PERCEPTIONS OF BLACK MANAGERIAL AND SUPERVISORY STAFF IN SOUTH AFRICA TO BLACK WORKER ADVANCEMENT, MOBILITY AND ORGANISATION BY

Today we find ourselves in the mist of rapid and dramatic change. The introduction of blacks in management is an offspring of rapid technological changes of the past few years (i.e. increased automation and sophistication of modern business), development of a strong grass- roots organisation of blacks toward collective bargaining, the political struggle, international threat of sanctions, moral commitment by employers, the recent legislation promoting the implementation of black advancement and today's skills shortage facing the industrial and commercial world in South Africa. These factors have virtually pushed for an urgent implementation of black advancement in a quest to develop an adequate manpower pool (of skilled labour) and to maximise the potential of this work force. Consequently, business has started to see an influx, however at a limited level of blacks into the mainstream of management echelons. Africans in South Africa refer to themselves as 'blacks'. Therefore, the researcher preferred to call those Africans occupying managerial positions as the 'black managerial and supervisory staff ' in this thesis. This study explores the perceptions of black managerial and superv~sory staff to the concept and application of black advancement. The research questionnaire was constructed and administered to fifty respondents to examine the problems which they experience in their companies, to obtain their views on professional/management organisations and to identify what the respondents view as black advancement. The sample of this study seems statistically misrepresentative, however, it is qualitative as the researcher feels confident that.while acknowledging the fact that the research has limitations, its findings can be generalised as the sample i was selected from two different metropolitan areas from two different provinces. across industry. Thus, it can be said to cut This study reveals a considerable degree of the following which are noteworthy among others