Browsing by Subject "leadership"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company
    (2019) van Wyk, Randall Alvin; Price, Linda
    This study examines the levels and drivers of employee engagement in a South African organisation that distributes personal protection equipment. The organisation relies on its human resources to retain a competitive advantage in the industry. An understanding of employee engagement is essential for the attraction of new talent and the retention of existing employees. The researcher employed a mixed method design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. A survey was sent to all employees to determine levels of engagement. It was followed by focus groups to probe deeper into the survey results. The findings of the survey and the focus groups are contradictory. The survey results indicate that respondents are engaged within the workwear distribution company, whilst the findings of the focus groups depict a different narrative. The researcher believes that participant responses to the different methodologies explains this contradiction. The survey contained a number of closed-ended statements, where participants were required to tick a particular box, indicating their responses. The researcher believes that this approach was very clinical and elicited certain responses. Furthermore, participants might not have felt comfortable sharing their true feelings in writing. The approach to the focus group was very interactive and the researcher posed open-ended questions to the participants. This approach was organic and participants might have felt more comfortable sharing their feelings and views in this forum. The study revealed that a work environment characterised by poor communication and conflict impacted negatively on employee engagement. It also revealed that the organisation is characterised by an autocratic leadership style whereby top management make the decisions and are not open to suggestions from employees. While support between co-workers was acknowledged, relationships were also described as strained and that there is no synergy between departments. Maintaining positive relationships with management and co-workers are vital drivers to achieving increased employee engagement. Although these findings are particular to one organisation, they will hopefully assist other organisations to expand their understanding of employee engagement and thus refine their employee engagement strategies.
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    Responsible leadership competencies in accounting education
    (2022) Miller, Taryn; Willows, Gizelle
    The business world continues to be plagued by incidents of leadership failure, including that of Chartered Accountants (CAs). Responsible Leadership (RL) theory was in part conceived in response to misconduct by business leaders. RL competencies overlap with many competencies expected of CAs, according to international education requirements that inform the CA curriculum. Yet studies continue to show that accounting students are underdeveloped in many competencies affiliated with RL. Furthermore, an institutional strategy for developing RL competencies in accounting students is currently lacking. The purpose of this study is to explore how to incorporate the development of RL competencies into the CA curriculum. The study is grounded within RL, Transformative Learning, curriculum, and curriculum change theories. A qualitative research method was adopted. Interviews were conducted with thirteen South African CA leaders holding a variety of societal and business roles, and eleven CA educators from several South African universities. The study identifies a strategy for RL competency development comprising seven core concepts known as the RESPOND model. Strategic considerations relating to 'what', 'which', 'when', 'where', 'who' and 'how', are addressed in the model. Practical recommendations based on the RESPOND model are provided. The study's findings may assist accounting academics deliberating on adaptations to their curricula to achieve competencies and graduate outcomes synonymous with RL. In addition, the RESPOND model provides a theoretical contribution to the advancement of both accounting education and RL theory by both connecting and expanding knowledge within these research fields.
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    Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations
    (2024) Buchholz, Este; Dharani, Babar
    Non-profit organisations (NPOs) play a vital role in South African society, providing critical services for many underserved and marginalised communities. Despite the evidence of the importance of NPOs in transforming the South African economy and society, there is very little research on succession planning for executive leadership transformation within this sector. The Literature on this topic is primarily based on case studies from other countries. South African studies were conducted in the public or private sector, which does not address the unique context of NPOs. This dissertation aims to address the gap in the current academic literature by exploring the unique ways in which NPOs implement succession planning to achieve successful internal executive leadership transformation within the South African non-profit sector. The primary research question is, “How do NPOs plan organisational succession to achieve successful internal executive leadership transformation?” The study used Eisenhardt's method of building theories from case study research as the overarching research methodology. Data was collected from eight NPOs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the ex-Executive Director (ED) and the incumbent ED of each NPO. Both in-case and cross-case analyses were used to derive the findings. Key findings from the research include the importance of being intentional about creating diverse and inclusive organisations, having reciprocal trust between the Executive Director and the board, and creating informal learning opportunities for potential successors. Future research should focus on the first 12 - 24 months of the incumbent ED, exploring the main challenges faced by the new leader as a black person
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    The development and validation of a virtuous leadership scale
    (2021) Ou, Yang Annie; Schlechter, Anton
    There is a need for virtuous leaders that have a sound moral compass that guide their actions and decisions towards good and honourable outcomes. In particular, the current research study responded to a call in literature to address an African context perspective of virtuous leadership. Based on this, the aim was to formulate a theoretical conceptualisation of virtuous leadership that was grounded in an African contextual perspective to develop and validate a Virtuous Leadership Scale (VLS). The current research study was a descriptive research design with a cross-sectional approach. Secondary quantitative data and primary qualitative and quantitative data was utilised by means of convenience sampling strategy and snowball technique. A realised sample for the secondary quantitative data (n = 193) and the primary quantitative data (n = 72) was collected from the general working population. A conceptual/theoretical model of virtuous leadership was proposed, which captured seven virtues that encompassed an African contextual perspective: 1) courage; 2) humanity; 3) humility; 4) integrity; 5) justice; 6) prudence; and 7) temperance. Based on this model, items were generated and analysed prior to the development of the VLS. Exploratory Factor Analysis confirmed the unidimensionality of each virtue subscale. Utilising Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the measurement model was found to be a good fit. Furthermore, empirical evidence of reliability, discriminant and convergent validity was found, however, predictive validity was not supported. The current research study developed a valid and reliable scale that measures the virtuous leadership construct. There are limitations, recommendations and theoretical contributions discussed.
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    The entanglement of culture, leadership and performance in information systems development projects
    (2018) Geeling, Sharon; Brown, Irwin; Weimann, Peter
    Information systems (IS) development represents a significant area of research interest in the IS discipline. Despite this interest, IS development projects consistently fall short in delivering anticipated outcomes within time, quality and cost constraints. Attempts by researchers to uncover contributors to high failure rates are complicated by fragmented views of the nature of the problem. These range from challenges to the validity of performance reports to contesting the conceptualization of success. Furthermore, there is a tendency in practice to address immediate symptomatic problems of IS project failure rather than resolve the fundamental issues. Consequently, recent measures indicate that 48% of IS projects fail to meet time commitments, 33% exceed their budget, 32% don’t achieve their business objectives and 15% fail outright. This PhD thesis presents research to explore and offer explanatory theory of how culture and leadership are implicated in the performance of IS development projects. Importantly, IS development is positioned as a form of social interaction. Thus, an understanding of the social context and the situated meanings that arise through social interaction are necessary conditions to effectively explore this research topic. Within this context the study reveals the performative nature of IS development work and offers explanations for the actions of organizational leaders and IS technical specialists involved in IS development. An interpretive research paradigm and inductive reasoning were adopted for this research and understanding is developed through a hermeneutic mode of inquiry. Two IS projects responsible for delivering strategic benefit to an organization in the financial services sector are the two cases in this study. Qualitative data were collected through interviews, observation and documentary evidence between January 2017 and June 2017. The nature of the relationships between culture, leadership and performance in the course of IS development work was revealed through two analytical iterations. The first iteration used the theory of Cultural Implications in Information Systems Development as a structural framework to support a thematic analysis of the data. A second iteration used frame analysis as a theoretical foundation to examine the interplay of culture, leadership and performance through a within-case and cross-case analysis of the two cases. Key contributions from this research include the development of a conceptual model explaining cultural implications in IS development, the development of an explanatory theory of the entangled nature of culture and leadership and the performance of IS projects, and 11 propositions that offer a basis for testing the emergent theory in future empirical studies. The findings from the research also reveal the performative nature of IS development work and identify concepts important to organizational managers and IS technical specialists. While the theory emerged in the context of IS development projects and the concepts in the emergent theory are central to the practice of IS development, each could be equally relevant to other IS phenomena where culture, leadership and performance are implicated, such as IS management and offshoring. The grounding of theoretical concepts to empirical data enabled the application of the theory to practice; practical guidelines are offered in respect of the influences of culture and leadership on the performance of IS development projects. This research supports the suitability of the Cultural Dynamics Model as a sensitizing lens for data collection in interpretive studies where culture is implicated.