4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions
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Item Leadership styles and the retention of transaction managers in South African investment banks(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Stellenberg, Cheryll; Ndaba, ZaneleThis research aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and the retention of highly skilled employees, specifically within the context of transaction managers in South African investment banks. While existing studies have established the positive impact of transformational leadership on employee retention, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding its application to highly skilled professionals in the transaction management role within the South African investment banking sector. This study seeks to fill this void by examining the extent to which transformational leadership practices contribute to the retention of these specialised professionals. The study used a qualitative method, conducting semi-structured interviews with transaction managers from several banks. The qualitative Delve tool data analysis programme was employed to conduct an inductive investigation into the truth behind the four pillars of transformational leadership and its impact on the retention of transaction managers in Johannesburg banks' investment banking divisions. The following four pillars were also chosen as higher-order themes: (1) idealised influence, exemplified by a transformational leader serving as a role model; (2) inspirational motivation, reflecting a leader's ability to effectively communicate a compelling vision and motivate followers to align their goals with the company's; (3) intellectual stimulation, denoting a leader engaging followers' minds in challenging activities; and (4) individualised consideration, signifying a leader actively observing and addressing followers' expressed needs. Retention is a top priority for any organisation, with a well-designed plan aiming to reduce personnel turnover rates, resulting in lower expenses and higher revenue and profitability. Simultaneously, such an approach should improve employee morale and productivity. In light of the awareness that individuals often leave due to managers rather than the company itself, there is an increased focus on assessing the level of leadership within organisations. 3 This study seeks to enhance the current knowledge base by offering empirical evidence on how transformational leadership specifically affects the retention of highly skilled transaction managers in South African investment banks. The findings may offer valuable insights for organisational leaders, human resource practitioners, and policymakers in the financial sector, helping them tailor leadership practices to enhance employee retention in this specialised role.Item The leadership types appropriate to different levels of management in the South African railway industry(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Pillay, Theophilus; Sief, GrantThe South African railway industry run by two state-owned entities, PRASA and Transnet have embarked on their Industry 4.0 strategy. It is a strategy that looks to reimagine the railway sector, the culture and its operations. The intent is to take SA and Africa to compete globally, and proudly take South African rail into this new digital platform. It is at the helm of these changes that organisations will need to adopt the state- owned entities strategy to remain competitive, producing railway solutions productively and efficiently to feed into the entities plans. One such organisation is Alstom International a rolling stock multinational that has been awarded the largest tender in South African history to produce the new Metrorail fleet for the state-owned entities. This research looks at one of Alstom International’s manufacturing subsidiaries in SA that produces railway solutions for the state-owned entities. It’s on the basis of the magnitude of the project that the study will consider the subsidiary to represent the railway industry of SA and will from this point onwards be referred to as the ‘organisation.’ There is a knowledge gap existing into the type of leadership behaviours that are needed to impact followers motivation and organisation’s success, which has become a major concern for the railway industry of SA. The purpose of this study was to investigate how and why transformational (TL) and transactional(TR) leadership behaviours can be used to fill this gap. HR and railway organisational practitioners will use this knowledge for improved recruitment practises and leadership development training. The study adopted a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews conducted with 16 purposefully selected managers from the manufacturing organisation ranging from lower, middle to senior management. Thematic deductive analysis was conducted to determine the leadership behaviours used through the established transactional and transformational themes. Observations of the interactions between leaders and followers at various management levels were also done at the organisation to gather more data. The findings showed that transactional leadership behaviours were found to be the main style used by leaders. Transactional leadership behaviours were based on a strategy of compliance to Alstom International and also developed as the intent was to cut costs in manufacturing railway components. Transformational leadership behaviours were seen at upper 2 management levels, while transactional leadership behaviours were noted at lower management levels. Transformational leadership behaviours still had an augmenting role to play with blue collars to remove initial resistant because of past hurts caused by a fluctuating industry prone to retrenchments. It was found that the strategy of the organisation played a major role in the type of leadership behaviours used. The originality of the work is based on its South African railway context