Following the dramatic transformation of SouthAfrican civil society in the postapartheid era, the SouthAfrican National Defence Force (SANDF) literally has had to reinvent itself, changing its mission and attempting to integrate diverse personnel into a cohesive whole.The present study examines the success of these efforts through select perceptual measures reflecting the extent of integration.A survey of 2,212 personnel from various units of the SouthAfrican military showed significant differences in empowerment by race and gender. Female personnel reported lower levels of goal internalization, delegated responsibilities, job involvement, and organizational commitment compared to male personnel. BlackAfrican personnel reported lower levels of perceived control, competence, delegated responsibilities, and consultation by superiors while exhibiting higher levels of goal internalization and job involvement than white personnel. Follow‐up interviews provided insight into the underlying dynamics of the integration process and potential explanations for the results. ©2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The fit note has the potential to promote an earlier return to work. In order for the fit note to achieve its aim, further understanding of the difficulties employers are having when making return to work decisions is important, in order to develop guidance to enable them to provide the practical support employees need to return to work sooner.

A qualitative study was completed to discover how employees of a company in the petroleum industry define and experience the phenomenon of work-life balance, to identify the workplace determinants of work-life imbalance and to elicit some solutions for the problem. It was found that work-life balance is a personal issue that varies across time and situations and the underlying conflict experienced pertains to role overload and role interference. The most significant work-life conflict arises from complex workplace issues, including managing change, supervisory and technical competences, leadership, roles and accountabilities, and culture. Solutions to address the workplace issues, as well as the development of individual balance-enabling skills, are suggested. <b>Opsomming</b><br>’n Kwalitatiewe studie is onderneem om vas te stel hoe die werknemers van ’n maatskappy in die petroleumnywerheid die fenomeen van die werk-lewe ewewig definieer en ervaar, om die werkpleksdeterminante van ’n werk-lewe onewewigtigheid te identifiseer en om sekere oplossings vir die probleem aan die hand te doen. Dit is gevind dat werk-lewe ewewig ’n persoonlike saak is wat oor tyd en omstandighede varieer en die ervaarde onderliggende konflik na roloorladingsrolle en -inmenging verwys. Die mees betekenisvolle werk-lewe konflik tree na vore vanuit komplekse werkplekaangeleenthede, insluitende die bestuur van veranderings, toesighoudende en tegniese vaardighede, leierskap, rolle en aanspreeklikheid, asook kultuur. Oplossings om die werkpleksake aan te spreek, asook die ontwikkeling van individuele vaardighede om ’n ewewig teweeg te bring, word voorgestel.</br>

The military in South Africa has gone through major changes as part of the wider society's transition from apartheid to democracy necessitating the integration of a multicultural force. This article develops a theoretical framework for understanding these cross-cultural dynamics. It reports an empirical management study investigating the perceptions of the different cultural groups to better understand the process of cross-cultural integration in an institution whose stability and success has major implications for Southern African society. It finds significant differences in attitudes among cultural groups. This has implications for understanding multicultural change processes in similar institutions in transition around the world.

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