Browsing by Author "Ronnie, Linda"
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- ItemOpen AccessAcademics’ Organisational Identification and Commitment: Influences of Perceptions of Organisational Support and Reputation(2018) Shrand, Beverly Celia; Ronnie, Linda“Affective commitment” and “organisational identification” represent psychological relationships between employees and their organisations. These constructs are established predictors of turnover intentions, performance, and other desirable work outcomes. This study investigated the affective commitment and organisational identification of academics. It was argued that there is a strong need to understand how to nurture academics’ identification with, and commitment to, their institutions, since changes in the higher education sector have profoundly — and mostly adversely — impacted their work lives. Two specific status-related constructs are known to influence both identification and commitment: “perceived organisational support”, representing an informal status or internal respect, and “perceived external reputation”, a proxy for externally derived status. It was hypothesised that both these constructs would positively impact on affective commitment, and organisational identification, respectively. In addition to these direct effects, the study considered the mediation effects of organisational identification in the relationship between the two proposed predictors and affective commitment. Underpinned by social exchange theory, the social identity approach, as well as the group engagement model, the study contributes to research that seeks to understand how these theories complement each other and provide alternative mechanisms for explaining employee-organisation relationships. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used to answer the research questions. An online survey of permanent academics at one South African university generated 215 responses. This was followed by a qualitative phase, conducted with a subset of the survey respondents, comprising 15 semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Supporting the relevant hypotheses, perceived organisational support was found to influence affective commitment, both directly, and indirectly via organisational identification. However, contrary to expectations, perceived external reputation was found neither to impact on organisational identification, and nor on affective commitment in the presence of perceived organisational support. The qualitative insights revealed how each construct manifested in the context of the study, enriching the explanation of the results. Using the integrated findings, a new conceptual model of perceived organisational support, organisational identification, and affective commitment was proposed, incorporating potential influencing factors for each construct. It was suggested that university leadership would be well-advised to pay relatively more attention to the internal status that is conveyed to academics via perceptions of support from their institution, than to managing perceptions of the institution’s external reputation.
- ItemOpen AccessEmbodying virtue in employment: Exploring the employment experiences of people with disabilities(2018) Bam, Armand; Ronnie, LindaResearch on the employment experiences of people with disabilities (PWD), on a global level, is limited. While South Africa has a well-defined legislative framework that has been determined in consultation with disabled people's organisations, compliance with legislation appears to have failed to ensure that employment targets are met, or rather, it has overlooked the underemployment of PWD. As a response to the challenges, this study explored the employment experiences of PWD. A qualitative, explorative, multiple case study approach was employed. Twelve participants were selected using a purposive technique. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and provided insight into how PWD viewed their world. The interviews were supplemented through document analyses, and various modes of observation provided additional insight into each of the cases. The process of analysing the interview data followed an inductive approach during which three broad themes were identified. Factors influencing Employment elaborated on the participants' pre-employment experiences of gaining access to employment, which were shown to be impacted by various environmental barriers. Early Experiences of Inclusion at the Workplace established that induction and orientation processes were opportunities for educating co-workers about disability. However, the disclosure of disability did not guarantee improved employment experiences for the research participants. Feeling part of a team promoted early experiences of acceptance. Accommodation in the Workplace determined that PWD's accommodation requests were often evaluated and considered in terms of the costs to employers, and primarily focused on technology to improve their productivity. The need for personal assistance for the PWD in the study was found to be unavoidable. A conceptual model is presented as an alternative framework. It offers insight into how to improve disabled individuals' employment experiences to organisations and their management, and people with disabilities themselves. The model suggests that organisations operating from within a virtue framework can facilitate equal opportunities for employees. Organisations are to be more competitive, innovative and creative, and improve their sustainability. The experiences of PWD could be improved through establishing working communities within organisations as these distribute decisionmaking. The climate for organisational inclusion could also be improved by the working community's ability to redefine work and equip PWD appropriately, thereby promoting organisational citizenship, with benefits to both the organisation and individual.
- ItemOpen AccessEntrepreneurship education courses across multidisciplinary programmes at a South African university of technology: educator and student perspectives(2018) Price, Kariema; Ronnie, LindaResearch in the field of entrepreneurship education suggested the need for more studies that focus on the characteristics of the pathways to entrepreneurship education. Previous empirical work in this field has largely been driven by uncovering the link between entrepreneurship education and its impact on students, while fewer researchers have focused on the alignment between the components that constitute entrepreneurship education. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the contextual factors affecting entrepreneurship courses (design and delivery) and their subsequent effects on student perceptions of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education across multidisciplinary programmes within a higher education institution. A key aspect of this study was to determine whether students across disciplines were inspired and stimulated by the content and pedagogical aspects of their courses. In this mixed method convergent parallel design study, the qualitative component consisted of semi-structured interviews, presenting the narrative of ten educators teaching in entrepreneurship education. For the quantitative component, survey questionnaires were administered to a sample of 640 students across multidisciplinary programmes at a higher education institution. These surveys were designed to capture the student perceptions of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education, as well as their experience of the entrepreneurship course. Key findings of this research identified four factors affecting entrepreneurship education courses within the higher education institution as those of: course design and delivery; institutional impact; educator aspect and the student aspect. Analysis of the student aspect established the influence of contextual factors affecting student perception including: employment aspirations; prior exposure to entrepreneurship education; socio-cultural influence; employment confidence and student experience of the course. This study proposed a conceptual model presenting a framework for teaching in entrepreneurship that highlights the need for an alignment between the factors affecting entrepreneurship education. This conceptual framework therefore provides a map for (a) higher education institutions aiming to implement entrepreneurship education without assimilating its entrepreneurial flavour, (b) curriculum designers of multi-disciplinary programmes and course planners of entrepreneurship education, and (c) educators in entrepreneurship education aiming to develop not only their teaching practice in this field but also enhance their career trajectory in an fast evolving field of education. Firstly, this study contributes to the growing field of research in entrepreneurship education as it is offered within the higher education system, particularly in South Africa where keen efforts are directed at improving and developing this field through current and ongoing initiatives and implementation plans. Secondly, this research also offers an insight into the challenges faced by educators teaching in entrepreneurship, the positioning of entrepreneurship education courses, particularly within multidisciplinary programmes taught at university level and the dynamic of the student input factor. Considering these insights could provide opportunities for improving entrepreneurship education curricula within the higher education institution, not only from a course design perspective but also in the way courses are delivered. Further expectations from this research would be to promote the status of institutionalised entrepreneurship education courses within the higher education community and to acknowledge the written and unwritten role and expectations of educators in this field. This should encourage opportunities for faculty training and development in entrepreneurial learning, benefitting both educator and student.
- ItemOpen AccessThe experiences of people with disabilities during their integration and retention into employment in South Africa(2013) McKinney, Emma Louise; Amosun, Seyi L; Ronnie, LindaThe aim of this thesis is to identify the employment integration and retention experiences of people with disabilities in South Africa. The objectives of the study are to examine factors that influence these experiences. These factors include the time of onset of a person’s disability, the education the person received, the integration and retention phases of employment and attitudes towards disability in the workplace.
- ItemOpen AccessThe contribution of mentorship as an entrepreneurial learning mechanism for South African entrepreneurs(2019) Johnston, Kathryn; Ronnie, LindaExisting research in the field of mentorship as a mechanism for entrepreneurial learning suggests a requirement for more studies. Previous empirical research in the field has predominantly focussed on the workplace context and not the entrepreneur. The current research available in the field of entrepreneurial mentorship and its contribution to the business success of entrepreneurs is even more limited in the South African context. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the perceived contribution that mentorship makes as a vehicle for learning and development for South African entrepreneurs. In this mixed methods triangulation parallel design study, the qualitative component encompassed semi-structured interviews, presenting the narrative of twelve South African franchise principals who were entrepreneurs. The quantitative component consisted of an online survey which received responses from 35 business consultants. The surveys were created to capture perceptions of mentorship and what aspects were considered as important variables in the mentor-mentee match. Key findings of this research were that mentorship was perceived to contribute to entrepreneurs' personal and business success. The sample highlighted that the nature of the contribution of mentorship was related to business management support and/or psychosocial support. The study found that the entrepreneurs perceived the mentor's experience and performance track as vital to the success of the mentor-mentee match and that it was critical that there was respect, trust and honesty in the relationship. This study contributes to the growing field of research in mentorship specifically in the context of entrepreneurial learning. This is critical in South Africa where there is an absolute need for an improved state of entrepreneurship and therefore efforts must be made to create the support to improve this current situation. The research also offers insight into variables that should be considered when matching a mentor and mentee to increase the likelihood of success of the mentorship. The results of this research could potentially be used in the construction of a mentorship network for entrepreneurs with a mentor-mentee matching system that takes these insights into account. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Learning, Mentorship and Entrepreneurial Mentorship
- ItemOpen AccessTransforming habitus? : experiences of mature students in a higher education institution(2008) Ronnie, Linda; Jacklin, HeatherThis study explores the experiences of mature adults returning to study at a higher education institution. The aims of the research focus on the complicated and complex ways in which dispositions of class, embodied in the habitus, shape opportunities, choices and experiences of a group of mature students enrolled at a school of management studies within a higher education institution. The study focuses on the reasons these mature adults returned to study, the strategies they employed to cope with the academic demands and related expectations during their year of study, and the effects and consequences of the higher education experience on their relationships with significant others in their lives. The study foregrounds class and its role in mediating the choices, actions and experiences of mature students through drawing on Bourdieu’s conceptual toolkit of habitus, capital and field.