scholarly journals The relevance of the individualism – collectivism (IC) factor for the management of diversity in the South African national defence force

2004 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. J. Van Dyk ◽  
F. S. De Kock
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
The South ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Cultural Activities ◽  
Cultural Behavior ◽  
Individualism And Collectivism ◽  
Black Officers ◽  
National Defence

The aim of this study was to determine the level of adherence of cultural groups to their stereotypical group orientations, i.e. White and Coloured officers tend to be more individualistic, whereas Black officers portray more collectivistic characteristics. Secondly, to determine if their cultural behavior and practices relate to their level of individual or collectivistic orientation. The Individualism- Collectivism Interpersonal Assessment Inventory (ICIAI) of Matsumoto (1992) and a self-constructed questionnaire to measure cultural practices, were administered to 88 undergraduate officer students of the South African Military Academy. The results indicated that no significant differences existed in the Individualism-Collectivism factor between the three groups studied. Only five of the twenty cultural activities (stereotypically associated with Individualism and Collectivism) correlated significantly with the Individualism- Collectivism factor. These findings, the implications thereof and suggestions for possible further research are discussed. Opsomming Die doel van hierdie studie was om die vlak van betrokkenheid van kultuurgroepe tov hul stereotipiese groepsorientasies te bepaal, met ander woorde Blanke en Kleurling offisiere is meer individualisties, waar Swart offisiere meer kollektiwisties in hul kulturele aktiwiteite is. Tweedens, om te bepaal of hulle kulturele gedrag in verband staan met hul individualistiese of kollektiwistiese oriëntasie. Die "Individualism-Collectivism Interpersonal Assessment Inventory" (ICIAI) van Matsomoto (1992) en ’n tweede vraelys, opgestel deur die skrywers om kulturele aktiwiteite te meet, is afgeneem tov 88 voorgraadse offissierstudente van die Suid Afrikaanse Militêre Akademie. Die resultate het aangedui dat daar geen statisties beduidende verskille bestaan tov die individualistiese en kollektiwistiese faktor van die drie kultuurgroepe nie. Net vyf van die twintig kulturele aktiwiteite, getoets deur die tweede vraelys, het ’n beduidende korrelasie met die individualistiese en kollektiwistiese telling getoon. Die resultate, die implikasies daarvan, asook voorstelle vir moontlike verdere navorsing word bespreek.

scholarly journals The application of supers theory in the military: culture and gender in the life roles of young professional officers

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Kotze
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Young Professional ◽  
Societal Changes ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Military ◽  
Life Roles ◽  
National Defence

Political and societal changes in South Africa have resulted in the fundamental transformation of amongst others the personnel composition of the National Defence Force in order to be more representative of the South African population as a whole. As a corollary to this process, the South African Military Academy is making a determined effort to increase the number of black and female students within its student population. Opsomming Politieke en samelewingsveranderinge in Suid-Afrika het aanleiding gegee tot die fundamentele transformasie van ondermeer die personeelsamestelling van die Nasionale Weermag om sodoende verteenwoordigend te wees van die Suid-Afrikaanse bevolking as geheel. Bykomend tot hierdie proses wend die Suid-Afrikaanse Militere Akademie ook n daadwerklike poging aan om die aantal swart en vroulike studente in die studentepopulasie te verhoog.

Officer Education at the South African Military Academy

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindy Heinecken ◽  
Deon Visser
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Officer Education

scholarly journals Psychological empowerment in the South African military: The generalisability of Menon's Scale

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjay T Menon ◽  
Barry Vos
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Psychological Empowerment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Original Structure ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
The South ◽  
Military Population ◽  
The Military ◽  
Three Factor

The aim of this study was to investigate the factorial validity and internal consistency of the Menon Scale for Psychological Empowerment, developed in the United States and Canada and tested in Australia and Greece, in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The 2231 participants in the study represented the gender and racial distribution of the military population. The South African data initially yielded a two-factor structure. A forced three-factor structure rendered acceptable alpha coefficients, but did not resemble the theoretically expected factors. The forced factor analyses were repeated for Africans, Asians and Coloureds, and Whites separately. Results for the first two groups kept the original structure, whereas the factor structure for the white participants resembled the theoretically hypothesised factors. The forced three-factor structures rendered very high internal consistencies for the total scale, but one factor for both the African and the Asian and Coloured groups showed unsatisfactory reliability, suggesting a single underlying empowerment factor. This was confirmed by high correlations between subscales. Menon’s model seemingly fits the South African data slightly better for the white participants than for their non-white counterparts. The scale thus needs to be revised for the different cultural groups.

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