Employment equity,human resource development and institution building in South Africa

The process of economic and social reconstruction in South Africa (SA) has harnessed capital, organized labour and state agencies in emergent tripartite macro-policy forums; in particular, the National Economic Development and Labour Commission. Public policy on human resource development, affirmative action and diversity issues is increasingly an outcome of negotiations in these structures. However, although significant legislative developments on these issues are envisaged in the near future, institutional adaptation has not been adequately researched. The apartheid state was constructed on the ideological basis of ethnic fragmentation rationalized by ethnic and cultural diversity. At the same time, diversity is a social reality in building common national and organizational goals, symbols and identity.

This paper discusses structural and labour market factors associated with the process of employment equity and diversity management in South African organizations. A research project, the Breakwater Monitor, at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, has established a national database covering some one million employees, which enables benchmarking of company and sectoral practices in regard to affirmative action, diversity policy, training and development and skills formation. The project has also begun to track diversity representation at all levels across major sectors longitudinally, using a common job evaluation standard for comparability. The project considers both quantitative and qualitative factors in human resource development. Findings from this project are presented and discussed in the context of human resource development.     

Social networks,employment and worker discouragement: Evidence from South Africa

Social networks are increasingly being recognized as having an important influence on labour market outcomes, since they facilitate the exchange of job related information. Access to information about job opportunities as well as perceptions about the buoyancy of the labour market depend critically on the social structures and the social networks to which labour market participants belong. In this paper, we examine the impact of information externalities generated through network membership on labour market status. Using Census data from South Africa, a country characterized by high levels of unemployment and worker discouragement, we adopt an econometric approach that aims to minimise the problems of omitted variable bias that have plagued many previous studies of the impact of social networks. Our results suggest that social networks may enhance employment probabilities by an additional 3–12%, and that failure to adequately control for omitted variables would lead to substantial over-estimates of the network co-efficient. In contrast, the impact of social networks on reducing worker discouragement is much smaller, at between 1 and 2%.     

Flexible work practices in South Africa: economic,labour relations and regulatory considerations

Here the author reviews flexible work practices in South Africa (SA) using Blyton's typology of functional, numerical, temporal and wage flexibility. Workplace flexibility implications for SA labour market and increased use of numerical flexibility are discussed. The article identifies factors limiting the introduction of flexible work practices.     

The Development of Accounting Regulation in Extractive Industries in Australia, South Africa and Canada

In view of the economic significance of extractive industries, the special accounting issues raised, and the numerous calls over many years for standardization, there has been less regulation of their accounting than as expected. The development of accounting regulations and practices in the extractive industries in 3 countries is reviewed, which are Australia, South Africa and Canada.     

The Swiss Solution for South Africa

The example of Switzerland in devolving decision-making away from a central state towards community bodies with reduced powers offers a readily adaptable solution to the political turmoil in South Africa. FrancesKendall, co-author with Leon Louw of the best-selling South Africa: The Solution, presents her proposals forreform.     

Black trade unions and the wage gap in South Africa

This paper puts forward a model of real wage determination for black workers in South Africa. The model is fitted to data for mining and manufacturing for the post-war period. It is found that since 1980 the rise of black trade unions has been a major factor underlying wage increases in manufacturing. In the 1970s, rising gold prices and reduced foreign labour supplies were favourable for mining labour, and in both industries pass law limitations on mobility are found to have lowered balck wages.     

Managing change in South Africa: developing people and organizations

The interaction of Western and non-Western management practices is a growing issue in transitional and emerging economies through the world, not least within the multicultural context of South Africa. This is characterized in this article as an antithesis between instrumental and humanistic views of people in organizations, which is fundamental to the way change is being managed. In order to better understand how the management of people and change may be related to this antithesis, the results of an exploratory study, involving focus-group methods with thirty managers, and of a survey of some 200 employees in participating organizations are presented. Indicative results suggest that, despite best efforts from organizations which may represent best management and development practice, issues concerning the value attached to people in these organizations are still not being properly addressed. It may be only through understanding and reconciling this antithesis that change concerning the development of people, in South Africa as well as in other emerging economies, may be successfully achieved.     

中国与美国、南非煤矿通风技术标准对比分析

矿井通风对煤矿安全至关重要,受到了世界各国政府、企业、研究领域的广泛关注。我国逐步制定了一些通风相关的法规标准,并在生产实践中贯彻落实,虽然取得了一些成绩,但仍不够完善。文章总结了中国、美国和南非煤矿通风标准的概况,对比了我国与美国、南非煤矿通风标准具体技术指标的异同,在此基础上,给出了对我国煤矿通风技术标准的发展建议。     

Autonomy and teamwork in innovative projects

The use of teams that incorporate autonomy in their designs continues to be an important element of many organizations. However, prior research has emphasized projects with mostly routine tasks and has assumed that autonomy resides primarily with a team leader. We investigate how two aspects of team autonomy are related to teamwork quality, a multifaceted indicator of team collaboration (Hoegl & Gemuenden, 2001). Specifically, we hypothesize that team‐external influence over operational project decisions is negatively related to teamwork quality, while team‐internal equality of influence over project decisions is positively related to teamwork quality. Testing our hypotheses on responses from 430 team members and team leaders pertaining to 145 software development teams, results support both predictions. Acknowledging the possible benefits of certain types of external influence (e.g., constructive feedback), the findings demonstrate that team‐external managers of innovative projects should generally refrain from interfering in team‐internal operational decisions. Likewise, the study shows that all team members should share decision authority, recognizing that their contributions to team discussion and decision making may well differ given differences in experience and expertise. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Employment equity in Canada and South Africa: progress and propositions

In 1998 the South African government attempted to redress historical workplace discrimination through the introduction of the Employment Equity Act, largely modelled on the Canadian legislation. This paper provides a background to the rationale for employment equity and related practices in both Canada and South Africa. Policies and practices are compared and progress achieved thus far in both countries is discussed. Suggestions for future consideration by South African policy makers and business leaders are proposed that include issues that are more difficult to legislate, yet which will determine the optimal progress of employment equity in South Africa. The issues highlighted in this regard pertain to top management commitment, the development of holistic human resources policies and practices, the appreciation and management of employee diversity and the creation of inclusive organizational cultures that address historical systemic discrimination.     

Employment equality programmes in South Africa: current trends

Using data from a longitudinal survey the authors critically evaluate how equal opportunity programmes in South Africa have led to changes in internal labour markets of medium and large organisations. The article identifies factors associated with superior performance in this area, examines proposed legislation, and makes recommendations for public policy regarding regulation of employment equity.     

南非标准化发展趋势研究

文章通过对国家标准馆馆藏的南非国家标准文献资源的调查,利用定量分析方法试从南非标准时效性、技术领域等方面分析南非标准化发展趋势,确定南非重点发展的标准化领域,从而为我国开拓南非新兴贸易市场提出参考性建议。     

The changing structure of industrial relations in South Africa

This is the second of two papers dealing tvith the emergence of black shop-floor union power and the changing structure of industrial relations in South Africa. This paper examines union developments in the post-Wiehahn era, The policies of the major union federations and the impact of the black unions' emphasis on shop-floor bargaining. It is clear that the established unions, the State and individual company managements have been significantly affected by this development. The main issue in the near future is seen to be the dividing-line between managerial prerogatives and worker-participation.     

Capital structure,product market competition and firm performance: Evidence from South Africa

This paper investigates the relationship between capital structure and firm performance, paying particular attention to the degree of industry competition. The paper applies a novel measure of competition, the Boone indicator, to the leverage-performance relationship. Using panel data consisting of 257 South African firms over the period 1998–2009, this paper examines the effect of capital structure on firm performance and investigates the extent to which the relationship depends on the level of product market competition. The results suggest that financial leverage has a positive and significant effect on firm performance. It is also found that product market competition enhances the performance effect of leverage. The results are robust to alternative measures of competition and leverage.     

Employment flexibility,unions and companies in France

Employment flexibility–eg in relation to easier dismissal and the removal of most restrictions on temporary work–has grown in France during the eighties. This article traces and discusses its consequences for labour relations, collective bargaining and the labour movement.     

The Agrarian Land Question in South Africa in Its Historical Context, 1652-1988

A bstract . The highly uneven land distribution in South Africa which favors the White ruling minority has its roots in many historical events and legislative measures. These include the "Great Trek" (the migration of Dutch farmers into the interior of South Africa), squatter laws in British colonies and Dutch republics , and the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910 whose parliament immediately took up the issue of land distribution and passed the ultimate land expropriation legislation, the Natives Land Act (1913), No. 27. Since the passage of this landmark act, indigenous Africans have been virtually landless while South Africa has emerged as one of the world's most economically advanced nations.