David Coldwell

Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: The Case of Research Productivity

Abstract In order to meet social needs, and address societal challenges, the University is dependent upon the research productivity of its staff. Satisfaction contributes to the retention of, as well as the job performance of, academic staff. However, knowledge of the relationships between job satisfaction and research productivity is absent from the literature in the South African context. An exploratory cross sectional quantitative research design is applied to a sample of 225 respondents of academics from a large regional South African university. Correlation, partial correlation, and multiple linear regression analysis are used to test seminal theory that predicts relationships between job satisfaction and research productivity as a dimension of job performance. Findings indicate that academics that produce more internationally accredited journals are relatively more job-dissatisfied. Junior academics, particularly those without doctoral degrees, are found to be more job-satisfied. It is argued that remuneration and retention systems need to address this discrepancy. Self-efficacy and an internal locus of control were found to be predictors of job satisfaction in this context. Recommendations are made on the basis of the findings.

Entropic Citizenship Behavior and Sustainability in Urban Organizations: Towards a Theoretical Model

Entropy is a concept derived from Physics that has been used to describe natural and social systems’ structure and behavior. Applications of the concept in the social sciences so far have been largely limited to the disciplines of economics and sociology. In the current paper, the concept of entropy is applied to organizational citizenship behavior with implications for urban organizational sustainability. A heuristic is presented for analysing personal and organizational citizenship configurations and distributions within a given workforce that can lead to corporate entropy; and for allowing prescriptive remedial steps to be taken to manage the process, should entropy from this source threaten its sustainability and survival.

Corporate social responsibility in South Africa: quo vadis?

Purpose - – Strategies and policies aimed at alleviating poverty in Sub-Saharan African countries usually depend on capitalistically driven economic growth. However, the view that capitalism needs to reinvent itself to survive the crisis of confidence brought about by the recent global financial collapse depends on the extent to which such a shared value oriented, sustainable capitalist reinvention is embraced by emergent business leaders. A sustainable system of capitalism driven by business and community shared value can only take root if the hearts and minds of future business leaders are convinced of their cogency and appropriateness. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - – This paper reports the findings of an empirical study utilizing a Likert-type scale designed to measure corporate shared value (CSV) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) among a sample of fourth year accountancy students at a leading South African university. Findings - – Preliminary findings suggest that perceptions of this group of emergent leaders generally regard CSR rather than CSV as the “correct” business model for companies to follow. Although the sample is limited to one South African university and is relatively small, it contributes to the literature by offering insight into emergent business leaders’ perceptions and their view of the direction of CSR in South Africa should take. Research limitations/implications - – Implications of the paper are that by offering insight into emergent business leaders’ perceptions of South African society and specifically their view of the direction South African CSR should take, the paper suggests prescriptive remedial steps in policy that educational and other learning institutions could take to engender appropriate social values in learners. Originality/value - – The study contributes to the literature by offering devised and tested measuring instruments for CSR and CSV in the South African context and gives insight into emergent business leaders’ perceptions and their view of the direction of CSR in South Africa should take.

Research versus Teaching Satisfaction and Research Productivity

Abstract In this study, an exploratory quantitative cross-sectional research design is applied in a study of a large South African university to test theory that relates research productivity to different dimensions of satisfaction, or dissatisfaction. Findings suggest that individuals who derive their primary job satisfaction from teaching are less research productive than individuals that derive their primary job satisfaction from research. Differences between types of satisfaction and their relationships with research productivity are explored further. Recommendations are provided on the basis of the findings.

Academic citizenship and wellbeing: An exploratory cross-cultural study of South African and Swedish academic perceptions

Academic citizenship is, conceptually speaking, closely related to organisational citizenship behaviour, as both concepts can be regarded as consisting essentially of personal co-worker and organisational support behaviours. Academics across the world operate in widely divergent settings in different socioeconomic and political situations and higher education environments. Such differing circumstances might be expected to have a bearing on the priorities that academics face in different countries and the ways academic citizenship is understood. This paper uses a mixed methods approach to analyse perceptions of academic citizenship and employee well-being in one Swedish and one South African university which operate in starkly different socioeconomic circumstances. The findings of the exploratory study suggest that despite wide-ranging differences in socioeconomic environments between the two countries, there is a high degree of common understanding of the form and substance of academic citizenship and its bearing on well-being. Key words Academic citizenship, organisational citizenship behaviour, South African and Swedish universities, well-being

Perceptions Among Professional Accounting Students of Self, Job Attractiveness and Academic Reputation

Abstract Discussions around career pathways have gained momentum in the field of career development to assist young people in mapping out their career choices in order to achieve meaningful and productive futures. The purpose of the study was to empirically investigate third-year accounting students’ perceptions of the comparative worth and the utility of a career choice based on one of four accounting major subjects. The four compulsory subjects are offered on the professional degree to become a Chartered Accountant (CA) offered at the University of the Witwatersrand. The research design was descriptive and cross-sectional. Results were discussed in terms of existing theory, with both internal and external factors considered. Findings indicated that financial management accounting was the dominant career choice option, followed by taxation. The value of the study resides in the insights gained regarding the salience of various career perceptions among professional accounting students.

Cross-cultural knowledge management in collaborative academic research

Knowledge management as we frame it for this chapter is perceived as a bundle of structural initiatives to enable learning within and by organizations (Ackerman et al. 2003). It supports sharing of ...

Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility in Emerging Economies? An Exploratory Empirical Study of the South African Business Context

Abstract Purpose To examine the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the South African context. Methodology A cross-sectional correlation research design involving quantitative and qualitative data. Findings The findings lend general support for the utility of business case oriented CSR strategic applications in the South African business context. Research limitations The small samples using accountancy students and high CSR performing companies restricted the generalizability of the findings. Also, the links between respondents’ propensity to purchase and actual purchasing behavior remained undetermined. Contribution The chapter provides an empirically validated model measuring associations between individual perceptions of actual and expected CSP configurations with predilections to purchase products from a sample of high profile CSR multinational South African companies. Practical implications The results suggest the model’s cogency and lend general support to the utility of the business case strategy in the South African business context by showing associations between CSR company profiles and respondents’ intentions to purchase their goods and services. Social implications The importance of CSR in providing social benefits in South African communities is reinforced by its strategic importance in offering business benefits to companies that invest in its implementation. Originality/value of chapter Development and empirical verification of a novel conceptual model in the South African business context.

Formal versus Informal Organizational Networks: Conflicts and Trade-Offs in Goal Attainment Propensities

Abstract Axelrod’s seminal work describes circumstances in which the goals of the formal organization’s military network become derailed by powerful informal networks built up amongst soldiers during the First World War. This paper considers payoffs of both informal soldiers’ network and that of the formal military bureaucracy. The paper aims to analyze specific factors and circumstances that allow informal networks to dominate formal goals using a model that incorporates analyses regarding: calculated pay-offs, division and homogeneity of labor, powers of sanction, strength of norms and goals, and duration of existence. These aspects are considered in terms of bureaucracy and adhocracy and types of subversive group activity. Various testable propositions regarding informal and formal goals’ dominance are considered in the discussion of the model.