Die invloed van die makro-omgewing op arbeidsonrus in ontwikkelingstreek J

Abstract

STATING THE PROBLEM The South Afican society is changes. This revolutionary violence, strikes, stay-aways social economic and political society at large. at present undergoing various process is characterised by and union demands for greater change for their members and The current situation in South Africa has forced management to take notice of these changes in the macro environment and to search for viable options to problems arising from these changes. PRIMARY AIM In view of the problem stated above it was necessary to provide a thorough theoretical orientation to ensure an objective evaluation of the environmental factors influencing the labour climate. The primary purpose of this study was therefore to determine to what extent the thirteen identified macro environmental factors influence the labour climate in organisations. These environmental factors were outlined in a similar study by prof. Oosthuizen of the University of Pretoria who tried to determine the labour climate in organisations in and around Pretoria. The open systems theory was discussed for no open system is stagnant and changes constantly. The labour relations system, functioning in an open system was clearly outlined in chapter 2

in an attempt to explain labour relations as diverse and a complex reality. The realisation by management that survival is not only dependant on whether they are able to adapt to change within their own organisations (micro environment) but also dependant on managing change in the macro environment. Resistance to change often occurs and this has influenced management to rethink their management of labour affairs (chapter 3). In dealing with change and managing resistance to change introduce a new dimension to management. Managers have a greater responsibility towards employees and the community and these aspects were discussed in chapter 4. MAJOR RESEARCH FINDINGS This research was undertaken in Region J, a typical rural area including 26 Western Transvaal towns. 11 towns were randomly selected while 56 managers from different organisations were included in this survey. The required data was assembled via questionnaires and unstructured interviews and compared to the finding of the Pretoria survey. The major findings were presented in chapter 5.

The present political situation, economic re-session and consequently some social domestic factors proved to be major factors influencing the labour climate in both surveys. Unions seemed to be more prominent and contributed- more significantly towards labour unrest in the Pretoria area. In Region J union demands seemed to be rather moderate. The nature of an organisation, demographic factors, size of the organisation, cultural differences, labour legislation, business environment as well as management policies all had

some influence on the labour climate in Region J, but to a lesser degree. In a final analysis Region J seems to enjoy a high degree of labour peace but with changes taking place consistantly a followup in-depth investigation in this region is necessary in the near future. Considering the theoretical framework and the model of environmental factors applied in this study, it is now possible to construct a model by which the labour climate can be determined and monitored in any region in South Africa.