediated by change appraisals). The extent to which leaders exhibited a vision for the organisation emerged as an important predictor in the model. Together, the results of studies 1 and 2 provided evidence that organisational climate variables are important predictors of the way employees appraise and respond to organisation change. The next two studies presented were focused on group differences in the model variables from studies 1 and 2. Study 3 investigated group differences in perceptions of climate and levels of adjustment during organisational change as a function of an employee's organisational level. The pilot interviews revealed that an employee's organisational level was the most salient source of sub-group identification in the climate of a public sector department. Survey data from study 2 were analysed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The responses of 669 public sector employees were grouped into 3 categories: lower, middle and upper level employees. Results revealed that upper level staff reported higher levels of adjustment during change, across a range of indicators. Study 4 investigated occupational group and organisational level differences in perceptions of climate and levels of adjustment during organisational change. The pilot interviews in this organisation revealed that it was an employee's occupational group membership that provided the most salient group delineator in the hospital climate. Survey data from Study 1 were analysed using MANOVA. The responses of 732 hospital employees were grouped into 4 major occupational categories: medical, nursing, allied health and non-clinical staff. Participants were also grouped on the basis of whether they occupied a management or non-management position. Results revealed statistically significant differences between groups and an interaction between occupation and level. Non-clinical staff were less well adjusted during change than other occupational groups. Managers appraised change as more stressful than non-managers, but felt more in control of the situation. Together, the results of Studies 3 and 4 highlighted the importance of examining employee perceptions at the sub-group level when implementing change and indicated the need for interventions to be targeted at the sub-group level. Overall, the research reported in this dissertation extended a theoretical model of employee adjustment to change and improved the application of the model. This outcome was achieved by investigating the role of environmental coping resources drawn from the organisational climate in improving employee adjustment during change and the degree to which groups differed in their perceptions of these variables. Climate and change appraisal factors were linked with a range of important individual/organisational outcomes such as employee well-being, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, turnover intentions and absenteeism. Differences in perceptions of climate and levels of adjustment during change were also observed at the organisational sub-group level. The findings of the research have implications for the effective management of organisational change. Change should be implemented in conjunction with ongoing organisational development processes involving diagnostic research that identifies the elements of climate that employees draw upon for support in the process of adjustment. Interventions should be based on improving and strengthening these resources. Diagnostic processes should also pay attention to the salient groupings of staff within an organisation so that interventions can be targeted specifically to relevant sub-groups.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Movement Science Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Employees in the Occupational Risk Division (ORD) of a large petrochemical company experience many difficult situations on a regular basis. This division of the company comprises the emergency services, the security and the occupational health divisions of the company. Even though every precaution is taken to ensure the safety of employees in the company, accidents and incidents do happen. The employees of the ORD are confronted with gruesome accidents, dangerous accident scenes where they have to enter when everyone else is evacuated, and security breeches where they may have to enter and resolve serious conflict situations. The possibility that their work climate may contributed to their mental health status is suggested. It is suspected that the stress of the job affects the mental health of the employees of the OCD, and ways need to be found to reduce these effects. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between core self-evaluations, role overload, powerlessness and health indicators of employees in the ORD of a large petro-chemical company and to determine whether core self-evaluations act as a moderator in the relationship between role overload and powerlessness on the one hand and health indicators on the other hand. A cross-sectional design was used. The sample consisted of 299 employees from the Occupational Risk Division of the organization. Age, gender and level of education were included as control variables. A comprehensive survey containing the measuring instruments was administrated. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Results obtained indicated that some of the scales were not reliable. Powerlessness was dropped from the analysis and qualitative and quantitative role overload were collapsed into a total overload measure. The results showed that a negative relationship exists between role overload and core self-evaluations. A positive relationship exists between role overload and neuroticism, poor health and depression. Self-esteem, self-efficacy and locus of control are negatively related to neuroticism and health, and neuroticism is positively related to poor health. Depression was predicted by experiences of overload, levels of self-efficacy, locus of control and negative affect (Neuroticism). General health was predicted by experiences of overload, locus of control, neuroticism and the interaction between overload and self-esteem. None of the scales predict medication use to a significant degree. Results further indicated that only self-esteem acts as a moderator in the relationship between role overload and general health, but none of the variables of core self-evaluations act as a moderator between role overload and depression or between role overload and the use of medication. By way of conclusion, recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.