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UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF MICRO-INEQUITIES WITHIN THE WORKPLACE By Liza Murugas 214508374 A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce School of Management, Information Technology and Governance College of Law and Management Studies Supervisor: Dr. Ashika Maharaj 2019 DECLARATION I Miss Liza Murugas declare that: (i) The research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, and is my original research. (ii) This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. (iii) This thesis does not contain other persons’ data, pictures, graphs or other information, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. (iv) This thesis does not contain other persons’ writing, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. Where other written sources have been quoted, then: a) their words have been re-written but the general information attributed to them has been referenced; b) Where their exact words have been used, their writing has been placed inside quotation marks, and referenced. (v) Where I have reproduced a publication of which I am an author, co-author or editor, I have indicated in detail which part of the publication was actually written by myself alone and have fully referenced such publications. (vi) This thesis does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the Internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the thesis and in the References sections. Signature: Date: 28th May 2019 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to those who assisted me emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually through this challenging journey. It is thanks to each one of you that I have successfully completed this thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce in Human Resource Management. I would like to thank the following: • My Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ. It is certain that through You, nothing is impossible; • My amazing parents who have stood by me and given me this opportunity to fulfil my dream of obtaining a Masters Degree. Without your support, encouragement and consistent prayers, I would not be the person I am today; • My loving sister, her husband and two children, without your continuous love, motivation and care, I would not have the courage to continue with such hard work and determination; • My best friend, Miss C Cross, your motivation, late nights of encouragement and never-ending constant support has never gone unnoticed. Thank you for being my home away from home. • Margot Freedman, my academic counsellor at the college of Law and Management studies, I appreciate your support, love and emotional guidance; • To Dr. R Khoase, Dr. C Eke, Ms R Sewpersad, and, Dr. P Ndayizigamiye, thank you for all the help, guidance and words of encouragement; • To the employees of the organisation who were willing to participate in this study and contributed to the completion of this degree; and • Finally, my supervisor, Dr Ashika Maharaj, I still to date believe that you were God sent as I look back at how I struggled to find a suitable supervisor. I could not have found a better one than you. Thank you for believing in me. Your advice, support, expertise, guidance and encouragement has allowed me to reach my dream, I thank you. iii ABSTRACT Employees are known to be assets within the workplace as they contribute to overall organisational effectiveness and productivity. When employees do not feel welcome or feel unhappy within their environment, it could lead to negative outcomes for the organisation in which they work. The main research problem is that this topic has not been widely researched and that there are no set ways to manage and counteract the issue of micro-inequities in the workplace, hence reducing productivity in the workplace and having a less conducive working environment. The objectives of this study are: to explore the nature of micro-inequities; determine the effects it brings on employees; and, ascertaining the support measures in managing micro-inequities in the organisation. The negative behaviours and actions that employees elicit are considered as micro-inequities in this study. Micro-inequities are known to be small events which are regularly involuntary and hard-to-prove acts that are usually overlooked by the perpetrator but is usually felt by the receiver. There is currently a very limited evidence in South Africa regarding the prevalence of micro-inequities. Thus, this study explored the nature and effects of micro-inequities in the workplace from a South African perspective. This study adopted a qualitative approach using an interpretivist paradigm. The study was conducted among thirteen participants in an organisation in the area of Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and was audio recorded; furthermore, collected data was analysed using thematic-content analysis where codes, themes and sub-themes were generated and later discussed. The data provided a great insight on the experiences of participants with respect to micro- inequities. Based on the analysis and findings of the study, it was evident that employees experience micro- inequities of all forms and classifications; and micro-inequities do in fact affect everyone with regard to changes in their emotional state, behaviour and work performance, despite race, gender and occupational levels Although 54% of the participants gave a positive response with regard to existing support measures and interventions to address micro-inequities, it remains a concern that 46% of the participants were not aware of these support measures and interventions. Findings, however, could not be generalised to all organisations in South Africa. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................ 1 1.3. RESEARCH PROBLEM ................................................................................................................. 3 1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS.............................................................................................................. 4 1.5. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 4 1.6 EMERGING CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................... 4 1.7. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY...................................................................................................... 7 1.8. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................. 7 1.9. OVERVIEW OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ................................................................ 8 1.10. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................. 8 1.11. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 10 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................... 10 2.1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.2. ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR ............................................................................................ 11 2.2.1. MICRO-MESSAGING ........................................................................................................... 12 2.3. DEFINITION OF MICRO-INEQUITIES ..................................................................................... 13 v 2.3.1. METAPHORS OF MICRO-INEQUITIES ............................................................................. 15 2.3.2. CRITIQUE OF MICRO-INEQUITIES .................................................................................