The significant challenges faced by South Africa at present are well known. How to deal with the problems from a political and economic perspective abound, but taking a psychological approach has been neglected. This paper proposes a positive approach to South African organizational leadership based on the psychological capacity of hope. After giving a brief background on the context surrounding South African organizations, the theory, research, and application of hope relevant to organizational leadership in the “Rainbow Nation” are presented and analyzed. Such an overlooked positive approach represented by hopeful organizational leaders seems needed at this juncture of South Africa's present and future.

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Recognition and development of hope for South African organizational leaders

Purpose




The aim of this paper is to extend the knowledge of the link between job insecurity and job performance by exploring potential mediating mechanism of psychological strains and moderation role of psychological advantages on the mentioned relationship in the hospitality industry.




Design/methodology/approach




A sample of 288 frontline employees from five and four star hotels in north Cyprus was selected through judgmental sampling. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the research model, and hierarchal multiple regression was used to test forwarded hypotheses.




Findings




The results showed that Job Insecurity mitigates Job Performance. The results further suggested that anxiety, as a psychological strain, mediates the effect of job insecurity on job performance. Additionally, psychological advantages (supervisor support and intrinsic motivation) play a crucial role as a delimiter against the negative effect of job insecurity on job performance.




Research limitations/implications




Hotel managers need to establish and communicate transparent human resource polices including, win-win-based employee contracts, fair selection, placement, appraisal, compensation, reward and similar human resource systems within hotels. Empowering and developing relations skills between supervisors and employees by providing continued training programs are vital for minimizing organizational stress and anxiety from job insecurity. Keeping in mind high employee turnover rates in the industry and its considerable costs, especially intrinsically motivated employees willing to work long hours should be selected in those organizations. Additionally, buddy-buddy approach in mentoring can be used by well-selected senior employees to help new employees socialize, improve their performance via social support and retain them in the end. By implication, lacking time lag is considered as the limitation.




Originality/value




Empirical research relating to the psychological strains and leverages of job insecurity is sparse in the hospitality industry. Based on job demand-resource and conservation of resource theories, the present research aimed to fill this gap.

Effect of job insecurity on frontline employee’s performance: Looking through the lens of psychological strains and leverages

Purpose




The purpose of this study is to gauge the effects of challenge and hindrance stressors as well as three high-performance work practices (HPWPs) such as training, empowerment and rewards on work engagement (WE) and turnover intentions (TI). This study also tests customer orientation (COR) as a moderator of these relationships.




Design/methodology/approach




Data gathered from frontline hotel employees in Northern Cyprus in two time periods with a time lag of two weeks were used to test the relationships.




Findings




The results suggest that both challenge and hindrance stressors heighten TI and empowerment fosters WE. Rewards alleviate TI. More importantly, COR acts as a moderator of the effects of challenge and hindrance stressors as well as training, empowerment and rewards on WE and TI.




Practical implications




Management needs to hire employees high on COR and develop training programs that boost employees’ customer-oriented behaviors. Employees should also be allowed to craft the level of job demands and resources as long as the work is congruent with management expectations.




Originality/value




This study contributes to the extant hospitality knowledge by testing COR as a moderator of the effects of challenge and hindrance stressors and HPWPs on WE and TI.

Work engagement and turnover intentions: Correlates and customer orientation as a moderator

This research examines the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the workplace and its impact on frontline employees’ work-related outcomes. Based on the CSR and human resource management literature, this research formulates and tests a model of perceived management support for CSR, perceived customer support for CSR, work engagement, organization engagement, well-being and task performance, with an emphasis on the moderating role of the importance of CSR to employees.,The survey data were collected from 409 frontline employees of service enterprises, such as hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, airlines, in May and June 2015. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS and AMOS for frequency, reliability, correlation, confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling.,The empirical results indicate that perceived management support for CSR significantly influences work engagement and organization engagement. Perceived customer support for CSR significantly affects work engagement, which increases organization engagement and enhances task performance. Organization engagement has a significant impact on perceived well-being, which, in turn, enhances task performance. Finally, the importance of CSR to employees significantly moderates the path from perceived management support for CSR to organization engagement.,This study formulates a conceptual model focusing on CSR to investigate drivers of well-being and the two aspects of employee engagement in a workplace. This study also considers employees’ perceptions of the importance of CSR as a moderator in the model.

Corporate social responsibility, employee engagement, well-being and the task performance of frontline employees

Technology-enabled knowledge management for community healthcare workers: The effects of knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded accommodation establishments. The demanding nature of work in the hospitality industry (e.g. long hours and shift work) renders job stress and burnout, a persisting challenge for the industry. Employees that are constantly subjected to a challenging work environment may experience increased levels of job stress and burnout or even leave the industry entirely. The Free State province of South Africa has a well-established hospitality sector, and this investigation shows the extent to which job stress and burnout are mitigated by a favourable organisational culture. Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was administered to 46 graded accommodation establishments in the two main economic clusters (Bloemfontein and Clarens) of the Free State province of South Africa. The investigation was quantitative in nature and the robust competing values framework (CVF) was used...

Impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded accommodation establishments in the Free State province, South Africa

In a culturally diverse environment, such as that found in South Africa it is imperative that one understands the dynamic elements that make us all different. As these differences influence the way individuals behave, it will influence their interaction in the workplace. The aim of this article is to reflect on the diversity issues as captured in a study conducted on operational level work teams in the security industry. One should expect to find substantial diversity problems where individuals, who traditionally do not have a history of mixing, are now working together to achieve organizational goals.

The impact of cultural diversity on work team performance: a South‐African perspective

The tourism and hospitality industry faces major challenges of which a shortage of professional industry-related skills is probably the most pronounced. Added challenges include recruiting and retaining staff within an industry that is intensely service-driven and customer-oriented. Staff should be suitably qualified and able to cope with the challenges of being service workers. It is thus vital that students who study or intend to study Tourism and/or Hospitality Management should be adequately informed about industry's expectations and challenges, as well as the demanding work environment they can expect once they are employed in the industry. It is also imperative that industry stakeholders clearly articulate what is expected from graduates once they are employed. As there is often a mismatch between what the students and industry expect from each other, the aim of this paper is to address the expectations of both industry stakeholders and students. The study was conducted in the Bloemfontein area of South Africa and respondents included the Tourism Management and Hospitality Management students of the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT), and selected industry stakeholders. The findings underline the importance of management/technical and people skills in an extremely demanding and labour-intensive industry.

Reflecting on industry and student expectations for working in the tourism and hospitality industry : a case study

The proliferation of crime, especially in the South African context, has placed considerable emphasis on the private security industry.  This has also increased fierce competition in the private security domain with both national and international private security companies infiltrating the South African market.  Like public policing private security has an important role to play in combating crime and other transgressions, with the exception that private security owes its existence to paying customers.  By using the Competing Values Framework (CVF) as conceptual guide, the researchers are able to provide the managers of the company under investigation with insight on how their cultural orientation affects their functioning and ultimately their competitive advantage.

http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajems/v12n3/05.pdf

Using the competing values framework (CVF) to investigate organisational culture in a major private security company

Orientation: Continuous innovation and knowledge sharing have become the linchpin of contemporary organisations, especially universities. Universities thus need to create a conducive organisational culture to enable innovation and knowledge sharing. Research purpose: This study aimed to contribute empirically to an understanding of how an innovative university can be realised in a developing country context. Motivation for the study: As innovation and knowledge sharing remain a challenge for most southern African universities, this article provides a theoretical and empirical understanding of the positive influence of organisational culture on these variables. Research approach/design and method: The study followed a survey design. A structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of 277 university staff members. A total of 195 questionnaires were collected for data analysis, yielding a response rate of 70.39%. Data were interpreted using descriptive statistics and partial least squares structural equation modelling to analyse the relationship between the variables. Main findings: The results indicated that the university under investigation had a dominant rational or clan culture orientation. A significant relationship was found between organisational culture and innovation and organisational culture and knowledge sharing. Practical/managerial implications: The study proposes that innovation and knowledge sharing can best be realised within an adhocracy culture. Strategic priorities were proposed to the management of the university to enhance the pervasiveness of these variables. Contribution/value-add: The study provides empirical evidence of the positive effect of organisational culture on innovation and knowledge sharing, confirming that organisational culture is a predictor of both innovation and knowledge sharing.

/pdf/towards-the-innovative-university-what-is-the-role-of-3ksmswdke3.pdf

Desere Kokt

Papers

Impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded accommodation establishments in the Free State province, South Africa

The impact of cultural diversity on work team performance: a South‐African perspective

Reflecting on industry and student expectations for working in the tourism and hospitality industry : a case study

Using the competing values framework (CVF) to investigate organisational culture in a major private security company

Towards the innovative university: What is the role of organisational culture and knowledge sharing?