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PERSONAL CONTEXT
In this section I attempt to describe the aspects of my background that are relevant to the study and how my interest in the topic arose. I have been working in the mining industry since 2005; and I currently work as a principal mining business consultant for a company specializing in mine technical systems.
In an industry known for its highly hierarchical structure (mainly for safety purposes), I have worked with mining employees from across the range – from managers at the executive level to „miners‟ actually working at the rock face (see Figure 4, overleaf, for a picture of me with an extraction crew before a night shift on a coal mine in Mpumalanga, South Africa, and on the right, a picture of a shift boss explaining the underground working process to me at a platinum mine near Rustenburg, South Africa). Since I started working in this industry, as a consultant and as an employee on a mine, I have constantly been amazed by this complex, dynamic and in many ways unique industry. When I decided to embark on my PhD journey, it was almost a natural decision for me to do my research within the industry that I find so consistently intriguing.
In addition, I wanted to make a contribution to the mining industry from which I had learned so much in the last five years. When the mining industry‟s profits plunged during the last part of 2008 and the official economic recession was announced after the first quarter of 2009, I was in the midst of the storm. Not only was the company I worked for affected by the economic downturn and particularly the decline in the mining industry, but I also worked with various mining clients who were extremely hard hit by this turn of events. My interest in the specific topic Coping strategies for leaders during an economic downturn emerged during this time, when I observed the severe strain that mining leaders in particular were under as a result of the economic downturn. When I undertook a preliminary literature review on coping strategies in general, I found a multitude of studies that focus on the psychological aspects of coping, but very few that focus on the organisational behaviour aspects of coping. A potential research problem thus emerged in view of the conceptual and methodological critique discussed in the next section.
ACADEMIC CONTEXT
In this section, I first discuss coping, and coping research in general, to provide a backdrop for the focus of my study, „nesting‟ the research problem4 in the context of current coping research. I then proceed to a discussion of organisational behaviour, the perspective that I used to study the coping strategies that leaders use during an economic downturn.
Coping and coping research
Lazarus and Folkman (1984) define coping as „thoughts and behaviours that people use to manage the internal and external demands of situations that are appraised as stressful‟. According to Folkman and Moskowitz (2004:746), a large amount of coping research is based on Richard Lazarus‟s 1966 book Psychological stress and the coping process.
Coping as a distinct field of psychology emerged during the 1970s and 1980s (Folkman & Moskowitz, 2004:746); and coping research was greatly stimulated by the development of the „Ways of coping checklist‟ developed by Folkman and Lazarus (1980, in Somerfield & McCrea, 2000:621). Hobfoll, Schwarzer and Chon (1998:181) argue that stress and coping are the most widely studied phenomena in psychology, identifying over 29 000 research articles on stress and coping over the period from 1984 to 1998. A more conservative search by Somerfield and McCrae (2000:621), focusing primarily on coping behaviour spanning the period from 1967 to 1999, still produced 13 744 records.
CONTENTS :
- Declaration
- Acknowledgements
- Abstract
- Chapter 1: Background and setting the scene
- 1.1 Introduction
- 1.2 Environmental context
- 1.3 Personal context
- 1.4 Academic context
- 1.4.1 Coping and coping research
- 1.4.2 Organisational behaviour
- 1.5 Rationale for and anticipated contributions of the study
- 1.6 Research questions
- 1.7 Scope of the study
- 1.8 Outline of the study
- 2 Chapter 2: Research design
- 2.1 Introduction
- 2.2 Research paradigm
- 2.3 Research design
- 2.4 Qualitative research
- 2.5 Grounded theory
- 2.5.1 Literature review in grounded theory
- 2.5.2 Methods of reasoning
- 2.6 Research methodology
- 2.6.1 Role of the researcher
- 2.6.2 Sampling
- 2.6.3 Data collection
- 2.6.4 Data recording
- 2.6.5 Data analysis
- 2.6.6 Computer-aided qualitative data analysis
- 2.7 The quality and rigour of the research design
- 2.8 Ethics
- 2.9 Conclusion
- 3 Chapter 3: My research journey
- 3.1 Introduction
- 3.2 Phase 1: Initialization of study
- 3.2.1 Decision leading to the PhD study
- 3.2.2 Application
- 3.2.3 Selection
- 3.2.4 Acceptance
- 3.3 Phase 2: Theoretical component – Programme in Organisational Behaviour
- 3.4 Phase 3a: Proposal
- 3.5 Phase 3b: Gaining Access to Research Participants
- 3.6 Phase 4: Preparing for fieldwork
- 3.6.1 Selecting individual respondents
- 3.7 Phase 5: Data collection
- 3.7.1 Interviews
- 3.7.2 Field notes
- 3.8 Phase 6: Data Analysis
- 3.8.1 Transcripts
- 3.8.2 Coding
- 3.8.3 Conceptual framework
- 3.8 Phase 7: Matching the conceptual framework with the theory
- 3.9 Phase 8: Finalising the thesis for submission
- 3.9.1 Finalising the thesis after examination
- 3.9.2 Binding and final submission
- 3.10 Conclusion
- 4 Chapter 4: Results – Initial coding
- 4.1 Introduction
- 4.2 Initial coding
- 4.3 Insights gained from the interviews
- 4.3.1 Being optimistic
- 4.3.2 Thriving on the challenge
- 4.3.3 Being confident
- 4.3.4 Focusing on the future
- 4.3.5 Not depending on an organisation for one‟s identity
- 4.3.6 Having experience
- 4.3.7 Inter-team influencing
- 4.3.8 Team maturity
- 4.3.9 Organisational culture
- 4.3.10 Organisational level
- 4.3.11 Viewing the effect of the downturn as negative
- 4.3.12 Viewing the effect of the downturn as positive
- 4.3.13 Doubting job security
- 4.3.14 Worrying about financial security
- 4.3.15 Company or shareholder expectations
- 4.3.16 Feeling responsible and to blame
- 4.3.17 Feeling responsible for the team
- 4.3.18 Value dichotomy
- 4.3.19 Survival
- 4.3.20 Having a plan of action
- 4.3.21 Basing a plan of action on facts
- 4.3.22 Focusing on the short term
- 4.3.23 Focusing on the long term
- 4.3.24 Taking action
- 4.3.25 Defining action in terms of retrenchment
- 4.3.26 Taking fast action
- 4.3.27 Religion/faith
- 4.3.28 Spousal support
- 4.3.29 Emotional separation: depersonalizing actions
- 4.3.30 Balancing work and home life
- 4.3.31 Having a core team
- 4.3.32 Trusting the core team
- 4.3.33 Dividing the pressure, aligning the vision
- 4.3.34 Trusting the team under you
- 4.3.35 Taking team action
- 4.3.36 Having guidance
- 4.3.37 Doing the right thing
- 4.3.38 Believing in the plan
- 4.3.39 Feeling compelled to act
- 4.4 Conclusion
- 5 Chapter 5: Results – A framework of coping strategies for leaders during an economic downturn
- 5.1 Introduction
- 5.2 Axial coding
- 5.3 Selective coding
- 5.4 Building the framework
- 5.4.1 Influencing factors
- 5.4.2 Overall view of the impact of the economic downturn
- 5.4.3 Stressors
- 5.4.4 Organisational response to economic downturn
- 5.4.5 Coping strategies
- 5.5 Linking the conceptual framework with the literature
- 5.5.1 Overview of prominent existing coping models
- 5.5.2 Relating the conceptual framework with the literature
- 5.6 Conclusion
- 6 Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendations
- 6.1 Introduction
- 6.2 Discoveries, contributions and recommendations
- 6.2.1 Discoveries
- 6.2.2 Contributions
- 6.2.3 Recommendations
- 6.3 Limitations of the study
- 6.4 Opportunities for future research
- 6.5 Final conclusion
- References
- Appendix A Example of an institution‟s informed consent form
- Appendix B Example of an individual‟s informed consent form
