Auswahl der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema „Accountant – Professional ethics – South Africa“

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a contextual analysis of the professional accounting education programmes in South Africa and India by benchmarking both programmes to the International Education Standards (IESs) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology is a qualitative archival approach extracting information from secondary data (Statements of Membership Obligations’ compliance questionnaires available on the IFAC web site and information from the web sites of the relevant professional accountancy bodies). Findings – With regards to the IESs, the study found that both countries comply with the standards, although important differences occur. In South Africa, most of the education takes place during the university phase; and while both countries cover the content requirements, India covers the acquisition of professional skills more formally; ethics is taught and examined in both countries; both countries require a three year training contract; both countries have a final examination but the content of the examinations are different; and South Africa requires more continuous professional development than India. These findings, when related to India's and South Africa's relative positions on certain of the Global Competitiveness Indices may indicate that India could learn from the South African accountancy education model in order to strengthen the Indian position with regards to auditing and reporting standards. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of the study is that it did not investigate the quality of the relative education programmes and it benchmarks both programmes at a single point in time. Practical implications – India could strengthen its accounting profession by implementing some of the South African aspects of its education model. South African could consider adopting the flexibility in the entry requirements in the Indian education model in order to increase the number of accountants in South Africa. These findings may also be useful to other developing countries to identify practices which could be adopted if suitable in their respective countries. Originality/value – The study is original as accountancy education programmes in India and South Africa have not been contrasted before. In view of their similar colonial background and the fact that both countries are major economic and political forces in their respective regions, the value of this study is that it provides useful and relevant information to India, South Africa and other countries with similar economic and social backgrounds.

ABSTRACT This case provides students with an opportunity to examine ethical issues and challenges encountered in public accounting. This real-life case occurred in South Africa, where wide-spread corruption and unethical behavior severely affected a global accounting firm. Due to the resulting negative publicity, the firm suffered significant reputational damage and underwent investigations by the audit regulator and professional accounting society. Consequently, the firm initiated major transformations of management, governance, and audit quality procedures. Students are required to research and analyze issues involving the accounting firm's South African activities. However, the matters addressed are universal and encountered by firms globally. The case learning objectives include improving understanding of the value of auditor independence, the importance of ethical behavior to a global firm's reputation, ways to promote ethical conduct, and how professional skepticism can identify ethical misconduct. The case is designed for auditing, forensic accounting, international accounting, accounting policy, and ethics courses.

In this article on the background of business ethics and business ethics education, the following important questions, discussions and issues will be addressed: Firstly, a brief overview on the development of philosophy will be provided since business ethics can be viewed as a subdivision of philosophy. An exposition of how business ethics links with philosophy will (among others) be provided. Due to the fact that this article largely concentrates on the accountancy and auditing professions, referral will also briefly be made to how the so-called “professional ethics” of the concerned professions fit into the comprehensive discipline of philosophy. The second aspect to be addressed will be regarding one of the main challenges in presenting business ethics courses, namely to keep the subject pragmatic and practically applicable – which may be difficult, possibly due to the discipline’s development from philosophy. If the pragmatic and practical focus is not maintained, business ethics may result in a mere philosophical and theoretical course that has little to do with ethical challenges encountered in the real accountancy profession and business world. Reasons are mentioned that may result in business ethics courses being irrelevant and impractical and therefore possible solutions to this problem are also suggested. Other challenges that may prevent lecturers from presenting business ethics courses in an optimal manner are also briefly discussed in this section.

Abstract Relevance and reliability are the two primary qualities that make accounting information useful for decision making. Therefore, an audit of financial statement is necessary, especially for a Tbk company. To maintain the trust of clients and users of financial statements, the public accountants should to have sufficient competence, such as professionalism, knowledge to detects errors, professional ethics and judgement of materiality level. Purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence about affect of professionalism, knowledge to detect errors, and professional ethics to the public accountants judgement of materiality level with partial and simultaneous. Population in the study is a public accountant who worked at a Public Accounting Firm in South Jakarta. Sampling technique using convenience sampling method. Data obtained by questionnaire survey completed by the public accountant with 98 respondents from 9 Public Accounting Firm with primary data types. Design is causal research. The results showed that : 1) Professionalism affect of the judgement of materiality level. 2) Knowledge to detect errors did not affect of the judgement of materiality level. 3) Professional ethics affect of the judgement of materiality level. 4) Professionalism, knowledge to detect errors, and professional ethics affect of the judgement of materiality level. Keyword : Professionalism, Knowledge to detect errors, Professional ethics and Judgment of materiality level.

Keeping the diagnosis of a client confidential is one of the cornerstones of professional practice. In the case of a diagnosis such as HIV/AIDS, however, the ethics of this action may be challenged. Such a decision has a range of negative effects, for example, the blaming of others, supporting the denial of the client, and complicating the health education and care of the patient. It is suggested that the four ethical principles should be used to explore the ethics of such decisions, and that professional regulatory bodies and organizations should support professionals in situations where the client’s sexual partner is informed against the wishes of the client.

Purpose Accounting academics in the South African system understand their primary responsibility to be the teaching of prospective Chartered Accountants (CAs) rather than the advancement of knowledge through research. The purpose of this study is to determine what factors motivate accounting academics who are CAs to obtain doctorates in an environment dominated by the profession, where promotion is possible to Full Professor without a Doctorate but not without the professional qualification of CA. And did these doctoral CAs face challenges on their journey, such as resistance from colleagues? Design/methodology/approach A total of 22 academic CAs with doctorates and 18 academic CAs studying towards doctorates were surveyed to gain a deeper understanding of who they are, what their motivations were for undertaking the doctorate journey and what they experienced. Findings The main finding of this study is that the culture of accounting departments in South Africa is beginning to shift from being teaching orientated towards being more research orientated. The CAs are pursuing doctorates for the purpose of career progression and for intrinsic personal reasons. The main challenges that they faced on their journey were finding the time for family and a social life and a lack of support from colleagues and their institution. However, support seems to be improving. Research limitations/implications The change to a research-orientated culture in South African departments of accounting, as envisioned by Van der Schyf (2008), is only now starting to take place. These CAs with doctorates provide evidence of that change. Originality/value The value of this study is to provide accounting academics and the profession with a better understanding of, and a greater sensitivity to, accounting academics operating under the influence of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). The study also adds to the limited amount of literature on the motives and experiences of doctoral students, especially accounting doctoral students.

The purpose of this article is to present a developmental history of formal professional ethics in psychology in South Africa. Particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between legislation governing the registration of psychologists and professional ethics. Current and future trends emphasising the need to transform professional structures in keeping with the democratic ethos of post-apartheid South Africa are also discussed.

In the second paper on the regulation of professional conduct the functioning of the Professional Board of Psychology with regard to ethical complaints and enquiries is examined. A relatively low number of complaints was lodged in the period 1974 to 1990, with 23 findings of guilt established. Complaints involving fees or accounts predominated, with advertising an important second category. Advertising complaints mostly were submitted by psychologists themselves, while members of the public are well represented in the other categories of complaint. The findings are discussed in terms of the functioning of a code of ethics in the professional domain: to maintain the appearance of professional vigilance for ethical transgressions, and to punish visible offences against the public more severely than intra-professional transgressions. It is concluded that codes of ethics are not particularly strong in acknowledging and enforcing the corporate obligations of a profession.

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) recently introduced a competency-based accreditation process for chartered accountants (CAs). This changed the structure of the practical training period or ‘articles’ (which is now called the CA 2010 training programme). The new training programme has an increased focus on developing ‘pervasive skills’ (which include personal and professional skills, such as leadership, communication and ethics), and allows trainees to gain detailed experience in a specific focus area. Students, who would be affected by these changes, were surveyed regarding their perceptions of this new training programme. The students were positive about the focus on pervasive skills. However, many felt that the changes (especially the elective focus area) were communicated too late, as they had already signed with auditing firms, and would be forced into an auditing focus area. Many students were worried about possible changes to Part II of the Qualifying Examination (QE 2).

Ethical issues and standards of property professions are being scrutinised. To date, no research has been carried out on the ethical standards in the property valuation profession in South Africa. This research compared the content of codes of ethics and professional conduct of the South African property valuation profession to international standards, and investigated the ethical standards and moral values held by registered valuers in South Africa. A self-administered survey, administered to 611 professional and professional associate valuers, was used. It measured five constructs of unethical behaviour layered into a survey adapted from Hoyt, Wright and Croft (2002). No statistically significant differences were found between different demographic factors in the ethical beliefs of South African valuers. A literature review comparing South Africa’s codes of conduct with those in the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand showed that the standards of ethics and professional practice in South Africa are not in line with international standards. South African valuers appear to be ethical and resist external pressures which could lead to unethical behaviour.

The purpose of this study is to investigate ethical dilemmas and ethical difficulties experienced by psychologists in Sweden and South Africa. The study is a replication of previous studies conducted by Colnerud (1997) and Slack and Wassenaar (1999). A sample of 295 psychologists in Sweden and 312 psychologists in South Africa were asked to describe situations that they identified as ethically difficult. 53 psychologists in Sweden described 61 incidents and 21 psychologists in South Africa described 24 situations. This corresponds to a response rate of 20% in Sweden and 8% in South Africa. The reported dilemmas were categorized according to a qualitative content analysis developed by Pope and Vetter (1992). The contribution of this study is that the results confirm that confidentiality is a prominent ethical dilemma for psychologists in Sweden and South Africa. This finding is consistent with findings in comprehensive international research. Furthermore, the results indicate that psychologists, especially in Sweden, experience ethical problems due to weakened legitimacy when conducting assessments. The results are discussed taking into consideration the different contexts in which psychologists work, the application of different ethics codes and different levels of ethical awareness. The weaknesses of the study and the method used are also discussed.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Curations)) --University of Limpopo, 2015
The purpose of the study was to determine the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas at the Witbank hospital Nkangala district Mpumalanga province. The objectives of the study were to describe the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas in nursing practice and to determine supportive measures to help professional nurses to deal with ethical dilemmas encountered in nursing practice. The research question was: what are the ethical dilemmas that professional nurses experience in nursing practice? Kohlberg theory of moral development was used as a theoretical framework. A qualitative exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used to describe the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas in nursing practice. Purposive sampling was used to sample fourteen (14) professional nurses. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Open-coding method of data analysis was used and four themes and sub-themes emerged. The study found that professional nurses experience ethical dilemmas related to death and dying, distribution of both human and material resources, respect of patients’ autonomy and the nurses’ rights. The study recommends continuous ethics education and the inclusion of ethics in nursing curricula, creation of a supportive working environment, knowledge and understanding of the pledge of service, Inter- disciplinary teams to discuss ethical issues, availability of ethics experts and ethics mentors in the wards.

Privilege is an evidential principle which, on the grounds of public policy, excludes evidence relevant and otherwise admissible. This thesis aims to discover whether privilege should be applied to the psychotherapeutic profession in South Africa. At present, the only profession in South Africa afforded privilege is the legal profession. There are two main theoretical justifications for privilege: the utilitarian and the individual/human rights approach. This thesis considers whether the psychotherapeutic profession wan-ants privilege under either theory, and recommends that the law of privilege integrate both theories rather than adopt one or the other. The impact of the Constitution and the right to privacy receive particular attention. Very little literature or case law on the question of psychotherapeutic privilege was found in South Africa. Consequently, extensive comparative research into the common-law systems of England, Canada and United States of America was done. This research yielded some interesting findings. The first is that case-by-case development of the law of privilege is uncel1ain and fragmented. The next is that psychotherapeutic privilege exists in almost absolute form in the United States of America, but is littered with lacunae causing as much uncertainty as the case-by-case approach to privilege law. The most helpful method of dealing with the problem was found in Canada, where a two-stage approach to protecting personal information, including psychotherapeutic records, has been developed. In light of this research, this thesis reassesses the original viability of psychotherapeutic privilege in South Africa. Privilege, it was found, is not the best solution to protecting psychotherapeutic communications. This thesis recommends legislative adoption of an amended two-stage approach based on the Canadian model for sexual offence trials as the best method of protecting psychotherapeutic communications in both civil and criminal proceedings. The thesis ends by suggesting draft legislative provisions.

Thesis ( M.Cur.) --University of Limpopo, 2011
The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence professional nurses’ time management at Mankweng Hospital campus, a tertiary hospital in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The objectives of this study were to identify and describe factors that influence professional nurses’ time management at a tertiary hospital campus and describe the recommendations on effective time management at a tertiary hospital campus to improve quality of patient care. A quantitative research method was used in this study to describe factors that influence professional nurses’ time management. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed that professional nurses were unable to manage time due to interruptions in between work performance, and this affected their productivity. The study recommended there is a need for professional nurses to attend in-service education related to management of time.

Thesis (MNutr)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is a tool to develop and maintain professional competence and to facilitate lifelong learning. CPD is compulsory for health professionals in South Africa, and has an additional mandatory requirement that five Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) must be obtained annually on human rights, ethics and medical law. A literature search yielded limited information on ethics education specifically for South African dietitians. As a result a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on all dietitians registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for the year 2010 – 2011 to determine whether dietitians feel that there is a need or demand for standardised ethics update courses, and if so, the format in which dietitians would prefer these courses. All data was collected via self-administered questionnaires that sought demographic data, data on dietitians’ awareness of ethics aspects, and the format/s preferred for standardised ethics update courses. The questionnaires were distributed electronically or via the postal system. The response rate to the study was 4.5%, which was low. The results indicated that 58.7% of dietitians obtain the minimum requirement of 5 ethics CEU’s per year. Only 21.7% feel that there are sufficient opportunities to gain 5 ethics CEU’s and 40.2% are satisfied with the content of current CPD activities related to ethics. There are very low levels awareness and knowledge of existing guidance documents on conduct and ethics aspects available on the HPCSA’s website, and only 9.8% of respondents have carefully read and studied this information. Dietitians prefer lectures and Internet-based activities for courses on ethics. The study concluded there is a definite demand amongst respondents for standardised ethics update courses and an urgent demand for support with conduct and ethics issues. Recommendations are focused on ways to raise awareness of existing supportive documents available from the HPCSA on conduct and ethics issues as well on the formation of sub-committees dealing with ethics aspects and possible development of standardised update courses on ethics.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Voortgesette Professionele Ontwikkeling (VPO) is ’n instrument om professionele bevoegdheid te ontwikkel en te handhaaf, en om lewenslange leer te fasiliteer. VPO is verpligtend vir professionele gesondheidspersoneel in Suid-Afrika, en stel ’n bykomende verpligting om jaarliks vyf VPO-eenhede oor menseregte, etiek en mediese reg te verwerf. ’n Literatuurstudie het beperkte inligting oor etiekonderwys, spesifiek vir Suid-Afrikaanse dieetkundiges, opgelewer. ’n Kruisdeursnee beskrywende studie is uitgevoer op alle dieetkundiges wat by die Raad vir Gesondheidsberoepe van Suid-Afrika (RGBSA) vir die jaar 2010-2011 geregistreer is, om te bepaal of daar by hulle ’n behoefte bestaan of vraag is na nuwe gestandaardiseerde kursusse oor etiese aspekte, en, indien wel, die formaat waarin dieetkundiges hierdie kursusse sal verkies. Alle data is deur middel van selfgeadministreerde vraelyste versamel wat inligting ingewin het oor demografiese data, data oor dieetkundiges se bewustheid van etiese aspekte en die formaat wat vir nuwe gestandaardiseerde kursusse oor etiek verkies word. Die vraelyste is elektronies of via die posstelsel versprei. Die reaksieskoers op die studie was 4.5%, wat laag is. Die resultate dui aan dat 58.7% van die dieetkundiges die minimum vereiste van vyf VPO-eenhede oor etiek per jaar behaal. Slegs 21.7% voel dat daar voldoende geleenthede is om vyf eenhede in etiek te verwerf en 40.2% is tevrede met die inhoud van huidige VPO-aktiwiteite wat met etiek verband hou. Daar is baie lae vlakke van bewustheid en kennis van bestaande rigsnoerdokumente oor optrede en etiese aspekte op die RGBSA se webtuiste beskikbaar, en slegs 9.8% van die respondente het die inligting deeglik gelees en bestudeer. Dieetkundiges verkies lesings en Internet-gebaseerde aktiwiteite vir kursusse oor etiek. Die studie kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat daar ’n definitiewe aanvraag onder respondente is na nuwe gestandaardiseerde kursusse oor etiek en ’n dringende vraag na ondersteuning ten opsigte van etiese kwessies en optrede. Aanbevelings fokus op maniere om ’n bewustheid te kweek van bestaande ondersteuningsdokumente oor etiese kwessies wat by die RGBSA beskikbaar is, asook oor die vorming van subkomitees wat werk met etiese aspekte en die moontlike ontwikkeling van gestandaardiseerde bygewerkte kursusse oor etiek.

This study explores and attempts to shed light on what motivates teachers and how teacher motivation is affected by a principal's leadership style. The worldviews of pragmatism and critical realism were used as the basis for exploring teacher motivation in a South African school. A primary school in the Eastern Cape of South Africa was chosen for the case study. Three data gathering tools, a leadership questionnaire, teacher survey, and interviews were used to generate data on teacher motivation and the interaction between leadership style and teacher motivation. In regards to teachers, religion, social justice, and self-efficacy were all identified as motivators. The principal was strongly charismatic in her leadership and along with transformational and social justice leadership played a major role in influencing teacher behaviors. Self-determination theory was identified as helping to explain different levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and thereby to better understand varying degrees of teacher motivation. There are many difficulties in South African education and around the world in general and this study is premised on the belief that if teacher motivation can be studied and advanced there will be an improvement in education and learning. This thesis was limited in its scope and ability to fully explore the different levels of ontology as outlined by the critical realist and this is identified as a possible future course of action for not only studying teacher motivation but getting to the 'heart of the matter'.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Recent literature on values suggests that advanced, industrial societies are displaying a marked shift away from traditional values that stress material prosperity, physical and economic security towards values that are more expressive of individual freedom, autonomy and growth. According to Inglehart, forces of modernisation and globalisation have initiated a number of systemic level changes, that have ushered in processes of objective and subjective individualisation, dramatically altering the nature and structure of human value orientations and societal norms. Work values, as expressions of general life values in the work context, are no exception to this process. In the new world of work, intrinsic work values that stress personal growth, development and self-determination should gradually replace extrinsic work values such as good pay, job security and status. An understanding of the nature, direction and distribution of such value change could prove invaluable to the organizational practitioner and policy maker, since work values playa pivotal role in shaping organisational structure, process and policy. According to Inglehart, a number of developing countries are displaying similar shifts towards individualised values. Although classified as a middle-income, developing economy, South Africa has undergone a number of prolific economic, political and cultural changes over the last decade that would undoubtedly have altered the nature, direction and distribution of work values in the country. It is in the light of these political, economic and cultural developments that the current study embarked on an analysis of the nature, direction and distribution of work value change in South Africa between 1990 and 2001. The analysis was informed by the proposition that the work values of South Africans citizens should reflect a shift in the direction of individualised work values between 1990 and 2001. South Africans have, however, been exposed to and socialized within vastly different social, economic and political environments. The study has therefore taken cognisance of the fact that work value change in South Africa should reflect the stark cleavages and differences that exist within the population, and attempted to plot the differences in the nature and direction of work values between the various social categories defined by race, gender, educational and occupational level. The secondary analysis of survey data from the South African components of the 1990, 1995 and 2001 World Values Survey was performed in order to fulfil the objectives of the study. Work values of South African citizens were measured in terms of four dimensions, namely work centrality; work values relating to the distribution of power in the organization; work values relating to work preferences; and work values relating to authority systems in the workplace. Use was made of simple uni-variate and bi-variate analysis, as well as the comparison of means where appropriate. The results of the analysis suggest that work values relating to work centrality and the distribution of power in the organisation have become increasingly individualised. Work values relating to work preferences and authority have, however, displayed a trend in opposition to individualisation. Comparisons of work value change across the various sub-groups of the population reflect the changing economic, social and political landscape of South Africa. The data suggests that as various sub-groups of the population are exposed to the systemic level changes characteristic of the new South Africa, traditional value differences informed by race, gender, educational and occupational level will be gradually transformed and replaced by new value patterns untainted by the inequalities of the apartheid era. The analysis concludes by examining a number of explanations for the value changes described, and attempts to infer implications for the formulation and implementation of workplace policy and practice in South Africa. The high and increasing levels of unemployment and the increasing participation of women and previously excluded racial groupings into the South African labour market have increased perceptions of job insecurity in South Africa and have resulted in an expanding number of South Africans placing increased emphasis on traditional work preferences and systems of authority. Should this trend persist, the development of individualised work values will continue to be hindered, rendering the South African business environment less competitive and increasingly fraught with high levels of distrust and uncertainty. We suggest, therefore, that human resource practitioners and policy makers embark on the challenging task of reframing individual perceptions surrounding the meaning of work in South Africa, so as to better prepare South Africans for the challenges brought about by the new world of work
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Onlangse literatuur oor waardes dui daarop dat vooruitstrewende industriële gemeenskappe 'n merkbare verskuiwing toon weg van tradisionele waardes wat materialistiese welvaart, tasbare en ekonomiese sekuriteit beklemtoon, na waardes wat groter klem lê op individuele vryheid, outonomie en ontwikkeling. Volgens Inglehart het kragte van modernisering en globalisering 'n aantal sistemiese veranderinge teweeg gebring wat op hul beurt prossesse van objektiewe en subjektiewe individualisasie ingelei het en wat aanleiding gegee het tot 'n dramatiese verandering in die aard en struktuur van menslike waarde-orientasies en gemeenskapsnorme. Werkwaardes as uitdrukking van algemene lewenswaardes in die werkkonteks is nie 'n uitsondering in die proses nie. In die nuwe wêreld van werk behoort intrinsieke waardes wat persoonlike groei, ontwikkeling en selfbeskikking beklemtoon, geleidelik ekstrinsieke waardes soos goeie besoldiging, werksekuriteit en status te vervang. 'n Begrip van die aard, rigting en verspreiding van sodanige waarde-verandering kan van onskatbare waarde wees vir die organisatoriese praktisyn en beleidmaker aangesien werkswaardes 'n sentrale rol speel in die vorming van organisatoriese struktuur, prosesse en beleid. Volgens Inglehart vertoon 'n aantalontwikkelende lande 'n soortgelyke verskuiwing na geïndividualiseerde waardes. Alhoewel Suid-Afrika as 'n middel inkomste ontwikkelende ekonomie geklassifiseer word, het dit die afgelope dekade 'n verskeidenheid van ekonomiese, politieke en kulturele veranderinge ondergaan wat ongetwyfeld die aard, rigting en verspreiding van werkswaardes beïnvloed het. Met hierdie politieke, ekonomiese and kulturele ontwikkelinge as agtergrond, onderneem hierdie studie 'n analise van die aard, rigting en verspreiding van die verandering in werkswaardes in Suid-Afrika tussen 1990 en 2001. Die analise is in die veronderstelling dat die werkswaardes van die Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskap 'n verskuiwing in die rigting van geïndividualiseerde werkswaardes sal weerspieël tussen 1990 en 2001. Suid-Afrikaners is egter blootgestel aan verskillende sosiale, ekonomiese en politieke omgewings. Die studie neem dus kennis van die feit dat werkswaarde-veranderinge in Suid- Afrika die skeiding en verskille wat voorgekom het in die bevolking sal weerspieël en poog om die verskille in die aard en rigting van werkswaardes te demonstreer tussen die verskillende kategorieë gedefinieer volgens ras, geslag, opvoedings- en beroepsvlak. Die sekondêre analise van opname data van die Suid Afrikaanse komponente van die 1990, 1995 en 2001 "World Values Survey" is ontleed ten einde uitvoering te gee aan die doelstellings van die studie. Werkwaardes van Suid-Afrikaners is gemeet aan die hand van vier dimensies, nl. werksentraliteit; werkswaardes wat verband hou met die verspreiding van mag in die organisasie; werkswaardes wat verband hou met werksvoorkeure, en werkswaardes wat gerig is op gesagstelsels in die werkplek. Gebruik is gemaak van enkelvariansie en dubbelvariansie analise asook die vergelyking van middelpunt, waar van toepassing. Die resultate van die ondersoek dui daarop dat werkswaardes wat verband hou met werksentraliteit en die verspreiding van mag in die organisasie toenemend geïndividualiseerd geraak het. Werkswaardes verwant aan werksvoorkeure en gesag demonstreer egter 'n duidelike neiging in stryd met individualisasie. Vergelyking van werkswaarde-veranderinge oor die verskillende sub-groepe van die bevolking weerspieël die veranderende ekonomiese, sosiale en politieke landskap van Suid-Afrika. Die data dui aan dat soos verskillende sub-groepe van die bevolking blootgestel word aan die sistemiese-vlak veranderings eie aan die nuwe Suid-Afrika, tradisionele waarde-verskille as gevolg van ras, geslag, opvoeding- en beroepsvlak, geleidelik sal verander en vervang word deur nuwe waarde-oriëntasies onbevlek deur die ongelykhede van die apartheidsera. Die analise sluit af deur 'n aantal verduidelikings vir die waarde-veranderings te ondersoek en poog om implikasies af te lei vir die formulering en implementering vir werkplekbeleid en praktyk in Suid-Afrika. Die hoë en steeds toenemende vlakke van werkloosheid, die toenemende toetrede van vrouens en voorheen benadeelde rassegroeperings tot die Suid Afrikaanse arbeidsmark het die persepsie van lae werksekuriteit in Suid-Afrika verhoog en het tot gevolg dat 'n toenemende aantal Suid-Afrikaners groter klem plaas op tradisionele werksvoorkeure en sisteme van gesag. Sou die tendens voortduur, sal dit die ontwikkeling van geïndividualiseerde werkswaardes belemmer, wat tot gevolg sal hê dat die Suid-Afrikaanse besigheidsomgewing minder kompeterend sal wees, met toenemende vlakke van wantroue en onsekerheid. Ek stel dus voor dat menslike hulpbron praktisyns en beleidsmakers begin met die uitdagende taak om individuele persepsies te beïnvloed met betrekking tot die betekenis van werk in Suid-Afrika ten einde Suid-Afrikaners beter voor te berei vir die uitdagings daargestel deur die nuwe wêreld van werk.

Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Researchers in Social Sciences have generally encountered problems in ensuring data quality when dealing with topics that are regarded as sensitive. This thesis reports on an investigation into the methodology used for research projects around sensitive issues in education in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Data consists of twelve interviews with individual principals (each interview schedule containing semi-structured question items from ten categories) and a thirty-three item self-report questionnaire survey administered to one hundred and fifty principals drawn from two hundred and seventy two secondary schools over the course of an academic year (2002) and conducted in the Limpopo Province of South Africa .. Results reveal nine major categories of sensitive issues in school management on which principals have difficulty in providing information to researchers: school policy, school financial issues, moral or social relations issues, learner and educator disciplinary issues, working conditions, absenteeism, developmental appraisal, educator unions, and religious matters policy issues. Principals have also reported on the various reasons why they regard each of the aspects as sensitive, thereby making it difficult for them to provide information around. Of these, moral issues were considered the most sensitive. The major reasons given were: confidentiality, intrusion of privacy, fear oflegal sanction, threat to work and violation of the rights of the individual. Analysis of the different sensitive issues also show that certain biographical characteristics - age of the principal and years of experience as principal - are significant mediators in principals' perceptions of sensitive issues in school management. That is to say, these contribute to principals' assessment of their emotional, physical and psychological well-being. Sensitivity is a problem when collecting data for research purposes. It warrants the attention of all those involved in social science research. The findings in this study point to the issues in school management that are highly sensitive to provide information suggesting that data collected would therefore not be of a high quality.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Menige navorsers in sosiale wetenskappe het oor die algemeen probleme teëgekom met die versekering van data kwaliteit in sensitiewe onderwerpe. Hierdie tesis raporteer oor 'n ondersoeke in die metodologie gebruik vir navorsing projekte rondom sensitiewe onderwerpe in onderwys in die Limpopo Provinsie in Suid-Afrika. Data bestaan uit twaalf onderhoude met individuele prinsipale (elke onderhoud se skedule bevat se gestruktureerde items van tien katagorieë) en 'n drie-en-dertig item (self-report) vraelys wat onder 150 prinsipale uitgedeel is, waarvan 272 sekondêre skole oor 'n tydperk van 'n akademiese jaar (2002) gebruik was in die Limpopo Provinsie van Suid Afrika. Die resultate toon nege hoof onderwerpe in skoolbestuur waar prinsipale dit moeilik vind om informasie aan navorsers te verskaf: skoolbeleid, finansiële onderwerpe, moraliteite of sosiale verhoudinge, leerder en onderwyser dissiplinêre onderwerpe, werkverhoudinge, afwesigheid, personeelontwikkeling, onderwysunies, en godsdienstige sake. Prinsipale raporteer om verskeie redes waarom hulle elk van die aspekte as sensitief beskou. Onder hierdie is morele sake as die sensitiefste geklasifiseer. Die hoofredes hiervoor is gegee as vertroulikheid, inbreuk van privaatheid, vrees vir wettige sanksies, dreigemente in die werk en skending van die regte van die indiwidueel. Analiese van die verskillende sensitiewe sake toon aan dat verskeie biografiese eienskappe - ouderdom van die prinsipaal - is oorsake in die prinsipaal se persepties in die prinsipaal se sake onder die skool se bestuur. Dit se met ander woorde bogenoemde dra by tot die prinsipaal se emosionele en fisiese geestelike toestand. Sensitifiteit is 'n probleem wanneer data vir navorsing doeleindes verkry word. Dit regverdig die aandag van die mense betrokke in sosiale wetenskap navorsing. Die bevinding in hierdie studie verwys na sake in skoolbestuur wat hoogssensitief is om informasie te voorsien, en stel voor dat die data verkry is nie van hoë standard is nie.

This study deals with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and focuses on managerial perceptions of CSR at McDonald’s South Africa (SA) and how social responsibility is translated into social practices. The key objectives of the research are: to analyse McDonald’s both internationally and locally in South Africa to establish whether CSR policies exist, then to investigate how these policies are perceived and integrated by outlet managers. Lastly to investigate what kind of social responsibility (SR) involvement, if at all, occurs at outlet level. The research site covers three regions in South Africa, which are the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng. The total research sample is 38. 33 interviewees were outlet managers, who were purposively selected, and 5 additional interviews took place with: 2 McDonald’s SA Head Office representatives, 2 interviews with beneficiaries of McDonald’s SR involvement and 1 with the trade union SACCAWU. The research was carried out through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The design of this research is based on an interpretive social science approach. The aim of the research was to investigate outlet managers’ perceptions of CSR and social practices present at McDonald’s SA outlets. The key findings of the research indicate that: CSR policies at McDonald’s SA head office are not communicated sufficiently to outlet managers, SR involvement is evident, especially for initiatives focusing on children’s welfare, but far too little occurs at the outlet level. There are also too few checks on social involvement by head office and no formal reporting system is available to the outlets except through an internal magazine, called the Big Mag. There is no official CSR report at McDonald’s SA. The fact that no report exists makes this study more relevant since this research investigates matters pertaining to CSR and social practices. The overall significance of the study is that it brings to the forefront the importance of internal company and external broader regulation which is part of the greater debate of CSR. This is because the analysis of managerial perceptions and implementation of CSR shows some unwarranted discrepancies between policies and practices, locally, nationally and internationally even within the same organisation.

State police forces in Africa are a curiously neglected subject of study, even within the framework of security issues and African states. This book brings together criminologists, anthropologists, sociologists, historians, political scientists and others who have engaged with police forces across the continent and the publics with whom they interact to provide street-level perspectives from below and inside Africa’s police forces. The contributors consider historical trajectories and particular configurations of police power within wider political systems, then examine the ‘inside view’ of police forces as state institutions – the challenges, preoccupations, professional ethics and self-perceptions of police officers – and finally look at how African police officers go about their work in terms of everyday practices and engagements with the public.The studies span the continent, from South Africa to Sierra Leone, and illustrate similarities and differences in Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone states, post-socialist, post-military and post-conflict contexts, and amid both centralizsation and devolution of policing powers, democratic transitions and new illiberal regimes, all the while keeping a strong ethnographic focus on police officers and their work.

Ethics forms the cornerstone of business and commerce today. It is the lifeblood of every institution be it private or public enterprise. Organisations have to develop and implement a properly structured policy on ethics outlaying proper governance within the institution. Accounting and finance services are crucial in managing a company's finances and wealth. In the accounting profession, in order for there to be transparency and trust, ethics is a crucial area that needs to be present. The many scandals and ethical dilemmas faced by countries organisations throughout the world has made us pause and take stock of what is happening in industry and has prompted action in law and governance towards ethics and corporate governance. South Africa too, has had its fair share of scandal that has had its legal fraternity, government, and business sector develop the Kings I, Kings II, Kings III, and Kings IV laws that stipulate corporate governance and ethics. Organisations have to be honest, professional, and transparent in their business practices.

In South Africa, the Further Education and Training phase (FET) in Accounting faces a major decline in learner numbers. The current format of FET Accounting serves little purpose in preparing learners for Accounting courses at tertiary level, if FET Accounting is not a precondition to Professional and Chartered Accountant courses. This study followed a qualitative research approach, from five Focus Groups at five Secondary schools in the Motheo Educational district, comprising of 16 FET Accounting Teachers to consider possible reasons for the decline of learners in FET Accounting. As result, uncertainty exists regarding the future of FET Accounting and the Accounting profession, when guidance teachers are presumably advising learners to take less suitable subjects, like Mathematical Literacy, History of Geography to enhance school reports. These findings influence the social responsibility of teachers; and it also results in many Accounting students having to spend two or more additional years at university due to their apparent lack of basic Accounting skills. Additionally, the negative perception towards FET Accounting might impact learners’ choices who might not plan a career in Accounting, thereby limiting their ability to secure any career in the financial sector. Collaborative social change is required from the Accounting profession and university alike, especially in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, where a high degree of ethics and transparency are required.