scholarly journals An overview of industrial and organisational psychology research in South Africa: A preliminary study

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dries Schreuder ◽  
Melinde Coetzee
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The Body ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Psychology Research ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
African Context ◽  
Proportional Increase ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Personnel Psychology

Orientation: The generation and development of knowledge for the benefit of the discipline of industrial and organisational psychology by means of research is a core academic focus.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore general research trends in the field of industrial and organisational psychology in South Africa from 1950 to 2008.Motivation for study: Research in the field tends to be influenced by either the changing needs of business or the occupational or personal fields of interest of academics, which often lead to an overemphasis on specific subdisciplines at the expense of others. This research aims to critically review dominant trends in the research focus areas in the field, in the light of present challenges in the changing work context. Recommendations are also made for possible future research.Research design, approach and method: A broad systematic review was carried out to analyse documented published and accredited South African research in the field (n = 2501).Main findings: Although there has been a proportional decline in personnel psychology research since 1990, there has been a proportional increase in both organisational psychology and employee wellness research since 1980 and 1990, respectively. Some areas of the industrial and organisational psychology field appear to be consistently under-researched.Practical implications: The insights derived from the findings can be used by academia and researchers in the field to plan future research initiatives.Contribution/value-add: The findings provide preliminary insights that contribute to the body of knowledge concerned with the industrial and organisational psychology field in the South African context.

scholarly journals A review of four decades of research in organisational career psychology by academia in South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dries Schreuder ◽  
Melinde Coetzee
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Career Guidance ◽  
The Body ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Career Interventions ◽  
Career Psychology ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Career Research

Orientation: Career research in organisations has increased in importance since the 1970s, which heralded new directions for organisational career research and practice both globally and nationally. Research purpose: The study critically reviewed trends in organisational career psychology research in South Africa from 1970 to 2011 in terms of global and present national challenges that require empirical investigation in the contemporary South African world of work context.Motivation for the study: The increasingly complex contexts, in which people have been pursuing their careers since the catalytic 1970s, demand the continuous generation and development of knowledge for the benefit of the discipline and practice of careers.Research design, approach and method: A broad systematic review was carried out to analyse documented academia research (N = 110) on careers from 1970 to 2011, which was published in six accredited South African scientific journals.Main findings: Much of the research addressed issues pertaining to career theory and concepts, the world of work and career assessment and technology. Career development, professional issues and organisational career interventions in the multi-cultural South African context appear to be under-researched.Practical/managerial implications: The insight derived from the findings can be employed by academia and researchers, in this field, to plan future research initiatives that will contribute to the profession and practice of career guidance and counselling in the contemporary workplace.Contribution/value-add: The findings provide preliminary insight that adds to the body of knowledge concerned with career studies in the South African organisational context.

scholarly journals Exploring Perceptions of Bitcoin Adoption: The South African Virtual Community Perspective

10.28945/4080 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 165-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiden J Walton ◽  
Kevin A. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
The Body ◽  
High Potential ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Transactions Costs ◽  
Barriers To Adoption ◽  
Perceived Benefit ◽  
Sub Saharan

Aim/Purpose: This paper explored the factors (enablers and barriers) that affect Bitcoin adoption in South Africa, a Sub-Saharan country with the high potential for Bitcoin adoption. Background: In recent years, Bitcoin has seen a rapid growth as a virtual cryptocurrency throughout the world. Bitcoin is a protocol which allows value to be exchanged over the internet without a central bank or intermediary. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are technological tools that arguably can contribute to reducing transactions costs. This paper explored the factors that affect Bitcoin adoption in South Africa, a Sub-Saharan country with the high potential for Bitcoin adoption, as little is known about the factors that affect Bitcoin adoption and the barriers to adoption. Methodology: A quantitative questionnaire was distributed to South African virtual communities where Bitcoin is a topic of interest, and 237 quantitative responses were received, along with 212 open-ended comments. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge in information systems by providing insights into factors that affect Bitcoin adoption in South Africa. It raises awareness of incentives and barriers to Bitcoin adoption at a time when financial literacy is a crucial issue both in South Africa and worldwide. Findings: The results indicate that perceived benefit, attitude towards Bitcoin, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control directly affected the participants’ intentions to use Bitcoin. Perceived benefit, usefulness, ease of use, and trust-related risk were found to indirectly affect intention to use Bitcoin. Further, it emerges that the barriers to Bitcoin adoption in South Africa consist of the complex nature of Bitcoin and its high degree of volatility. Recommendations for Practitioners: Bitcoin can contribute to reducing transactions costs, but factors that affect adoption and the barriers to adoption should be taken into consideration. These findings can inform systems and software developers to develop applications that make managing Bitcoin keys and transacting using Bitcoin less complex and more intuitive for end users. Recommendation for Researchers: Bitcoin adoption in South Africa is a topic that has not been previously researched. Researchers could research similarities or differences in the various constructs that were used in this research model. Impact on Society: South African Bitcoin users consider it as a universal currency that makes cross-border payments cheaper. A large number of refugees and workers in South Africa make regular payments across borders. Bitcoin could reduce the costs of these transfers. Future Research: Future research could explore Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) adoption in other developing countries. Researchers could look at factors that influence cryptocurrency adoption in general. The factors affecting adoption of other cryptocurrencies can be compared to the results of this study, and similarities and differences can thus be identified.

scholarly journals Constructing racial hierarchies of skill – Experiencing affirmative action in a South African organisation: A qualitative review

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanya Reuben ◽  
Shaida Bobat
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
South African ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Traditional Approaches

Orientation: Apartheid in South Africa constructed racial, economic, social and political segregation, the consequences of which are still experienced today. Government has made concerted efforts to ‘deracialise’ South Africa, most notably through affirmative action (AA) measures.Research purpose: This study aimed to explore employees’ social constructions of AA in a South African organisation.Motivation for the study: Research in this field focuses mostly on attitudinal perspectives of AA with an emphasis on traditional approaches. Subjective, contextualised approaches to AA have received little attention. Thus, this study aimed to critically engage with the embodied nature of prejudice, particularly in reference to how we understand and experience AA.Research approach, design and method: This study aimed to explore AA from a social constructionist orientation, using semi-structured interviews. More specifically, this study used Potter and Wetherell’s discursive psychology.Main findings: The findings illustrate how participants engage in discursive devices that continue to rationalise a racial order of competence. Ultimately, AA is a controversial subject that traverses many segments of life for all South Africans.Practical/managerial implications: The findings contribute to the discipline of industrial psychology, particularly with regard to policies around preferential treatment, and can add value to the ways in which organisational policy documents are conceptualised. The findings also suggest the importance of developing an inclusive, non-discriminatory organisational culture.Contribution/value-add: This approach adds to the existing body of knowledge around the embodied nature of prejudice. The study’s methodology highlights the value of studying context in meaning-making and implied inferences that underlie talk.

scholarly journals Ability within disability: Reflective memories shared with Dr Kasturi Varley

2022 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kogielam K. Archary ◽  
Christina Landman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The Body ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
Community History ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
European Experience ◽  
Shed Light

In a post-apartheid South Africa, the value of reflective memories and their impact on community history gives credibility to their relationship with personal struggles such as disability, be it physical or political. Shaped by South African Indian heritage, an isolated individualised case of a second-generation descendant’s ability–disability experience is researched and narrated in this article. The respondent, Dr Kasturi Varley is a woman of the South African Indian community, who was born almost 101 years after the first shipload of Indian indentured labourers arrived in the then Colony of Natal. Her memories shed light on a unique Indo-African-European experience. Her indentured paternal grandfather arrived in the African continent in August 1900. Her reflective memories and shared experiences of various episodes of the ability–disability paradigm add to the body of knowledge of the Indian indentured labour system that already exists and partially fills up the prevalent gaps in the research on this topic. Her story is unique in that she worked wheelchair-bound at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria and subsequently settled in the United Kingdom. This study applied a qualitative research methodology.Contribution: This article provides insight on reflective memories within the domain of social memory and contributes to an understanding of the historiography of the descendants of Indian indentured labourers in South Africa. In 2020, this community commemorated the 160th anniversary of the arrival of the labourers to the Colony of Natal.

scholarly journals A REFLECTION ON GENDER ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCES’ RURAL SCHOOL SETTINGS OF MULTICULTURAL SOUTH AFRICA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Mokoena ◽  
◽  
Gregory Alexander ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
High Schools ◽  
South African ◽  
The Body ◽  
Physical Sciences ◽  
Rural High Schools ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
South African Education ◽  
Gender Achievement

The participation of learners in science is important to a country’s socio-economic development impediments, therefore, the argument is that the girl learner should be increasingly encouraged to perform well in STEM related subjects (STATS SA). UNESCO indicates 35% women representative in STEM as students in higher education globally, whilst less than 40% of South Africa’s scientists, engineers and technologists are women. This situation also relates to the South African education system, particularly in rural schools where girl learners are outperformed by boy learners in STEM, especially, in subjects such as Life Sciences and Physical Sciences. The purpose of this reflective paper is to ascertain the factors prohibiting excellent achievement of females in sciences in rural high schools of South Africa. The data has been gathered from numerous documents such as national and provincial analysis of result, examination and assessment directorate analysis and the district statistics in solidifying our investigation as couched by document analysis. Based on our observations and experiences of the conditions prevailing in rural high schools and less participation of female learner access in STEM, suggestions are put forth as to how their performance can be improved. The investment thereof in the body of knowledge will be to fulfil the concern not only of the country but the world at large when the number of female participants increase in STEM.

scholarly journals Graduate unemployment in South Africa: Perspectives from the banking sector

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faith Oluwajodu ◽  
Derick Blaauw ◽  
Lorraine Greyling ◽  
Ewert P.J. Kleynhans
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
The South ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
African Context ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Graduate Unemployment

Orientation: South Africa is experiencing growth in its graduate labour force, but graduateunemployment is rising with the overall unemployment rate. Graduate unemployment isproblematic, because it wastes scarce human capital, which is detrimental to the economy inthe long run.Research purpose: This study explores the perceived causes of graduate unemployment fromthe perspective of the South African banking sector.Motivation for the study: Researchers have conducted various studies on graduateunemployment in South Africa and across the globe, but few studies have beenconducted on the causes of graduate unemployment. There appear to be some gaps in theliterature; therefore, other problems and solutions to graduate unemployment have to beexploredResearch approach, design and method: The researchers followed a survey design. Questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were used as research instruments to identify theperceived causes of graduate unemployment in the banking sector of South Africa. Researchparticipants were unemployed graduates, recently employed graduates and graduaterecruitment managers in the banking sector.Main findings: The study shows that several factors are perceived to be the causes of graduateunemployment in the South African banking sector. These include: skills, institution attendedby graduate and differences in expectations from employers and graduates.Practical/managerial application: The findings have implications for educational institutionsand companies that are encouraged to consider possible solutions to resolving the causes ofgraduate unemployment.Contribution/value-add: This study is one of the first papers to investigate the causes ofgraduate unemployment in the South African banking sector. It provides a rich platform forfurther studies and replication in other sectors, especially within the African context.

scholarly journals Teleworking in South Africa: Employee benefits and challenges

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Baard ◽  
Adèle Thomas
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Employee Perceptions ◽  
Employee Benefits ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
African Context ◽  
Value Add

Orientation: Virtual working arrangements present possible benefits to organisations and their employees. However, in South Africa, few organisations have implemented teleworking as a specific form of virtual work. The benefits and challenges to teleworkers are therefore largely unknown.Research purpose: The present study aimed to identify employee perceptions of personal benefits and challenges of teleworking.Motivation for the study: The study sought to contribute insights for South African business practice in this under-researched field.Research design, approach and method: This exploratory study collected primary data through the distribution of an electronic questionnaire to 94 employees at three South African organisations, with a 67% response rate. The survey included both closed and open-ended questions that were analysed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques.Main findings: Most of the internationally identified benefits of teleworking were supported by participants, such as improved productivity, increased job satisfaction and organisational loyalty, decreased stress and improved work-life balance. Challenges identified included an increase in working hours and the lack of availability of training opportunities.Practical/managerial implications: The possible employee benefits and challenges of teleworking may assist organisations in devising teleworking practices and procedures that leverage benefits and address challenges inherent in this form of work practice.Contribution/value add: The study aims to supplement the dearth of knowledge about teleworking, specifically in the South African context, to assist organisations practically in their development of this form of virtual work arrangement for the benefit of organisations and their employees.

scholarly journals Actions and Behaviours Essential for Monitoring & Evaluation to Succeed in South African Public Service

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Malefetsane Mofolo ◽  
Lungepi Mkuyane ◽  
Tembile Skade
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks

As an intervention mechanism to improve service delivery, the concepts of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is recently growing in popularity among countries, including South Africa. To this end, questions are posed in this article to establish the effect of making use of M&E in the South African public service. These are posed in view of the fact that South Africa has established a number of sound regulatory frameworks in the past, which should serve as a ‘fertile’ environment for effective service delivery. On this basis, attempts are made to investigate the answers to such questions, and then the body of knowledge through literature review was consulted so as to contextualise and conceptualise arguments and recommendations that could be made at the end of the article. Monitoring and Evaluation could be seen as a critical tool for government institutions to be effective towards achievement of their goals and objectives, as well as making an impact on the lives of South African citizens. In view of this, much needs to be done to several unresolved issues, particularly issues around the organisational/operational culture, peculiar public servants’ attitudes, inefficiency and incompetence, as well as non-compliance with relative legislation. Recommendations with regard to the required actions and behaviours in the public service are, therefore, proposed for consideration.

scholarly journals A temperature reading of COVID-19 pandemic employee agility and resilience in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristy Leask ◽  
Shaun Ruggunan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Temperature Reading ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
African Context ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Value Add

Orientation: Employee agility and resilience are central to the flourishing of employee and organisational life. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic amplified stressors and added new challenges for employees in South Africa. The study reported here provides a temperature reading of the agility and resilience of South African employees in the context of the pandemic.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to engage in a temperature reading of South African employees’ agility and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.Motivation for the study: The study was motivated by the need to understand how South African employees fare in terms of their agility and resilience levels in the context of profound social and economic disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used employing quantitative methodologies. A total of 185 permanently employed respondents from South Africa were conveniently sampled. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.Main findings: Whilst respondents reported high resilience and agility capacity, the findings also suggest that respondents’ gender, age, upskilling intentions, size of employer, organisational communication and individual renewal strategies influence their resilience and agility behaviours.Practical/managerial implications: The study prompts a discussion on how practitioners can better serve the wellness agenda of organisational life during sustained periods of organisational stress.Contribution/value-add: This study extends the theoretical and practical debate on employee agility and resilience in South African context.

Queer Visual Activism in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessa Lewin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Art Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fine Art ◽  
The Body ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Black South African ◽  
African Context

While the form of visual activism currently being developed in the United States and Western Europe is more commonly linked to street protests or activist campaigning and is often explicitly anti-capitalist, in South Africa visual activism has a different epistemological history and contemporary form. In the South African context, much visual activism is closely linked to the fine art market and its associated institutions. This is exemplified by the queer black South African photographer Zanele Muholi. Going beyond the body of work available on Muholi, however, this chapter uses the works of other South African artists, namely FAKA and Robert Hamblin, a fine art photographer, to explore visual activism and the way in which it complicates/broadens conventional conceptions of activism.

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