Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-54). / The paper undertakes to research a spatial and skills mismatch in the city of Cape Town. The argument is that industry is moving towards the north of the city and away from areas of the south east. This physically displaces low and semi-skilled employees or potential employees who work or seek work in these firms. Areas of the south east are typically inhabited by low and semi-skilled workers who are forced to seek work away from where they live. This is because their areas are economically inactive and do not offer much prospects for development or employment in the current situation. We find that prospective employees or those already employed have to endure lengthy and expensive commutes to work on a daily basis. The city transport system, which includes bus, train and taxis, seems to be still largely inefficient and does not serve these employees well, or is not readily accessible in all the areas it is needed. The research was conducted in the industrial areas of Montague Gardens, Blackheath, Paarden Island, Epping Industria, Airport Industria and Phillipi. These areas were chosen because being industrial areas they would typically have a large number of low to semiskilled workers employed in their firms. Unlike professional or service related firms who would typically employ more qualified or educated (in terms of tertiary qualifications) workers. An interview schedule was prepared and we went to these areas and interviewed which ever firms agreed to it. The firms in the area were chosen in no specific way, we literally went for door to door asking for participants. The research was qualitative in nature, the interview questions were detailed and in depth (see appendices for actual schedule) and lasted for about 20m ins depending on the amount of time the interviewees were willing to spare. The results were analysed by comparing the reasons for relocating amongst each firm, the aim was to try and decipher what were the driving factors of this spatial shift and what implications it had for employees who had to endure these commutes. The significant findings are that the relocation or the move towards the north is driven by the availability of land or space and price. The north seems to offer more affordable premises and much more land, thus more value for money. There are adequate parking and storage facilities. Firms hardly considered workers in their search for new locations. Further south east employees are not left out of potential employment because of their physical distance from these economic nodes, most employees have managed to organise themselves and get to work, even with an unbalanced transport system.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-127). / The metal and engineering industry is one of the most significant contributors to South Africa’s manufacturing employment and economic performance. In recent times though debate regarding the industry has centered on reported critical skills shortages, alluding to decreased employment and performance. Studies confirmed that skills shortages at artisan, technical, engineering and management levels existed with artisans representing the most critical skills shortage in the industry. This study evaluates the nature and extent of skills development taking place in a sample of metal and engineering firms located in the industry’s most significant province, Gauteng. Research was conducted through interviews with skills development representatives from a non-randomly selected sample of firms belonging to three categories in the metals beneficiation value chain, namely: raw material processing firms; intermediate product producing firms and finished product producing firms.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-85). / This dissertation attempts to give a better understanding of how the different social environments in Cape Town and Johannesburg influence organisational culture at The Company and how this impacts on the ways that black African managers navigate borders and negotiate identity in the workplace. The hypothesis of this study is that race and 'laid-backness' are key differentiating factors between The Company in Cape Town and in Johannesburg. This is a descriptive case study that mixes both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collecting and analysing data, however it is primarily a qualitative study. The study focuses on two branches of the same company. 43 out of a total of 138 black African managers were surveyed and 22 of these were interviewed. The selection was a good cross-section of all middle and senior black African managers, as well as from both genders. A questionnaire comprising of a 21-point values survey and a series of open-ended unstructured and structured questions was used in the quantitative data collection process. A semi-structured interview schedule was used in the qualitative data collection process. The qualitative data was analysed using Miles and Huberman's (2004) two-level coding process with the assistance of Nvivo and the quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics with the assistance of Statistica.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-81). / This exploratory study aimed to investigate the role that design houses play in the Cape Town clothing value chain of production. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants, buyers in clothing retail companies, heads of design rooms in design houses, and homeworkers. Findings reveal that design houses act as intermediaries between retailers and clothing manufacturers or between retailers and homeworkers. In their latter role design houses are forging links between the informal and formal clothing economy. As in buyer-driven chains of production, retailers in the clothing value chain wield a substantial amount of power in determining prices. It was found that design houses are not completely powerless in their relationship with retailers, in fact, they posses knowledge that enables them to bargain over prices. The relationship between design houses and homeworkers was found to be an oppressive one, with homeworkers possessing little to no bargaining power. The increase in the number of design houses in Cape Town has assisted in the survival of the industry in the face of a number of difficulties. The continued presence of design houses creates the potential for development in the industry.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-69). / The south east and cape flats regions of Cape Town is home to abundant supplies of cheap and available unskilled labour. With the awareness that Cape Town may be slowly following the developmental path of Johannesburg and many other cities of the world, as decentralization, suburbanization, and the overall processes of economic 'tertiarisation' and urban transformation encompass the entire structure and culture of the city, we wonder about how the cities unskilled workforces are faring. Development has focused on the north of the city while the south east has been bypassed, causing residents to have to travel far out to find jobs and work. There is a clear spatial mismatch between places of work and places of residence for the workers of the South east, and overcoming this disconnection is challenged further by an inefficient and expensive public transport service, upon which they are fully dependent. By way of the interviews with businesses from various industrial areas in Cape Town, this thesis shows that many owners and management do not place much importance on where their workers, in particular unskilled and semi-skilled manual workers live and how they travel. It seems that when choosing a location for their businesses, size, price, and availability may limit owners' options of location choice and interviews reveal that owners may be responding to rather than driving development. Findings reveal that unskilled manual workers typically reside in the south east, while business owners, management and other white collar workers typically live in the northern and southern suburbs, as well as other central areas. Furthermore, transport patterns were evaluated and it is clear that the unskilled workers rely heavily on public transport while higher skilled occupational groups either have their own car, or are part of lift-clubs. The problem of a spatial mismatch is clearly skewed towards workers of the south east who rely on public transport, by intensifying the burdens of commuting times and costs. A further finding is that many businesses resort to highly informal methods of recruitment, such as word-of-mouth and internal referral techniques, revealing the significance of social networks in gaining access to job opportunities. This is especially important for workers trying to find employment in areas outside of the traditional economic nodes as it is expensive to commute to those areas regularly in search of employment. Having access to those businesses through employed family members, neighbours and relatives, is therefore critical.

This research focused on the question, How do practitioners understand the transfer of competence (that is, what do they know and can do) accross different workplace contexts and how does it influence their practice? The research investigates the experiences and perceptions of 108 workers, who have changed jobs or whose jobs have changed, as to how they were able to adapt what they knew and could do at the time. The research is phenomological, using a methodology designed to collect and analyse data from the participants without decontextualising it. The methodology is customised and contextualised and uses activity theory, Engestrom's theory of expansive learning, grounded theory and discourse analysis to interrogate the research question. The collection of data occurred over a period of five years and was in two stages, with the second stage validating and building on the first stage. Minimally structured interviews and a questionnare were the main data collec tion tools used. Some descriptive statistics have been used but the research is qualitative in intent. The research draws on current theoretical positions of learning, transfer, experimental learning, workplace learning, activity theory, qualitative research and reflection on experience. The thesis has been written to foreground the voices of the participants and the insights their experience brings to the research. The research addresses a current gap in research work, carried out in Australia or overseas, which focuses on the transfer of competence across workplaces. The outcomes provide new perspectives on the ways in which practitioners understand transfer and integrate these interpretations into their generalisation without decontextualisation, and thus makes a contribution to our collective knowledge and understanding. The outcomes of the research are a metaphoric framework to guide the transfer of competence over different work contexts; a record of the application of new understandings of transfer as a sequence of consequential transitions (Beach 1999); generalisations derived from the embedding of contexts (Van Oers 1998); and an innovative research methodology. In addition, the participants have provided their perspectives on the preperation of, and on-going support for, people entering or crossing workplace contexts, and the consequential, necessary changes to institutional learning.

Syftet med denna forskningsöversikt var att undersöka vad aktuell forskning säger om hur en kompetensutveckling kan införas i en organisation för att få resultat/effekter för medarbetare på individ, grupp- och organisationsnivå. Detta utifrån den föränderliga värld vi lever i idag där organisationer står inför ständiga förändringar. Forskningsöversikten gjordes utefter 10 vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultaten visade att det är viktigt att inventera kompetensen i organisationen och göra en planering. Även kommunikation och reflektion sågs som framgångsfaktorer.

This research investigates generational differences in Australian workers. In particular it focuses on changing trends and influences in the workplace and how different generations view and deal with these changes. The study focuses on Baby Boomers (born 1945-1963), Generation X (born 1964-1977) and Generation Y (born 1978 - 1994) across four industry sectors: Corporate, Education, Government and Not for Profit. The Australian workforce currently consists of four generations - all having distinct characteristics, working styles, needs and expectations. These differences pose challenges and opportunities to workforce management. The first step in managing the generations and their differences is to identify where the differences lie and to understand how best to cope with and exploit these differences. This research, in taking a generational cohort perspective towards analysing the modern workplace, seeks to explore how the different generations view the trends and influences that impact their work; and their attitudes towards technology, communication, work/life balance, organisational loyalty, attraction, engagement and retention. The study uses a multi-phase qualitative approach and includes in-depth interviews with a range of Australian industry experts; discussion groups held with Gen Ys, Gen Xers and Baby Boomer employees, in four organisations across four industry sectors; and in-depth interviews with senior executives in the same four organisations. This research will have significance to all organisations especially those that employ workers from across the generations and who are managing a multigenerational workforce. The findings will have practical application to organisational policy development in areas such as, work/life balance, attraction, engagement and retention of employees, reward and recognition systems, technology in the workplace and training and development. The study adds to the body of knowledge in workforce management, and in particular to the emerging body of knowledge on generational cohort analysis of the workplace in the Australian context. The study found significant generational differences that when harnessed and managed effectively, can contribute to the output and performance of the organisation as a whole.

Denna studie handlar om ledarens erfarenhet av förändringsarbete i förskolan. Undersökningen tar reda på förskolechefens syn på medarbetarnas delaktighet i förändringen samt vilka faktorer som påverkar genomförandet med anknytning till medarbetarnas lärande och utveckling. En kvalitativ metod har använts där sex stycken förskolechefer i intervju har berättat om sina erfarenheter. Resultatet visar att medarbetarna behöver förstå och se meningen med förändringen, dess syfte och mål för att kunna verkställa själva genomförandeprocessen. Faktorer som påverkar medarbetarnas engagemang i förändringsprocessen är kommunikation, känsla av delaktighet och samarbete. Det framkommer att ledaren har en betydande roll i förändringsarbete. Förskolechefen behöver skapa förutsättningar både ekonomiska och organisatoriska för att medarbetarna ska kunna fullfölja förändringen.

The fluctuation of nursing staff in the medical facilities is not just current problem in the Czech Republic. Aging population will present higher demand for number of nursing staff. It is assumed that the insufficient number of nursing staff will remain and even rise (also due to aging of the staff) if appropriate actions are not taken (Simoens et al., 2005). This thesis discusses the decision to migrate amongst the nursing staff - general nurses, practical nurses, midwives, and emergency paramedics within the medical facility. It analyses the reasons for changing their workplace. The investigation was executed using the questionnaire method. It was conducted in January and February of 2020 in the selected medical facility in the Czech Republic. Total of 701 questionnaires were distributed to all inpatient wards, outpatient departments and intensive care units. The investigation targeted nursing medical staff. A statistical analysis of the results was performed Mann-Whitney U test was used to monitor the differences for decision to migrate based on various characteristics and responses. Total of 415 completed questionnaires were analysed in this investigation. 61/415 (14.7 %) responders consider the change of workplace. The most common nursing staff members to consider the change were general...