Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters/MBA)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37942
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Item Examining the role of AI ethics in establishing Human-AI Workplace Coexistence in a selected Telecommunications Organisation in South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Muir, ElmarieArtificial Intelligence technologies reinvent how we live, work, and organise our daily lives and social interactions. It brings about operational efficiencies, customer service enhancements, and organisational innovations for organisations, redefining the future landscape that will open new dimensions beyond distance, distortion, and space. Despite these benefits, using AI raises enormous concerns for telecommunication organisations beyond data protection and security vulnerabilities, including introducing ethical dilemmas due to the technology's accountability, transparency, algorithmic bias, explainability issues, and the potentially dire ramifications for employment. These issues inherent in AI technology and its concerns make it necessary to explore the ethical considerations and the role of AI ethics in establishing a harmonious human-AI workplace coexistence in the telecommunications workplace. A qualitative methodology was undertaken with purposively selected participants based on their telecommunications industry experience and exposure to AI technologies in the organisation, which allowed participants to be interviewed to gain insights into their perspectives. The research findings show that employees have real job insecurities for their future and their technological readiness to work alongside this technology. Key themes highlighted ethical AI practices, with participants advocating for transparency and accountability. Trust in the organisation and trust in AI technology, with proactive engagement with employees and stakeholders, are pivotal to mitigating their concerns and creating a conducive environment for successful integration. Furthermore, upskilling is vital for establishing trust in AI. In conclusion, the consensus is that although ethical guidelines are essential, more than ethics alone may be required to establish human-AI workplace coexistence. Instead, the organisation should cultivate an organisational culture iii that supports ethical AI practices with a robust governance framework to ensure adherence to ethical guidelines is followed and responsible use of AI. Furthermore, leaders must ensure openness and transparency about their intentions to adopt AI, foster trust in the organisation that AI strategies are not designed to replace workers and develop the necessary technological competencies through targeted skill development to build trust in the technology. This will allow the organisation to be successful in their AI adoption journey and establish collaborative intelligence for harmonious human-AI workplace coexistence.Item The impact of ethics on the organisational culture of a government department in South Africa(niversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Perumal, Gonasagrie Munsami; Wotela, Kambidima; Mokhohlane, DanielSouth Africa has witnessed an increase in corruption in recent years, despite the President’s commitment to “building an ethical state in which there is no place for corruption”. This study sought to determine the factors that contribute to unethical behaviour, the attitudes and behaviours to unethical behaviour, and the impact thereof on the organisational culture. The research paper deliberated on whether leadership encouraged ethical behaviour. The study was carried out in the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic). A sample of 12 respondents who have worked at the dtic for longer than a year was selected using a cross-sectional selection sample. A qualitative research methodology was employed, using semi- structured interviews to obtain the information, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the information. The main study findings were that there were many opportunities for unethical behaviour, exacerbated by lack of trust in leadership and inconsistent, irrational and sometimes non-transparent decision-making. Attitudes and behaviour of leadership to unethical behaviour and consequences for unethical behaviours applied only to junior staff and not management, creating an environment of distrust. Leadership generally did not encourage ethical behaviour, the mechanisms were insufficient to prevent unethical behaviour, and such unethical behaviours impacted on the culture of the organisation, hence ethics and mainly unethical behaviour has a direct impact on the organisational culture.Item An institutional and stakeholder perspective of governance, ethics and trust in State Operated Enterprises(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Manda, More IcksonState-Operated Enterprises (SOEs) in South Africa continue to face significant challenges impacting their performance. Governance and other ethical concerns have been identified as factors that have impacted the performance of SOEs. Consequently, trust in SOEs among stakeholders such as the state, business, civil society, and citizens has been eroded. This study explores corporate governance in SOEs using an institutional and stakeholder perspective to examine the relationship between trust, corporate governance, and ethics in institutions. The study is a quantitative study that uses a survey as its primary method of collecting data. Findings were triangulated with evidence from documents and literature. The study was conducted in South Africa, a middle-income developing country and young democracy confronted by many challenges, such as corruption, decreasing public trust and investor and businessconfidence. This has spotlighted theoretical and practical issues such as corporate governance. The study proposed a framework for strengthening trust and corporate governance to restore legitimacy in institutions, an essential factor in building strong, responsible, and capable institutions that deliver value to shareholders and stakeholders. The study also made practical recommendations for strengthening ethics, governance, and trust