The use of social networks, as a business tool is becoming more and more frequent in this day and age. Companies are exploring various ways in which to optimise social media in gaining a competitive advantage. Social platforms give organisations the ability to communicate better with their staff, to market their products more effectively to potential customers and also to drive behaviour within the workplace. Employee engagement, sense of belonging and organisational commitment can be considered as components of employee well-being. Companies are investing large amounts of resources to lower employee turnover by creating an environment that is favourable for the employee. Within the call centre environment a well established technological infrastructure exists. This creates a setting that is very prone to launch a social media platform. The average age of employees is also quite young, which in most cases means that they understand and interact on social networks with ease. The applications for social media also seems to become second nature for younger generations and this also speaks volumes as to implement social network strategies within working environments. The experimental research design included a pre- and post assessment with samples of 74 employees for the pre-test and 36 employees for the post test. A qualitative and quantitative approach was utilised in order to gain better insight of what employees define as social networks and what effect it has on employees. To measure the various constructs, the following instruments were utilised: Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), a self-constructed Sense of Belonging Questionnaire and the Affective Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (AOC). The results indicated that the exposure to a social network resulted in lower levels of employee engagement and lower levels of sense of belonging. The exposure to a social network however increased the levels of participants? affective organisational commitment. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Agency workers are a fundamental part of modern work being characterised in the workplace by a triangular employment relationship between them, the employment agency and the third party employer. The thesis was concerned about the job satisfaction of agency workers on two counts. Firstly, what contributed towards the job satisfaction of this unique type of worker? Secondly, what differences in job satisfaction and related variables arise between agency workers and permanent workers? Preliminary research along with a literature review on job satisfaction and agency workers formulated two sets of hypotheses, those variables relating to agency worker job satisfaction (relational hypotheses), and differences between permanent workers and agency workers (differential hypotheses). Both sets of hypotheses were tested by a quantitative survey, which surveyed 96 agency workers for the relational hypotheses and 157 call centre workers for the differential hypotheses. For the differential hypotheses a control group was used to address the possible influence that the employment of agency workers may have on permanent workers that hitherto has not been controlled for in studies of a similar nature. Semi-structured interviews with workers and employers were used to enlarge the quantitative findings. Organisational commitment, permanent and agency worker relationship were found to be significantly related to job satisfaction in both a correlation and hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis. Involuntary work status had no correlation challenging previous research. Significant differences were seen between agency workers and permanent workers on a number of variables including skill variety, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and job security satisfaction. These results both supported and contradicted previous studies primarily as preceding research had not accounted for the possible influence that agency workers may have on the permanent workers under research.

Perceived job insecurity is receiving increasing recognition as an important determinant of employee work outcomes. Empirical research consistently shows that job insecurity perceptions are associated with adverse reactions by employees, in terms of reduced psychological well-being (De Witte, 1999), job satisfaction (O'Quin & LoTempio, 1998), and organisational commitment (Rosenblatt & Ruvio, 1996). Turnover intentions for the job-insecure are higher (Tivendell & Bourbonnai, 2000) as well. It is therefore important to understand what may increase or decrease such detrimental effects of job insecurity. Even so, it was not until the late 1990s that much academic literature was published in the field (De Witte & Näswall, 2003). Employees not only worry about their assessment of the likelihood of job loss, but also about the consequences of such an occurrence (Burchell, 2002). This dissertation argues that perceived job insecurity is a function of what an individual believes is an acceptable risk of job loss given their individual circumstances. Based on the literature, a model is developed proposing a number of moderators of the effects of job insecurity. One of those moderators is temporary job status. Little research is available that examines how job insecurity influences the work attitudes and behaviours of temporaries (De Witte, 1999; Kinnuen & Nätti, 1994; Sloboda, 1999). Few studies compare temporaries' reactions to those of traditional, permanent employees. Study one examined whether temporaries had higher job insecurity than permanents in a sample of three hundred and ninety-one employees (122 temporary and 269 permanent) in low to medium level non-academic positions at two Australian universities. No significant differences were found. However, temporaries and permanents reacted differently to job insecurity when a number of individual differences were also considered. The temporary employment literature consistently shows that individuals that prefer temporary work have more positive work outcomes (Feldman, 1990, 1995). Thus the extent of choice temporaries had in their job status was chosen as a potential moderator of job insecurity relationships. Findings indicate that choice in job status differentially influenced the contextual performance, continuance commitment, and turnover intentions of temporaries and permanents, as predicted. For example, when temporaries preferred temporary work and felt secure, they had similar turnover intentions to permanents. Explanations why individuals involuntarily accept temporary work include a lack of job alternatives. Thus another moderator tested was employability, concerning perceptions about finding comparable employment in the event of job loss. Employability influenced the continuance commitment and intention to change job status of temporaries and permanents differently. In particular, the findings suggest that the negative effects of job insecurity worsened for highly employable temporaries, decreasing their continuance commitment, since when secure, highly employable temporaries and permanents had similar continuance commitment levels. Subjective job dependency, as a moderator of job insecurity, affected temporaries and permanents in the same way. Specifically, the more insecure and the less dependent the employee was the lower was their contextual performance. Two sources of social support were also tested in study one. One source, social support from supervisors and co-workers was shown to differentially influence the contextual performance of temporaries and permanents. Specifically, the negative effects of job insecurity were alleviated for temporaries with high organisational social support, such that their contextual performance was higher than that of permanents. Family social support and temporary job status also moderated the relationship between job insecurity and job satisfaction, though not as predicted. For temporaries, the level of family social support did not influence the effects of job insecurity on job satisfaction. For permanents though, family social support alleviated the effects of job insecurity, such that the more family social support experienced the higher the job satisfaction. A follow-up study (n = 116) was conducted one year later. The longitudinal effects of job insecurity were examined. Of the work outcomes assessed, only continuance commitment was predicted by Time 1 job insecurity, once prior levels of the outcome variables were controlled. A second purpose of study two was to test job embeddedness - a measure of employee retention - as a moderator of the relationship between job insecurity and work outcomes. The results indicate that the negative effects of job insecurity were exacerbated when employees perceived their organisation-related sacrifices to be great, lessening both their affective commitment and contextual performance contributions. Theoretical and practical implications of the results of both studies are discussed. For instance, these findings suggest that temporary job status should not be used as a proxy measure of job insecurity. Finally, directions for future research are proposed.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between work values, job involvement and organisational commitment among Taiwanese nurses in Taiwan. The objectives of this study are to: (1) describe the work values of Taiwanese nurses; (2) describe the job involvement of Taiwanese nurses; (3) describe the organisational commitment of Taiwanese nurses; (4) identify variables that affect work values, job involvement, and organisational commitment among Taiwanese nurses; and (5) identify the mediating effects of job involvement on work values and organisational commitment among Taiwanese nurses. Design: The study utilises a cross-sectional survey design. The sample consisted of RNs (N=1,047) recruited from a convenience sample in nine regional and teaching hospitals in Taiwan. Methods: Data was collected using a survey instrument consisting of 86 questions, including sociodemographic data, work values, job involvement, and organisational commitment. The data was analysed using descriptive bivariate analysis, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC), General Linear Model (GLM) analysis with random effect, and structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings: Four sociodemographic variables, age, SES (i.e., education status, personal income, and position) were shown to be partially statistically significant to work values, job involvement and organisational commitment. Subsequent GLM analysis were shown work values were positively related to job involvement and organisational commitment, and job involvement is positively related to organisational commitment. Results of the proposed model using SEM revealed that job involvement could play an important role with mediation, and that establishing a higher level of job involvement may be more important than focusing only on organisational commitment. Conclusions: This study has implications for organisations attempting to enhance organisational commitment through increased job involvement. It is anticipated that by improving these various factors the outcome will be reduced turnover and absenteeism and more effective organisations. A more effective organisational environment will be more conducive to good nursing practice.

Performance management is a holistic approach to organisational improvement that integrates individual and organisational goals and fosters cooperation between supervisors and employees to develop a shared understanding of work expectations. The literature further clarifies a performance management system as having four practices – goal setting, performance appraisal, employee development, and rewards. The conceptualisation of performance management draws on the dominant HRM framework of bundles of “high commitment” work practices whereby an organisation involves employees in its goals and activities to promote their discretionary motivation towards desired outcomes and overall improvement. However, there has been limited research on fully theorising performance management with the four key components. Although some empirical studies have tested the performance management concept, they focus narrowly on only a few of these components. Moreover, empirical research has omitted the role of organisational commitment in explaining the commitment based mechanisms in which the performance management bundle operates to inspire employees to improve their contributions in a workplace. To address these gaps, this study proposes a conceptual model to empirically investigate the linkages between performance management and three employee outcomes of task performance, organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and turnover intention as mediated by two focal bases of organisational commitment – affective and continuance dimensions. These relationships are explored in the Thai Police Service. The mediating effects are based on the argument that satisfactory work conditions inherent in performance management may carry perceptions of both organisational care and support and also accumulated investments underlying the development of the affective and continuance dimensions, respectively. While both mediators are hypothesised to decrease turnover, affective commitment tends to increase task performance and OCB, and continuance commitment tends to be either unrelated or negatively related to both performance variables. Furthermore, because organisational characteristics in police forces are generally distinct from others, police culture was included in the conceptual model to examine the incremental contribution of performance management to changes in the employee outcomes. This research embraced three related studies. Four focus groups of 27 patrol officers were conducted in Study 1 to explore key dimensions of police culture and examine officers’ understanding of performance management practices. Having developed a written questionnaire to test the conceptual model, Study 2 surveyed 161 patrol officers returning 152 usable questionnaires in order to assess the meaning equivalence and applicability of the translated measures of all constructs (from English to Thai) in the model, and to determine their validity and reliability. In the third and main study, a revised questionnaire was used to survey 516 patrol officers, 454 of which returned usable questionnaires that were half split randomly (224 and 230) to enable the analysis in two parts. Based on structural equation modeling (SEM), the first part allowed the measurement properties to be re-explored due to questionnaire revisions, and then confirmed, using both respective samples. The second part was based on the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique for testing the conceptual model using the second sample. Overall, the empirical analysis shows that performance management not only accounted for affective commitment but also, to a lesser extent, continuance commitment. Performance management also was related both directly with task performance and indirectly through affective commitment, only directly with OCB, and only indirectly (fully mediated) with turnover intention through continuance commitment. Even after controlling for the impact of police culture and demographic characteristics, the predictive strength of performance management remained significant. The hypothesized relationships of affective commitment to OCB and turnover, however, were not supported. The follow up analysis revealed that the positive relationship between the former actually existed, but was conditional upon a high level of continuance commitment. Some of the major theoretical implications include the conceptualisation of performance management as confirmed with four components, a better understanding of the role of organisational commitment in explicating the high commitment mechanisms of performance management and the impact of organisational culture on the operation of performance management. From a practical perspective, organisations are encouraged to establish the holistic process of performance management to elevate employee performance and overall productivity and to emphasise voluntary and supportive aspects of the implementation of performance management to ensure its positive effects through affective rather than continuance commitment. For police organisations particularly, management should strive for interventions that reinforce values of progressive thinking, people-centred operations, and cooperation to supplement the performance management system. Finally, the conclusion discusses limitations and directions for future research.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Research suggests that a positive relationship exists between job satisfaction and organizational commitment and increasing the job satisfaction and commitment of employees impacts positively on their job performance and productivity. In addition to this, research also shows that these attitudes have implications for positive job related behaviours such as reduced turnover and intention to quit. The argument is that with the call centre industries‘ expansion and subsequent rising turnover, the necessity to ensure a high level of satisfaction and commitment amongst call centre agents as to reduce intention to quit and eventual turnover has become of paramount importance. This study therefore investigated the relationship between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover intentions among call centre agents in a call centre in the Western Cape. The sample group consisted of one hundred and seventy two (n=172) call centre agents in a call centre in the Western Cape. A biographical questionnaire, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) and Intention to Quit Scale were administered to the respondents. Once the questionnaires were returned the raw data was captured into SPSS and statistically analysed. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was utilised to determine the relationships between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover intentions amongst call centre agents. Furthermore multiple regression analyses was utilised to determine the variance between biographical variables (age, gender, tenure in a call centre and tenure in the organisation as a whole), job satisfaction and organisational commitment amongst call centre agents. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment amongst the sample of call centre agents. There was also a significant negative relationship between organisational commitment and intention to quit. In addition, there was a significant negative relationship between job satisfaction and intention to quit. Further findings of the current study point to a significant relationship in job satisfaction based on employees‘ age and tenure in the call centre. However, no significant relationship was found between all the biographical characteristics of gender, age, tenure in the call centre, tenure in the organisation as a whole and organisational commitment. Implications for the management of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover intentions are provided based on the results which were obtained in the current study.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Job satisfaction and organisational commitment are two of the most researched organisational behaviour constructs. It is generally agreed that low levels of satisfaction or commitment may result in employees voluntarily ceasing the employee-organisation relationship which results in organisations loosing professional and skilled individuals, which is a potentially crippling factor within any organisation, particularly Governmental Departments who relying on specialist and highly trained and skilled employees. The current study examined the organisational commitment, the level of job satisfaction and the relationship between satisfaction and commitment of fully functionally qualified permanent contract male and female officers on salary Grade C2 to Grade C6, extending across all occupational divisions and classes, namely operational, personnel, logistics, engineering and technical. The sampling technique used was a quantitative non-probability convenience sampling design with the sample consisting of 62 commissioned officers. The majority of the respondents were African with the sample being more representative of males than females. The majority of the respondents were married and between the age of 22 to 29 having at least a 3 year degree or diploma and from the operational occupational class. The respondent’s levels of satisfaction were measured by means of the Job Descriptive Index Questionnaire which measured the five job facets, namely pay, promotion, supervision, co-workers and the nature of work. The study found that respondents were moderately satisfied with their promotion opportunities, followed by the pay they receive. They were however, less satisfied with the supervision they receive, their co-workers and the work itself. Affective, continuance and normative commitment was assessed by means of the Organizational Commitment Scale. The findings of the study found that the respondents had below average levels of organisational commitment across all three components as well as overall commitment. Furthermore, results derived from the research indicated that there was a statistically significant and strong positive correlation between organisational commitment and job satisfaction. Additionally, the results of the study regarding differences between selected demographic variables and the core dependent and independent variable found that there was no statistically significant difference for organisational commitment or job satisfaction scores between males and females and tenure. There was however a statistically significant difference in organisational commitment and job satisfaction for different occupational classes.

Orientation – Talent mindset (TM) and organisational commitment (OC) are two separate constructs and it appears that a positive relationship exists between these two constructs. Research Purpose – The study aims to determine the relationship between the talent mindset and organisational commitment of academic heads of departments. Motivation for the Study – There is a vast problem in the higher education sector with regards to retaining academic staff members. In order for higher education institutions to attract and more specifically retain academic talent, one needs to implement a sound talent management model. Before such a model can be implemented with success, the organisation first needs to have a positive talent mindset. The relationship between talent mindset and organisational commitment may provide a means to develop appropriate interventions or strategies in order to enhance the talent mindset by focusing on improving the organisational commitment and vice versa. Research Design, Approach and Method – Two instruments, namely the Talent Mindset Index (TMI) and Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ), were administered to a sample of 116 heads of departments at a leading university in South Africa, 53 completed questionnaires were obtained. The responses were analysed using correlation analysis and quantitative techniques. Main Findings – Results confirm that the presence of OC is associated with a positive TM Practical / Managerial Implications – The study provides evidence that there is a correlation between OC and the TM of academic heads of departments. Thus, if management utilises existing techniques to increase OC, this should lead to the enhancement of the head of departments’ TM. The enhanced TM would equip them to implement a talent management model to attract and retain academic staff. Contribution / Value Add – By enhancing the TM of the heads of departments through utilising existing techniques to increase OC, management should be in a stronger position to implement a talent management model effectively. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Human Resource Management / MA / Unrestricted

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / At present organisations are faced with considerable changes in the business environment due to globalisation illustrated through specialisation and individualisation in the workplace (Rastegar & Aghayan, 2012). To stay abreast of these changes, organisations attempt to gain competitive advantage within the competitive business environments they operate. The competitive advantage referred to is, enhancing the organisation's culture, so as to ensure the employees in the workplace stay committed (Acar, 2012). Dwivedi, Kaushik and Luxmi (2014) further add that organisation culture is a fundamental element to any activity in the organisation. The authors also purport that a good organisational culture, which yields self-actualisation needs such as capability development, empowerment, achievement and recognition leads to a greater level of commitment between employees. The inverse, that is, poor organisational culture, leads to lower levels of commitment with consequences such as increased employee turnover and lower productivity rates (Dwivedi et al., 2014). The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of organisational culture (sub-dimensions being, mission, involvement, adaptability and consistency) on organisational commitment (sub-dimensions being, affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment). The sample was chosen by means of convenience sampling. Two hundred and thirty – six supervisory and managerial staff who were employed at a beverage company in the Western Cape partook in the study. Three questionnaires were utilised to collect the data namely, a self - developed biographical questionnaire, containing six items which was used to collect information pertaining to the demographics of the sample. The second questionnaire utilised was the Denison Organisational Culture Survey, which contained 60 items and the final questionnaire administered was Allen and Meyer's (1990) Organisational Commitment Questionnaire, which contained 24 items. The data was computed using the Statistical Programme for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 23 using a multiple regression technique, yielding the following results: The results indicated that a significant proportion of the variance in organisational commitment was explained by mission, involvement, adaptability and consistency. The most statistical significance predictors of organisational commitment were mission and consistency, however, mission contributed to the highest variance. Additionally, the results indicated that a significant proportion of the variance in affective commitment was explained by mission, involvement, adaptability and consistency amongst staff. Involvement, adaptability and mission were found to be significant predictors of affective commitment with involvement accounting for the highest variance. Furthermore, the results showed that a significant proportion of the variance in normative commitment was explained by mission, involvement, adaptability and consistency. Moreover, the most significant predictor of normative commitment was found to be consistency. Further findings found that a significant proportion of the variance in continuance commitment was explained by mission, involvement, adaptability and consistency amongst staff. Moreover, the results indicated that the most significant predictor of continuance commitment was mission. Lastly, limitations for the current study were presented and recommendations for future research and for the organisation were offered.

Thesis (M.Com.(Human Resource Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The purpose of this study is to explain the relationship between organisational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intention of employees. A survey research design was employed to test hypotheses about the relationship between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover intentions. Data was collected using three different structured questionnaires. Questionnaires comprised of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire and the Intention to Stay Questionnaire. The respondents comprised of employees from five offices of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in the Limpopo Province. The findings revealed a positive relationship between organisational commitment and job satisfaction. There is a negative relationship between organisational commitment and turnover intention. Tables and figures were used to present the results of the study. Turnover intention has been seen as a huge problem at different organisations or institutions and has negative influence on organisational performance and this organisation was not different given the findings. Key concepts Organisational commitment, job satisfaction, turnover intention.