Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom (IPS)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10566/12717

Browse

Browsing by Author "Abrahams, Fatima"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An explorative study to determine the impact of leadership style and culture on organisational resilience and agility in a South African retail company
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Jansen, Vanya Bertha ; Abrahams, Fatima
    The South African retail sector has been hit with a rash of external blows over the last few years, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic, sporadic riots, looting and natural disasters. Organisations who demonstrated high levels of resilience and agility were the ones who not only survived but thrived during these tumultuous times. This explorative qualitative study thus aims to identify the impact of leadership style and culture on organisational resilience and agility in a South African retail company. The researcher has applied a philosophy of phenomenology based on a grounded theory while deploying a purposive sampling technique to acquire the lived experiences of the 13 identified participants, all senior managers and executives directly involved in leading their teams through the various business recovery strategies. The data was collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews. The transcriptions were afterwards analysed by using Atlas Ti, a qualitative data analysis software tool. The findings of this research confirmed that factors related to adaptability, agile structures, technology and innovation, learning agility and pro-activeness enhance organisational agility. Furthermore, factors related to resilience skills in employees, organisational resilience, crisis response, change management, stakeholder management and predictive simulation were found to enhance organisational resilience.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on career choices among Grade 11 and Grade 12 students at selected schools in the Cape Flats
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Jefferies, Gakeema; Abrahams, Fatima
    The schooling system and education structure were tested to their limits during the COVID-19 pandemic period, when students from all around the world were forced to complete their school curriculum online. The drastic changes brought about different factors that impacted these students on a large scale. Students were pushed out of their comfort zones and had to adapt in order to survive the challenges. This also led to a set of coping mechanisms developed and implemented by students during this period. The purpose of this research was to identify how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the career decisions made by students in Grade 11 and Grade 12. These students have gone through many changes not only within their education but also in the way they think and process things regarding their career and whether their career choices have changed or not. The COVID-19 period may have caused many students to shift their paths due to the lack of exposure at schools, and for others, it may have only enhanced their career paths. This study investigated how students' career choices were influenced and how they adapted to a new way of life. Selecting a career was and will forever be a daunting experience for many students, but more so for those that went through this world health crisis, as there were high levels of uncertainty and fear of the unknown.