National culture and organizational behavior: Why Fanakalo in the South African mining industry is a bone of contention

The subject area of organizational behavior offers up an important body of literature which focusses in on the influence of national culture on individuals functioning within global organizations. The central premise of this body of literature is that national culture has a direct and unwavering influence on the ways in which organizations are managed, and individuals within those organizations behave. Although not refuting this contention, this paper works to unpick two of its inherent baseline assumptions in pointing to the fact that it should not be taken for granted that national cultures are static, or superior to industry and organizational cultures. This is done by exploring the phenomenon of Fanakalo as organizational cultural element within the South African mining industry empirically, by means of in-depth interviews, as qualitatively categorized according to the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) cultural dimensions. The findings of the paper work to conclude that national culture should be seen as a dynamic, ever-changing aspect, which is not always the dominant influence vis-à-vis organizational and industry culture

The role of communication in managing the safety climate of construction site environments

Managers in the construction sector are met with a critical charge: they are responsible for the safety of employees in one of the most notoriously dangerous industries in the world. In terms of managing the safety climate of construction site environments, no recommendations have been made in literature that truly elucidate the role of organisational communication therein. The aim of this research is to fill this void by enriching the seminal work of Mohamed (2002) which focusses in on the nature of safety climate in construction organisations, and the factors it comprises of. To this end, the research comprises a data-triangulated qualitative and quantitative empirical study undertaken at nine different construction sites in South Africa, which allowed for the reformulation of the model for safety climate management in construction environments, with an added understanding of the role of communication therein. In this, findings indicated that communication is conducive to a positive safety climate when it is managed to be strategic, holistic, relational and symmetrical. The model put forward in this article offers an empirical application of the four identified constructs of communication, which gives way to data-driven recommendations for use in construction organisation settings

Decolonising Marketing: Five Fundamental Decisions for Customer Engagement

Purpose – This article aims to offer practical, data-led guidance for the decolonisation of marketing strategy, especially as it relates to customer engagement. It does so with an acute understanding of the constraints of brand legitimacy. Design/methodology/approach – The findings of this article are informed both by a conceptual unpacking of institutional, decolonisation and customer engagement literature, as well as an empirical methodology that presents an embedded single case study of a top-ranking banking brand, utilising in-depth qualitative interviews as well as content analyses of brand communications. Findings – The article examines the notion of institutional brand legitimacy alongside the decolonisation of customer engagement. It offers five empirically driven decisions that marketers must consider when they attempt to decolonise their customer engagement strategies. These revolve around a decolonised bottom-up approach; establishing new biases for customer insights; the management of opposing forces; being strategically transformative, and going beyond diversity. Research limitations/implications – A single brand case study is offered that utilises a relatively small sample of interviewees, and does not include customers of the brand. Further research is therefore needed to reflect other organisational contexts and stakeholders. Just so, the article specifically looks at the ways in which decolonisation and institutional legitimacy intersect for customer engagement. Further studies that focus on other organisational concepts impacted by decolonisation would be thought-provoking. Originality/value – To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first empirical investigation that offers practical guidance for the decolonisation of marketing strategies – as it relates to customer engagement or any other facets of marketing

Managing Contestation in Organizational Culture: Lessons Learned from the South African Mining Pidgin Fanagalo

This article scrutinizes the idea of organizational culture being built only on that which is shared by members of an organization. In contexts of acute diversity, contestation should be expected as organization-wide shared meaning is not always attainable. A collective contestation around the elements of an organization’s culture can be just as much a feature of culture as shared meaning is. To unpack this stance, this article uses the case of Fanagalo—an industrial pidgin of the mining industry of South Africa—as contested organizational culture element. By means of in-depth qualitative interviews, the article bolsters discussions in organizational culture literature by offering four specific issues to consider when managing contestation in diverse contexts. These issues revolve around the locus of power in organizational culture; the focus of management strategies; using cultural elements as levers for change; and the continued nature of collective contestation

The proof is in the pudding: (Re)considering the excellence of activism in the South African mining industry

One of the greatest changes organisations in South Africa experienced through the country’s democratisation is the introduction of ‘legitimate’ activism in organisational settings. Organisational communication literature – specifically as manifest in the excellence theory – compounded this through views on the potentially positive impact activism could have on organisations by ‘pushing’ them beyond equilibrium to a state of dynamic equilibrium – mediated through strategic and effectual communication. This view, however, is somewhat fouled by occurrences such as those at Marikana, and concomitant strikes in the country’s platinum industry, which have held the economy ‘captive’ in various ways. Organisations – especially the mining industry – need to ask ‘How much activism is too much activism?’ and organisational communication practitioners need to introspectively consider whether this theoretical contribution should not perhaps have come with greater guidance in terms of the chary (if not restrained) implementation of this potentially positive, yet almost insidiously dangerous, communicative feature. This article aims to explore activism in the mining industry of South Africa, specifically from the vantage points of industry heads, as it concerns the changed communicative landscape in this industry post-Marikana. To this end, the article will report on seven qualitative, semi-structured interviews – along with existing literature on the topic – as it offers up six considerations in applying the aspect of excellence and ‘positive activism’ within organisations in South Africa’s mining industry

Organizational diversity: making the case for contextual interpretivism

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to make a case for contextual interpretivism in managing diversity in organizational settings, specifically in its bearing on internal communication, going against the dominating functionalistic stance of venerated and ubiquitous approaches. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed to explore the potential of contextual interpretivism within the mining and construction industries of South Africa, due to the fecund diversity context of its employee population. Findings This paper points to the enriched understanding that could result from following a contextual interpretivistic approach to internal communication for diversity management, and in so doing discusses the ways in which this could take hold in organizations through the application of germane theoretical assertions of revered internal organizational communication literature, specifically the excellence theory and communication satisfaction. Research limitations/implications The main limitation to this research is the restricted generalizability of its empirical research. Further research is required for the exploration of the central premise in other organizational contexts. Practical implications The paper provides insights into the ways in which organizations could approach its diversity management so as to speak to more than just the functional aspects thereof, and rather to the importance of nurturing an understanding of employees’ interpretation of the organization’s diversity endeavors. Originality/value The implications of applying a new approach to diversity management in organizational settings is discussed and argued, offering an empirical application thereof, which gives way to practical, data-driven recommendations for use in organizational settings

On the move alobe (OMA): a practical tool for case management of uncaccompanied migrant children in southern Africa

This practitioners’ guidebook and On the Move Alone (OMA) Tool is intended to serve as the official guide for SADC member states in the development of their National Action Plans. These plans are set to be aligned to the new Regional Strategic Plan to Address Mixed and Irregular Migration, which was accepted by all member states at the Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) 2016. The guidelines set forth in this document aim to complement the agreed standard on Case Management (Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, 2012), and to provide a step-by-step, concrete and localised guidance to ‘frontline officials’ that are confronted with the support and safe management of unaccompanied children in the Southern African region

Communicating for survival in the mining and construction industries: Northern conversations and Southern contextualisations

The Global South, as the collective for the peripheries of mainstream development is known, is often regarded as merely a beneficiary of Northern borne notions and theories in the field of organisational communication. The problem is that the Southern context and circumstance does not always mirror that of the North, which means that these dominant, revered theories are not necessarily applicable. One Southern context is that of the South African mining and construction industries which is seen as notoriously dangerous, plagued by various obstacles to internal organisational communication (such as illiteracy and diversity) and what Le Roux and Naudé (2009:29) refer to as “historical baggage”. The research question of this paper is hence whether congenital Northern communication theories can be adequately incorporated into the unique Global South in order to fulfil the important task of communicating safety information to employees. The article explores the appropriate implementation of the principles of the excellence theory, the stakeholder theory as well as the relationship management theory and the research methodology includes interviews, focus groups and quantitative questionnaires at two organisations. The result of the empirical research is the amalgamation and reworking of these theories’ principles into a model for internal safety communication applicable to the South

Advancing Mobile Open Learning through DigiBot technology: a case study of using WhatsApp as a scalable learning tool

This article presents a case study that outlines the potential of DigiBot technology, an interactive automated response program, in Mobile Open Learning (MOL) for Business subjects. The study, which draws on a project implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa, demonstrates the applications of DigiBots delivered via WhatsApp to over 650,000 learners. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the article reports on live event tracking, qualitative observations from facilitators and learning technologists, and a learner survey (N=304,000). The research offers practical recommendations and proposes a model for scalable DigiBot Learning. Findings reveal that in this case, DigiBot MOL had the potential to effectively address two key obstacles in open learning: accessibility and scalability. Leveraging mobile platforms such as WhatsApp mitigates accessibility restrictions, particularly in resource-constrained contexts, while tailored micro-learning enhances scalability