Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments

Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Hoobler, Jenny
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2017
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613654066659328
access_status_str Open Access
author2 Hoobler, Jenny
author_browse Hoobler, Jenny
author_facet Hoobler, Jenny
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 Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/62690
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:34.803Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/62690 Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments Hoobler, Jenny u11028247@tuks.co.za Clack, Katinka UCTD Extreme environments Safety participation Empowering leadership Team performance Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017. Research purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which both employees and leaders in extreme environments perceive the same levels of safety participation. Furthermore, this study examines the association between empowering leadership and team performance as well as empowering leadership and safety participation. Research design, approach and methods This study follows a quantitative approach as its main purpose is to establish relationships between constructs. As such, correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Convenience sampling was applied to obtain the data. Firefighters and their immediate line officers (lieutenants) were surveyed. Five fire departments in small to medium cities were chosen in the Great Lakes and south-eastern regions in the United States (US). Questionnaires were distributed to 263 firemen, of which 186 were firefighters and 78 were their line officers/lieutenants. Main findings Results indicated that a positive association does not exist between firefighters' perceptions of safety participation and their leaders' perception of safety participation when control variables are added. Therefore, no significant relationship exists between firefighters' perceptions of safety participation and their leaders' perception of safety participation. Furthermore, the results also showed a positive association does not exist between empowering leadership and safety participation when control variables are added. Consequently, no significant relationship exists between firefighters' reports of empowering leadership and lieutenants' reports of safety participation. Lastly, regarding empowering leadership and team performance, the results did not support a direct relationship between these two constructs. Limitations The results should be interpreted bearing in mind that they are applicable to the United States of America and may not be generalised to the South African context. Additionally, very little research has been conducted on empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme environments, and therefore the literature review was limited to other organisational environments. Lastly, only three cultural groups (White, Black and Hispanic) and only men participated in this study, so results may not be generalisable to other demographic groups. The study was only positioned in extreme environments, specifically in firefighting, therefore it is unclear whether the results can be generalised to other work environments. Future Research It is suggested that this study is replicated, firstly because little research has been done in extreme environments but, secondly, that it also be specifically replicated in South Africa. Indicated by the data, a lieutenant's age has a positive association with how he perceives his team's safety participation. This could be due to various reasons. For example, the more experienced the lieutenant the more comfortable he gets towards the extreme environment. Lastly, it is suggested that research is conducted to determine other leadership styles which could be effective in extreme environments. Conclusion Insight was given into the empowering leadership style in terms of team performance and safety behaviour. Furthermore, the relation between firefighters' perceptions of safety participation and their leaders' perceptions of safety participation was not confirmed. Human Resource Management MCom Unrestricted 2017-10-11T11:56:18Z 2017-10-11T11:56:18Z 2017-09-07 2017 Dissertation Clack, K 2017, Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments, MCom Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62690> S2017 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62690 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
Extreme environments
Safety participation
Empowering leadership
Team performance
Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments
title Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments
title_full Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments
title_fullStr Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments
title_full_unstemmed Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments
title_short Empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments
title_sort empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme work environments
topic UCTD
Extreme environments
Safety participation
Empowering leadership
Team performance
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/62690