OpenUCT :: Browsing by Subject "Organisational Psychology"

Browsing by Subject "Organisational Psychology"

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Open Access
A qualitative study of team-based self-management in a Southern African organization
(2003) Sibanda, Babusi Michael; Horwitz, Frank
A Southern African (Zimbabwean) nickel refinery's team-based employee involvement initiative is studied using a qualitative, single case design with the objective of describing, understanding and characterising a Self Directed Work Team's experience in its context. It is found, through a variety of triangulated case study methods, that the selected team's work, and its members' perception of it, have changed significantly from traditional 'foreman supervised' and ' gang-leader driven' organization to relatively informed decision making, objective driven, multi-skilled teamwork. Findings are analysed in the light of international and Southern African literature and case studies of enterprise level, team-based employee involvement in work related decision making. Context considerations, in understanding the team and its potential for self direction were found to be pervasive. The initiative was found to be part of a bundle of complementary interventions that top management perceived to be organizational survival imperatives. Successful implementation was largely limited to the Smelter and Refinery Business Units (BSR Ltd) which were led by a succession of dynamic and committed senior line managers. The failure to diffuse the initiative to the rest of the organization (the organization's mining division) was blamed on the departure of the key sponsor as well as wider corporate and societal systemic constraints. The contextualised study suggests ways of seeing, and possibly going beyond the claimed and real constraints.
Open Access
Absenteeism among public health nurses : does commitment matter?
(2006) Ramsay, Nadine; Bagraim, Jeffrey
This study explored the relationship between absenteeism and commitment (affective, continuance and normative commitment) as directed towards the organisation, co-workers and the nursing profession. Job satisfaction, job involvement, career stage and the absence culture were examined as moderators of the relationship between absenteeism and commitment. The sample comprised of 227 public sector nurses (54% response rate) from 11 day clinics and hospitals within the Western Cape Metropolitan District Health Services of South Africa. Affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organisation were not directly related to absenteeism, although interactions between these commitment components were significant predictors of absenteeism. Affective commitment to co-workers did not significantly explain absenteeism. However, affective commitment to the nursing profession explained significant variance in nurse absenteeism both directly and through the moderation effects of the absence culture of the workplace and the profession. Job satisfaction, job involvement and career stage of the nurses did not moderate the absenteeism-commitment relationship. The contributions of the study are discussed and recommendations for future research are made.
Open Access
Actuarial resources in high demand, what makes them stay?
(2018) Muzondo, Lyn Nyasha; Goodman, Suki
The shortage of qualified actuaries and actuarial science resources in general, remains a challenge for organisations operating in the South African financial and insurance sectors. Access to such resources are a business imperative for these organisations and, therefore, there is a compelling business case to better understand which total rewards elements contribute most to the retention of individuals that possess these critical and also scarce skills. Furthermore, it would seem that traditional strategies that are meant to retain actuaries and/or actuarial science resources are no longer effective and new and innovative approaches in terms of their design and implementation need to be found. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to investigate the retention of actuarial resources and identify the total rewards elements that will be most useful in creating the conditions that are conducive for them to stay within their respective organisations. Limited research in which the total rewards elements that may contribute most to the retention of actuarial resources, could be found. Greater insight in this area will hopefully enable organisations to develop reward policies and practices that are able to more effectively attract and retain actuarial resources. A descriptive research design and quantitative approach was employed to estimate the total rewards preferences of actuaries, in other words which reward elements they would prefer and that may be related to their intention to stay. Using a non-probability convenience sampling approach, primary data was collected by means of an online field survey (n = 135). The questionnaire that was used to collect data, included a total rewards sub-scale (21 items), a reward preferences sub-scale based on best-worst scaling (10 items), a job satisfaction subscale (6 items), an intention to stay sub-scale (4 items), an affective commitment sub-scale (6 items) and a single open-ended question, which was optional. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, assessing reliability using Cronbach’s alpha and conducting inferential statistics. The results of the factor analysis indicated that the total rewards dimensions do not influence intention to stay of the participants. Although job satisfaction and affective commitment were found to be significantly positively related to intention to stay, these variables were not found to mediate the relationship between total reward elements and intention to stay. The best-worst scaling results revealed that all participants considered remuneration and career advancement to be the most important total reward element for their intention to stay. For all generational groups, the bottom three reward elements (i.e. ranked) were learning opportunities, performance recognition and employee benefits, respectively. Traditional reward elements are important to employees with scarce skills. However, customizing reward preferences according to the generational preferences would enable an innovative approach to talent retention of actuarial resources.
Open Access
An evaluation for the Therapeutic Learning Centre: A child inpatient and day-patient psychiatric unit in Cape Town, South Africa
(2019) Nicholson, Lee; Duffy, Carren
There are value and importance for inpatient and day-patient psychiatric units, particularly for children and adolescents. These facilities, which are scarcely established in South Africa, offer multidisciplinary and multifaceted treatment to persons experiencing varying symptoms and conditions of mental illness. This dissertation presents the findings of an implementation evaluation conducted for the Therapeutic Learning Centre (TLC), a child inpatient psychiatric unit in Rondebosch, Cape Town. The evaluation aimed to compare the TLC’s service and programme implementation with international standards. The Quality Network for Inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (QNIC) checklist was used to assess the TLC on seven focused categories of service and implementation quality. Data were provided from selected TLC team members, which included mental health practitioners from various fields (e.g., psychology, psychiatry and social work to name a few). Overall, the programme established within the TLC was found to be implemented with fair fidelity when compared to the international unit standards. Most unit standards required and expected to be carried out by an inpatient unit were found to be satisfied by the TLC. There are, however, key aspects of the unit’s environment and facilities, staffing and training, care and treatment, and clinical governance that were highlighted as needing improvement. While the research yielded mostly positive results, the evaluator was able to make several recommendations to the TLC stakeholders. This evaluation contributes to limited research and implementation evaluations within the context of child inpatient psychiatric units. Furthermore, the findings are intended to support the promotion of quality psychiatric and behavioural treatment and mental health service policy in these units within South Africa.
Open Access
An Investigation into the Relationship between Workplace Friendships, Affective Organisational Commitment, Helping Behaviour, and Intention to Stay
(2023) Van Der Horst, Megan; Schlechter, Anton
Orientation: In order to effectively engage in the so-called ‘war for talent', organisations need to understand the various factors which result in desirable organisational outcomes, such as those related to employee engagement and retention. As human beings are inherently social, their access to and experience of workplace friendships may introduce the various emotional, cognitive and behavioural benefits associated with friendships in one's personal life to the workplace. Research Purpose: To conduct an empirical study using a sample obtained from the general working population to investigate the direct relationship between workplace friendships and intention to stay, as well as the indirect relationship mediated by helping behaviour and affective organisational commitment. Rationale for the Study: Developing a better understanding of the relationship between workplace friendships and employees' intention to stay may assist organisations in putting interventions in place to increase employees' intention to stay, ultimately reducing employee turnover. Despite compelling evidence that having a friend at work holds several potential benefits for both individuals (e.g., lower levels of stress) and organisations (e.g., improved job and organisational performance), approximately 40% of employees report not having a friend in the workplace. Therefore, there is room for an investigation into this phenomenon which, although seemingly scarce, holds the potential to provide various benefits to both individual employees and organisations. Method: A descriptive research design and quantitative cross-sectional research approach were employed to investigate the direct relationship between workplace friendships and intention to stay and the indirect relationships mediated by helping behaviour and affective organisational commitment. Based on evidence found in the literature, personality was considered an important extraneous or confounding variable in these relationships, and, therefore, the analyses were conducted both by controlling for personality and not. An online questionnaire was designed, and judgement sampling was employed to collect data across the general working population (n = 216). The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analyses and multiple regression analyses. Main Findings: A significant positive relationship was found between workplace friendships and intention to stay. It was further found that affective organisational commitment significantly mediated the indirect relationship between workplace friendships and intention to stay. The indirect relationship mediated by helping behaviour was not found to be significant. Workplace friendships and helping behaviours were, however, found to be significantly correlated with one another. Furthermore, albeit slightly weaker, statistically significant relationships between the constructs of interest were found after controlling for personality. Contribution: The current study has contributed to organisational behaviour literature on the role of, and associated benefits of, workplace friendships for both employees, as well as organisations, being an antecedent of intention to stay, affective organisational commitment and helping behaviour. Importantly, by considering the confounding role of personality on the relationships of interest and viewing personality as a covariant, the current study further contributes to the literature by considering the above-mentioned relationships while controlling for the effect of personality. Furthermore, the current study's findings may be pertinent to human resource management practitioners, general managers, and industrial/organisational psychologists in pursuit of the various benefits associated with workplace friendships. These results will, hopefully, be used to make recommendations to organisations on how they could encourage the establishment and maintenance of workplace friendships, as well as the benefits thereof, in such that workplace friendships become a positive contributor to employee wellbeing and organisational effectiveness. Recommendations for Future Studies: The current study illuminates several additional questions which could be addressed in future studies, such as, why employees do not make friends at work to the same extent that they do in their personal lives. Furthermore, the impact of Covid-19-related changes on how employees work and interact should be investigated by researching workplace friendships in alignment with employees working in a hybrid or fully remote arrangement. Whether the associated benefits deem the associated efforts of each friendship type worthwhile, as well as negative individual and organisational outcomes or consequences of workplace friendships should also be addressed by future studies to gain a more holistic understanding of the potential costs and benefits of workplace friendships. The inclusion of a qualitative component to the research, could allow future researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that relate to the constructs of interest. Finally, future research should investigate variables of interest across different countries, cultures and contexts to contribute to literature and expand the understanding of these relationships in the workplace. Managerial Implications: By developing organisational strategies aimed at creating opportunities for friendships formation and nurturing such friendships once formed, employers may be able to increase the presence of helping behaviour, as well as the level of affective organisational commitment among employees, ultimately increasing talent retention and mitigating the direct and indirect turnover-related costs.
Open Access
An analysis of role stress and turnover intention
(2008) Abrahams, Eloise Magareth; Goodman, Suki
The primary purpose of the study was to analyse the relationship between role stress and turnover intention among registered professional nurses in three public academic hospitals in the Western Cape. It further examined the dimensions of role stress to establish a hierarchy of these variables as experienced by the sample population. Role stress comprised of the following dimensions: role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, resources inadequacy, skills inadequacy and constant change.
Open Access
The anchoring and adjustment heuristic in unstructured interviews: an experimental study
(2014) Pienaar, Chelsey Ellen; De Kock, Francois
The presence of anchoring and adjustment within structured interviews has been widely observed in research over the years. However, the unstructured interview is a more extensively used selection tool than the structured interview, making it important to understand anchoring and adjustment in the unstructured interview setting. The present study investigated the presence of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic in unstructured interviews using a between-subjects, post-test only experimental design. The sample consisted of 78 managers and human resource personnel from various organisations. Subjects were required to watch a short video of an unstructured interview, and then provide an overall rating of the candidate's communication skills. Subjects were divided into high, low, and control conditions. A high, low, or no anchor was provided in the question asking subjects to rate the video candidate. Results indicated that anchoring and adjustment does not occur in simulated unstructured interviews. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.
Open Access
Anticipated work-family conflict amongst Commerce students at the University of Cape Town (UCT)
(2009) Harrison, Elisabet; Bagraim, Jeffrey
Students who do not yet experience the demands of balancing the dual roles or work and family anticipate the conflict that the multiple role combination may entail. Anticipated work-family conflict (AWFC) was studied amongst a sample of 962 students from the Commerce Faculty at the University of Cape 'lawn (UCT). Based on social-cognitive theory maternal employment, parental role-sharing and parental education levels were investigated as social antecedents to AWFC. Sell-efficacy to manage future work-family conflict, positive affect and negative affect were proposed as personal antecedents to AWFC. Outcome variables examined in relation to AWFC: were career-altering strategies and family-altering strategies. No significant relationship was found between social antecedents and AWFC. Self-efficacy to manage future work-family conflict and negative affect significantly predicted AWFC whilst positive affect did not predict AWFC significantly in the regression model. In addition, students who anticipate work-family conflict in their future reduce their career aspirations and the number of children they intend to have, whilst not the age at which they intend to start a family. Male students were found to have significantly higher AWFC than female students. Data was obtained through a self-report questionnaire. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Open Access
Applying a model of technology trust to the implementation of a student administration system at a university
(2006) Van der Westhuizen, J Wilhelm; Louw-Potgieter, Joha
This study tested the generalisability of a model of technology trust in human resource information systems (Lippert & Swiercz, 2005) to non-HRIS system implementations. The strength and direction of the relationship of four of the tenconstructs identified by Lippert and Swiercz were examined in a South African environment. The implementation of the PeopleSoft student administration system at the University of Cape Town was researched. Regression analysis showed that a very high percentage (57.6% ) of the dependent variable (technology trust) could beexplained by the variable technology usability. The construct, predisposition to trust, had an insignificant contribution, while organisational trust (10.7%) and organisational culture (19.1%) were the other two constructs that were researched. The relationship between technology trust and implementation success was significant with r = +0.75.
Open Access
Applying the contact hypothesis to a study of intergroup relations in a postgraduate class at a South African university
(2008) Bonhomme, L; Louw-Potgieter, Joha; Nunez, David
Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-61).
Open Access
Are we better at judging traits we share with targets? : rater personality, trait accessibility and judgement accuracy
(2015) Gierdien, Zubeida; De Kock, Francois
Researchers and practitioners in the personnel selection and assessment field are interested in understanding the characteristics of a good rater. However, few studies have so far examined raters’ personality traits and trait accessibility as predictors of accuracy. The present study investigated the relationship between these individual difference constructs and judgement accuracy for specific traits. Respondents from a field sample (N = 223) of managers and staff employed in financial services completed the survey questionnaire and rated the personalities of five hypothetical interview applicants depicted in vignettes. Our results showed that raters’ personality traits and judgement accuracy for corresponding target traits were unrelated. In other words, raters were not more accurate at judging traits they shared with targets. However, we found that certain personality traits such as agreeableness and openness to experience were related to trait accessibility for the same trait-raters high on these traits also tended to perceive others in terms of them. In addition, accessibility for certain traits such as extroversion and openness to experience predicted judgement accuracy for the same traits. Therefore, these findings enrich our understanding of rater individual differences that may affect judgement accuracy.
Open Access
Attitudes to multiple role planning (ATMRP) among engineering students
(2012) Marais, Ilde; Jaga, Ameeta; Bagraim, Jeffrey
This study examined attitudes toward multiple role planning (ATMRP) amongst engineering students in South Africa (N = 146). ATMRP is an individual’s attitude or orientation toward planning for future involvement with work and family. Individuals with a more realistic attitude toward multiple role involvement are more likely to successfully manage a multiple role lifestyle. Exploratory factor analysis showed the multidimensionality of the ATMRP scale. The five dimensions were knowledge/certainty, commitment, independence, involvement and flexibility/compromise. The study examined the influence of cultural orientation i.e. gender role ideology, allocentrism and ideocentrism on their attitude toward planning for future work and family roles.
Open Access
Attitudinal differences between managers and students on certain work-family issues
(2010) Fouche, Andrea; Bagraim, Jeffrey
This study compares the similarities and differences in the attitudes of managers and students towards work-family issues such as the locus of responsibility for managing this interface, the perceived impact that children have on a working mother's career and traditional sex role stereotypes regarding women at work. Participants were 103 final year finance university students and 56 managers from three of the top accounting organisations in the Western Cape. There were strong significant attitudinal differences across gender, but few differences between managers and students. The most important contribution of this study is the understanding gained about the work-family attitudes of both male and female managers and future managers (current students) within the financial industry.
Open Access
“Authenticating” the Role of Authentic Leadership: Examining its Relationship with Trust in the Leader, Psychological Sense of Community and Engagement in the Virtual & Hybrid Workplace
(2023) Mamaregane, Thato; Meyer, Ines
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has changed the trajectory of the working world. As the world learnt to socially distance, the working world shifted to a virtual setting. Individuals who had to perform this shift had to adjust without preparation. Individuals leading teams, for example, often knew how to do so in face-to-face interactions while in physical proximity to others but might not have known what successful leadership would require in virtual or, later, hybrid (partly virtual, partly physical) workspaces. This dissertation considered one leadership style, authentic leadership, and its relationship with employees' work engagement through their trust in their leader because past research found relationships between these variables in a physical working environment. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to understand whether these results still stand in a virtual and hybrid work environment. Research with individuals working in office settings has shown that these variables are related. It tests the assumption that the same relationships apply in the virtual workspace but that, here, an additional variable is of importance. In the virtual space, a psychological sense of community is required for authentic leadership to create engagement via trust in the leader. To test the assumption, a descriptive, quantitative study was conducted. N = 160 employees who worked virtually or in a hybrid setting worldwide completed a survey including established scales to measure the four psychological constructs of interest. Employees who perceived their leader as authentic had greater cognitive and affective trust in their leader, but neither cognitive nor affective trust predicted work engagement. The expected mediation effect was thus not found. A psychological sense of community was found to moderate the relationship between perceived authentic leadership and one aspect of work engagement (absorption|dedication) but not the vigour aspect of work engagement. The results highlight that the relationships between work related attitudes and behaviour might differ in virtual workspaces than when working face to face. The exploration of the four hypotheses determined that the research questions were not supported. However, this research is relevant as it explored employees' insights into hybrid or virtual workplaces, as many more organisations have migrated their working environments to these spaces.
Open Access
Birds of a feather flock together race versus gender preference in the South African workplace
(2012) Hansen, Marion; Meyer, Ines
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.
Open Access
The breakdown of the Will: motivation, self-regulation and Adult Basic Education and Training
(2013) Katjimune, Retuura; Dellis, Andrew
Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical refences.
Open Access
Breastfeeding as foodwork in the workplace among black, low-income women in South Africa
(2022) Farista, Feranaaz; Jaga, Ameeta
Return to work is cited as a key reason for women ceasing breastfeeding due to the conflict between the labour of bodywork required for jobs, and breastfeeding as a labour of foodwork. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 33 black low-income mothers in Cape Town, South Africa, this study gives meaning to the labour of foodwork that these mothers perform. The data were analysed through an intersectional analytic lens to understand how race, class, and gender shape foodwork experiences. The study findings underscored the struggles, exacerbated by financial constraints, that low-income women endured balancing the demands of being a good mother and a good worker. Four key themes emerged that illustrate the compromised ability to enact foodwork: (1) foodwork experiences and precarity in the workplace, (2) structural inequalities and foodwork, (3) gender norms and social class: shaping child care and foodwork and, (4) local knowledges and foodwork. With these findings, recommendations for improving workplace support for low-income mothers foodwork activities are presented.
Open Access
Change and the perception of psychological breach : a case study of the impact of change on the psychological contract of senior managers in an acquired organisation
(2000) Pastor, Carmelita; Sully, Max; Hill, Anthony
With the entrance of South Africa into the global market, companies are facing enormous challenges in competing in a constantly changing environment. Organisations are using strategies such as mergers and acquisitions to ensure their survival. The impact of these organisational changes on employees is high, and the need to understand how employees deal with these changes is critical. The aim of this research study was to discover whether senior managers experience changes that result from the acquisition of their company as a breach of their psychological contract. An embedded case study design was deemed appropriate due to the need to understand the experience of change over a period of time from the perspective of the subjects. Seven senior managers were selected to be part of the longitudinal study, and three indepth interviews were conducted with each of the subjects over a period of six months. The results confirm that psychological contracts are dynamic and resilient in nature. Though changes were perceived as breach of the psychological contract, subjects were willing to re-negotiate their contracts with the organisation. This openness to renegotiation can be attributed to the way in which the organisation generally handled the changes, the nature of the psychological contracts, the high level of trust that subjects had in the organisation, and the personal circumstances of the individual subjects. The perception of and relationship with management also had a significant impact on the outcome of perceived psychological breach.
Open Access
Childfree employees: The effects of flexible work arrangements and childfree-friendly culture on organisational commitment
(2017) Jacobs, Albertus Abraham; Bagraim, Jeffrey; Jaga, Ameeta
Organisations are increasingly introducing flexible workplace practices and policies such as flextime and flexplace to increase the commitment of their employees and assist them to balance the competing work-life demands. At first, they were designed to create a family-friendly workplace for working mothers and, later, also for working fathers. Childfree employees (i.e., those with no children) were not included. There is little research on the impact of these work arrangements on the organisational commitment of these childfree employees. This dissertation tries to close that gap. Childfree employees (N = 134) working in over a dozen South African organisations participated in a self-report quantitative survey. It seems that the availability and use of flexible work arrangements did not significantly predict their organisational commitment. Organisational commitment related to only one dimension of the childfree-friendly culture scale, equal work expectations. Perceived organisational support (POS) mediated the relationship between organisational commitment and equal work expectations.
Open Access
Commitment and the intention to quit amongst nurses
(2007) Van der Merwe, Maria Elizabeth
Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-71).

Browsing by Subject "Organisational Psychology"

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