Purpose -This paper aims to determine the views of a select group of manager-students on general management and leadership and whether or not their views correspond to classical management theory. Design/methodology/approach -An exploratory-descriptive approach was employed. Specifically, a survey was conducted among final-year MBA students of a specific university. These students were all employed in management positions in their respective organisations. Findings -The students viewed general management and leadership as being the same and their views correspond to the theory underpinning classical management. Research limitations/implications -Statistically, the findings cannot be generalised beyond the scope of this study due to its exploratory nature. However, the concepts referred to in this study can inform and be tested in further research. Practical implications -It would seem that there is indeed a body of knowledge underpinning classical management. Mastery of this knowledge could enable managers to ensure the preferred competitive positions of their organisations. Originality/value -This paper focuses attention anew on classical management and its scientific nature as well as its contribution to the sustained competitive success of organisations.

Research worldwide reports low levels of employee engagement reflecting employee well-being. This observation spells dire consequences for enterprise performance, expressed as goal achievement, and attained via strategy. Strategy implementation failure adds to enterprise performance pressures, while reducing employee well-being. Research investigating employee engagement as driver of strategy implementation through dimensions of organisation is limited. This paper conceptually examines how employee engagement can be enhanced while driving strategy implementation through dimensions of organisation. The Nienaber and Martins (2015, Journal of Contemporary Management, 12(1), 401–425) survey results serve as illustration. The conclusions arrived at here show that all six factors – at individual, team/unit, and enterprise levels – can be classified according to the dimensions of organisation. Moreover, the dimensions of organisation are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but rather interrelated, and influence employee engagement in unexpected ways. The contribution of this paper stems from the promise that dimensions of organisation serve as mechanism to drive strategy implementation via employee engagement.

The divide in the conceptualisation of the terms "management" and "leadership" is not clear. The purpose of the study on which this article is based was to explore the concepts of management and leadership. The synthesis review also applied content analysis, identifying the tasks constituting management and leadership respectively. The findings of the literature review demonstrated that the concepts of management and leadership are intertwined. The word "management" has French and Italian roots, while the word "leadership" has Greek and Latin roots. Essentially, though, these words are synonymous. All of the tasks fall within the boundaries of management, while leadership tasks overlap with management. Unlike management, leadership has no distinct task that falls exclusively within its boundary. Implications of the findings of this study include debate regarding how practising managers can know what is expected of them if the literature is unclear on the distinction between these concepts. "leader" were used interchangeably to denote the person with ultimate responsibility for the performance of the firm. In later years, the responsibilities of command and coordination were collapsed into leadership, which was still treated as a primary task of general management. Today these tasks are still deemed to constitute management. More recently, a number of works on leadership have appeared, suggesting that leadership is a separate and distinct function in the firm (see, for example, Armandi,

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that affect the retention of Generation X public servants.Motivation for the study: Given their unique characteristics, it is a challenge to retain Generation X employees. This problem may be worse in the public sector than in the private sector, as there are fewer financial rewards in the public service than in the private sector.Research design, approach and method: The interpretivist paradigm is appropriate for this study. It used a qualitative, empirical approach. The researchers obtained the data through purposive sampling and interviews. Main findings:The study showed that the factors affecting the retention of Generation X public servants include work content, utilisation of skills, career advancement, work-life balance, compensation, security needs, leadership and drive.Practical/managerial implications: Employers, like the civil service, can be proactive in retaining Generation X employees because of the factors that affect their retention. Managers can prevent further pressure on service delivery that the skills shortage has caused if they use the skills the employees already have. Contribution/value-add:The article fills a gap, as there has been little research on staff retention. This is particularly true of Generation X employees in South Africa. This article adds information that will improve retention strategies for Generation X employees, particularly in the public service.

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the influence of time on the results of the dimensions of employee engagement; and second, to determine whether there are any significant differences between the levels of engagement of the different demographic groups, so as to determine specific future interventions to improve employee engagement. Design/methodology/approach-This study adopted a quantitative approach employing a survey which used a questionnaire to collect data from the same convenience sample, over a three-year period. The differences were tested by measuring change through an analysis of variance. Findings-Three dimensions, namely, team commitment, team orientation and organisational strategy and implementation were significantly higher in the third than first period. Africans and respondents on lower job grades reported significantly lower levels of engagement than white respondents and top management. Research limitations/implications-The limitation of the study is the low participation rate of some groups. Practical implications-Top management can foster engagement in addition to introducing effective interventions, based on sound measurement, to improve employees' engagement levels. Social implications-Engaged employees are happy/healthy, which can be expected to spill over to their lives outside of the workplace and thus favourably influence society. Originality/value-Limited longitudinal research in connection with employee engagement is published. This study provides evidence of a valid barometer for a multicultural, developing economy, against which employee engagement can be measured.