Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Corporate culture Korea (South)'

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study the aim is to examine what the impact of the imbalance in the power dynamics between the state, business and labour is on corporatist institutions in South Africa and South Korea. In both countries, the corporatist institutions have failed to bring the actors together and to resolve the various issues as these institutions were expected to do. When looking at the establishment of corporatist institutions in the two countries it is clear that the state had to incorporate the interests of labour in their decision-making process due to the increasing power of labour during the democratisation process. However, the current situation proves that the corporatist institutions in South Africa and South Korea have faced various problems. Therefore why the corporatist institutions in the two countries have not functioned properly is explored in this study. It was found that labour has been placed at a disadvantage compared to the state and business. The influence of labour as an agenda setter and a representative of labour has diminished. On the other hand the state and business, which used to form a coalition under the authoritarian governments, have started gaining power along with globalisation. The adoption of neo-liberal economic policies, has resulted in the fragmentation of labour, generating unemployment and irregular jobs. The imbalance of power between the actors has negatively affected the corporatist institutions. Under the circumstances, the corporatist institutions did not ensure that the voice of labour was heard and heeded. Instead of using corporatism, labour in South Africa tends to use the tripartite alliance in order to advance its interests. Labour in South Korea is likely to use mass action, and this tendency prevails in South Africa as well. Also, the corporatist institutions have been criticised due to their lack of accountability and institutional problems; this has negatively affected their credibility. The corporatist institutions have become little more than names. In the cases of South Africa and South Korea, corporatism seems to have been adopted as a mere crisis response when the two countries faced political economic crises and it is seen as another control mechanism created by states experiencing democratisation. Furthermore, the imbalance in the relationship between actors negatively affected the corporatist institutions and in the end they collapsed.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie word die impak van die magsbalans tussen die staat, sakesektor en georganiseerde arbeid op korporatisme in Suid-Afrika en Suid-Korea ondersoek. In beide gevalle het die korporatiewe instellings nie daarin geslaag om die nodige konsensus tussen die drie sleutel akteurs te bewerkstellig nie. As gevolg van demokratiseringsprosesse in beide state, en die toenemende invloed van arbeid, was die staat verplig om die belange van arbeid in besluitnemingsprosesse in ag te neem. Die korporatiewe instellings in Suid-Afrika, nl. NEDLAC en die KTC in Suid-Korea staar egter verskeie probleme in die gesig, Waarom die korporatiewe instellings nie behoorlik gefunksioneer het nie, word in die studie onder die loep geneem. Arbeid het in ‘n onderdanige posisie jeens die staat en die sake sektor te staan gekom aangesien die invloed van georganiseerde arbeid as ‘n agenda skepper en verteenwoordiger van arbeid afgeneem het. Aan die ander kant het die aanvanklike koalisie tussen die staat en die sakesektor gedurende die outoritere periodes - voor demokratisering - weer eens verstewig as gevolg van die invloed van globalisering. Namate neo-liberale ekonomiese beleide nagevolg is, het die vakbond beweging al meer gedisintegreer, werkloosheid het toegeneem en gelei tot werksgeleenthede wat al meer tydelik en ongereguleer is. Die ongelyke magsbalans tussen die rolspelers het die korporatistiese instellings negatief beinvloed. Onder die omstandighede, kon die korporatistiese instellings nie daarin slaag om aan die stem van arbeid gehoor te gee soos wat gehoop is nie. In plaas daarvan om dus van die korporatistiese instellings gebruik te maak, het arbeid in Suid-Afrika eerder van die vakbond beweging se rol in die regerende alliansie gebruik gemaak om beleid te probeer beinvloed. Arbeid in Suid-Korea, soos in Suid-Afrika, is ook meer geneig om van massa aksie gebruik te maak. Daarbenewens is die korporatiewe instellings daarvan beskuldig dat hulle nie deursigtig is nie en gebuk gaan onder institutionele gebreke, wat die geloofwaardigheid van die instellings ondermyn het. In die Suid-Afrikaanse en Suid-Koreaanse gevalle blyk dit dat korporatisme bloot as ‘n soort ‘krisis reaksie’ tot ekonomiese en politieke probleme ontwikkel het – in samehang met demokratisering - en nie as diepgaande beieldsprosesse in eie reg nie. Die gebrek aan ‘n magsbalans tussen die drie rolspelers het daartoe gelei dat die korporatiewe instellings in beide gevalle effektief tot niet gekom het.

The main objective of this thesis is to investigate corporate governance practices in South Africa listed companies. Specifically, the thesis strives to achieve the following objectives. First, it investigates the extent of compliance with the best corporate governance practices as recommended by the King Committee on Corporate Governance prior to and post 2002 in order to understand whether there is improvement in corporate practices. Second the thesis investigates whether compliance with the best corporate governance practices are related to ethnicity of board structures (in particular Board Chairman, Board Dominance and Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director) and other factors such as company characteristics, market and performance related variables. Third it investigates the views/opinions of key stakeholders [e.g. regulators, King Code Commissioners, companies and institutional investors] regarding the state of corporate governance in SA and its influence in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The findings from regression results indicate that compliance with the King Code increased substantially between 2002 and 2008. The results also indicate that compliance is high for accounting and auditing and boards and directors issues and lowest for integrated sustainability reporting issues. The findings also indicate that ethnicity influences corporate compliance with best practice governance principles such as the King Code, as per prediction. Compliance was also found to be high for large firms, firms with multiple listings in other stock exchanges and firms audited by Big 4 audit firms. Finally, the findings from the views of key stakeholders indicate that the Code has indeed improved corporate governance standards in South Africa, is suitable for the country because of its consideration of local circumstances and influences corporate practice in the SADC region.

Thesis (MTech (Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2006.
This study investigated whether the different home languages of employees of a large financial institution in the Western Cape had an influence of their perception of organisational structure and processes. The author conducted a series of interviews with management-level employees who speak Afrikaans, English and Xhosa as home languages in an attempt to ascertain the extent of the influence of individual cultures on perceptions and actions in corporate society. Specific attention was given to how these individuals perceived meetings, decision-making processes and conflict. These interviews were transcribed verbatim and studied by means of narrative analysis using a specialised software package to provide a better insight into the roles language and culture play within the South African organisation. Based on the narratives provided by the respondents in this study, the author concluded that individual culture does play a significant role in the perceptions of organisational structures such as conflict management,interaction during meetings, decision-making and acceptance of authority.

xix, 331 p. : ill., maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT GN855.K6 K56 2002
This dissertation explores the development of sociopolitical complexity in southwest Korea's Boseong River Valley. One of the main archaeological tasks currently being pursued in Korea is charting the emergence of complex society there. This dissertation comprehensively reviews the issues and history of research on the subject, then embarks on an analysis of the trajectory towards complexity in a selected region of southwest Korea. A large scale archaeological project in the Boseong River Valley during the 1980s rescued a huge corpus of data threatened by the construction of the Juam Dam project, which has remained undigested, never sufficiently organized or analyzed. I draw on this corpus, organizing and analyzing the data it yields on burial practices and settlement distribution, because these categories of information are particularly useful in examining key research issues. The burial excavations were of unprecedented scope, with 38 1 dolmen graves identified and investigated in 23 locations. Many dolmens have been observed and investigated in Korea, but an excavation sample of this size is unique and presents a rare analytical opportunity. A quantitative analysis of burial furnishings from these dolmens identifies five categories that reflect differing social statuses. Charting the distribution of such burials within the region allows the mapping of zones differentially occupied by persons of varying social status, and the places on the landscape where elite personages were situated. Comparing these patterns with the occurrence of large and small settlements strengthens a picture of a class-differentiated society within the region. Based on this analysis, I conclude that the dolmen period society of the Boseong River Valley had advanced to an intermediate level of sociopolitical complexity. In conclusion, the archaeological evidence is discussed with reference to historical events in the region, as these are known from ancient Chinese and Korean chronicles, to propose an interpretation of the growth of cultural development in the Boseong River Valley in relation to broader developments in southern Korea.
Committee in charge: Dr. C Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Song Nai Rhee; Dr. William Ayres; Dr. Hao Wang

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-331). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Many scholars highlight the essence of a participatory governance approach to climate change adaptation and the positive impact of allowing multiple actors participation in the process of decision making as a determinant for successful adaptation to climate change. However, political culture in some societies does not support participation, and people are neither interested nor even aware of political actions. There are very few studies carried out that examine cultural, especially political cultural, influences over governing climate change adaptation. In response to this academic gap, this research aims to investigate how political culture influences a governance approach to climate change adaptation. Using an empirical case study of the process of formulating national climate change adaptation policies in South Korea, this study examines the way decisions are made about climate change policies under ‘dominant bureaucratic’, ‘authoritarian’ and ‘weak participant’ political cultures and investigates how such political cultures will hamper or encourage a governance approach to effective climate change adaptation. This study therefore advances knowledge about how political culture influences climate change adaptation. It provides a basis for comparative analyses of other political cultures in different regions and will enable scholars to understand the challenges that particular forms of governance hold for promoting climate change adaptation.

This study explores culture teaching in English classes in urban and rural elementary schools in Korea from the perspectives of both teachers and students. Language and culture theories provide a framework for the data interpretation. As well, qualitative research methodology depicts a picture of much deeper understanding for teachers' and students' perceptions. Interviews were audiotape recorded as a primary tool to gather information for the inquiry for three months (May-July, 2004). Data also included document analysis and participant observations in schools. From the research findings, I conclude that not only can teachers not fully engage in culture teaching in elementary English education, but also students are not exposed to sufficient cultural education. Sociocultural contexts significantly affect teachers' and students' perceptions of English-speaking cultures and their English education. Elementary English textbooks also play an essential role in culture teaching in Korea.

Numerous studies have shown that culture is a critical factor affecting leadership perceptions. Although these studies provide useful information about cultural differences, they overlook the fundamental difference between East Asians and Westerners, a holistic view versus an analytic view. In addition, these studies are based on methodologies in which verbal or pictorial stimuli are presented by researchers under conditions of high capacity, which does not allow other representational differences to be observed. This study investigates leadership representations in South Korea and the United States based on hypotheses about fundamental differences in social cognitive processing among South Koreans and Americans, as revealed in spontaneously generated visual productions. The results suggest that South Koreans have a holistic view, whereas Americans have an analytic view of leadership representations. Implications and future directions for research on cultural differences in leadership representations are discussed.

A study presenting the differences in corporate culture between South African and Swedish airfreight industries with focus on the excess baggage sectors of the industry. This industry is very competitive and very international as goods are being exported and imported in vast amounts around the world.

Using a web questionnaire and personal interviews, this gave me a better understanding of the present corporate culture and to highlight the differences between the countries in question. Once these differences are laid down the study shows the possibility of mutual interaction between the industry and the countries. It provides the major differences between the countries and brings forth a hypothesis for the report. The study shows that hierarchy levels play a huge role in the South African company; the relatively high uncertainty level of South Africans is a result of the high power distances between management and employees. A South African employee would try to find a solution to any problem while a Swede would discontinue when the first attempt fails. Furthermore my study provides a general idea of each of the countries, but what is evident is that the airfreight industry follows a certain corporate culture of its own and finally due to the countries diversity, South Africa seems to have an advantage when working with different cultures.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Corporate cu~ure is the foundation of businesses today and in every way underties the way business is done. The discovery and subsequent mining of gold during the last century have shaped the gold-mining corporate cu~re; it gave birth to racial segregation and laid the foundation of the system in which the industry finds itse~ today. The purpose of this study is to uncover the deeper patterns of corporate cu~ure that drive visible behaviour and attitudes. Once the root metaphor or main undertying assumptions of the gold-mining corporate cutture have been determined, a process of multilevel, frame-breaking, radical transformation can be initiated. A 'paradigm interplay' approach, which describes cu~re as an explicit variable and an implicit root metaphor, was adopted. Within this frameworK the study aims to explore concepts and meanings of corporate cu~re in a hermeneutic fashion by uncovering the human, expressive, symbolic texture of life in a gold mine. The frameworK provided a way of thinking about organisations, not to present 1001s' or 'methods' for managing or transforming culture, but to think culturally and holistically about the process of transformation. An in-depth investigation into Schein's 'three levels of cu~re' model was necessary in order to derive at the core transformational aspect of the gold-mining corporate culture. An analysis of Schein's model indicated that behavioural characteristics are shaped and determined by undertying values, beliefs and attitudes, which are shared among members of the organisation. If not espoused, these in turn rest upon sets of undertying assumptions that are the innermost core of corporate cu~re. One such a se~ the nature of human relationships, had been identified as the main undertying theme behind the vested interests as well as ingrained paradigms that exist on both sides of a racially divided workforce. The historical background of the industry and cultural perceptions created a shared assumption set that shaped these deep-rooted, embedded mindsets, affecting human relationships significantly. The study made it clear that any transformation attempt could be possible only when one goes deeper than the stated values and norms to understand the undertying assumptions and the true nature of human relationships that drive the visible behaviour and attttudes. The central dimension of this study, the nature of human relationships, referred to the opposing concepts of individualism versus communalism. These opposing paradigms are manifested in the two main management approaches or corporate cultures that exist in South Africa. Many suggested that the acknowledgement and utilisation of the Afrocentric value system, Ubuntu, alongside a Westem individualistic corporate culture are imperative to improve relationships in general and promote humanism. This study proposed that the humane spirit of Ubuntu, a spirit of trus~ caring and respect for human dignity, should be 'married' with the Westem approach to management instead of Ubuntu being adopted as a single framework that may be perceived negatively by the current business community. Thinking culturally', the purpose phrase of this study, succeeded therefore in abandoning the eitheror kind of thinking in favour of a more holistic 'both-and' way of doing. A desired culture of trust, honesty, openness, integrity and non-AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die organisasiekultuur van 'n maatskappy is nie alleen die "gom" wat die besigheidsinstelling en sy onderafdelings bind nie, maar in 'n hoe mate ook die onderliggende rede waarom die besigheidsinstelling bestaan. Die punt sal aan die hand van die goudmynbedryf geillustreer word. Die ontdekking en gepaardgaande ekstraksie van goud gedurende die laaste eeu het die organisasiekultuur van die mynwese gevorm. Dit het help beslag gee aan rasse segregasie en het die grondslag gelê vir die sisteem waarin die industrie homself bevind. Die doel van hierdie studie is om die dieper aspekte van organisasiekultuur bloot te Iê - aspekte wat optrede en die sigbare gesindheid aandryf. Die grondliggende paradigma, kern metafore en aannames van die goudmyn industrie sal daarom eers bepaal moet word voordat 'n radikale transformasieproses geinisieer kan word. 'n Benadering van "paradigma wisselwerking" ("tussenspel") is gevolg waarvolgens kultuur beskryf word as 'n eksplisiete verandelike en 'n implisiete kern metafoor. Binne hierdie raamwerk word konsepte en betekenisse van organisasiekultuur binne 'n hermeneutiese metodiek ondersoek. Die doel daarvan is om die menslike, ekspressiewe en simboliese tekstuur van lewenswyse binne die goudmynbedryf te interpreteer. Die raamwerk verskaf 'n denkwyse oor organisasies wat nie daarop gerig is om spesifieke metodes of stappe daar te stel vir die bestuur of transformasie van organisasiekultuur nie. Die doelwit is om kultureel en holisties te dink oor die proses van transformasie. 'n Indiepte ondersoek van Schein se 'drie vlakke' van kultuur was noodsaaklik om die kern transformasie aspek van die Suid Afrikaanse goudmyn kultuur te ontrafel. Daar is bevind dat gedragseienskappe gevorm en bepaal word deur die gesamentlike onderliggende waardes, oortuigings en gesindhede van lede van 'n organisasie. Hierdie eienskappe skakel in by 'n reeks onderliggende aannames wat die binneste kern van organisasiekultuur uitmaak. Die aard van menslike verhoudings, 'n onderliggende aanname, is ge"identifiseer as die hoofonderliggende tema agter die bestaande belange sowel as die ingewortelde paradigmas wat bestaan aan beide kante van die rasverdeelde werksmag. Die historiese agtergrond van die industrie en die kulturele persepsies het 'n gedeelde reeks aannames daargestel wat diep-gewortelde denkpatrone en denkgietsels gevorm het en wat menslike verhoudings aansienlik beinvloed. Die studie maak duidelik dat enige transformasiepoging alleenlik moontliik is indien daar dieper as die bepaalde waardes en norme gedelf word om die onderliggende aannames en denkwyses asook die aard van menslike verhoudings te bepaal wat die sigbare optrede en gesindheid van mense dryf. Die sentraie dimensie van die studie, naamlik die aard van menslike verhoudings, berus op die opponerende konsepte van individualisme en kommunalisme. Hierdie twee konsepte, en die paradigmas wat hulle aandui, word gemanifesteer in die twee hoof bestuursraamwerke van organisasiekultuur wat in Suid Afrika bestaan. Baie navorsers suggereer dat die erkenning en gebruikmaking van die Afrosentriese waardesisteem, Ubuntu, naas 'n westerse individualistiese organisasiekultuur, noodsaaklik is om 'n outentieke humanisme, en verhoudinge in die algemeen te bevorder. Die studie stel voor dat die humane (mens-georianteerde) gees van Ubuntu, 'n gees van vertroue, omgee en respek vir menswaardigheid, saamgesnoer word met die westerse benadering tot bestuur, in plaas daarvan om Ubuntu as 'n enkele raamwerk aan te neern wat dalk negatief waargeneem kan word deur die moderne sakesektor. Die kulturele denkwyse wat gegenereer is in hierdie studie het dus geslaag daarin om die 'of-die-eenof- die-ander' denkwyse te vervang met 'n meer holistiese 'en-en' manier van dink en doen. 'n Kultuur van vertroue, opregtheid, integriteit en geen diskriminasie is noodsaaklik, ofte wel 'n morele en eties aanvaarbare organisasiekultuur waar bemagtigde werkers geinspireer word eerder as gedryf word. Transformasie is gemoeid met die intellektuele, sosiale, spirituele en van groot belang, die emosionele hulpbronne van 'n organisasie. Die aksent op selfbewussyn, wat fundamenteel is vir die gees van Ubuntu, word gegenereer deur 'n verstaan van ons eie emosies, en tweedens die verstaan van die emosies van ander. Emosionele intelligensie het onlangs te voerskyn gekom as 'n belangrike bydraer tot self-regulasie. Dit is 'n beslissende bestanddeel in die transformasieproses van die organisasiekultuur van die goudmynbedryf. Die studie stel voor dat die transformasieproses geinisieer kan word deur 'n spesifieke gebeurtenis wat die fokus word, 'n oomblik van besorgdheid rakende die huidige predikament waarin die industrie of meer belangrik, die individu homself/haarself bevind. Konfrontasie is selfs nodig vir 'n ontwikkeling van 'n oomblik van insig wat aanleiding kan gee tot 'n reinterpretasie van historiese en huidige gebeure. Tydens die proses van insig of nabetragting word 'n toename in selfkennis opgedoen wat lei tot 'n nuwe begin. Die studie vestig die aandag op 'n noodsaaklikheid van 'n verandering van gesindheid en aanvaarding van die eis tot verandering. Dit sluit in 'n verbintenis om kognitiewe 'ratte' te verander vanaf 'n outomatiese sienswyse na 'n aktiewe, bewuste refleksie van wat is reg en wat is verkeerd. Dan kan die goudmyne en Suid Afrika in geheel 'n beter plek gemaak word om in te leef en te werk.

In South Korea, believed to be one of the most racially and culturally homogeneous nation-states, ‘multiculturalism’ has emerged, since the mid-2000s, as a discursive space within which migrant incorporation and racial/cultural diversity are discussed. Despite the proliferation of multicultural discourses and policy developments, issues of racism have not come to the fore in Korea, not only in the practices of policymaking but also in scholarly work. This thesis problematises this absence and interrogates the contingent configuration of contemporary multiculturalism and racialised nationalism. To achieve this, it starts out by questioning the entrenched idea of Korea’s ‘racial irrelevance’ and the persistent decoupling of nationalism and racism. The thesis employs open-ended, semi-structured in-depth interviews as its key method. A total of forty-five interviews were conducted with various social actors, who actively respond to the multiculturalisation of Korean society, in their role as migrant rights activists, government agencies, media personnel, (far-right) anti-multiculturalists, and migrants. By drawing on the analysis of these interviews and other complementary sources (historical documents, white papers, media reports, and anti-multiculturalists’ online communities), the thesis particularly focuses on the following three aspects of the Korean application of multiculturalism. Firstly, how multiculturalism works as a euphemism for race – emblematic in the employment of the term ‘multicultural’ as a pseudo-racial category – and how this euphemistic development works reciprocally with the disavowal of racism. Secondly, it reflects on how ‘culture’, in this tendency of multicultural politics, is utilised in constructing differences, constituting the dynamics of in/exclusion, and accumulating individual and national capital. Lastly, the thesis demonstrates the fragility and contradictions of celebratory multicultural discourses, imbricated with neoliberal subjectivity and strongly inflected by a social Darwinist ethos. In conceptualising multiculturalism as the politics of hush in South Korea, this project not only carves out a new research space for the critical analysis of ‘race’ and racism in Korean academia but also contributes to expanding our understanding of the politics of multiculturalism particularly in relation to the global discourse of ‘post-racial’ society.

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research assesses the current organisational culture as well as the future preferred organisational culture of a business unit in a large information and communications technology company. In this study the researcher also assesses the management skills and competencies in comparison with the preferred future culture of the organisation. The research is based on the competing values framework of assessing organisational culture. The data was collected using the two instruments, namely the organisational culture assessment instrument and the management skills assessment instrument. These tools are questionnaires, which enabled the researcher to undertake a survey in a business unit. A sample of eight leaders and 72 associates was used to complete the questionnaires. The organisational culture assessment instrument was used to assess and profile the current culture of the organisation as well as the future preferred culture of the organisation. The management skills assessment instrument was used to evaluate the skills and competencies of the leaders in the business unit and the data was statistically analysed to compare the current skills of the leaders to that of the preferred future culture. The research revealed that the skills and competencies of the business unit strongly match the current culture of the organisation, and not the preferred culture. Through these findings, the research established which skills and competencies need to be developed in order to achieve the preferred culture. The research is significant in that it also proved the validity of the theory of competing values and this will contribute to the scholars in the culture and change management studies.

This thesis begins by questioning the applicability of Western concepts and measures of workplace bullying to the Far East culture. Facing such an issue, the thesis aims to address the role of culture on workplace bullying by examining the emic and etic dimensions and developing an indigenous bullying scale. By emic was meant culturally specific dimension while by etic was meant culturally neutral dimension. Three studies were conducted which illustrated the emic and etic dimensions of workplace bullying. The first study was based on a questionnaire survey with 50 Korean and 43 UK employees and showed the extent of cultural differences in the employees’ concepts of and attitudes towards workplace bullying. Based upon these results, the qualitative part of the second study developed an indigenous bullying questionnaire (KBAQ: Korean Bullying Acts Questionnaire) through a repertory grid with 42 Korean participants. Then, the quantitative part of the study tested employees’ agreement of the KBAQ items being examples of bullying using a questionnaire survey with 76 Korean and 75 UK participants. Finally, the third study conducted a questionnaire survey utilising KBAQ and NAQ-R (Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised). 193 Korean and 167 UK employees participated. The study highlighted cultural differences in the descriptive aspects of workplace bullying such as the prevalence rate, bully/perpetrator status, health outputs (e.g., job satisfaction and work-related burnout) and predictors (e.g., leadership style, role conflict, and interpersonal conflict). The results also evidenced the validity and reliability of KBAQ and revealed that KBAQ had a greater applicability for Korean employees and NAQ-R for UK employees. The consistent findings of cultural differences suggest the need for an indigenous approach in examining workplace bullying. This thesis makes a significant contribution to the literature on workplace bullying in the Far East and provides the ground for the advancement of the indigenous approach to workplace bullying research.

This thesis is an exploratory one, which examines the relationship between Western influences (such as the media, education, work, travel, and friendships) and traditional values in South Korea (such as those related to family, social relationships, nationalism, social order, leisure time, work, religion and women’s issues). The relationship between these was investigated in light of modernization theories and Riesman’s stages of societal progress. Furthermore, a survey was conducted among 579 individuals from the younger and older generations in Seoul and Daegu, to determine the degree of Western influences among the generations, and the adherence to traditional values. It was found that the younger generation clearly had more exposure to Western influences, and also adhered much less to traditional values, while the opposite held true for the older generation. A case was made that South Korea’s unprecedented development following Independence opened the country, especially the younger generation, to influences from the West as they had never experienced before. The generation gap that came as a result of this is extreme, and without express effort to preserve those traditional values that have shaped Korean society for so long, there may be serious ramifications for Korean society in the future.

As the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) increased in the last decade, more enterprises, encouraged by governments, are promoting CSR practice. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the conceptualisation of CSR in regions with different cultures, histories, socio-cultural practices and religions. This study was based on a social constructionism approach and the research questions were answered through reviewing the theoretical basis established according to the collection of existing studies, as well as analysing empirical findings obtained from multiple case studies of Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) CSR champions, extensive interviews with international organisations (IOs) and Korean governmental agencies, and documents provided by the case companies, IOs and governmental agencies. This research found different characteristics of CSR between SMEs and multinational corporations regarding language and a necessity for differentiation strategy for development across firm size, industry and governance. Moreover, SMEs' global, national and organisational factors affected their learning and practice of CSR, resulting in different outcomes and peculiar characteristics. These findings could generate the new integrated model to understand CSR by combining two Social Capital Theory perspectives (Coleman, 1988; Fukuyama, 1995). This model facilitated in-depth analysis of the role of CSR in SMEs' development, building social capital on the process of SMEs' CSR practice by establishing virtuous cycles from trustful relationships internally and externally. Finally, it was shown that the CSR territory is expanding from the major Western developed countries to the emerging markets, especially in East Asia. Also, case study of the Korean CSR champions among SME sector could contribute to identifying characteristics of exemplary CSR cases to achieve social and economic responsibilities. Further, this research could provide about their conceptualisation and relationships with other education factors. Therefore, this study provides directions how other ordinary SMEs adopt CSR within their organisational settings, how policy makers set up their governmental support and how academics research about SMEs' CSR.

To break through the clutter of advertisements, some advertisers uses sexual appeal as a technique to increase visibility and sales. The purpose of this study is to examine, from a Swedish and South Korean perspective, how the attitude towards sexual appeal in advertising differ between generations. Culture and age has been proven to be factors affecting attitude towards advertisements, and previous research has found that the attitude towards sexual appeal in advertising between Swedish and South Korean university students only differed slightly. To examine the attitudes, data was collected through a questionnaire. The results suggest that the attitudes of each age group are generally rather similar, regardless of culture. Ages 18 to 30 showed most negativity towards sexual appeal in advertisements.

The evolving nature of the Korean 'chaebol' - both a business group and the founding family who control the corporation - continues to intrigue scholars of corporate governance (Khanna and Yafeh, JEL 2007). In my thesis, I investigate these multi-generational controlling families to explain the chaebol's significance in the historical evolution of South Korea's political economy during the 20th century. My research first describes the origins of chaebol entrepreneurs and details their role in the growth of light industry before the the rise of state-led industrialisation during the social revolution of the 1960s in South Korea. I then consider the specific institutional features which appear to work against family control, even though they would ultimately support its proliferation: 1) progressive politics; 2) inheritance tax; and 3) ownership dispersion. Notably, my analysis of these distinctive institutions provides a clearer understanding of the contemporary behavior of the chaebols and their ability to maintain family control over many decades of growth. In order to better understand the role of controlling families, during the state-led industrialisation period (1961-1988), I analyse their corporate networks and their ability to wield political power. To do so, I employ an unconventional source of evidence: a database of marriages among chaebol families. This research is theoretically grounded in the contact capabilities hypothesis advanced by Amsden (1989) and Guillén (2001a, 2001b with Kock). My scholarly approach complements parallel research on human networks within the state. My findings have implications for: 1) the epochal nature of chaebol-political networks; and 2) the market reaction to such network events, thus demonstrating the economic significance of these informal networks. In my last chapter on the post-1998 era of financial liberalisation, I explore the evolution of the ownership structure within the business group as it relates to policy history. I do this through an analysis of The Holding Company Act of 1999, and show how the controlling families in South Korea found novel ways to use the Act to support their family ownership and corporate control in spite of the original intentions of the regulators. As I show, share buyback programmes, first popularized in Anglo-American financial markets, were crucial to the maintenance of chaebol. As it turns out, liberal policies, imported from the West, proved no more able to limit family capitalism in South Korea than domestic policy had been during the preceding state-led industrialisation era. Nonetheless, activist investor has a special role to play.

The study set out to explore the influences of change on organisational culture in a private healthcare organisation of South Africa. The research was conducted at Life Healthcare, the largest private hospital group in South Africa. A survey questionnaire was constructed and used as a means of collecting data for the purpose of this study. The data was collected from a sample of 189 respondent managers using stratified probability sampling technique. Data analysis was conducted by applying descriptive and inferential statistical methods.

There is continuing academic and policy interest in the potential for culture-based urban regeneration, including the use of major arts and cultural festivals to attract investment, re-imagine places and create jobs. However, the social regeneration benefits of such events have been questioned especially when cultural events focus mainly on high profile economic development in central areas of a city. Social regeneration needs to be built into cultural event planning. This research seeks to examine how a one-year cultural event can play an influential role in aspects of social regeneration by focusing on the 2015 Culture City of East Asia (CCEA) event in Cheongju, South Korea. The CCEA is a collaboration between South Korea, China and Japan held since 2014, and is aimed at cultural exchange programmes, the development and regeneration of provincial cities through cultural programmes, and building solidarity in the East Asia regions. The research is based on document review, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with residents and community representatives in three areas of deprivation in the city. The key findings from the PhD are that social regeneration impacts are limited with limited engagement with the CCEA. The limited social regeneration impact is traced to the weak integration of social regeneration priorities and provision within the CCEA. It is argued that the CCEA reflects the wider tendency for cultural events to focus on visitors to the area, where main cultural venue is located, and reimaging at the expense of social regeneration. In the Korean context the weak dimension of social regeneration is reinforced by the weak and limited aspect of social regeneration nationally. In the CCEA the potential to engage communities through arts and culture is largely unrealised despite some prospect and pressure to widen the scope of the programme. The PhD contributes a distinctive Korean perspective to the literature on arts and culture- based regeneration. As this study relies on qualitative methods, it enables a deeper analysis of social regeneration, and local residents were placed into a high priority to attempt to produce a realistic consideration of how residents consider a cultural approach for regenerating an area, developing communities and individual environments. The findings of this thesis not only advance theory within the culture-led urban regeneration literature, but also offer an insight into the opinions of actual residents that can be referred to in the further management of cultural events, to improve the social regeneration through cultural approach.

According to Millar (1996), the gulf between science and society is growing. Technologies are tools cultures develop to solve society's problems. The rapid dispersion of science and technology across cultural borders through trade, technology transfer and exchange, increasingly requires people in different cultures to make choices about accepting or rejecting artifacts of science and technology such as genetically modified (GM) foods, which originate primarily from the United States. These issues challenge policy makers and scientists to account for the affects of different cultural perspectives on controversial scientific issues. Given the controversy across cultures over acceptance or rejection of genetically modified (GM) foods, GM foods are an excellent example with which to begin to reveal how culture impacts public perceptions of the risk and benefits of science and technology in different societies. This research will: 1. Define public awareness and understanding of science, specifically GM foods; 2. Examine culture's impact on knowledge, including different cultural approaches to research; and 3. Compare recent findings of a bi-national public opinion survey on GM comparing in South Korea and the United States. The proposed research outlines two research questions: 1) How and in what ways do South Koreans and Americans differ in their opinions about GMOs? This question is important for gathering current points of contrast about how the two cultures may differ; and 2) What role does culture play on opinion formation about GM foods? Through grounded theory, the researcher will investigate how cultural differences help explain opinion on public perceptions of GM foods. Is it possible to identify common cultural factors that impact public perceptions of GM foods between South Koreans and Americans? The study will utilize both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Higher education is a major producer of new science and technology. The study is significant for higher education administrators who must understand cultural factors impacting science internationally and globalization of the academic enterprise.

This thesis investigates the production and consumption of the independent music sector in South Korea in the digital age. It examines the value of music and how it is created in the digital age. Thus, it suggests the impacts of the Internet for consumers and producers. The investigation is based on the view that there has been a transition to value co-creation by consumers and producers, away from the traditional view of value being produced by firms alone, and that this value can be symbolic, emotional and experiential. The thesis shows that this transition has indeed occurred in the music industry. To investigate value and value creation in popular music in the digital age, an in-depth single case study of the independent music industry in South Korea is conducted. Qualitative data was collected, using semi-structured interviews, from independent music consumers and independent record labels. This research reveals that consumers’ music consumption is made up of both information-processing and experiential behaviours. Their desire to minimize the inappropriateness and maximize the appropriateness of independent music and its culture contributes to its sustainment and expansion. This research also reveals the online practices of consumers, categorized into three themes: acquisition, relationship and engagement. In addition, the examination of music communities in South Korea shows that consumers are resource integrators. It reveals that the consumption communities are organized and maintained through various operant resources of the participants. The data from the independent record labels reveals that they are trying hard to interact with consumers and benefit from the new media. They are found to conduct four value (co)creation strategies: contacting, bonding, spreading and managing. Finally, this research shows that difficulties in utilizing social media can be categorized into the following: adaptability, uncontrollability, representability and applicability. The key contributions of this research are as follows: Firstly, it extends our understanding of the symbolic consumption of music. Secondly, it identifies a form of consumption community, which can be termed a ‘co-creative consumption community’. Lastly, it demonstrates the value (co)creation practices used by consumers and the strategies used by producers. These findings extend the existing knowledge and suggest new evidence that contributes to an increased understanding of the concept of value co-creation, and to consumer research in general. In addition, the findings will benefit marketers and producers, especially in cultural industries such as the music industry.

In contrast to the decline of New Public Management (NPM) in many countries, reports on executive agency policy in Korea point to its success. To explore why it has been successful, this study investigates the relationship between multi-level culture and work motivation (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational commitment). This study develops a multi-level framework and examines direct, moderating, and varying contextual effects in the relationships among organizational cultures (clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy), individual perceptions of organizational culture, and work motivation, using survey data from 1,535 public employees in 46 executive agencies in Korea and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Key findings include, first, clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy organizational cultures all have positive associations with organizational commitment; however, individual perceptions of organizational market and hierarchy cultures are negatively related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Second, market and hierarchy cultures have positive varying contextual effects in relationships with organizational commitment. Third, organizational culture has more explanatory power than individual perceptions of organizational culture. Finally, efforts to develop and sustain balanced organizational culture evidently led to the success of the executive agency system in Korea. The findings support the argument that NPM reforms need to be examined through the lens of a multi-level culture and balanced culture perspective.
Ph. D.

This thesis compares the political culture of university students in South Korea before and after the democratic transition in 1987. It identifies the changes in the following: the attitudes to politics, government and media; the political socialization process; the experience of political participation; and the reasons for political participation and non-participation. Qualitative analysis was used to analyse the data collected from interviews and surveys conducted on respondents who were university students in the 1980s and current university students. It was found that compared to university students in the 1980s, current university students held less intensely negative attitudes towards the government. However, although current university students were interested in politics, they were still distrustful of politicians, did not have a political party they supported and had low levels of perceived political efficacy and political participation. Based on these findings, this thesis examined three different types of theories to explain the changes in the political culture of university students. First, demand-side theories that focus on underlying socioeconomic changes to explain changes in the political culture were used to analyse the changes in the reasons for political participation and the changes in the political socialization process. Second, intermediary-side theories that emphasise the role of media were used to examine the changes in the attitudes towards the media and the experience of latent political participation. Finally, supply-side theories that focus on the supply of politics and governance were used to explain the changes in the other elements of political culture. Close examination into the workings of democracy in South Korea since the democratic transition in 1987 revealed that there were indications of cartelisation of the political party system, which explains the low levels of political trust and perceived political efficacy reported by current university students.

Organisational culture has been one of the most studied and theorised concepts in organisational development. New ways of working, globalisation, increased competition and change in technology have created a greater need for strategic innovation and co-ordination and integration across units (Schein, 1992). Culture is the single most important factor for success or failure and has the greatest potential to effect organisational improvements or hold it back (Deal &
Kennedy, 1982
Fowler, 2002). Research suggests that organisational culture, its assessment and management is increasingly viewed as a necessary part of healthcare improvements (Scott, Mannion, Davies &
Marshall, 2003). In the health care environment, organisational culture has been associated with several elements of organisational experience and initiatives that contribute to quality, such as nursing care, job satisfaction and patient safety (Boan &
Funderburk, 2003).

In order to implement strategic initiatives or performance improvement interventions, it is important that an organisation understands the current status of its organisational culture. The best way to gain understanding of the culture is by assessing it (Davidson, 2004). 
he aim of the research was to assess the organisational culture of a private hospital in the Western Cape. For the purpose of this study a quantitative methodology adopted used utilising purposive sampling. The sample (n = 221) was inclusive of males and females and comprised of permanent and contract employees extending across the following departments: Human Resources, Patient Administration, Pharmacy, Technical, Support Services and Nursing. The nursing department was the largest representative group of the sample. The sample also included of medi-staff, management and an additional small hospital that reports to the management team. The Denison Organisational Culture Survey was used to gather data for the study. The Survey measures four culture traits, namely, involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Results indicated that employees perceived involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission positively. Furthermore, there were no significant differences found for consistency and sense of mission by employees in different departments. There were several limitations of the study. Amongst others, the results cannot be generalised to the broader population of all private hospitals as the findings are unique to the particular organisation. Secondly, the Denison Organisational Culture Survey has only been validated in a financial organisation in South Africa. A recommendation for further research would be to utilise quantitative as well as qualitative methodology to add to the existing body of knowledge.

Mobile phone usage has grown rapidly and is widely used as an advertising channel. Both short message service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS) are typically used for mobile advertising. The goals of this study are to examine the determinants of attitudes toward mobile advertising in an apparel context and subsequent impact on behavior intention and to investigate the effects of modality and culture on attitudes toward apparel mobile advertising. Results indicate that entertainment, informativeness, irritation, and credibility are determinants of attitudes toward apparel mobile advertising, and attitudes can explain behavioral intention at least in part. Perceived entertainment is different between SMS and MMS apparel mobile advertising, and perceived entertainment, informativeness, irritation, and credibility are different between U.S. and Korea participants.

The South African construction industry plays an important role in the economy and overall development of the country, with respect to its total fiscal contribution and the total number of people who are employed. In addition, it is a major contributor to infrastructure development. However, the human resource base within this industry is confronted with a plethora of challenges that are inherent to the construction industry. These manifest themselves in stressful working conditions and long working hours, labour intensive jobs, reduced job security due to job losses and short-term projects, and the feeble health and safety (H&S) standards. Together with a variety of socio-economic and political issues, these challenges form a perceived and broad organisational culture of this industry, which impacts on the industry‟s productivity. As construction management efforts in the development of the human resources base increase, the industry recognises that work-life balance is an important and critical issue in the 21st century. Construction management is a discipline that embodies two interdependent dimensions; the management of the business of construction and the management of projects. Of the latter, the key principles thereof are, as part of a management strategy, planning, organizing, leading, controlling and coordinating projects. To achieve these strategic components, an effective human resource base is required. Work-life balance is therefore a management issue and organizational culture sets a backdrop from which it can be understood. This study focused on the status of the organisational culture of the production establishments that form part of the construction industry and the manner in which it manifests on the work-life balance of the workers. Furthermore, the correlation between work-life balance and individual work performance was examined. An exploratory research approach was adopted and the research technique followed an interview protocol. The main findings demonstrate that the South African construction industry is predominantly a clan culture with minor characteristics of the hierarchy, adhocracy and market cultures. Furthermore, work-life balance is difficult to attain and it influences individual work performance. The main conclusion is that organizational culture in construction firms is imbalanced. Thus, the main recommendation is that the industry adopts a balanced organizational culture and modern human resource practices.

This thesis features a qualitative analysis of eight Korean media products — both fiction and nonfiction. For many years, South Korea (hereafter also called Korea) has been called the "world's plastic surgery capital" by many publications, such as Business Insider and The New Yorker. Although Business Insider considers the United States the "vainest country in the world," the numbers of cosmetic surgeries, percentage wise, per person in Korea still outnumber those in the United States, with 20 procedures per 1,000 persons. In this thesis, I argue by using the cultivation theory that Korean television, such as K-Dramas, talk shows and films, which celebrate transformations and feature makeovers and thus normalize cosmetic surgery, create a fantastic space for viewers where the viewers are compelled to act on a media-generated desire to undergo cosmetic surgery in the belief that doing so will also transform or better their lives in the same way it does for the characters in these Korean television productions.

Today information can be seen as a basic commodity that is crucial to the continuous well-being of modern organizations. Many modern organizations will be unable to do business without access to their information resources. It is therefor of vital importance for organizations to ensure that their infor- mation resources are adequately protected against both internal and external threats. This protection of information resources is known as information security and is, to a large extent, dependent on the behavior of humans in the organization. Humans, at various levels in the organization, play vital roles in the pro- cesses that secure organizational information resources. Many of the prob- lems experienced in information security can be directly contributed to the humans involved in the process. Employees, either intentionally or through negligence, often due to a lack of knowledge, can be seen as the greatest threat to information security. Addressing this human factor in information security is the primary focus of this thesis. The majority of current approaches to dealing with the human factors in information security acknowledge the need to foster an information security culture in the organization. However, very few current approaches attempt to adjust the "generic" model(s) used to define organizational culture to be specific to the needs of information security. This thesis firstly proposes, and argues, such an adapted conceptual model which aims to improve the understanding of what an information security culture is. The thesis secondly focuses on the underlying role that information security educational programs play in the fostering of an organizational information security culture. It is argued that many current information security edu- cational programs are not based on sound pedagogical theory. The use of learning taxonomies during the design of information security educational programs is proposed as a possible way to improve the pedagogical rigor of such programs. The thesis also argues in favor of the use of blended and/or e-learning approaches for the delivery of information security educational content. Finally, this thesis provides a detailed overview demonstrating how the various elements contributed by the thesis integrates into existing trans- formative change management processes for the fostering of an organizational information security culture.

Since 2000, local municipalities have been through a process of transformation which amalgamated a number of smaller local municipalities into larger municipalities. The amalgamation of a number of municipalities brings together an array of people, and therefore a myriad of organisational cultures are combined. The organisational culture of an organisation has an effect on the organisational commitment of its employees. A fit between the organisational culture and the employees will increase the organisational commitment of those employees and contribute towards improved service delivery. A survey conducted in South Africa indicated that the local municipalities have been delivering poor standards of service to the community; therefore there is a need to increase the service delivery within local municipalities. The importance of looking at the organisational commitment of a local municipality is because if there is commitment within the organisation, then employees will identify with their organisation and its goals, and will deliver the service more effectively and efficiently. Therefore, increasing the service delivery of local municipalities can be achieved through diagnosing the organisational commitment and organisational culture of employees within the selected municipality. The primary objective of this research was therefore to diagnose the relationship between organisational culture and the organisational commitment of employees at the selected municipality. In order to achieve this objective, a survey was conducted to canvas the opinions of respondents (N = 148) from the selected local municipality regarding their perceptions of the existing organisational culture, their preferences regarding the organisational culture within the selected municipality, and finally the organisational commitment. The main findings of this research conducted at a selected municipality can be summarised as follows: The dominant existing organisational culture is the power culture, while the dominant preferred organisational culture is the support culture; There is an organisational culture gap between the existing and preferred organisational cultures at the selected municipality; The dominant organisational commitment within the selected municipality is normative commitment; The findings pertaining to the relationship between organisational culture and organisational commitment of employees within the selected municipality can be stated as follows: The existing organisational cultures have significant effects on the organisational commitment of employees; The preferred organisational cultures do not have significant effects on the organisational commitment of employees; and The organisational culture gap does not have a significant effect on the organisational commitment of employees; The findings pertaining to the relationship between the biographical variables and the existing and preferred organisational culture, organisational commitment and the organisational culture gap can be stated as follows: There is no significant relationship between biographical variables and the existing organisational culture; There are significant relationships between the biographical variables, namely the departments in which respondents work, and the education level of respondents, and the preferred organisational culture; There are significant relationships between the biographical variables and organisational commitment; and The average organisational culture gap scores of the organisational culture scales for the biographical variables are significantly different. It can be concluded that organisational culture has a significant effect on the organisational commitment of employees within the selected municipality and therefore can affect the service delivery of the selected municipality.

The objective of the present research is to explore the present state of EFL (English as a foreign language) in Korean culture which is assumed to be different from that of English speaking countries, and to investigate learners' attitudes toward needs and motivation for the English language. Since it seems to be recognised that language and culture are inseparable, EFL in the Korean cultural context might reflect its own typical aspects. Chapter 1 deals with problems in EFL in Korea, and the relationship between foreign language acquisition and cultural background. The meaning of culture and its importance in a foreign language learning and teaching is elaborated. Chapter 2 reflects the characteristics of Korean culture, with an account of her history, education system and national policy of EFL. Current implementation of English language teaching at Korean universities, with its developmental history, is presented with evidences obtained from previous research. Chapter 3 reviews the theoretical literature on needs, attitudes, interest, anxiety and motivation in foreign/second language learning, since they are recognised as central to foreign language acquisition. Research studies on these variables are introduced, compared with each other and critically discussed. In Chapter 4, research questions and hypotheses are drawn, based on the theoretical framework reviewed in Chapter 3. The research design (sampling, methods of and procedures for data-collection) is elaborated. Chapter 5 begins with a description of data-interpretation methods employed in the study. Data obtained from these instruments were statistically analysed through a computer programme `SPSS'. The findings of the research are presented, followed by a discussion of the results. In Chapter 6, more detailed profiles of analysis than those given in Chapter 5 are presented. Particularly, item-by-item comparison is made between the college students' and graduates' questionnaires. Chapter 7, as a closing chapter of the present research, reviews the foregoing chapters and derives conclusions, suggesting implications for further research. Key implications arising from the research are: priority for teaching EFL from intercultural perspectives, and (so far as learners are concerned) to tolerating the new approaches to teaching that are required.

High-rise urban housing has been one of the most contentious themes in academic and policy discourses regarding urban built environments, connoted in many western countries as ‘slums’ with social delinquency and dysfunctional family lives. This has often been contrasted with the ideal of the suburban house. Together these have framed a ‘deterministic dualism’ of built environments according to the physical and spatial features. Such extreme comparison has helped to reinforce social and spatial segregation, resulting in the deep stigmatisation of high-rise built environments. This has left little room for other possibilities, in particular in the context of recent issues of sustainable development, such as new urbanism, struggling to transform images and perspectives of high-rise city living. However, there is a contrasting reality in South Korea, where the same built environment involves exactly the opposite story of these predominant discourses, where fundamental changes in the country’s housing market have occurred in tandem with the rise of a so-called ‘apartment culture’. Urban high-rise living has come to be seen as representative of modern middle-class lifestyles in response to dramatic economic growth over the last half century, accompanying by the transformation of low-rise settlements into high-rise blocks in both urban and suburban areas. As a result, the mega-sized capital city, Seoul, embraces half of population within an extremely compact area, 10 % of the nation. This example of Korean high-rise living suggests a lack of deep understandings about built environments, in which the deterministic framework of the western-centric view cannot explain a different reality generated from the same built form. Instead, by focusing on cultural identity to shift away from deterministic analyses of built environments, this research aims to understand how a ‘housing culture’, as a form of ‘institutionalised built environment’, can arise and operate socially, culturally, economically and politically in a market-driven capitalist society. Seoul offers rich source of this exploration, especially in the case study district of Gangnam, where Korean apartment culture was literally born. Based on qualitative methodology with mainly semi-structured interviews, the research found that built forms are not entitled with innate entity, but socially constructed meanings. The analytical lens of housing culture enables this complex and dynamic construction of built environments to be captured. Given this potential of a new thinking, this thesis suggests some renewed ideas and perspectives, and the new way of framing problems beyond simple physical and spatial factors in understanding built environments.

Happiness is essentially the degree to which you find and judge your existence as favourable, in addition to an enduring, psychological feeling of contentment. In the hedonic view, happiness is pleasant feelings and favourable judgements, while the contrasting eudaimonic view describes it as doing what is morally right, what is righteous, that will enhance growth and that is meaningful to an individual. Both these views contribute to the overall happiness of an individual. People that are pleased with their lives usually experience greater satisfaction in their jobs. This is in line with the literature as happiness is positively correlated with job satisfaction, which suggests that a happy employee will most likely result in one that is satisfied with his/her job. In addition, happiness is correlated with evidence of success in the workplace and can increase an employee’s effectiveness at work. It is, therefore, essential that organisations identify the factors which influence employee happiness in order to enhance its cultural value-offering for employees and, in turn, increase their levels of job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is essentially the degree to which a person enjoys his/her job. It is the positive emotional state resulting from the evaluation of one’s work experience. This has profitable outcomes such as improved work performance. Furthermore, people who experience satisfaction in their jobs are better ambassadors for their organisation, demonstrate greater commitment, are more engaged and perform better within the organisation than their unhappy peers. Job satisfaction can be deemed an attitude. It is therefore important to understand the dimensions of the job, which are complex and interrelated in nature, in order to understand job attitudes. Organisational culture has been shown to influence the attitude and behaviour of employees through shared values and beliefs in the organisation. It is for this reason that there is a significant need to determine the factors in organisational culture that influence employee happiness and, in turn, job satisfaction. An organisation’s employees, through their participation and commitment, can be regarded as the most important source of success for the organisation. Organisational culture can therefore, greatly influence the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation through its employees. Moreover, the culture of an organisation has a significant influence on the commitment and satisfaction of its employees. It inspires employees not only to feel committed to the organisation but also to perform well. The correlation between organisational culture and job satisfaction have been examined by various authors in the literature. All of these authors found a positive relationship between the two concepts. These conclusions show that the culture of an organisation can actually influence an employee’s job satisfaction and therefore his/her happiness. This research investigates the cultural value-offering of General Motors South Africa (GMSA) and its alignment to the needs of its employees. Until the end of 2012, an employee needs-analysis regarding employee happiness and his/her job satisfaction, was non-existent in the organisation. Towards the end of 2012 the organisation introduced a “Workplace of Choice” survey to perform an employee needs-analysis in order to investigate if there was a difference between employee needs and the organisation’s cultural value-offering. Another “Workplace of Choice” survey followed in 2014. This, however, was performed with the staff employees only and not with the hourly employees. Many organisations neglect to analyse the workplace needs of their employees to ensure that the organisation fully understands and is able to satisfy or accommodate these needs. Understanding employee needs is crucial to an organisation’s success. It is therefore important that the organisation investigates the employee needs to be able to align them with the cultural value-offering of the organisation. The purpose of this study is to advance the current understanding of Employee Happiness in the workplace by conducting a systematic analysis of the factors in Organisational Culture that influence Employee Happiness and, in turn, their Job Satisfaction in GMSA.

Based on the increasing importance that information and communication technologies (ICT) plays in most global economies, the high demand for ICT employees and the influence of organisational culture on the success of ICT businesses, the purpose of this study was to provide ICT managers with ways to retain and keep their employees satisfied and happy in their jobs. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to identify and empirically test the influence of various factors of organisational culture on Happiness and Job satisfaction of employees in the ICT industry in South Africa. After completing a comprehensive literature review, it appeared that limited research had been conducted on the happiness of employees in the ICT industry. Numerous factors were identified as influencing happiness; however, due to the difficulty to assess some of these factors, this study only focused on the influence of organisational culture on the happiness and in return the job satisfaction of employees. All the factors influencing organisational culture were reviewed in the literature and 13 independent variables were identified and hypothesised to influence the mediating variable Happiness and the dependent variable Job satisfaction. All the variables in this study were clearly conceptualised and operationalised. Valid and reliable items sourced from various measuring instruments used in previous studies, were used to operationalise theses variables. Furthermore, numerous items were self-generated from secondary sources. A convenience sampling method was used to identify the respondents and a structured questionnaire was completed online by respondents. The data collected from 187 usable questionnaires was subjected to various statistical analyses using the software program Statistica. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to assess the validity of the dependent variable Job satisfaction and the mediating variable Happiness of this study, whereas an Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to assess the validity of the independent variables. To confirm the reliability of all the variables investigated, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated. Due to the large number of variables and the small number of respondents, conducting a factor analysis on the independent variables was not possible. This problem was solved by the use of the item parcelling method. After the item parcelling was conducted and the factor analysis conducted, only seven out of the 13 factors loaded together as expected. All the parcels measuring these factors did not load together as expected and where necessary these factors were renamed and operationalised again. The sample data was summarised using descriptive statistics. The majority of respondents reported that they were satisfied with their jobs and almost half of the respondents reported being happy with their lives. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to establish the degree of relationship between the factors investigated in this study. After the Multiple Regression Analysis was conducted, it was found that three independent variables influence the Happiness of employees in the ICT industry, namely, Customer focus, Strategic direction and intent and Family orientation and atmosphere. Happiness was also found to have a positive influence on the Job satisfaction of ICT employees. The influence of various selected demographic variables on the dependent, mediating and independent variables was investigated by means of an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The statistical significance between the differences in means scores was measured using the Bonferroni Post-hoc test. The Population group of the respondents, the Years of service and their Age group were found to significantly influence some of the independent variables and mediating variables investigated in this study. No relationship was found between any demographic variables and the dependent variable Job satisfaction. Limited studies on the influence of organisational culture on the happiness of nemployees and more particularly those in the ICT industry were found in the literature. This study has made a contribution to the field of happiness research by understanding the factors influencing the happiness and job satisfaction of employees in the ICT industry. As a result, the study presents recommendations and suggestions to assist ICT businesses to improve their organisational culture and at the same time enhance the happiness and job satisfaction of their employees.

One of the key recommendations of the Communication Task Team Report which analysed the communication programme of government post 1994 was that of the introduction of a single corporate identity programme for government. It is against this background that various South African government departments (national and provincial) including the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development introduced their corporate identity programmes. Based on the Rotterdam Organisation Identification Test (ROIT) (van Riel et al., 1994), the paper analyses the levels to which employees identify with the corporate identity of the Department of Social Development. The ROIT scale identifies four variables that impact on employee identification which are; employee communication, job satisfaction, corporate culture and perceived organisational prestige.

Ma thèse porte sur l'émergence et l'évolution de la RSE au niveau mondial et local dans une perspective institutionnelle. Elle aborde le mécanisme dynamique du champ de la RSE à partir d'une perspective à plusieurs niveaux en trois modes: (1) en tant que gouvernance transnationale, (2) en tant que pratique d'entreprise mondiale évoluée à partir d'une idée ou d'une pratique localement incorporée et (3) en tant que un domaine (quasi-) professionnel. Plus précisément, le premier essai explore les façons dont un État-nation réinvente ses relations avec d'autres acteurs dans le processus de gouvernance transnationale de la RSE. Mon deuxième essai étudie la coévolution des attentes en Corée du Sud en ce qui concerne la responsabilité des entreprises et du système d'affaires national. Mon troisième essai porte sur les mécanismes de micro-professionnalisation du domaine de la RSE en Corée du Sud. D'un point de vue méthodologique, j'utilise des études de cas et des analyses qualitatives pour examiner des ensembles de données composés d'entretiens, d'observations sur le terrain et de données archivistiques. Pour ma thèse, j'ai principalement porté sur 81 interviews de professionnels dans le domaine de la RSE et plus de 200 articles de journaux parlant de la responsabilité des entreprises (ou des riches quand un type moderne d'entreprise n'existait pas en Corée du Sud avant 1960) et “CSR”, qui ont été publiés en Corée du Sud depuis les années 1920, afin de comprendre le champ lui-même et de reconstruire une histoire de l'émergence et de l'évolution du champ. Avec les données que j'ai recueillies, ces trois modes donnent des lignes directrices fondamentales pour mes recherches actuelles et futures
Going back to the disagreement of Wilensky (1964) in the beginning of this paper, I have some concluding thoughts with respect to my findings. Wilensky (1974) made his stance quite clear by arguing that everyone cannot be professionalized because of quasi-professionals or semi-professionals do not possess tentative knowledge and skills and other conditions as the functionalist approach in the sociology of profession generally argue. Current researchers have argue that contemporary professional fields have lost the essence of professionalism, which is a broad sense of serving societal missions, and have become more interest groups to do their businesses (R. Greenwood, 2007; Saks, 2012). Hence, current established professional organizations are being under de-legitimization and de-institutionalization (Ackroyd, 1996; Brock, 2006). My findings showed that many of CSR professionals, one of emerging quasi-professional groups, tended to share a strong sense of serving societal missions. Some of them (with the strategic corporate giving and the sustainability transition frame) emphasized even more than their business missions, commercial values, and self-interests. Just like any other professionals, some of CSR professionals, especially those within the social innovation and the risk management frame, also underscored the importance of business-like and commercial values to vitalize the CSR field and to grow themselves as stronger professionals. However, they were clearly aware of that what they were doing ultimately generated social benefits, and they appreciated the fact that their professional lives satisfied both their economic interests and societal interests. Hence, their professionalism was actually quite stronger than any other contemporary professionals, which have been criticized for lack of such professionalism. In this regard, why cannot we call CSR professionals, professionals ?

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research study explores the impact of organisational culture with specific reference to the South African Police Service (SAPS) culture on service delivery. The two interrelated concepts "organisational culture and service delivery are discussed broadly in terms of their challenges for the contemporary policing function which put emphasis on the provision of police service and accounatbility to the broader community. The premise of the study is based on literature research evidence that organisational culture is an important factor to influence employee behaviour towards organisational effectiveness and also determine how they respond to its external environment. At the same time a strong organisational culture can be rigid and become a hindrance to change. Service delivery is a critical challenge to the government's ongoing efforts to ensure that its delivery process is efficient and responsive, particularly to the needs of the previously disadvantaged communities. In recent years, this challenge reinforced the government to embark on broad transformation mechanisms in order to position public institutions in an environment where service delivery meets the public needs and expectations. Some of these mechanisms include the promulgation of legislation, regulations and a series of policy frameworks notably, The White Paper on Reconstruction and Development (ROP), 1994, The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service of 1995, Public Service Regulation of 1999 etc. However, the provision of efficient service delivery in public institutions is usually constrained by various factors such as lack of capacity and shortage of competency skills, financial and technological resources as opposed to the private sector which normally have these resources in abundance. Since lack of sufficient financial resources will always be a challenge for public service delivery enhancement, this study suggests that public institutions can incorporate some private sector strategies in order to be innovative and improve efficiency. Apart from a lack of the above mentioned resources as contributing factor to inefficient service delivery, available theory on organisational culture state that it is an all encompassing factor that influences employee behaviour in public institutions. Chapter 3 provides a theoretical framework on the concept of organisational culture, its formation, and its sources, how it is sustained in the organisation. Various models and examples of organisational culture as found in small and big organisations such as those associated with government agencies are analysed and distinguish in terms of why the size of the organisation can determine its prevailing culture. Small organisations with flat structures are considered to be flexible, autonomous, innovative and responsive to customer needs. On the other hand the traditional bureaucratic organisations such as government agencies like police organisations tend to be characterised by highly formal hierarchical structure with too many layers, operational rules and regulations which are intended to enforce control measures. However, type of structures are criticised for rigid systems, autocratic, and slow. Models for changing organisational culture in order to increase its effectiveness are suggested. After a theoretical discussion on both the concepts organisational culture and service delivery, the SAPS was used as a case study to establish the applicability and the extent to which organisational culture impact on service delivery. The first stage consist of analytical perspective of the SAPS historical military culture since its inception in 1913 and giving critical accounts of its operational phases that it had undergone until the new dispensation. Since the early 1990s until after April 1994 elections, marked a new era in the SAPS which embarked on broad transformation initiatives in order to change policing function from that of a narrow law and order maintenance to a fully integrated community policing which makes police officers to be accountable to the broader community by rendering police service and problem solving within a human rights culture. However, police culture has been widely criticised as a source of resistance to change and reform, and is often misunderstood. The prevailing police culture which was inherited from the previous paramilitary legacy such as the autocratic leadership style, traditional bureaucratic structure, corruption, secrecy, mistrust are some of the dominant indicators which are identifiable and commonalities among the different police agencies. These dominant features cause any resistance to any change initiative and are perceived with negative image. After contextualising the description of the SAPS, the study describes the methods and procedures used to conduct an empirical research project in the form of a pilot study conducted in two police stations in Cape Town. Data collection methods include the following: 1) literature review, 2) open-ended one-an-one interviews with the station commissioners from the selected stations, 3) distributing survey questionnaires which consist of close ended questionnaires to junior officers at police stations to determine their attitudes towards the organisations they work in, and 4) by means of observation. Theoretical evidence proves that police culture which is characterised by paramilitary, bureaucracy, rigid systems and procedures, inflexible structure still prevail in the SAPS and contributes significantly to lack of coordination, slow response and results inefficient service delivery. It is concluded that police stations are the primary centres where the public gets first hand experience when reporting their cases or need the help of police officers to solve problems in the community. In order to provide efficient police service, units which provide interrelated functions need to be fully integrated under one unit commander in order to improve coordination and prompt response. Policing crime is still the primary function of the police and police officers need to be fully equipped with competency skills and other capacity building programs that are consistent with the contemporary policing function.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingstudie stelondersoek in na die impak van organisasiekultuur met spesifieke verwysing na die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens (SAPD) se kultuur op dienslewering. Die twee verwante konsepte "organisasiekultuur"en "dienslewering"word breedvoerig bespreek teen die agtergrond van die agtergrond van die uitdagings wat dit stel vir die hedendaagse polisieringsfunsie wat dit beklemtoon dat die polisie 'n diens moet lewer en aanspeeklik moet wees teenoor die breer gemeenskap. Die studie se aanname is gebasseer op literatuurnavorsing wat toon dat organisasiekultuur 'n faktor is wat werknemersgedrag beinvloed ten opsigte van organisasie-effektiwiteit asook hoe werknemers reageer teenoor die eksterne omgewing. 'n Sterk organisasiekultuur word beskou as 'n bindende faktor tussen werkers en die organisasie en dit skep kosekwentheid en rigting. 'n Sterk organisisasiekultuur kan terselfdetyd rigied wees en 'n struikelblok word in die weg van voorgestelde verandering aangesien verandering beskou kan word as inmenging in die normale gang van die organisasie. Hierteenoor het 'n meer buigsame kultuur die voordeel van aanpasbaarheid ten opsigte van verandering. Dienslewering is 'n volgehoue uitdaging vir die regering se se volgehoue pogings om te verseker dat sy leweringsproses effektief is en die behoeftes van spesifiek die voorheen benadeelde groepe aanspreek. Hierdie uitdaging het die regering genoop om transformasie-meganismes daar te stel ten einde openbare instellings in staat te stelom leweringsagente te word wat die behoeftes en uitkomste-verwagtinge van almal aanspreek. Van die meganismes sluit in die promulgering van wetgewing en beleid soos die Heropbou-en Ontwikkelingsprogram (HOP) Witskrif, 1994, die Transformasie van Openbare Dienste Witskrif, 1995, die Openbare Diens Reguleringswet van 1999 ensomeer. Die lewering van effektiewe dienste word gewoonlik beperk deur deur veskeie faktore soos 'n gebrek aan kapasiteit en vaardighede, asook finasiele en tegnologiese hulpbronne wat normaalweg tot die beskiking van die private sektor is. Gegewe dat 'n tekort aan finansiele hulpbronne altyd 'n uitdaging vir effektiewe openbare sektor dienslewering sal wees, stel hierdie studie voor dat openbare instellings sekere privaatsektor strategiee kan inkorporeer ten einde innovasie en effektiwiteit te verbeter. Behalwe bogenoemde beperkende faktore, stel beskikbare organisasiekultuur-teorie dit dat dit ook organisasiekultuur is wat openbare sektor amptenare se gedrag is wat die kwaliteit en vlak van dienslewering beinvloed. Hoofstuk drie bied 'n teoretiese raamwerk vir die konsep organisasiekultuur ten opsigte van hoe dit geskep en in stand gehou word binne organisasies. Verskeie modelle en voorbeelde van organisasiekultuur binne klein sowel as groor organissaies word ontleed en daar word gekyk na hoe die grootte van 'n organisasie organisasiekultuur beinvloed. Klein organisasies met 'n plat struktuur word beskou as buigsaam, outonoom, innoverend en daartoe in staat om die vebruiker se behoeftes aan te spreek. Daarteenoor word tradisionele burokratiese organisasies soos polisie-organisasies gekenmerk deur formele strukture met te veel vlakke, operasionele reels en regulasies ten einde volle beheer te he oor prosedures. Die rigiede stelsels, outokrasie, en stadiege leweringsproses van sulke strukture word dikwels gekritiseer. Modelle om organisasiekultuur te verander ten einde effektiwiteit te verbeter word voorgestel. Die teoretiese bespeking van die konsepte organisasiekultuur en dienslewering word gevolg deur 'n gevallestudie van die SAPD ten einde te bepaal die mate waartoe organisasiekultuur impakteer op dienslewering. Die eerste fase behels 'n analitiese perspektief van die SAPD se historiese militere kultuur sedert 1913 asook' n kritiese blik op operasionele fases waardeur die SAPD gegaan het tot en met die nuwe dispensasie. Die vroee 1990s tot net na die April 1994 verkiesing verteenwoordig' n nuwe era in die SAPD ten opsigte van transformasie inisiatiewe wat daarop gerig was om die polisieringsfunksie te verander van 'n agent wat eng gefokus was op die handhawing van wet en orde na 'n geintegreerde polisiediens wat aanspeeklik is teenoor die bree gemeenskap. Dit behels die lewering van 'n polisiediens sowel as probleem-oplossing binne die konteks van 'n menseregte-kultuur. Polisiekultuur word, as gevolg van misverstande, dikwels beskou as 'n bron weerstand teen verandering. Die heersende organisasiekultuur - wat 'n nalatenskap is van die vorige paramilitere styl byvoorbeeld outokratiese leierskapstyl, tradisionele burokratiese strukture, korrupsie, geheimhouding, wantroue - is van die dominante indikatore wat gemeenskaplike eienskappe is van die verskeie polisie-agentskappe. Hierdie dominante kenmerke veroorsaak weerstand teen enige veranderingsinisiatief en word as negatief beskou. Die beskrywing van die SAPD word gevolg deur' n uiteensetting van metodes en prosedures wat gebruik was tydens die empiriese navorsing wat gedoen was by twee polisiestasies in Kaapstad. Data insamelingsmetodes sluit in: 1) lieratuurnavorsing, 2) ope een-tot-een onderhoude met die stasiekomisarisse van die twee stasies, 3) die verspreiding van geslote vraelyste aan junior offisiere by polisiestasies ten einde hul houding te bepaal teenoor die organisaies waar hulle werk, en 4) observasies. Teoretiese bewyse toon dat die polisiekultuur wat normaalweg gekenmerk word deur paramilitere, buroktariese, rigiede stelsels en prosedures steeds bestaan binne die SAPD en dat dit bydra tot swak koordinasie, swak response en oneffektiewe dienslewering. Ten slotte word gemeld dat polisiedienssentra plekke is waar die publiek eerstehands kennis maak met dienslewering. Ten einde 'n effektiewe diens te lewer, behoort eenhede wat verwante diense lewer geintegreer te word onder die bevel van een bevelvoerder. Misdaadvoorkoming is steeds die primere funksie van die SAPD en beamptes moet toegerus word met die nodige bevoegdhede, vaardighede asook kapasiteitsbouprogramme wat in lyn is met die kontemporere polisieringsfunksie.

Thesis (M.B.A. (Investec Business School))--Rhodes University, 2006.
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Business Administration, Rhodes Investec Business School.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Date Unknown
Organisations in many industries, such as energy, banking and electronics, have faced increasingly complex and changing environments brought about by deregulation, technological revolution, foreign competition and unpredictable markets. Key to the success of these organisations is the development of a particular culture for the organisation. A well-conceived and well-managed organisation culture closely linked to organisation success, can also mean the difference between success and failure in the present demanding environment. Organisational culture has been assumed to have important implications, not only for the individual's affective reactions to organisational life, but also for organisational effectiveness. This study investigates the relationship between organizational culture and effectiveness in the Western Cape banking industry. Beginning with an existing model of organizational culture and effectiveness, the paper presents a linked study. The study uses survey data from six organizations designed to test the applicability of the model in the context of the Western Cape banking industry. The results support Denison's findings, namely that organisational culture has a positive impact on effectiveness. The discussion includes several recommendations for future research.