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A review of internal communication research in South Africa
Get PDFThe aim of this study was to assess the current state and determine the development of internal communication research in South Africa over the past 21 years (from 2002 to 2022), to provide direction for future research with a view to expanding the body of knowledge in the field from a South African perspective. Research articles on internal communication that were written from a corporate communication and public relations perspective that had been published in three peer-reviewed scholarly communication journals in South Africa were systematically reviewed. Authorship information, research topics, theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and suggestions for future research indicated in 28 articles were analysed. It was found that most scholars focused on the implementation of internal communication management and internal strategies or plans in specific contexts or to attain certain outcomes. The most frequently used theories were relationship management theory and reputation management theories, and a qualitative research approach was the predominant methodical approach used, with non-probability (purposive) sampling, even though questionnaires were the prevalent data collection tools. Although internal communication as a research field has grown globally, research in the South African context is lagging behind. Future research opportunities include: (1) more quantitative studies that employ large probability samples to generalise findings, (2) the digitalisation of communication channels, (3) developing and empiricallytesting local theories, frameworks and models, (4) including marginalised and diverse groups as a starting point for knowledge production, and (5) adapting the findings of research conducted prior to the post-COVID-19 setting
Alice Stokes Paul (1885-1977)
Get PDFAlice Stokes Paul was born in the United States (USA) on January 11, 1885 at Paulsdale in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. She received a Ph.D. in sociology and devoted her life to achieving rights for women. While her academic work was completed before the term “clinical sociology” was used in the United States, her work certainly should be seen as part of the history of clinical sociology
Building a Strong Clinical Sociology Program through Accreditation
Get PDFExisting international clinical sociology undergraduate and graduate programs or programs in a related field with a clinical sociology concentration or track should consider the Commission on the Accreditation of Programs in Applied and Clinical Sociology (CAPACS) to increase the marketability of graduating sociology students. The Commission works collaboratively with interested program faculty and staff to professionalize the discipline. Students graduating from a program that is CAPACS accredited makes use of sociological theory and research methods; and students must complete a meaningful practice experience so that they are exposed to professional orientation and ethics. 
Value creation in the 4IR: Millennials and Digital Multisided Platforms (MSPs)
Get PDFValue creation in the 4IR is customer-centric, interactive and hyper-personalised. Real-time consumer brand experiences, interactions and relations can be transformed into quantifiable data that can be monitored and tracked (‘datafication’). This study theorises that platform ecosystems, including millennials, converge on digital multisided platforms (MSPs), which are sociotechnical constructs that foment and generate significant value for platform owners and users. As value creation has risen as a digital economy business imperative, and a subject for academic research, the importance of millennials to brands warrants further investigation. This study aims to show how the interplay of social relations between millennials and brands, along with technology, are used to create value from the millennials’ perspective. To this end, it uses a consumer-dominant logic to explain and predict novel connections between key value creation constructs by millennial prosumers, including sole-creation, co-creation, collaboration, value destruction, value depreciation and value co-destruction. It presents three propositions that reimagine fit-for-purpose brands as interoperable constructs which exhibit complementarity, as well as the social dynamics of millennial interaction on digital MSPs. Findings indicate a cyclical value-interdependent relational system between millennials and brands, where millennial interaction leads to the creation or destruction of value. It also demonstrates how brands and platform owners can collaborate with millennials as an important and technologically savvy generation to co-create, capture and communicate value on digital MSPs
The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Women in Zimbabwe: Threats and Opportunities
Get PDFThe world of work is undergoing a revolutionary change which has brought forth technological advancements, artificial intelligence (AI) and the use of ‘big data’. There has been a lot of debates regarding the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and how it will be received in developing countries especially in Africa. However very little attention is being given to how women fit into this process. This paper provides a nuanced analysis of the opportunities, threats and challenges posed by the 4IR for women in Zimbabwe. This paper will give an analysis that is specific to Zimbabwean women and how they fit into the 4IR. Automation in productive sectors is placing women’s employment at risk, as they are largely found in low-skill professions. It can be noted that in specific female-dominated industries, technology will reduce jobs. Achieving optimum gender equality is still far from being reached as women are constantly marginalized in Zimbabwe, hence the other misgiving in is that the 4IR, like the previous revolutions, will further entrench gender inequalities. This is based on the observation that most women are unlikely to benefit from technological advances, as they do not possess the skills to compete in the emerging knowledge economy. At the same time they are likely to experience the same improvements in the quality of life as everyone else. The paper’s main research question is what are the threats and opportunities that the 4IR brings to Zimbabwean women. This question will be answered through the use of qualitative research methodology. This study will also provide various recommendations on how to make the 4IR conducive for women in Zimbabwe so that they fit into the process without facing challenges
Losing the Lost Coin: Gender Doublets in the Synoptic Tradition
Get PDFThe Bible continues to be a contested book with texts that are both detrimental to women’s full participation and inclusive and liberating with the latter often being hidden and sometimes deliberately obscured, however, they can be uncovered. The question of which of these traditions go back to the historical Jesus is contested. Historical Jesus traditions would have higher authority in the eyes of critical readers, and denying this status to traditions diminishes their importance. This article examines the tradition of “gender doublets” where double parables cite two examples for the same idea that illustrate male and female reality. The author argues that the frequency of these doublets, as well as the spread of evidence and the variability of construction, make it very probable that these doublets go back to the historical Jesus. In an environment hostile to women, it is more likely that parables like “the lost coin” or “the woman baking with leaven” got “lost” or were deliberately omitted from parallel traditions rather than the possibility of a later redactor compiling or composing such doublets. The Bible continues to be a contested book with texts that are both detrimental to women’s full participation and inclusive and liberating with the latter often being hidden and sometimes deliberately obscured, however, they can be uncovered. The question of which of these traditions go back to the historical Jesus is contested. Historical Jesus traditions would have higher authority in the eyes of critical readers, and denying this status to traditions diminishes their importance. This article examines the tradition of “gender doublets” where double parables cite two examples for the same idea that illustrate male and female reality. The author argues that the frequency of these doublets, as well as the spread of evidence and the variability of construction, make it very probable that these doublets go back to the historical Jesus. In an environment hostile to women, it is more likely that parables like “the lost coin” or “the woman baking with leaven” got “lost” or were deliberately omitted from parallel traditions rather than the possibility of a later redactor compiling or composing such doublets.
A scientometric analysis of quantity surveying research: trends and future direction
Get PDFThe development of people, organisations and professions is driven by several factors including research. As such, evaluating research trends within a given field of study is necessary to understand current issues and identify gaps to make meaningful contributions to the body of knowledge. The scientometric analysis offers the opportunity to understand these research trends while identifying leading contributors (authors, countries, institutions), impactful contributions and areas of focus in existing studies. Using the scientometric analysis, this paper presents a visualisation of quantity surveying (QS) research published from 2003 to 2023 and indexed in the Scopus database. Using an interpretivist philosophical stance, the study found that QS studies have emanated from diverse countries, including the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa and Australia. Journal outlets are the major sources of disseminating QS research findings, while the lack of proper indexing of many QS conference proceedings is responsible for fewer conference publications. Past QS studies have focused on six major areas, which are (1) QS professional service and management, (2) QS and BIM in design and cost estimating, (3) QS competencies, (4) QS education and training, (5) QS in the construction industry, (6) QS and project planning. These identified areas create room for future studies to research less explored areas such as human resource management, higher education, information theory, QS and climate change adaptation, green/circular/bio-economy, digitalisation, and innovative construction
‘Lockdown Work’: Domestic Workers’ Experiences During the Covid-19 Pandemic in South Africa
Get PDFThis article explores domestic workers’ experiences of ‘lockdown work’, which refers to working conditions during the level 5 to level 3 lockdown period in South Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on in-depth interviews with female black African South African and African migrant domestic workers from Zimbabwe and Malawi, the article provides crucial insights into how the pandemic altered existing working conditions and employment relationships. We use the sociological concept ‘boundary work’ to illustrate the relational dynamic and consequence of social and physical distancing during the pandemic. We argue that social and physical distancing deepened the public-private divide in employers’ private households and domestic workers’ intimate workplaces. The findings show that domestic workers experienced limited or no control over decisions regarding Covid-19-related protocols in their workplace, intensified workloads without additional remuneration, and felt voiceless regarding working conditions because they feared losing their jobs. The experience of lockdown work highlighted domestic workers’ vulnerability because of the asymmetrical and intimate nature of domestic work under new management imperatives that positioned most domestic workers as a high-risk group or perceived carriers of Covid-19. We conclude that the experience of personalism/maternalism and distant hierarchy as forms of boundary work undermined domestic workers’ sense of dignity and employment rights
From Dusting to ‘Deening’: Domestic Workers in the South African Muslim Home
Get PDFDomestic workers in South Africa continue to tread the blurry line between formal and informal work. Despite attempts to regulateremuneration and organise workers, around 863,000 domestic workers earn their livelihoods within homes across the country. Comprised predominantly of black, semi-skilled women, authors have argued that this often-invisible workforce is vulnerable to exploitation, violence, and an insurmountable workload. Literature, however, hardly acknowledges that many domestic workers can be credited with harmoniously running the home, fulfilling elements of the role of the employer, and ensuring the employer’s children are cared for and supervised. Muslim female employers in particular teach and entrust their domestic workers to clean their homein line with Islamic principles and, more importantly, ensure their children are cared for and guided towards an Islamic path when left under the supervision of the domestic worker. The role of the mother in the home is emphasised in Islam, and thus, her helper must be an extension of that role, be it dusting with a ‘paak’ (clean) cloth or ‘deening’ (practicing tenets of an Islamic lifestyle). Building on previous qualitative research, this paper argues that domestic workers in South African Muslim homes must not only be ‘good’ cleaners – they must also understand, absorb, and display elements of Islam, both as cleaners and carers, in order to successfullyfulfil their role as a trusted part of the Muslim home in South Africa. This paper also explores gendered bonds shared between employers and domestic workers, as mothers and wives, and how religion and remuneration influence this dynamic
Efficacy of Lockdowns in Africa: A Continental Perspective
Get PDFThe novel coronavirus has troubled the world, unleashing deaths and a social quagmire. The catastrophic implications of the pandemic pushed states to the brink, compelling them to institute country lockdowns in a bid to flatten the curve of infections, avoid new ones and ensure that the health systems are not overwhelmed at any one point in time. Many states went on lockdowns, leading to corrosive effects on their economies. The death toll in Asia and Europe was astronomical. In the United States of America, Brazil and India, it was unprecedented. Except for a few countries in Europe and Africa that did not act homogeneously, the rest of the world ceased to function. Whilst lockdowns were effective in western countries, in the African continent, it was a different case. Although there was a willingness to institute lockdowns in Africa, the context made it almost impossible for many countries to effectively and efficiently implement. These factors which hampered the workability of lockdowns included high informal employment rates, informal settlements, rampant homelessness, porous borders, a high population density, institutions with vulnerable populations as well as conflict settings. This paper discusses in detail the research findings of the author on the efficacy of lockdowns in Africa. The importance of the study is to equip policymakers with better strategies to make lockdowns more effective through the dissection of problems discovered in the research findings. The paper findings are that lockdowns are problematic to adhere to in the African context. Recommendations are that lockdowns should be context-bound and must get buttressed by government efforts and interventions