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Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations

Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016.

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Other Authors: Nel, Jan Alewyn
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2017
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Nel, Jan Alewyn
author_browse Nel, Jan Alewyn
author_facet Nel, Jan Alewyn
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
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license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/60493 Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations Nel, Jan Alewyn MARILI.ENGELBRECHT13@GMAIL.COM Engelbrecht, Marili UCTD Organisational identity Acculturation strategies South African corporate organisations Cultural salience Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016. Orientation: Acculturation strategies are utilised to overcome the challenges posed to an individual employee's culture by the reigning organisational culture. Research purpose: The purpose of this research is to conceptualise young, black, African, female (YBAF) employees' ethnic identities, to describe the everyday challenges that they encounter in South African corporate organisations, and to explore the strategies that this particular group employs in order to acculturate in the work place. Motivation for this study: After the democratisation of South Africa in 1994 organisations were demographically transformed. Tension between the (Westernised) individual culture and the (African) collective culture challenged the successful implementation of an inclusive organisational culture. Research design, approach and method: Employing a qualitative inquiry strategy, traits of a netnographical design and internet-based research were combined to warrant the electronic focus-group discussions and email interviews as data collection methods to gauge the lived experiences of one specific in-group within the organisation. Main findings: The findings are discussed according to the in-group's ethnic identity, the cultural challenges they experienced in the organisation, and the acculturation strategies that they employed. The following strategies emerged from the data in this study: managing language as an important acculturation agent; utilising corridor talk by means of obtaining essential information; sharing and voicing beliefs of own cultures with colleagues to ensure mutual respect; actively countering current stereotypes and prejudice in the workplace, employing shifting as a positive strategy to acculturate; and recognising whiteness as an unconscious and privileged position that needs to be dealt with sensitively and effectively in organisations. Practical/managerial implications: The identified acculturation strategies in this study could assist employers in induction programmes or on-boarding processes and possible interventions to facilitate acculturation of new employees in organisations. It could be possible to develop a general guideline or manual from the findings of this research that would be relevant to everyday practices in the workplace. Contribution/value-add: The academic value of this study lies in the identification, description and evaluation of one particular in-group: the YBAF employees, which is coined for the first time in this research. This study voices these employees' challenges and experiences in a corporate South African environment. Human Resource Management MCom Unrestricted 2017-05-18T08:34:50Z 2017-05-18T08:34:50Z 2017-04-19 2016 Mini Dissertation Engelbrecht, M 2016, Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations, MCom Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60493> A2017 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60493 en © 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Organisational identity
Acculturation strategies
South African corporate organisations
Cultural salience
Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations
title Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations
title_full Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations
title_fullStr Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations
title_short Exploring the acculturation strategies of young, black, African, female employees in corporate South African organisations
title_sort exploring the acculturation strategies of young black african female employees in corporate south african organisations
topic UCTD
Organisational identity
Acculturation strategies
South African corporate organisations
Cultural salience
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60493