Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-81). / This study tested the generalisability of the Commitment to Organisational Change construct (Herscovitch & Meyer, 2002) in the context of an information system change within a non-Western environment. The sample comprised 106 employees (70% response rate) of a large Namibian organisation and responses were analysed using STATISTICA 7.0. Results suggest that the construct comprises three dimensions and can indeed be generalised to apply to an information system innovation change. Affective and Normative Commitment to Organisational Change were both positively related to Compliance, Co-operation and Championing, whilst Continuance Commitment to Organisational Change was negatively related, or unrelated. Commitment to Organisational Change was not a better predictor of behavioural support than Organisational Commitment. Interestingly, Change Significance and Change Impact both play an important role in predicting behavioural support for information system change.

The aim of this study was to first identify which competencies are important to enable the academic Head of Department (HOD) to be more effective in people management, and secondly, to understand the factors which hinder the HOD in achieving this important function of the role. The HOD is pivotal to the running of an effective university in that he or she ensures the academic discipline is well-functioning and successfully operational. An essential requirement to do this is to manage and develop the staff employed to meet these goals. The literature on academic people management was reviewed and the results of this review produced propositions which were used as a basis for the study. To identify the important competencies, data was collected from staff reporting to HODs at the University of Cape Town (UCT) via way of an online questionnaire. To gain insight and understand the perceptions and perspectives of HODs, a qualitative research approach and an interpretative phenomenological inquiry-based research design was used, and data was collected via semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed, making it possible to identify whether the propositions made via reviewing the literature, were able to be supported. A summary of the key findings and a discussion of what needs to be considered for effective people management by HODs at UCT is presented. Recommendations for further studies conclude the dissertation.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / This study examined the impact of volunteering on the development of perceived graduate employability amongst student and graduate volunteers at the University of Cape Town (N = 279). Path analysis revealed significant relationships between volunteerism and graduate employability, when facilitated through the development of graduate competencies.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-67). / The objective of this study was to; firstly, investigate the construct validity of a three dimensional perceived support construct; secondly, establish the direct relationship between perceived support and intention to quit as well as the indirect relationship when mediated by affective commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction; and finally, explore the relative importance of the constructs in relation to intention to quit.

Includes bibliographical references. / The current research attempted to answer the following question: Can voluntary employee turnover be predicted? The study made use of regression analyses to examine the relationship between employee turnover and a range of worker demographics. Data covering 2 592 employees in a South African general insurer formed the basis for the analysis. Several demographic variables (available in the HR management information system), were identified and investigated with the aim to develop a voluntary turnover prediction model. Fourteen variables were identified in the human resources information system to be included for analysis. From 14 potential predictors, the procedure selected only five variables, i.e. cost centre, years of service, performance, age and tenure - family size interaction for inclusion in the regression equation.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-123).

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / Social Identity Theory proposes that individuals derive part of their identity and their social identity, through their membership in social groups. In order to derive a positive social identity, they attempt to compare themselves more favourably in comparison to members of groups they do not belong to, which may at times leads to discrimination against out-group members. Due to South Africa‟s history of race- and gender-based oppression, it is likely that race and gender are two particularly salient group memberships and that gender- and racebased discrimination are thus particularly prominent. Research has shown that discrimination in the workplace has negative effects, which result in reduced productivity as well as reduced employee engagement and wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which employees show a preference for co-workers from their own gender and racial groups and to establish whether their racial or gender bias is stronger.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-59). / This study examined work-family conflict as a predictor of turnover intention, and the moderating role that resilience may have had on this relationship. Participants were bluecollar workers (N = 136) within the chemical-specialty industry in the Western Cape. Exploratory factor analysis illustrated the unidimensionality of work-family conflict, however there was a strong theoretical argument to treat work-family conflict as separate dimensions for further analysis. Higher levels of strain-based conflict were reported by female blue-collar workers than by male blue-collar workers. Simple regression analysis showed that strain-based conflict explained a significant proportion of the variance in turnover intention; however time-based conflict was found not to predict turnover intention in this model. The results for the moderating effect of resilience on the relationship between strain-based conflict and turnover intention were not significant. Implications for management working in blue-collar environments are discussed.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / This exploratory study investigated the relationship between personality characteristics and preferences for job features, organisational features and career goals. A review of literature has revealed that there are associations between individuals’ personality characteristics and their preferences for specific aspects of these three variables. This study focused on final year graduate students (N = 15 066) from universities across South Africa.

The use of teams in organisations is often plagued by reduced individual effort which is termed social loafing. Therefore the study proposed that by making people aware that they are part of a group and introducing intergroup competition, social loafing would be reduced and turned into social labouring. The study further investigated the potential mediating effect of social dominance orientation on the relationship between group membership salience and task performance.