Academic literature on the topic 'Work and organisational kinship framework'

This paper provides a snapshot of early work undertaken to develop a trauma-informed complex case management and therapeutic practice model for kinship and foster care within a family and community services agency. The approach taken has initially involved supporting case workers and carers and working towards organisational cultural change. The shift in focus described arose from a concern that stability and healing goals were not well supported within the existing programmatic framework and practice approaches. Purposeful integration of theory with practice has been central to the change process. There is a clear rationale that working from a strong evidence base can create better outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care. The paper reflects on work in progress. Action taken to date has educated the workforce around trauma-informed responses, developed clear protocols and a set of practice tools. This has embedded a strong foundation for further development as resources become available.

This article explores kinship formation from the perspective of egg donors in Denmark. Through interviews with Danish egg donors, it investigates how the Danish legal framework and specific context, materialise egg donor kinship relations in third party reproduction. The article shows the ways egg donors negotiate normative ideals about family and motherhood through different kinship strategies. It argues that the donors’ relational kinship work is a form of social pioneering work, wherein donors help define what an egg donor kinship relation is and can be. This is analysed through the analytical concept of “appropriate distance.” The analysis shows how different normative constraints are embedded in the legal framework that structure which kinship relations are available. As an example, the different donor types in Denmark, anonymous, open, and known, become a way of disconnecting or connecting to kinship. In line with existing studies, it demonstrates how egg donation in Denmark is structured around ideals of altruism linked to normative ideals of femininity and motherhood. Further, it is concluded that egg donation proposes subversive potential for deconstructing heteronormative kinship ideals about motherhood. At the same time, however, the analyses conclude that heteronormative family ideals often are re-installed through egg donation practices.

FST and kinship are key parameters often estimated in modern population genetics studies in order to quantitatively characterize structure and relatedness. Kinship matrices have also become a fundamental quantity used in genome-wide association studies and heritability estimation. The most frequently-used estimators of FST and kinship are method-of-moments estimators whose accuracies depend strongly on the existence of simple underlying forms of structure, such as the independent subpopulations model of non-overlapping, independently evolving subpopulations. However, modern data sets have revealed that these simple models of structure likely do not hold in many populations, including humans. In this work, we analyze the behavior of these estimators in the presence of arbitrarily-complex population structures, which results in an improved estimation framework specifically designed for arbitrary population structures. After generalizing the definition of FST to arbitrary population structures and establishing a framework for assessing bias and consistency of genome-wide estimators, we calculate the accuracy of existing FST and kinship estimators under arbitrary population structures, characterizing biases and estimation challenges unobserved under their originally-assumed models of structure. We then present our new approach, which consistently estimates kinship and FST when the minimum kinship value in the dataset is estimated consistently. We illustrate our results using simulated genotypes from an admixture model, constructing a one-dimensional geographic scenario that departs nontrivially from the independent subpopulations model. Our simulations reveal the potential for severe biases in estimates of existing approaches that are overcome by our new framework. This work may significantly improve future analyses that rely on accurate kinship and FST estimates.

Work and life balance (WLB) has gained noticeable attention amid the pandemic. Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, the increasing pace of life encouraged the investigation of individual and organisational aspects of WLB. Physically and mentally healthy people help society develop and grow. Health issues caused by work and life imbalance lead to dissatisfaction with both work and life, which, in turn, leads to higher stress and stress-related illnesses, for instance, burnout. From the organisational point of view, WLB is a factor in analysing the efficiency of an enterprise. The consequences of a work-life imbalance are intentional or unintentional absence, high employee turnover, low productivity, higher insurance costs, low job satisfaction, and others. WLB has been examined recently as part of employer branding since a shortage of labour prompts organisations to look for strategies to attract and retain employees. In this paper, content analysis is carried out to provide a theoretical framework for WLB and job satisfaction issues. Special attention is paid to the literature on WLB factors affecting the organisation and the individual. It is concluded that critical factors include both individual and organisational ones. Among them are job involvement, tenure, workload and scheduling, organisational culture (leadership, recreational opportunities, flexibility, supervisor support, autonomy, boundary management, alternative working methods etc.), occupational stress, and salary. These factors differ in their significance, particularly when viewed across several fields.

AbstractThis paper proposes an Artful Learning Framework as an organisational development initiative. The framework is designed to assist people in organisations seeking higher levels of engagement in their strategic and operational endeavours, such as navigating change. The Artful Learning Framework offers three strategies as potential artful learning events designed to help people in organisations engage with each other creatively to achieve their organisational and professional goals. The Artful Learning Wave Trajectory model (Kerr 2006) forms a conceptual antecedent for the Artful Learning Framework. The Framework's strategies align with the relevant literature on organisational learning and, in particular, a proposition of Kerr (2006) who identifies a suite of skills, capacities and capabilities that are important in organisations. The notion of the wave, with the effect of ‘pausing and gathering’ to consider amidst the inevitable ambiguity and turbulence offor-ward movement, is invoked as a metaphor for the elements of the Framework which support its strategies. The paper will be of interest to individuals and groups that are committed to profound learning and capability building for the benefit of themselves, their teams and the organisations in which they work.

AbstractThis paper proposes an Artful Learning Framework as an organisational development initiative. The framework is designed to assist people in organisations seeking higher levels of engagement in their strategic and operational endeavours, such as navigating change. The Artful Learning Framework offers three strategies as potential artful learning events designed to help people in organisations engage with each other creatively to achieve their organisational and professional goals. The Artful Learning Wave Trajectory model (Kerr 2006) forms a conceptual antecedent for the Artful Learning Framework. The Framework's strategies align with the relevant literature on organisational learning and, in particular, a proposition of Kerr (2006) who identifies a suite of skills, capacities and capabilities that are important in organisations. The notion of the wave, with the effect of ‘pausing and gathering’ to consider amidst the inevitable ambiguity and turbulence offor-ward movement, is invoked as a metaphor for the elements of the Framework which support its strategies. The paper will be of interest to individuals and groups that are committed to profound learning and capability building for the benefit of themselves, their teams and the organisations in which they work.

In Malaysia's manufacturing industry, workplace accidents and injuries are a big problem. This industry has made only minor progress in terms of reducing fatalities and significant injuries. The fatal injury rate decreased marginally; however, the previous year's severe injury rate stayed unchanged. (Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), 2021). As a result, manufacturing safety continues to be a severe issue in Malaysia. The organisational nature of industrial accidents has been highlighted in safety literature, and empirical study has focused on determining the organisational, managerial, and environmental elements that influence accident causation. The majority of prior works have emphasised the concept of safety culture (or safety climate). Scholars have recently begun to look into additional organisational elements, such as the impact of organisational environment, leadership style, and occupational stressors on industrial accidents. This study presents a conceptual framework to investigate the interaction between safety climate and safety behaviour in Malaysia's manufacturing sector, with the goal of developing more effective safety interventions to reduce accidents.

ABSTRACTRetirement is an event that often brings about great changes in a person's personal and social life. For many people, work is not only a way to fill time and earn money, but also important for their identity and meaning in life. After retirement, these benefits of work are lost, and it is expected that people will seek substitutes for this loss. This paper focuses on the effects of retirement on informal civic activities such as the support given to family and friends as well as more formal types such as volunteering and organisational involvement. Using two waves from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, a conditional change model is employed. Two groups are compared: men and women who kept working, and men and women who retired. Results show that following retirement, people appear to change the nature of some relationships by providing more instrumental support. Furthermore, retirees seem to start spending more time volunteering after retirement, and they increase their organisational memberships. Implications, strengths and limitations of the study are discussed.

Information technologies can transform an organisation's capacity to act effectively and achieve its performance aims. This theoretical paper presents a framework, adapted from the work of the semiotician A.J. Greimas, for qualitatively analysing this shaping of organisational behaviour and effectiveness around the use of IT. This framework permits various forms of capability or constraint in organisational action to be distinguished, in terms of the functional capacities of IT systems or key dimensions of social structure. A multi-faceted consideration of positive and negative outcomes of IT-based activities is thus supported. The use of this framework is demonstrated through brief case examples that illustrate its utility in providing a dynamic perspective on organisational performance and alignment in the use of IT. This theoretical framework equips IS interpretive studies to analyse the shaping of IT-based organisational activity from a standpoint of structures of behaviour or significance in a context of purposeful action.

Purpose In the past decade, the rapid globalisation and modernisation has resulted in an increased focus of organisations on implementation of family friendly work–life balance (WLB) policies for enhancing employee retention. The purpose of this study is to review the importance of WLB policies and programmes and its impact on organisational outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Using Deery’s (2008) framework as the conceptual framework, the current study attempts to provide an integrated literature review of the empirical studies conducted in the area of WLB and employee retention in India for a decade from 2007 till 2017. Findings The analysis of the extant literature revealed that the research on WLB for Indian organisations really surged since 2013. Most of the empirical studies conducted in this area use a positivist paradigm. Numerous industry sectors including the information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing sectors have benefitted from WLB policies, but the banking and higher education sector have generously implemented employee-friendly WLB policies. Practical implications The study stresses upon the implementation of employee friendly WLB policies for achieving high organisational outcomes. Furthermore, the findings may be useful for human resource management and human resource development professionals to understand and appreciate the organisational components, settings that are necessary to facilitate better WLB in Indian organisations, thereby resulting in better organisational outcomes. Originality/value The study provides us with a comprehensive review of different WLB studies conducted in India till date and its possible impact on various organisational outcomes.

It is understood that national culture has an impact on organisations but what is not well understood is the extent to which this occurs and how it occurs. This thesis examines how employees working in a major multinational corporation (MNC) in the Asia Pacific Region (APR) perceive work commitment. Multinational corporations use ethnocentric and largely American constructs and measures in all areas of staff performance, including work commitment. This study is situated within the service sector where the work commitment of employees is increasingly posited as an important element of achieving competitive advantage. This is an applied research study that seeks to both further the understanding of work commitment in a cross-cultural context, namely the collectivist cultures of the APR, and to provide answers to questions that the management of the MNC in question had regarding the applicability of their American-developed measure of work commitment. The MNC in this study is one of the largest hotel chains in the world, employing 154,000 employees. The methodological approach adopted was a mixed methods sequential exploratory study, with triangulation of data that included: surveys, interviews, focus groups, forced choice questionnaires and expert panels. The final analysis of data was conducted using the MNC's employee survey (n=19950) of APR countries. A hallmark of the research is the extensive use of triangulation or multiple methods within a mixed methods approach. Cross-cultural studies are fraught with methodological problems, and triangulation of data is considered to be essential to overcome a range of problems, associated with the use of traditional survey methods. This is an insider investigation as the researcher was an employee of the MNC, called Merico for the purposes of this thesis, to maintain the organisation's privacy. The first stage of the study revealed the dimension of collectivism as being of importance to employees in the APR. The familial-type organisational culture Merico created a degree of isomorphism because it aligned more readily with the collectivist values and orientations of employees. In the second stage, the research explored work commitment and discovered that in the APR there was a different set of understandings of work commitment compared to the one used currently by Merico. Through integrating the findings from both stages of the study a new framework of work commitment, called the 'Work and Organisational Kinship' (WOK) framework, was developed. The WOK was then tested against the American model through using the existing employee survey that Merico conducted in 2000 and a new index of work commitment, called the WOKI was proposed for use by Merico. The relevance of this study is that it shows that the 'one size fits all' approach to work commitment will no longer provide a sound approach for managing performance within a competitive market place. The research shows that there are differences between drivers of work commitment and outcomes in the APR compared to those of the US and Australia. Performance management in Merico is heavily rewarded by work commitment. To misunderstand work commitment in the context of the APR and to measure it in a culturally insensitive manner, and then apply reward systems accordingly, poses major problems in performance management. The WOK framework introduces two constructs called 'organisational kinship' and 'service loyalty' that are critical to creating a geocentric approach to work commitment in the APR, and in Merico.

It is understood that national culture has an impact on organisations but what is not well understood is the extent to which this occurs and how it occurs. This thesis examines how employees working in a major multinational corporation (MNC) in the Asia Pacific Region (APR) perceive work commitment. Multinational corporations use ethnocentric and largely American constructs and measures in all areas of staff performance, including work commitment. This study is situated within the service sector where the work commitment of employees is increasingly posited as an important element of achieving competitive advantage. This is an applied research study that seeks to both further the understanding of work commitment in a cross-cultural context, namely the collectivist cultures of the APR, and to provide answers to questions that the management of the MNC in question had regarding the applicability of their American-developed measure of work commitment. The MNC in this study is one of the largest hotel chains in the world, employing 154,000 employees. The methodological approach adopted was a mixed methods sequential exploratory study, with triangulation of data that included: surveys, interviews, focus groups, forced choice questionnaires and expert panels. The final analysis of data was conducted using the MNC's employee survey (n=19950) of APR countries. A hallmark of the research is the extensive use of triangulation or multiple methods within a mixed methods approach. Cross-cultural studies are fraught with methodological problems, and triangulation of data is considered to be essential to overcome a range of problems, associated with the use of traditional survey methods. This is an insider investigation as the researcher was an employee of the MNC, called Merico for the purposes of this thesis, to maintain the organisation's privacy. The first stage of the study revealed the dimension of collectivism as being of importance to employees in the APR. The familial-type organisational culture Merico created a degree of isomorphism because it aligned more readily with the collectivist values and orientations of employees. In the second stage, the research explored work commitment and discovered that in the APR there was a different set of understandings of work commitment compared to the one used currently by Merico. Through integrating the findings from both stages of the study a new framework of work commitment, called the 'Work and Organisational Kinship' (WOK) framework, was developed. The WOK was then tested against the American model through using the existing employee survey that Merico conducted in 2000 and a new index of work commitment, called the WOKI was proposed for use by Merico. The relevance of this study is that it shows that the 'one size fits all' approach to work commitment will no longer provide a sound approach for managing performance within a competitive market place. The research shows that there are differences between drivers of work commitment and outcomes in the APR compared to those of the US and Australia. Performance management in Merico is heavily rewarded by work commitment. To misunderstand work commitment in the context of the APR and to measure it in a culturally insensitive manner, and then apply reward systems accordingly, poses major problems in performance management. The WOK framework introduces two constructs called 'organisational kinship' and 'service loyalty' that are critical to creating a geocentric approach to work commitment in the APR, and in Merico.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Full Text

A study was conducted to investigate mental health professionals' experience of change in three NHS Trusts in England. The aim was to understand the professionals' experience of change, applying the psychological contract as a sense-making tool using an extended contract model (Guest, 1998; George, 2009). The concept of the psychological contract was first introduced within psychoanalysis (Menninger, 1958) to explain the relationship between client and therapist. The psychological contract has evolved over the years to be applied in occupational settings to explain social exchanges between employees and the organisation (George, 2009). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 mental health professionals from community NHS teams, with one participant from an inpatient ward. A hybrid thematic analysis using inductive and deductive coding was applied to capture both the theoretical framework of the psychological contract and the subjective experiences of the participants. Results revealed that the psychological contract could serve as both a cognitive and emotional sense-making tool of change for participants. Findings also revealed the influence of contextual political and social factors around change in the NHS. Novel findings included mediators in the change process such as participants feeling supported to negotiate psychological contracts and upholding personal and team values. The findings are discussed in terms of clinical implications for managing professionals' experience of change in the NHS.

This thesis addresses the question of why work stress prevention has not been adopted systemically in organisations, despite some research findings that it is effective, that it has been mandated by legislative regulations and that it has the potential for significant cost savings. Work stress is recognised as an increasing and global problem in terms of negative economic, health and social outcomes. Its significant costs related to work injury compensation have resulted in growing pressure from governmental health and safety jurisdictions for organisations to manage and prevent stress through systemic risk management approaches.

Text in English, abstracts in English, Afrikaans and Zulu
This research endeavoured to construct a psychological framework for enhancing relational attitudes and behaviour in a South African employment relations context by investigating the relationship dynamics between individuals’ work-related perceptions (perceived organisational support and justice) and work experiences (psychological contract violation) and their relational attitudes (organisational and union commitment) and behaviour (organisational citizenship behaviour and counterproductive work behaviour) in the workplace, as moderated by their personal dispositions (individualism/collectivism) and mediated by organisational cynicism and trust. The associations between individuals’ personal (gender, age, population group and education level) and work-related (employment status, tenure, job level and union membership) characteristics and these dispositional and relational variables were also explored. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted on a purposive sample of employed students registered at a higher education institution (n = 740). Canonical correlation analysis revealed that individuals’ work-related perceptions and work experiences as well as their sense of organisational cynicism and trust were strong predictors of their attitudinal commitment towards their organisations and their organisationally directed organisational citizenship behaviour. Structural equation modelling indicated a good fit between employees’ perceptions of the quality of their social exchange relationship with their employing organisations and their trust in and cynicism towards these organisations as antecedents of relational attitudes and behaviour. Mediation analysis indicated that individuals’ work-related perceptions and work experiences influence their attitudinal commitment to their employing organisations through their sense of organisational cynicism and trust. Moderation analysis revealed that the influence of individuals’ cynicism towards their employing organisations on their attitudinal commitment is conditional upon their level of horizontal collectivism. Multiple regression analysis showed that individuals’ gender, population group, level of education and job level explain their attitudinal and behavioural reactions to work-related perceptions and work experiences. Tests for significant mean differences revealed significant differences in terms of the biographical variables. At a theoretical level, the study extended the understanding of relational attitudes and behaviour and the antecedents thereof in the workplace. At an empirical level, the study delivered an empirically tested psychological framework for enhancing relational attitudes and behaviour. At a practical level, individual and organisational interventions in terms of the psychological framework were recommended.
Met hierdie studie is gepoog om ʼn sielkundige raamwerk daar te stel wat aangewend kan word om werknemerhoudings en -gedrag in ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse arbeidsverhoudinge konteks te verbeter. Met die oog hierop is ondersoek ingestel na die verhoudingsdinamiek tussen individue se werkverwante persepsies (waargenome organisasiesteun en -geregtigheid); werksbelewenisse (skending van die sielkundige kontrak); hulle houdings (organisasie- en vakbondverbondenheid); en gedrag (organisasieburgerskapgedrag en teenproduktiewe werksgedrag) by die werkplek wat deur hulle pesoonlike ingesteldheid (individualisme/ kollektivisme) beïnvloed word en deur organisasiesinisme en -vertroue bemiddel word. Die verband tussen individue se persoonlike eienskappe (hulle geslag, ouderdom, bevolkingsgroep en opleidingsvlak), werkverwante eienskappe (hulle arbeidstatus, dienstyd, posvlak en vakbondlidmaatskap) en hierdie gesindheids- en verhoudingsveranderlikes is eweneens verken. 'n Kwantitatiewe deursneeopname is gedoen met 'n doelgerigte steekproef onder werkende studente wat by 'n hoëronderwysinstelling ingeskryf is (n = 740). 'n Kanonieke korrelasieanalise het getoon dat individue se werkverwante persepsies en belewenisse sowel as hul organisasiesinisme en -vertroue 'n goeie aanduiding was van hulle houdingsverbondenheid tot hulle organisasies en van hulle burgerskapgedrag jeens hulle organisasies. Strukturele vergelykingsmodellering het groot ooreenkomste tussen werknemers se persepsies van hoe goed hulle sosiale uitruilverhouding met hul werkgewerorganisasies is asook hul vertroue in en sinisme teenoor hierdie organisasies as antesedente van hulle houdings teenoor en gedrag in hulle organisasies aan die lig gebring. Volgens 'n bemiddelingsanalise bepaal werknemers se werkverwante persepsies en werkbelewenisse hulle verbondenheid tot hulle werkgewerorganisasie op grond van hulle organisasiesinisme en -vertroue. 'n Modereringsanalise het getoon dat die invloed wat individue se sinisme teenoor hulle werkgewerorganisasies op hulle verbondenheid het, afhanklik is van hulle vlak van horisontale kollektivisme. Voorts blyk dit uit 'n meervoudige regressieanalise dat individue se geslag, bevolkingsgroep, opleiding en posvlak hulle houding- en gedragsreaksie op werkverwante persepsies en belewenisse verduidelik. Afgesien hiervan het opvallende verskille ten opsigte van die biografiese veranderlikes danksy toetse vir beduidende gemiddeldeverskille aan die lig gekom. Op teoretiese vlak het hierdie studie die kennis van werksverwante houdings en gedrag en die antesedente daarvan in die werkplek verbeter. Op empiriese vlak het hierdie studie 'n empiries getoetste sielkundige raamwerk vir die bevordering van positiewe werksverwante houdings en -gedrag tot gevolg gehad. Op praktiese vlak is individuele en organisasie-intervensies ten opsigte van die sielkundige raamwerk aanbeveel.
Lolu cwaningo luzama ukwakha uhlaka lwezengqondo lokukhulisa indlela enhle yokucabanga nokuziphatha kumqondosizinda wezindlela zokusebenza eNingizimu Afrika ngokucubungula izinguquko ebudlelwaneni phakathi kwemibono emayelana nemisebenzi yomuntu ngamunye (ukusekela nobulungiswa kwenhlangano okucatshangelwayo) nababhekana nakho emsebenzini (ukungahlonishwa kwesivumelwano sezengqondo) nendlela yabo yokucabanga (ukuzibophezela kwenhlangano nokubumbana) nendlela yokuziphatha (indlela yokuziphatha ngokobuzwe benhlangano nendlela yokuziphatha engavumelani nokwenziwa ngemfanelo komsebenzi) emsebenzini njengoba kujivazwa yindlela bona ngokwabo abaziphethe ngayo (ngokuzimela/ngokusebenzisana) futhi kugqugquzelwa ukungabaza nokungabinethemba enhlanganweni. Ubudlelwane phakathi kobunjalo bomuntu ngomuntu (ubulili, iminyaka yobudala, nokuthi ungowaliphi iqembu labantu kanye nezinga lemfundo) nokumayelana nomsebenzi (isimo sokusebenza, umsebenzi owenzayo, izinga lomsebenzi nobulungu benhlangano) izimpawu nalokhu okuguquguqukayo okuwubunjalo bomuntu nakho kwatholakala. Inhlolovo engamanani eyizigaba ezehlukene yenziwa kwisampula eyayikhethwe ngamabomu yabafundi ababhalisiwe esikhungweni semfundo ephakeme (n = 740). Ukuhlaziwa kokuhlobana okungenakuphikiswa kwaveza ukuthi izindlela zabantu ngabanye zokucabanga mayelana nomsebenzi nababhekana nakho emsebenzini kanjalo nombono wabo mayelana nokungabaza nokwethemba inhlangano kwakuyizona zinkomba ezazinamandla zokuzibophezela kwabo ngokwendlela yokucabanga ezinhlanganweni zabo kanye nendlela yabo yokuziphatha ngokwenhlangano okubhekiswe ebuzweni benhlangano. Indlela yokuqhathanisa ngokokwakheka yaveza ukuxhumana okuhle phakathi kombono wabasebenzi wezinga eliphezulu lobudlelwane babo bokuxoxisana nezinhlangano ezibaqashile kanye nokuthemba nokungabaza kwabo okwakuqondiswe kulezi zinhlangano njengesisekelo sendlela yokucabanga neyokuziphatha kwabo. Ukuhlaziywa kokuxoxisana kuveza ukuthi imibono yabantu emayelana nomsebenzi kanye nababhekana nakho emsebenzini kunomthelela ekuzibophezeleni kwabo ngokwendlela yokucabanga ezinhlanganweni ezibaqashile ngokomqondo wabo wokungabaza nokwethemba inhlangano. Ukuhlaziya okulawulekayo kwaveza ukuthi umthelela wokungabaza komumntu ngamunye mayelana nezinhlangano ezibaqashile ekuzibophezeleni kwabo ngokwendlela yokucabanga kuncike ezingeni labo lokusebenzisana ngokulinganayo. Ukuhlaziywa kokwehla ngamandla kwakhombisa ukuthi lokhu okulandelayo komuntu ngomuntu, ubulili, iqembu labantu akulona, izinga lemfundo nezinga lomsebenzi kuchaza indlela ababhekana ngayo ngokwendlela yokucabanga nokuziphatha okumayelana nomsebenzi nalokho ababhekana nakho emsebenzini. Ukuhlolwa kokusemqoka kuchaza umehluko owembula umehluko osemqoka ngokuguquguquka kwemininingwane ngomuntu. Ezingeni lethiyori, lolu cwaningo luveze ngokuthe xaxa ukuqonda indlela yokucabanga neyokuziphatha kwabantu, nezisekelo ezikhona endaweni yokusebenza. Ezingeni lokungase kubonakale kwenzeka, lesi sifundo silethe uhlaka lwezengqondo oluhlolwe njengolungase lwenzeke ukukhulisa indlela yokucabanga neyokuziphatha kwabantu. Ezingeni lokungase kwenzeke, kwancomeka ukuthi kube nokungenelela komuntu ngamunye nokwenhlangano ngokohlaka lwezengqondo.
Psychology
Ph. D. (Psychology (Industrial and Organisational Psychology))

Text in English
Abstracts in English, isiXhosa and Afrikaaans
This study’s primary objective was to create a framework for developing authenticity, by exploring women’s experiences of authenticity and how these relate to their wellbeing in a male-dominated work environment. Twelve purposively chosen women participated in the study, comprising six police officers and six traffic officers from the Western Cape province in South Africa. Data were gathered through narrative interviews by using open-ended questions, and analysed by applying thematic analysis. The research findings revealed that challenges or stressors in their law enforcement environment serve as potential agents for moving the self away from best-self in the authenticity dynamic, resulting in the need for coping and therefore for developing authenticity. The framework for developing authenticity was constructed as an ongoing and unfolding process comprising the following: experiencing challenges or stressors; turning within; recognising possible ways of being; managing perceptions, thoughts, emotions and behaviour; making conscious choices and taking responsible actions; as well as evaluating responses and consequences against best-self standards. During this process various best-self characteristics and associated skills are developed and employed, but also serve as best-self standards against which to evaluate growth and transformation. Secondary objectives aimed to advance the concept of authenticity in the study of well-being as a discipline of psychology. It also aimed to make a methodological contribution by applying hermeneutic phenomenological and transpersonal approaches in a novel way.
Eyona njongo yesisifundo ibikukuphuhlisa umgaqo nkqubo wokwenene, oqwalasela izinto abantu basetyhini abadlule kuzo kwaye nokuba zingqamane njani nentlalontle yabo kwindawo zokusebenza eziphethwe ngamadoda. Ishumi elinesibini labasetyhini elikhethwe ngenjongo, liye lathatha inxaxheba kwesi sifundo, eliquka amapolisa amathandathu kunye namagos’ezendlel'amathandathu, avela kwiphondo Lentshona Koloni eMzantsi Afrika. Kusetyenziswe udliwano ndlebe apho abantu bebe balisa amabali abo, bebuzwa imibuzo efuna impendulo ezingqalileyo ukuqokelela ezinkcukacha kwaye zahlalutywa ngokusebenzisa uhlalutyo oluthile. Uphando lufumanise ukuba imiceli mingeni okanye uxinizelelo lwengqondo kwiimeko zokugunyaziswa komthetho zisebenza njenge arhente zokubasusa ekubeni babalasele kwinguqu yokwenene, nto leyo ebangela kubekho imfuneko yokuba banyamezele kwaye kubekho uhlumo lokwenene. Umgaqo nkqubo wophuhliso lokwenene wakhiwe njenge nkqubo eqhubekayo equka ezizinto zilandelayo: ukudibana nemiceli mingeni okanye uxinezelelo nezinokwenzeka ngayo izinto; ukulawula iingcamango, iingcinga, imvakalelo kunye nendlela yokuziphatha, ukuthatha izigqibo ezi zizo kunye nokuthatha uxanduva lwezenzo zakho; kwaye uphonononge indlela abaphendula ngayo kwakunyegokwase ngqondweni; ukonganyelwa ngaphakathi; ukubona indlela ezinokwenzeka ngayo izinto; ukulawula iingcamango, iingcinga, imvakalelo kunye nendlela yokuziphatha, ukuthatha izigqibo ezi zizo kunye nokuthatha uxanduva lwezenzo zakho; kwaye uphonononge indlela abaphendula ngayo kwakunye neziphumo ezinxamnye nomgangatho wokuba ubalasele. Ngexesha lalenkqubo iimpawu zakho ezihamba phambili nezohlukeneyo, kunye nezakhono ezinxulumene nazo ziyaphuhliswa kwaye uqashwe, kodwa zikwa ncedisa njenge milinganiselo yokuvavanya ukukhula kunye notshintsho. Iinjongo zesibini zijolise ekuqhubekekiseni lemfundiso yokwenene kwisifundo sentlalo-ntle njenge ngqeqesho yasengqondweni. Kwakhona, kwenzelwe ukwenza igalelo leendlela zokwenza izinto ngokusebenzisa iindlela zophando ngokusebenza kwengqondo yomntu (hermeneutic), kunye nophando lwamava kunye neenkolelo zomntu, ngeedlela ezintsha.
Die primêre doel van hierdie studie was om 'n raamwerk vir die ontwikkeling van egtheid te skep, deur vroue se ervarings van egtheid te ondersoek en hoe dit verband hou met hul welstand in 'n manlik-gedomineerde werksomgewing. Twaalf doelgerig gekose vrouens het deelgeneem aan die studie, wie bestaan het uit ses polisiebeamptes en ses verkeersbeamptes uit die Wes-Kaapse provinsie in Suid- Afrika. Data was versamel deur middel van narratiewe onderhoude deur oop vrae te gebruik, en ontleed deur tematiese analise toe te pas. Die navorsingsbevindings het aan die lig gebring dat uitdagings of stressors in hul wetstoepassingsomgewing as potensiële agente dien om die self weg te beweeg van die beste-self in die egtheid dinamika, wat die behoefte aan coping tot gevolg het en dus vir die ontwikkeling van egtheid. Die raamwerk vir die ontwikkeling van egtheid is saamgestel as 'n deurlopende en ontvouende proses wat die volgende insluit: ervaring van uitdagings of stressors; keer na binne; erkenning van moontlike maniere om te wees; hantering van persepsies, gedagtes, emosies en gedrag; maak bewustelike keuses en neem verantwoordelike aksies; sowel as die evaluering van reaksies en gevolge teen die beste-self standaarde. Gedurende hierdie proses word verskeie beste-self eienskappe en verwante vaardighede ontwikkel en aangewend, maar dien ook as die beste-self standaarde om groei en transformasie te evalueer. Sekondêre doelwitte het ten doel om die konsep van egtheid in die studie van welstand as dissipline van sielkunde te bevorder. Dit is ook daarop gemik om 'n metodologiese bydrae te lewer deur hermeneutiese fenomenologiese en transpersoonlike benaderings op 'n nuwe manier toe te pas.
Psychology
Ph. D. (Psychology)

This book explores questions of trade union identities and what is termed ‘niche unionism’ in the work. It exposes the inadequacy of the extant industrial relations literature in explaining both contemporary union identities and the significance of niche to union organisation. It explores the contribution of alternative bodies of literature including organisational identity theory, social identity theory and marketing. The work introduces a new approach to understanding unions’ projected identities in the form of a multidimensional framework of analysis developed from more than ten years research designed to isolate the sources of union identity. The projected identities of trade unions certified in Great Britain are examined systematically under broad headings of general, industrial/occupational, organisational and geographical unions. Four drivers to change in union identities are explored, namely, union mergers, union rebranding, new unions and union dissolutions. The work provides a brief comparative analysis of union identities in five other countries, suggesting additional sources of union identity that might be required for a more comprehensive analysis. Finally, the work explores critical questions relating to the future of union identities concerning, the primacy of general unions, the persistence of niche unions, whether general or niche unions are better placed to organise the unorganised and finally whether niche identity a barrier to expanding membership territories.

Climate Change Adaptation for Health and Social Services addresses concerns from the health and community services sector, including local government, about how to respond to climate change and its impacts on communities. What should an intervention framework for the community-based health and social services sector contain and how can it complement an organisation's core values, role and work programs? What current direct and indirect impacts of climate change are most relevant to organisations and the communities they serve? Which population groups are most vulnerable to climate change and what are the impacts on them? Above all, what can be done to reduce the current risks from climate change to clients, communities and organisations? Written by expert researchers and practitioners, this book presents existing research, innovative practice and useful tools to support organisations taking practical steps towards adaptation to the impacts of climate change on people. It examines the evidence of climate change impacts on six of the most vulnerable population groups – people with disability; older people; women and children; Aboriginal people; rural people; and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds – as well as discussing effective interventions. Other key issues covered include health and social impacts of climate change, adaptation, mitigation, climate change communication, organisational adaptation and a case study of innovation illustrating some of the book’s themes. Accessible, informative and incorporating extensive evidence and experience, Climate Change Adaptation for Health and Social Services is relevant for anyone within the health and community services sector concerned about climate change and its impacts on their community.

AbstractThis chapter applies the conceptual and analytical frameworks to the institutional sphere of education and thereby draws systematic comparisons between the two national and local contexts. First, I closely examine the relevant laws and policies enacted at various administrative levels as well as local implementation practices, by drawing on relevant documents and the original accounts of my interview respondents. This allows me to map the various ethical concerns, practical difficulties and organisational conflicts that either migrant irregularity itself, or the internalisation of its control, creates for individuals and the institutions they work for. At the end of the chapter, and with the help of my analytical framework, I summarise the main differences between the two contexts in terms of how they position the various categories of workers in relation to migrant irregularity and its control.

Abstract Autonomy and efficiency are among the key topics that dominate the current higher education agenda and will shape the future of the European higher education landscape in the next decade. The capacity of higher education institutions and systems at large to respond to the rapidly changing needs of the society and economy will largely depend on what they can deliver and how autonomous, effective and efficient they are. The paper presents an analytical framework that connects the concepts of institutional autonomy, efficiency and effectiveness and explores the links between efficiency in university management, autonomy and accountability. It builds on (i) EUA’s work on institutional autonomy and the University Autonomy Scorecard, assessing the main components of institutional autonomy, and (ii) the higher education efficiency framework developed by EUA in the framework of the USTREAM project. This paper explores the following questions: (i) What mechanisms connect regulatory frameworks to efficiency in university management? (ii) How can autonomy be converted into efficiency and effectiveness at universities? (iii) How can efficiency support accountability? Methodologically, this paper will follow the four-pillar structure of the Autonomy Scorecard (organisational, financial, staffing and academic autonomy) and support its argumentation with several case studies.

AbstractThis chapter applies the conceptual and analytical frameworks to the institutional sphere of healthcare and thereby draws systematic comparisons between the two national and local contexts. First, I closely examine the relevant laws and policies enacted at various administrative levels as well as local implementation practices, by drawing on relevant documents and the original accounts of my interview respondents. This allows me to map the various ethical concerns, practical difficulties and organisational conflicts that either migrant irregularity itself, or the internalisation of its control, creates for individual healthcare workers and the institutions they work for. At the end of the chapter, and with the help of my analytical framework, I summarise the main differences between the two contexts in terms of how they position the various categories of workers in relation to migrant irregularity and its control.

AbstractThis chapter applies the conceptual and analytical frameworks to the institutional sphere of social assistance and thereby draws systematic comparisons between the two national and local contexts. First, I closely examine the relevant laws and policies enacted at various administrative levels as well as local implementation practices, by drawing on relevant documents and the original accounts of my interview respondents. This allows me to map the various ethical concerns, practical difficulties and organisational conflicts that either migrant irregularity itself, or the internalisation of its control, creates for individuals and the institutions they work for. At the end of the chapter, and with the help of my analytical framework, I summarise the main differences between the two contexts in terms of how they position the various categories of workers in relation to migrant irregularity and its control.

AbstractThis chapter aims to analyse the current role played by insurance undertakings and their senior managers—with a specific reference to the Italian, French, Spanish and British insurance industry, taking into consideration the important changes introduced by the Solvency II framework.In doing so, the study identifies features of the international regulation of insurance development based on the recommendations of the International Association of Insurance Supervisory (IAIS) and the Directives of the European Union (EU).The board delegates the running of the business to the senior managers, expecting them to operate on behalf of the company’s interests.The literature has identified several problems resulting from this relationship.We intend to consider the internal behaviour affected by the board-senior managers’ relationship, by looking for direct connection between the elements of senior managers behaviours’ and the organisational and operational structure of the enterprise.Inside the theoretical framework and given the existing related literature, our work aims to answer the above research question.According to our statements, it will be demonstrated that, with specific focus on the management sector, there are still wide possibilities for improvement and more studies concerning board-senior managers relationship.

This chapter focuses on occurring changes in individuals’ personality as a result of their work and employment experiences, and of the socialising pressure of norm demands during these experiences. This chapter starts from a brief review of traditions in organisational and social psychology on the study of work and personality change. Then, it presents a holistic framework to identify key drivers in work, organisational and societal environment and discuss how they could act as proximal and distal drivers for personality change. In developing this framework, existing literature is reviewed and new research directions are proposed, to advance the understanding of work and personality change.

Matthew Gibson, author of this chapter, considers how those invested in an organisation seek to regulate feelings of shame in employees to generate compliance and conformity to organisational rules, standards, and expectations. This chapter outlines a framework for understanding how leaders and managers seek to contain or divert feelings of shame as a result of doing tasks the organisation expects them to do while ensuring they evoke shame in employees as a result of any transgressions. This perspective extends and deepens themes developed within shame in professional practice, both within social work and in other professions. Finally, the author states that ensuring that social workers are not shamed for taking time to work with people or trying new things they genuinely believed would help and would facilitate innovation and creativity.

This chapter provides a conceptual framework to understand the processes, relevant to self-conscious emotions, through which social workers come to acquiesce or resist organisational attempts at control. It first outlines the research on compliance and resistance in social work practice before developing and extending these ideas through the analysis of pride and shame in professional practice. Drawing on Oliver’s (1991) analysis of strategic responses within organisations to wider institutional processes, how social workers perform professional practice in the context of organisational attempts at control, and the strategies that social workers employ to manage the organisational pressures, expectations and demands, are outlined. While some social workers can actively identify with the organisational representation in the moment, motivating them to enact its meanings and expectations, some reluctantly identify with it as a defensive strategy to avoid being shamed and humiliated, motivating them to comply despite reservation. However, some social workers, in some contexts, resist the organisational representation, feeling unable to comply, and, therefore, seek to compromise what they are expected to do, conceal their acts of resistance or influence the source of organisational attempts at control.

This chapter presents a qualitative study that was conducted to investigate the implementation and outcomes of recent child protection reform in Israel. Using the ‘systems approach’ as conceptual framework allowed to understand the impact of the working conditions on every-day child protection practices. The key finding of the research – that the reform’s aims of strengthening practice and improving the safety and well-being of vulnerable children have not been entirely achieved – is explained by the organisational working environment and culture acting as barriers to the expected change. Findings touch on in particular: heavy workloads and an organisational culture that seeks opportunities to shortcut procedures and processes; inadequate professional supervision and support; insufficient training and qualifications; and lack of strong organisational leadership. It is concluded that organisations’ underlying problems need to be resolved if effective delivery of services for children and families is to be achieved.

Abstract Actuators are a vital component, and more often than not one of the limiting factors in robotics and robotics related applications. For the use of actuators in robotics related to humanoids, exoskeletons, prosthetics and orthoses, there are more factors that influence the selected actuator than the basic mechanical outputs, size, backlash, material and power consumption. The main interest within these applications is that because the device is being carried by the human user, thus weight, power consumption and form factor are important selection parameters. The correct selection of an actuator for these applications is a difficult and lengthy process to perform. This paper creates an organizational framework and database for searching the wide range of actuators. This dataset is organized into a design tool that plots the properties of each actuator on varying graphs creating trade-off Ashby charts to rapidly narrow the selection space for designers. A case study is performed to demonstrate the use of this design tool in human-centric actuation applications. The database is utilized in the selection of the ideal actuator based on lines of best fit and a multivariate regression analysis for the optimization of parameters about the required specifications. In addition, a meta-analysis identifies clusters of current actuators, gaps for new developments, and trends. This work provides research direction into developing specific actuators to fit into these trend gaps which offers substantial benefits to humanoids, exoskeletons, prosthetics and orthosis.

Contemporary research in the area of perspective-taking in the workplace has begun to challenge our view of how it is currently conceptualised and measured. Whereas individual-level perspective-taking was initially assumed to be a predominantly cognitive process, recent empirical work has documented the complexity of perspective-taking and scholars are starting to acknowledge that perspective-taking should not be considered in subjective isolation but in conjunction with sociocultural, affective, and organisational practices. As such, this paper provides an extensive look at perspectivetaking within the context of social-exchange theory through a systematic review methodology. Three core research themes are found within perspective-taking literature: (a) emotional reconfiguration; (b) cognitive reconstitution; and (c) social and organisational familiarisation. These research themes are linked with arguments derived from leader–member exchange (LMX) theory to advance a framework of how perspective-taking may affect social-exchange relationships and consequent organisational outcomes.

Communication is one of the most important aspects of multi-agent systems. Among the different communication techniques applied to multi-agent systems, argumentation-based approaches have received special interest from the community, because allowing agents to exchange arguments provides a rich form of communication. In contrast to the benefits that argumentation-based techniques provide to multi-agent communication, extra weight on the communication infrastructure results from the additional information exchanged by agents, which could restrict the practical use of such techniques. In this work, we propose an argumentation framework whereby agents are able to exchange shorter messages when engaging in dialogues by omitting information that is common knowledge (e.g., information about a shared multi-agent organisation). In particular, we focus on using enthymemes, shared argumentation schemes (i.e., reasoning patterns from which arguments are instantiated), and common organisational knowledge to build an enthymeme-based communication framework. We show that our approach addresses some of Grice's maxims, in particular that agents can be brief in communication, without any loss in the content of the intended arguments.

Abstract Working towards a net zero future requires change and adaptation from us all. Innovation offers many potential solutions on how to successfully make that change within the oil and gas industry. Consequently, maximising the value that technological innovation presents is vital for delivering a sustainable net zero. Yet, the oil and gas industry has developed a reputation for being conservative and reluctant to adopt new technology, with companies sometimes referred to as "fast followers". In recent years, the industry has begun to change with an incremental increase in innovation activities. Despite these efforts, and a need to accelerate innovation, there appears to be a resistance to adopt new technology. Evidence from O&G industry bodies indicate that psychological factors play a key role in technology adoption; not surprisingly, as workers, managers, investors, and regulators can all have a powerful influence on an organisation's receptivity to new technology. Recent research has provided insight into the psychological factors that influence technology uptake decisions in the oil and gas industry. Through a series of studies, the psychological technology adoption framework (P-TAF) was developed which outlined the 15 key psychological factors that influence technology adoption decisions. These are organised into 6 categories: personality, attitudes, motivations, cognitive factors, social factors, and organisational level factors. The work emphasised the influence that overarching organisational culture can have on how people respond to and introduce technology within their company. Whilst technology readiness levels are commonly applied to start-ups and their innovations, less is known about the readiness culture which facilitates innovation uptake. To bridge this gap, a preliminary measure of organisational innovation adoption culture was developed as based upon the previous psychological research, empirical innovation measures, and organisational culture models. This was piloted as an online survey with 36 people working in the technology space in O&G in June 2020. These results were used to later refine the culture measure to develop a 33-item scale consisting of eight categories. This new measure was deployed as part of an industry benchmarking study of innovation adoption culture within O&G consisting of 82 managers from 12 companies and in December 2020. Participating organisations were given the opportunity to receive a snapshot of their technology adoption culture. An overview of the measure and a summary of survey results will be given during the presentation as well as recommendations on how to support an innovation adoption culture. A considerable volume of new technology needs to be developed and adopted to be able to reach net zero and understanding the psychological and cultural barriers is imperative to delivering that.

Global health crisis has drastically changed teaching-learning processes at all educational levels. In the Spanish educational system this has meant a shift from face-to-face to remote learning. In the light of this situation, the learning process needs to develop new activities and roles for students and teachers. Both must acquire new skills that affect concepts and attitudes about the teaching and learning processes, within the framework of traditional training projects. Remote learning implies collaborative work between students and teachers. Teachers need to choose the best methods to achieve the learning objectives, in the framework of the relevant academic profile and characteristics of skills training. In addition, they must take into account the structural and organisational conditions required to perform these activities (remote learning, the use of new technologies, etc.).This paper describes the author’s experience in designing learning methodologies to teach a social science subject, Accounting, on the Business Administration degree at Universitad Politècnica de València, in a lockdown context. First, we describe the methodology designed to adapt the course from face-to-face teaching to online classes. Then, we analyse the main challenges and difficulties that arose. Finally, we present the assessment results and the conclusions obtained from comparing them to outcomes from previous academic years.

Geological disposal is an essential component of the long-term management of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Implementation of a suitable deep repository may, however, be difficult or impossible in some (especially small) countries because of challenging geological conditions or restricted siting options, or because of the high costs involved. For these countries, shared regional or international storage and disposal facilities are a necessity. The European Parliament and the EC have both expressed support for concepts that could lead to regional shared facilities being implemented in the EU. The EC, therefore, funded two projects that form the first two steps of a staged process towards the implementation of shared regional or international storage and disposal facilities. In the period 2003 to 2005, the EC funded SAPIERR I, a project devoted to pilot studies on the feasibility of shared regional storage facilities and geological repositories, for use by European countries. The studies showed that shared regional repositories are feasible, but also that, if they are to be implemented, even some decades ahead, efforts must already be increased now. The first step would be to establish a structured framework for the work on regional repositories. This is the goal of SAPIERR II (2006–2008): to develop possible practical implementation strategies and organisational structures. These will enable a formalised, structured European Development Organisation (EDO) to be established in 2008 or afterwards for working on shared EU radioactive waste storage and disposal activities. The EDO can work in parallel with national waste programmes. Participating EU Member States will be able to use the structures developed as, when and if needed for the furtherance of their individual national policies.

Abstract Life-saving rules (LSRs) are a set of defined rules that support and complement general site-specific safety rules and procedures (SRPs). LSRs are popular in the oil & gas (O&G) industry and are part of the safety management system framework designed to prevent incidents in the workplace. Complying with LSRs ensures its intent of incident prevention, drives the goal of creating decent work, economic growth and sustainable development. With the continuum of incidents in the industry, total compliance with LSRs and SRPs still remains a mirage. Even though the introduction of LSRs in the O&G caused a paradigm shift from fair to better safety performance, incident investigations continue to unveil cases of violations/non-compliance. In the space of continuous improvement, it becomes expedient to determine possible causes of these LSRs and SRPs non-compliance, with a view to nipping the causal factors in the bud. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the factors affecting the level of workers compliance with IOGP LSRs in selected O&G companies operating in Delta State, Nigeria. The research recruited 317 sharp end workers and selected leaders, through a multistage sampling technique. A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. The study in its findings was able to elicit numerous compliance determinants arising from socio-demography, occupational and organisational factors. These factors are barriers to strengthen if the goal of total compliance and zero incident must be achieved in the workplace. The study recommends that management should comply with Thomas Legge's aphorisms 1 & 4 on SRPs and design training programmes for employees to be imparted with requisite knowledge needed for compliance, commit to safety and lead a positive safety culture to drive continuous improvement. Furthermore, there is the need to pursue total compliance with LSRs, SRPs and any site-specific safety rules to achieve zero incidents in the O&G industry.