J. Surujlal

Evaluation of Urban Consumer Willingness to Pay for Organic Leafy Vegetables

ABSTRACT Excessive application of chemical fertilizers and the remnants of pesticides in food products can be a threat to people’s health. Technological developments and changes in lifestyle and food regime have increased the frequency of diseases such as cancer. Modern agriculture systems have been criticized and a consensus reached for introduction of organic agriculture to increase efficiency and reduce damage to the environment and public health. Consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for organic leafy vegetables was studied with a contingent valuation approach in Rasht City, Iran. Among the studied variables, income, education level, and family history of cancer positively and significantly affected consumers’ WTP for organic leafy vegetables. Mean WTP was 4.22% higher for organic leafy vegetables than for conventional vegetables. There was a positive attitude toward using organic leafy vegetables and farmers could benefit from producing organic products.

Finding Synergic Relationships in Teamwork, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction: A Case Study of a Construction Organization in a Developing Country

Abstract The construction industry and its impact in strengthening the economic development of a country by providing work for an important constituent of the labour market is acknowledged. This is largely due to its contributing features to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country. Within this industry, teamwork is essential. If managed properly it may contribute to, among others, employees’ commitment to an organization and their job satisfaction. Against this perspective, the study examines the relationship between teamwork, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. The study is located within a quantitative research paradigm using a cross-sectional survey design through a structured questionnaire. Data from 178 employees were analyzed. The results show that team work, normative, and affective commitment contribute positively to job satisfaction, whereas continuance commitment reflects a negative association with job satisfaction. It seems that employers in this organization need to concentrate on employees’ continuance commitment in shaping employees’ propensity to their commitment in the organization. Since the construction industry depends heavily on the human resource, employers need to assess existing compensation and professional recognition, motivate employees through assignment of meaningful tasks, and create a working environment that inspires and enthuse workers so that their job satisfaction increases.

Eating disorders among university student-athletes

Basketball is one of top 10 most popular sports frequently contested at University Sports of South Africa (USSA) tournaments. Basketball played at university level is an aggressive contact sport which lends itself to a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and injuries. This study documented the prevalence and causes of musculoskeletal injury sustained by the USSA basketball players. A descriptive survey was conducted on 51 male and female USSA basketball players aged 18-32 years who participated in the study by voluntary informed consent. Data were collected using a validated musculoskeletal pain questionnaire. Data were descriptively and statistically analyzed using Chi-square tests (p< 0.05). The results indicated 78.43% prevalence of basketball-related musculoskeletal injury among the USSA players (p<0.01). The ankle (27.92%) and knee (18.91%) were the most prevalent anatomical sites susceptible to basketball-related musculoskeletal injury (p< 0.01). Female basketball players (59.45%) sustained a higher percentage of the basketball-related musculoskeletal injury than their male counterparts (40.55%). The mechanisms producing basketball-related musculoskeletal injury reported by the players were rapid, rotational changing of direction when playing (48.57%), collision with players (37.14%) and being struck with a basketball (14.28%) (p<0.05). Overall, the findings indicated a high prevalence of musculoskeletal injury among the USSA basketball players. Keywords: Basketball, musculoskeletal injury African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance (AJPHERD) Vol. 18, No. 2 (June) 2012, pp. 308-316

Influence of Outlook towards Work on Entrepreneurial Potential of Professional Sport Coaches in South Africa

Abstract One of the ways to effectively address unemployment and revitalise the economy is through the rediscovery of the entrepreneur who takes risks, breaks new ground and innovates. Entrepreneurship therefore needs to be embedded into the basic fabric of society. Sport in South Africa has moved from being amateur-focused to being professional-focused, resulting in an increase in the number of professional sport coaches in the sport industry. Furthermore, heightened competition for coaching positions has intensified the volatility of coaches’ jobs as well as their job security. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to explore the influence of outlook towards work on the entrepreneurial potential of professional sport coaches in South Africa. A quantitative research approach was adopted for the study. This involved the administration of questionnaires to 200 professional sport coaches. Frequencies and percentages were used to report on the data. In addition, a one-way between-groups analysis of variance was conducted to investigate the impact of level of outlook towards work on entrepreneurial potential. The results indicated that sport coaches with high levels of motivation, aptitude and attitudes towards work have higher levels of entrepreneurial potential. Sport coaches who possess a positive attitude towards work, are knowledgeable about entrepreneurship and are motivated to excel may be more likely to achieve long term success than those who do not possess these qualities. Therefore, sport coaches who have these qualities should take advantage of this and embark on entrepreneurial ventures to escape the uncertainty associated with sport coaching.