The relationship between personality preferences, self-esteem and emotional competence

The relationship between leaders’ personality preferences, self-esteem and emotional competence is the focus of this article. A study was conducted to analyse the responses of a sample of 107 South African leaders in the manufacturing industry to measures of the three constructs. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Culturefree Self-esteem Inventories for Adults (CFSEI-AD), and the 360° Emotional Competency Profiler (ECP) were administered. Positive relationships were found between the three constructs. The self-esteem construct appeared to be a more reliable predictor of emotional competence than the MBTI personality preferences. The findings of the study make an important contribution to the expanding body of knowledge concerned with the evaluation of personality variables that influence the effectiveness of leaders

Approach for Predicting Production Scenarios Focused on Cross Impact Analysis

AbstractOne of the most consistent challenges in business is anticipating what the future holds and what impact it may have on current production systems. The scenario technique is a well-established method for developing and forecasting multiple future development paths for companies. However, this method is mostly employed to develop and to support strategic long-term decisions. The core idea of the approach introduced in this paper is to convey the future impact of today's decisions on production systems to employees involved in production planning processes. With the help of immersive visualization, performed in virtual reality (VR) systems, planning participants can perceive how the factory must adapt to fit future demands.In this paper, the focus is on the fourth phase of the scenario technique – so called scenario development – and, in particular, the cross impact analysis. With this methodology, the interrelations, or cross impacts of the different basic elements are determined. The cross impact analysis results serve as a basis for the development of a standardized tool that can be used to create probable production scenarios out of given production systems. This standardized tool will facilitate the usage of the scenario technique for factory planning projects, as it focuses the immense diversity of future uncertainties companies are faced with on the factory level

Human resource management as a profession in South Africa

Orientation: Various countries recognise human resource (HR) management as a bona fide profession. Research purpose: The objective of this study was to establish whether one could regard HR management, as practised in South Africa, as a profession. Motivation for the study: Many countries are reviewing the professionalisation of HR management. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the professional standing of HR management in South Africa. Research design, approach and method: The researchers used a purposive sampling strategy involving 95 participants. The researchers achieved triangulation by analysing original documents of the regulating bodies of the medical, legal, engineering and accounting professions internationally and locally as well as the regulating bodies of HR management in the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA) and Canada. Seventy- eight HR professionals registered with the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) completed a questionnaire. The researchers analysed the data using content analysis and Lawshe’s Content Validity Ratio (CVR). Main findings: The results confirm that HR management in South Africa adheres to the four main pillars of professionalism and is a bona fide profession. Practical/managerial implications: The article highlights the need to regulate and formalise HR management in South Africa. Contribution/value-add: This study identifies a number of aspects that determine professionalism and isolates the most important elements that one needs to consider when regulating the HR profession

South African Paediatric Surgical Outcomes Study : a 14-day prospective, observational cohort study of paediatric surgical patients

BACKGROUND : Children comprise a large proportion of the population in sub-Saharan Africa. The burden of paediatric surgical disease exceeds available resources in Africa, potentially increasing morbidity and mortality. There are few prospective paediatric perioperative outcomes studies, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). METHODS : We conducted a 14-day multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study of paediatric patients (aged <16 yrs) undergoing surgery in 43 government-funded hospitals in South Africa. The primary outcome was the incidence of in-hospital postoperative complications. RESULTS : We recruited 2024 patients at 43 hospitals. The overall incidence of postoperative complications was 9.7% [95% confidence interval (CI): 8.4–11.0]. The most common postoperative complications were infective (7.3%; 95% CI: 6.2–8.4%). In-hospital mortality rate was 1.1% (95% CI: 0.6–1.5), of which nine of the deaths (41%) were in ASA physical status 1 and 2 patients. The preoperative risk factors independently associated with postoperative complications were ASA physcial status, urgency of surgery, severity of surgery, and an infective indication for surgery. CONCLUSIONS : The risk factors, frequency, and type of complications after paediatric surgery differ between LMICs and high-income countries. The in-hospital mortality is 10 times greater than in high-income countries. These findings should be used to develop strategies to improve paediatric surgical outcomes in LMICs, and support the need for larger prospective, observational paediatric surgical outcomes research in LMICs. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION : NCT03367832.Jan Pretorius Research Fund; Discipline of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town; Department of Anaesthesia, University of the Witwatersrand; and the Paediatric Anaesthesia Community of South Africa (PACSA).https://bjanaesthesia.org2020-02-01gl2019Anaesthesiolog

The Effect Of Retention Factors On Organisational Commitment: An Investigation Of High Technology Employees

The objective of the present study was to investigate specific retention factors that induced the organisational commitment of high technology employees. A sample of 94 professional technicians from a South African owned telecommunications company based in the Gauteng province participated. The Organisational Commitment Scale and a retention factor measurement scale were administered. The most relevant explanatory factors were compensation, job characteristics, supervisor support, and work/life policies, which appeared to have a statistically significant influence on the development of organisational commitment in high technology employees. The implications of the findings are discussed

The establishment and early history of the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), 1977–1991

Orientation: Human resource (HR) management is recognised as a profession worldwide, especially in countries that are forerunners in the field. Research purpose: The main purpose of this study is to record the historical development of HR management as a profession. This study will provide a platform for evaluating the professional standing of HR management in South Africa. Motivation for the study: The motivation for the study is to record the historical development of HR management in South Africa because this is long overdue. Research design, approach and method: The researchers achieved triangulation by examining archived documents they obtained from the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) and semi-structured interviews with five founding members of the SABPP who were involved during the whole period of the study. The founding members also verified the researchers’ interpretations of the information they obtained from the documents and the interviews. The researchers used content analysis and coding to analyse the data they obtained from the archived documents and the semi-structured interviews. Main findings: The history of HR management in South Africa shows that it meets the four founding pillars of professionalism. Practical/managerial implications: The study also gives HR professionals confidence because HR management is achieving recognition as a profession. Contribution/value-add: The main contribution of the study is that it has recorded the history of HR management as a profession in South Africa properly for the first time

TBX4 mutations (small patella syndrome) are associated with childhood-onset pulmonary arterial hypertension

<p>Background Childhood-onset pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is rare and differs from adult-onset disease in clinical presentation, with often unexplained mental retardation and dysmorphic features (MR/DF). Mutations in the major PAH gene, BMPR2, were reported to cause PAH in only 10-16% of childhood-onset patients. We aimed to identify more genes associated with childhood-onset PAH.</p><p>Methods We studied 20 consecutive cases with idiopathic or heritable PAH. In patients with accompanying MR/DF (n=6) array-comparative genomic hybridisation analysis was performed, with the aim of finding common deletion regions containing candidate genes for PAH. Three patients had overlapping deletions of 17q23.2. TBX2 and TBX4 were selected from this area as candidate genes and sequenced in all 20 children. After identifying TBX4 mutations in these children, we subsequently sequenced TBX4 in a cohort of 49 adults with PAH. Because TBX4 mutations are known to cause small patella syndrome (SPS), all patients with newly detected TBX4 mutations were screened for features of SPS. We also screened a third cohort of 23 patients with SPS for PAH.</p><p>Results TBX4 mutations (n=3) or TBX4-containing deletions (n=3) were detected in 6 out of 20 children with PAH (30%). All living patients and two parents with TBX4 mutations appeared to have previously unrecognised SPS. In the adult PAH-cohort, one TBX4 mutation (2%) was detected. Screening in the cohort of (predominantly adult) SPS patients revealed no PAH.</p><p>Conclusions These data indicate that TBX4 mutations are associated with childhood-onset PAH, but that the prevalence of PAH in adult TBX4 mutation carriers is low.</p>