Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Technologiae: Public Relations Management in the Faculty of Informatics and Design the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / The perception that an organisation wants its stakeholders to have is its desired identity. Its actual identity is what the stakeholders actually know or think about the organisation (Walker, 2010: 366). Stakeholder loyalty is an invaluable and positive consequence of any organisation’s effective communication. An organisation’s management should be proactive in the face of any negativity (finding its way into businesses and in the fragile and sensitive circumstances of stakeholder relationships). There is a gap between organisations and their specific stakeholders as a cumulative result of misinformation or lack of information. Organisational communication, especially via the press, enhances sustainable stakeholder loyalty, which contributes to an organisation’s advantages and economic essences. The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamics of stakeholders’ effective organisational communication via the press and media reports on Eskom, and to identify and isolate critical elements in this dynamic process. Although the study is primarily explorative and descriptive, public press reports will be analysed to contribute to the larger purpose of exploration and description. This research draws on the aims of corporate reputation to assist organisational insiders and external stakeholders to activate positive organisational behaviour with consideration of media interpretations in order to answer the problem statement. The fact that Eskom is a government parastatal which was established to supply and regulate electricity with no other competitors does not imply that they do not have to work on a positive brand image, perception and stakeholder satisfaction. This is even more pertinent when it is argued that the taxpayer’s money is used for much of the excessive spending that the senior employees ostensibly enjoy. Whether an organisation is small or big, its priority of relevance is not placed on competitive success, but on its image with all its stakeholders at all times. In considering stakeholders’ perceptions, there are huge business expansion possibilities for corporate bodies and organisations whose business mission statements reflect stakeholders’ satisfaction and retention. This research applied content analysis, which exhibits both qualitative characteristics (description of variables and categories) and quantitative features (numeric evaluation of data) in the investigation, description, discussion and analysis of the collected data. The data comprised media reports on Eskom, as presented by the Cape Times, the Mail and Guardian and the City Press - three reputable South African newspapers. These reports were gathered within a period of one year: 1st July 2010 to 30th June 2011. A semi-structured interview was used to substantiate Eskom’s stakeholder values and concerns against the backdrop of the newspaper report claims. The outcome of this study points to the need for organisations to effectively communicate with stakeholders in and through the media on trends within the organisation, prevailing issues, management policies, change of prices and costs of goods and services. This collectively re-defines and strategically re-positions the mutual relationship of organisations and their key stakeholders by drawing strong links between the literature survey and the provisions of appropriate findings and recommendation imperatives for corporate communication specialists. This research could be useful to academics and practitioners, as it highlights the importance of effective organisational communication as a precursor to stakeholder loyalty. The findings of the study revealed that while Eskom, as an organisation, was making huge profits and sharing surplus bonuses, they remain insensitive to the complaints of their stakeholders. Effective organisational communication was discounted and compromised, as the stakeholders were deprived of proper information that could stimulate and sustain their loyalty towards the organisation.

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011. / Effective organisational communication engenders a good communicative environment for better management-employee's relationship, which will in turn translate into positive employees' productivity. Thus, organisational communication in the context it was considered in this study involves interaction among diverse internal public from management to employees or vice versa. This dissertation has explored organisational communication in a college with the following main objective in mind: To evaluate the functionality of organisational communication. To realise this objective, relevant literature review was conducted. The literature review focused, among others, on different types of organisational structures in terms of how the different structures influence communication flow and power dynamics in an organisation. Following this, different flows of communication such as downward communication, upward communication, horizontal communication, and diagonal communication were discussed.

M.Comm.

This pamphlet will help you to plan a workshop. It looks at planning the content as well as the practical arrangements for the workshop. There are many reasons for having a workshop. They could include: teaching your activists a skill, like running meetings or producing media; analysing a new political development e.g. an election or a new law; planning a programme of action or a campaign; evaluating the work you have done in the past year, or the work you have done for a campaign; sorting out internal problem like structures that are not appropriate or a break down in working relationships. Whatever the reason for your workshop, you need to make sure that the aim is clear right from the start. Before you begin planning, you need to sort out exactly why you are having the workshop and what you hope to achieve by having the workshop. If your aim is clear, you can go ahead with the planning. This pamphlet is about planning a workshop ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE.

This research aimed at the impact that salutogenesis (Antonovsky 1979) has on an individual’s level of engagement (Kahn 1990) in manufacturing corporations in an emerging economy. While managers were becoming more aware of the importance of a positively engaged workforce, Breed, Cilliers and Visser (2006) have suggested that the understanding of what constitutes an engaged work force is lacking among managers in the emerging economies. In order to effectively investigate the relationship between these two positive psychological concepts, the focus has been to include the relationship between salutogenesis (Antonovsky 1979) as the parent concept and the salutogenesic constructs Sense of Coherence (SOC), Locus of Control (LOC), Learned Resourcefulness (LR) and Hardiness. The impact that salutogenesis, (Antonovsky 1979) has on Organisational Engagement (OE) (Kahn 1990) and its facets Absorption, Dedication, Identification and Vigour (Schaufeli et al 2002) was revealed using a quantitative analytical technique and descriptive analysis (Zikmund 2003). Using saturation sampling and an adapted Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) (Schaufeli and Bakker 2003), 422 employees working at the head office of a manufacturing corporation were surveyed. The outcome of the research presented a strong case that there is a very high correlation between salutogenesis and engagement. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The debate of Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) transformation has by far occupied the welfare sector with the urge to evolve and employ business-like attributes in their operations. Professionalism is pointed out as an attribute NPO should move towards to improve their services and be accountable to donors (Reinhardt, 2009). This report investigated the role of National Lotteries Board (NLB) as a donor in promoting professionalism in NPOs. Case-studies were conducted on two selected NPOs who received grants from the NLB through the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund. Data was collected using interviews, documentation and observation. The analysis of the data showed that donors use funding and reporting requirements to drive professionalism within the NPO sector. The recommendations in the report are for both NPOs and donors indicating the need for collaboration between the two parties in ensuring that professionalism benefits them collectively.

The study set out to investigate the challenges faced by NGOs in carrying out supplementary feeding programmes in Zimbabwe’s rural areas. CARE and PLAN International in Zimbabwe were the two NGOs used as case studies and their operations in the Lower Gweru district of the Midlands Province Zimbabwe provided the empirical data for this study. This study was principally qualitative in nature as it sought to provide an in-depth analysis of the main challenges that NGOs face when carrying out supplementary feeding programmes in the rural areas of Zimbabwe. For the purpose of collecting data the study relied on Focus Group Discussions, in-depth interviews with key informants and document study. The key informants included Country Directors, Programme and Field officers at both CARE and PLAN International who had intimate knowledge of some of the challenges that their supplementary feeding programmes faced. Challenges that faced CARE and Plan International’s supplementary feeding programmes were categorized into two themes, internal and external organizational challenges. Internally the study revealed that the NGOs were unable to retain critical personnel such as nutritionists and programme officers. It also emerged from the study that field officers were involved in the thefts of food meant for the supplementary feeding programmes. The management of the supplementary feeding programmes was made difficult by lack of adequate information about the target beneficiaries. Further the study noted that there were contestations when it came to the selection of the beneficiaries of the programme. It was also found that during the rainy season it was difficult to 8 avail food timeously to the beneficiaries of the supplementary feeding programmes. It emerged from the study that supplementary feeding programmes were victims of political interference as the government and war veterans were suspicious that the programmes were being used to influence the voting behavior of the recipients. The global financial crisis also limited the capacity of the donors to continue availing substantial amounts of money for food procurement. As part of the broader strategy to increase the effectiveness of the NGOs in carrying supplementary feeding programmes this study recommended that NGOs should re-strategize on how they remunerate key personnel such as nutritionists. The NGOs through their mother body NANGO should constantly engage government so that there is a good working relationship supportive of poverty reduction through supplementary feeding programmes.

The research problem that this study addresses is two-fold. First, the persistance of poverty gives rise to a real world concern for improving the effectiveness of international development efforts. To address the link between the alleviation of poverty, adult education, and a grass-roots approach, this study focuses on planning within an organization that offers adult education programs overseas, specifically a nongovernmental organization (NGO). An understanding of the dynamics of planning in such an NGO will help in articulating more effective approaches to planning practice in international development. The second aspect of the research problem is that the relationship between the planning process and the planning context seems not to have been fully explored in the literature on adult education program planning. There is a need for a more complete set of analytical tools that captures the complexities of planning and sheds light on the relationship between the planning context and the planning process. The purpose of this dissertation is to address the main theoretical question raised by the research problem: How do nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) plan so as to maintain themselves and be effective given the pressures on them? This theoretical question was investigated through a case study method, specifically ethnography. Ethnographic fieldwork, which included seventeen months of participant observation, twenty-five interviews, and document analysis, was carried out at an NGO, refered to here by the pseudonym of "Global Faith." The conceptual framework developed in this dissertation builds on the negotiation approach to planning. The first part of the conceptual framework links two strands of research: leadership theory and negotiation theory. Through this juxtaposition, I was able to examine the process of planning in a new light - as the negotiation of meaning. The second part of the framework shows how a deeper understanding of the context of planning is accomplished by applying a subjectivist, multi- perspective approach to analyzing cultures in organizations. This approach - which incorporates the integration perspective, the differentiation perspective, and the fragmentation perspective was used to see Global Faith cultures in three different ways. These same ways of viewing culture at Global Faith were matched with the varying interpretations held by staff members in order to characterize the cultural contexts for specific episodes of planning involving the negotiation of meaning. The findings show that by including the negotiation of meaning in planning activities, Global Faith is able to motivate staff and deal effectively with confusing requirements, conflicting expectations, and diverse demands that they face in their interactions with CIDA, general public donors, the Board of Directors, and overseas partner organizations. There is a recursive relationship between planning processes involving the negotiation of meaning and Global Faith cultures whereby the cultures are both precursors and products of negotiation of meaning episodes. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Research indicates that stereotypes influence how people behave towards different social groups, and this study investigated how allies (individuals who will confront prejudice on behalf of targets or groups) differentially confront a discriminatory comment as a function of the groups’ associated stereotypes. The Confronting Prejudiced Responses (CPR) model would suggest that when someone feels an increase in a sense of emergency and a sense of responsibility to address discrimination, they will be more likely to confront that discrimination. Results indicate that although the group that was being discriminated against did not influence whether or not the participant would confront, the higher sense of emergency and sense of responsibility were indicators of a stronger likelihood of confrontation. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / A significant body of work has demonstrated the importance of diversity and representation in racial and ethnic minority jobseekers’ organizational judgments. While representation is often conceptualized as the general percentage or count of underrepresented minorities (URM) within an organization, a broader definition has been proposed that distinguishes this general or numerical representation from hierarchical representation which considers the placement of those URM employees within an organization. Although the separate effects of these two forms of representation have been evaluated, the present study extends on earlier work by considering the interactive effect. Additionally, the current research considered a potential mechanism to explain the influence of these forms of representation on URM’s organizational judgements. As expected, results showed that an organization depicting more URM employees (high numerical representation) and including Black leadership personnel (hierarchical representation) increased URM’s identity-safety relative to those which had low numerical representation and only White leadership. Moreover, and importantly, both representation effects could be explained indirectly via feelings of anticipated tokenism.