Daniël Vloeberghs

Leadership challenges for organisations in the New South Africa

This article provides an overview of the recent changes and subsequent new challenges for South African organizations in an ongoing rapidly changing environment. In this context we consider the election period of 1994 as a rupture with the past in the history of the SA nation, and a new start of the so‐called “New South Africa”. Based on personal experiences and literature describes the application of and crucial role played by eight important managerial concepts and methods during the transition period for South African organisations. Finally the impact of this radical change and evolution on new challenges for the leadership and the processes of managing transformation is highlighted.

Management development in a context of drastic changes

Growing competition and globalisation have led to massive changes in the approaches of traditional management systems and techniques. Often this needs a radically different way of organising activities, recruiting and developing people, and measuring performances and results. In this article, the focus is on the specific challenges of organising management development in a situation of turbulence and drastic change. After a short sketch of the historical context, some current trends and challenges are explored; the role of strategic re‐orientations, the emphasis on the individual, the role of competencies and the significance of demographic changes. In order to see how management development is organised in companies that have seen drastic organisational change, we investigated the most recent approaches of management development in two large Belgian companies. In our conclusion, we stress the importance of fine‐tuning the objectives between individual and organisation in a creative and long‐term‐oriented perspective.

High‐potential development policies: an empirical study among Belgian companies

Purpose – To investigate different aspects of the development policies of high potentials and their relationships with organizational characteristics in a set of Belgian companies.Design/methodology/approach – A set of research questions has been used to conceive a structured questionnaire to empirically investigate the different aspects of high‐potential development policies using a survey among 86 Belgian companies.Findings – The results indicate that very often the development policies are of an ad hoc nature, but that individuals may get some say in the process. Job rotation and mentoring/coaching are quite popular activities and formal external training has the most diversified application. As expected, high‐potential development takes up more time and offers a wider scope of activities than is the case for other managerial development initiatives. Especially, organization size may bring some variation in these patterns.Research limitations/implications – The target group in this research is limited ...

Multi‐rater feedback methods: personal and organizational implications

The conditions and implications for the use of multi‐rater feedback or “360‐degree” methods are studied from both a psychological and an organizational perspective. Psychological research indicates that multi‐ratings cannot be put on the same footing as ratings obtained from more “objective” sources as for instance the assessment center. Multi‐rater feedback can be interpreted either as standing in the tradition of assessment centers, or originating from “total quality management”, but it seems more congenial to the TQM method of organizing “customer feedback”. Since multi‐rater feedback presupposes social interaction and consequently a work organization, the communicative conditions for such a feedback system are subsequently investigated from the perspective of organization science. It is investigated how various structural and cultural changes offer a fertile soil for the introduction of such kinds of feedback. However, the authors warn of the terror of “total feedback”.

Work experience, work stress and HRM at the university

Current research on stress among academic university staff indicates that occupational stress is alarmingly widespread and increasing (Kinman/Jones 2004; Winefield et al. 2003; Bamps 2004; Tytherleigh et al. 2005). Therefore the work environment needs to be examined and more specifically organisational specific characteristics, like HR-practices. In line of Timmerhuis (1998), we believe that management of human resources in the academic sector is very useful and necessary. The aim of our study is to investigate (1) the well-being (job stress and job dissatisfaction) of academic staff at the University of Antwerp, (2) the specific factors of the work environment who have an impact on employee well-being, and (3) the interaction between HR practices and employee well-being. (4) Finally, suggestions of improvement of the work environment are to be formulated. In order to meet this purpose, we designed a conceptual model, based on the stress model developed in the Institute for Social Research (ISR) (University of Michigan), and on the HR-model of Peccei (2004). Central to the model is the idea that employee satisfaction and stress are a function of the subjective perception of the work environment which, in turn, is affected by the HR practices that are in place in organisations. The elements most likely to cause job stress, according to our participants, were workload and time pressures, uncertainty, lack of feedback and social support. Further, it appeared that the HR-related job characteristics cause job dissatisfaction: perceptions on participation, assessment, reward and support have an impact on job satisfaction of the academic staff. Finally, suggestions of improvement of the work environment were mentioned.

Human resource aspects of ISO 9000 in Belgian organizations

This article deals with the role and importance of human resource management aspects in ISO 9000 certified organizations in Belgium. It describes the results of a written survey among all ISO 9000 certified organizations in Belgium. The objectives of this preliminary survey were to identify the type of companies that have an ISO 9000 certificate in Belgium, and to better define the relationship between human resource management and quality management. The response rate to our survey was high (42 per cent), and we have been able to draw some interesting conclusions from the survey results. The main questions we try to answer in this article are the following:‘Is the human resource department in the organization involved in the implementation of ISO 9000 and quality management? And, if so, has the involvement of human resource practitioners made implementation of ISO 9000 norms easier and more successful?’Or, and that is the underlying question in our research, is the implementation of ISO 9000 and related ...

Age Differences in Work Motivation in a Sample from Five Northern European Countries

Abstract. This paper investigates the relationship between employee age and levels of trait-like dispositional motivation in a sample of 7644 individuals from five Northern European countries (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden) who completed a comprehensive motivation questionnaire for selection or development purposes. Age differences in motivation were examined by controlling for demographic variables and testing for non-linear relationships. On the whole, effects were small, with age explaining up to 7 % incremental variance in specific motivation scales. Small effects were found for five motivation scales, which indicated a tendency for older employees in this sample to be more motivated by intrinsically rewarding job features but less motivated by features that entail low perceived utility or that are mainly extrinsically rewarding. Results were generally consistent across the five Nordic countries but in countries where the average retirement age is higher (i. e., in late-exit cultures) ...

Towards an effectiveness model of development centres

Argues that for competence management to be a valuable tool in leveraging individual competencies to dynamic organisational core competencies, more stress should be laid on competence development. More specifically, focuses on the effectiveness of development centres (DC), in terms of personal development and pursuit of the development plan. In this way, attempts to meet the need for more studies on the whole DC process and, more specifically, on its effectiveness. Furthermore, looks to take a first step in integrating fields of coaching, self‐development and line management human resources involvement in DC studies.

Preparing managers for the “hi‐speed” company

Describes the approach concerning management development in a fast‐growing international telecommunication company trying to survive the multimedia revolution, namely Alcatel Telecom. Calling itself the hi‐speed company, Alcatel tries to profile the organisation externally, simultaneously evoking a new culture internally as well. Efforts from management and all employees are required to meet the hi‐speed objectives. To make people aware of the new drive and work values, several hi‐speed projects have been set up since 1997, such as the change program, the hi‐speed cafe and awards, and SIE (small interactive enterprises). Furthermore, the role of managerial values, the development of international managers and the implementation of MD programs by the Alcatel university, Antwerp, will be highlighted.