Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Employee engagement research is an emerging field of study and several models suggest that leadership is crucial in the development of work engagement. However, a gap remains in understanding what leadership behaviours could influence engagement. High levels of employee engagement, which refers to employees’ investment of physical, cognitive and emotional energy in their work, provide significant organisational benefit in almost every conceivable organisational metric. The objective of this research was to explore the impact of transformational leadership on work engagement in a mining company in South Africa from an employee point of view. This exploratory and explanatory study used a cross-sectional design focussing on middle management employees at a Paterson D-Lower level. All employees worked in a mid-sized mining company in South Africa. An online self-reporting survey was used to measure the following constructs and their respective dimensions: work engagement (vigour, dedication and absorption), transformational leadership (individualised consideration, idealised influence, inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation) and transactional leadership (contingent reward and management by exception – active). The research questionnaire was adopted from The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The study indicated that transformational leadership does impact work engagement. The survey achieved a 21 per cent total response rate with a 17 per cent response rate of completed questionnaires. Work engagement showed a statistical significant positive correlation with age (r = 0.454, p < 0.05), but no significant correlation with gender, business unit, qualification or time reporting to the same supervisor. There is partial support for the impact of time in a specific job on work engagement, especially for employees who have been in the same job for less than five years. The study found that transformational leadership correlated positively with work engagement (r = 0.33, p = 0.115) as well as with vigour, dedication and absorption. Inspirational motivation showed the highest significant correlation with work engagement (r = 0.474, p = 0.019), while intellectual stimulation (r = 0.152, p > 0.2) did not seem to correlate significantly with work engagement. Individualised consideration (r = 0.296) and idealised influence (r = 0.282) seemed to correlate positively with work engagement (p < 0.2). The study found that vigour and dedication correlated positively with individualised consideration, idealised influence, inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation. Absorption differed from vigour and dedication by correlating strongly with management by exemption – active and weakly with all other dimensions, except inspirational motivation. Inspirational motivation showed the highest correlation of all the leadership dimensions with vigour (r = 0.45, p < 0.05), dedication (r = 0.437, p < 0.05) and absorption (r = 0.404, p < 0.1). Transformational leadership’s dimensions combined explain more of the variance in vigour, dedication and absorption than transactional leadership. The impact of transformational leadership on work engagement seemed to be more complex than originally suspected, and individualised consideration, idealised influence, inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation should all be present for the transformational leader to impact on engagement. More research is needed to explore the complex interaction between transformational leadership and work engagement, considering possible mediating factors like work environment, personal resources and job resources.

Thesis (PhD (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005 / South African organisations have to survive in an increasingly competitive and globalised environment. Many believe that South African organisations are ill prepared for these challenges, based on the fact that many organisations are plagued by low productivity, low levels of trust between employees and employers, as well as low levels of organisational commitment, effectiveness and efficiency. Solutions must be found for these problems and the present study offers one such solution. Organisational citizenship behaviour is essentially pro-social organisational behaviour that is characterised by going beyond what is expected in role requirements or role descriptions and is seen as a key driver of individual and organisational performance. Furthermore, an organisation’s ability to elicit organisational citizenship behaviour is believed to be a vital asset that is difficult for competitors to imitate and which provides the organisation with a competitive advantage. Having completed a literature study concerning possible antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour, and taking into account various suggested future directions for organisational citizenship behaviour research, it was decided that the present study would focus on five variables: three variables that are characteristic of employees, and two that are characteristic of the management or leadership in the organisation. The primary goal of the present study was to design and conduct a scientific investigation that would attempt to determine the relationships between leader emotional intelligence, transformational leadership, trust, meaning intention to quit, and organisational citizenship behaviour, as well as to further determine the role that these five constructs play in influencing organisational citizenship behaviour. A study of the available literature was made to learn as much as possible about each of these six constructs and to determine what is known about the relationships that exist between them. The knowledge gained from the literature study was used to propose several hypotheses and a conceptual model explaining the relationships between these constructs. The relationships and the conceptual model were then empirically tested, using various (mostly confirmatory) statistical methods. This makes the present study confirmatory in nature. Existing measuring instruments were used to measure each of the constructs in a South African sample (n=496). This sample represented a wide range of organisations. Each of the measuring instruments (excepting the intention to quit scale) was subjected to a double cross-validation Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis procedure to test its construct validity. Internal reliability was determined for all of the instruments and their subscales. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis and internal reliability results were then compared to those obtained when the original measurement model was studied, using these same methods (i.e. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and internal reliability) and the data from the present sample. It was found, in all cases, that the derived factorial configuration differed, in some to a lesser degree and in others radically, from that proposed by the original author/s. It was also found that the EFA-derived measurement models and configurations had a better fit to the data than the original measurement model and its configuration. Once the criteria for construct validity and internal reliability were satisfied, the rest of the statistical analyses could be conducted. The next step was to test the hypotheses concerning the individual relationships that made up the conceptual model. Pearson correlations and Standard Multiple Regression was used to study these bivariate relationships. Several indirect or mediating relationships followed from these direct relationships and these were tested using Path Analysis. In a similar vein, four prediction hypotheses were formulated from the conceptual model and these were also tested, using Standard Multiple Regression. Lastly, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to see to what extent the conceptual model fitted the data obtained from the sample and to test the relationships between the constructs when taking the complete conceptual model into account. Both trust and meaning were found to individually mediate the relationships between transformational leadership and organisational citizenship behaviour, and leader emotional intelligence and organisational citizenship behaviour. The relationship between leader emotional intelligence and organisational citizenship behaviour was further found to be mediated by transformational leadership and trust, while this relationship was also found to be mediated by transformational leadership and meaning. No significant direct relationships could be found between leader emotional intelligence and organisational citizenship behaviour, or between transformational leadership and both organisational citizenship behaviour and intention to quit. No significant correlation was found between intention to quit and organisational citizenship behaviour either. This meant that several postulated mediating hypotheses could not be corroborated. The SEM result shows that the conceptual model did not fit the data very well, therefore an alternative model was recommended. The results in essence show that effective leaders who are emotionally intelligent and make use of the transformational leadership style can positively influence trust and meaning among followers. This, in turn, will motivate followers to display organisational citizenship behaviour and reduce their intention to quit. These are believed to positively influence organisational effectiveness and performance. Further conclusions were drawn from the obtained results and recommendations are made for future studies. New insights were gained through the results and it is believed that the present study has contributed to the field of organisational psychology and Industrial Psychology in general, on both the academic and the practioner level.

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

本研究旨在探討基層員警個人基本屬性對工作壓力知覺之差異情形、對組織承諾程度上之差異情形，及基層員警工作壓力與組織承諾之關係。期能依據研究結果提出建議，提供警政機關做為改善警察工作壓力之參考。 本研究係採用問卷調查法，以台北市政府警察局基層員警為研究母群體，採分層比例隨機抽樣法，計抽取20個單位，以10％至15％之比例為抽樣基準(為了增加女性員警之樣本，針對女子警察隊提高其抽樣人數)，總計抽取750份樣本進行施測，取得回收有效問卷612份。研究問卷內容包含員警個人基本資料、警察工作壓力量表及組織承諾量表。問卷調查所得資料運用電腦統計套裝軟體SPSS for Windows 10.0版，以描述性統計分析、t考驗、單因子變異數分析、及Person積差相關係數等統計分析方法進行資料處理： 本研究經實證分析，歸納結論如后： 一、就「工作壓力」各構面平均數比率的得分情形而言，以「生涯發展」得分最高(87.26%)，其次依序為「家庭生活與工作」(84.22%)，「工作時間」(78.30%），「角色衝突」（77.63%），「工作負荷量」75.88%），「與上級長官關係」（68.60%），而得分最低的則為「同事間工作競爭」（65.34%）。 二、就「組織承諾」各構面平均數比率的得分情形而言，以「努力承諾」得分最高(69.45%)，其次為「留職承諾」(62.73%)，而得分最低的則為「認同承諾」(58.93%)。 三、基層員警對工作壓力知覺之差異情形，因性別、年齡、警察養成教 育、工作性質、工作類別、服務年資、婚姻狀況與職稱的不同而有顯著差異。 四、基層員警對組織承諾程度上之差異情形，因性別、年齡、警察養成教育、工作類別與職稱的不同而有顯著差異。 五、基層員警工作壓力與組織承諾呈負相關。 關鍵字：工作壓力、組織承諾 / This study probes the differences resulted from police individual character towards job stress, organizational commitment, and the relations between job stress and organizational commitment of police. The author wishes to come up with a result that can help the police administration to lessen job stress of police. This study uses questionnaire survey research with Taipei Municipal Police as study population, and uses stratified random sampling method by sampling 20 police departments with 10 to 15 percents of the personnel from each sampled department as sample model (to increase the sample of policewomen, the percentage of women police division has been raised), and comes up with 750 samples for the questionnaire with 612 successful returned samples. The questionnaire includes personal status, quantifiable measurement for organizational commitment, police job stress measurement as contents. Acquired information is then processed with SPSS for Windows 10.0 for analysis of Descriptive Statistics Analysis, t-Test, One-Way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation Coefficien. After empirical analysis, we have come to the conclusion as below: 1.On the mean ratio of job stress facet, career development wins the highest points (87.26%) , with family life and work seconds to it (84.22%), followed by working hour (78.30%), role conflict (77.63%), job load (75.88%), relations with senior personnel, and peer competition (65.34%) comes at the lowest. 2.On the mean ratio of organizational commitment facet, effort commitment comes on top with 69.45%, followed by retention commitment (62.73%), and with value commitment comes at the lowest (58.93%). 3.The cognitive differences of police on job stress differ significantly according to gender, age, police education background, job description, job category, serving years, marital status and position. 4.The organizational commitment of police differ significantly according to gender, age, police education background, job category and position. 5.Job stress and organizational commitment of police show a negative relationship. Keyword：job stress；organizational commitment

<p>The relationship between organizational commitment among public health employees within South Africa is becoming a big concern as highlighted in media and studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational commitment and absenteeism amongst different occupational clases within a health sector environment in the Western Cape region.</p>

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur organisationer kan arbeta effektivt med medarbetarskap. Detta undersöktes genom att ta reda på hur man kan arbeta, utveckla samt hur respondenterna upplever medarbetarskapet. För att undersöka detta gjordes kvalitativa intervjuer med sex medarbetare och en chef inom Umeå kommun. Resultatet indikerar på att medarbetarna värdesätter dialog och diskussion samt aktiviteter som kretsar kring detta i medarbetarskapsarbetet. Medarbetarna upplever att det finns en öppenhet och god kommunikation på arbetsplatsen. Studien visar även att det finns utvecklingsmöjligheter inom hur man i dagsläget arbetar med både individuella och organisatoriska mål. För att utveckla medarbetarskapet tycker medarbetarna att det sker ett kontinuerligt arbete. Studien kommer även fram till att kontexten är en viktig faktor som påverkar hur utfallet med medarbetarskapsarbetet blir

This thesis explored the academic staff working conditions, organizational commitment and performance of Nigerian universities. There is a general thinking that there has been a decline on the motivation of the average academic staff in Nigerian university system leading to brain drain situation and a decline in quality of performance of the universities. Incidentally, there is limited empirical evidence comprehensive enough to serve as a framework of what the academics need at work to make them more inclined to remain in their universities, including university performance. This thesis explored the topic in a comprehensive way with academics from six Nigerian universities. It answers the question what and how did the perceived obstacles to academic staff organizational commitment and university performance in Nigeria evolve, and what can be done to improve it? The research design was cross-sectional. Qualitative and quantitative information were gathered to uncover the historical origin of the problems; satisfaction with current working conditions, issues of personal growth, organizational commitment, and university performance. A sample of 248 academics participated in the study. Historically, both structural and managerial issues, internal and external factors, were implicated in the evolution of the problems in the university system. Satisfaction with teaching resources and facilities was poorest. Factors important for personal growth were the same as those that would make the academics more inclined to stay, though, concern with basic salary and welfare were more prominent in decision to stay. Reference to comparable situations with colleagues elsewhere was basis for need to improve on some work factors like salary. The thesis concludes that, deficiency-growth factors, intrinsic-extrinsic factors, and equity issues are important in dealing with the organizational commitment and performance problems in the Nigerian universities studied. Sugestions and limitations of the study are provided.

This study is concerned with the impact of job insecurity on the vital social exchange relationship between employee and employer. Specifically, it explored the relationship between job insecurity and two important social exchange outcomes—organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. Moreover, it assessed the moderating effects of individual factors (communal orientation and powerlessness) and situational factors (trust in management, procedural fairness, and organizational support) on these relationships.

The purpose of this research was to study the effect of the conflict settlement process on the degree of expressed organizational commitment of employees in a collective bargaining setting. The research was done in a basic industry in northern Alabama. The instrument included the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) developed by Mowday, Porter, and Steers. Demographic variables measured were education, age, and sex. Main effects variables were tenure; union membership; and self-described experience with and feeling toward grievance/arbitration as a category 1 grievant, category 2 grievant, witness, and supervisor. Data were analyzed with hierarchical multiple regression. No statistically significant results were found. Limitations included the economic climate of the region and the industrial relations climate of the company.

Research report presented to SBL, Unisa, Midrand. / This study aims to examine how manager's leadership styles correlates with leadership outcomes and perceptions of subordinates and management in the construction industry. Leadership styles, conception and leadership outcomes in terms of effectiveness and operationalization were measured using a modified Bass and Avolio's multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ) and a modified Porter et al.'s organizational commitment questionnaire (OCQ).