Although this model remains specific to the prevailing situation in Quebec at the time of its application, it may help stimulate reflection and contribute to an understanding of how research policies can encourage partnerships between researchers, practitioners and decision-makers.

Orientation: Sexual harassment policies are generally in place in higher education institutions without any indication of its effectiveness as determined by the awareness of the policy.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness levels of academic staff members at higher education institutions in South Africa of sexual harassment policies and procedures in their institutions.Motivation for the study: A number of high profile court cases emphasised the need for effective policies to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment complaints.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was conducted amongst 161 academic staff members, representing 10 higher education institutions in South Africa. The measuring instrument that was used is the Sexual Harassment Questionnaire (SHQ) that was developed specifically for this study.Main findings: The results showed that despite indications that sexual harassment policies do exist and that they are regarded as effective tools in addressing sexual harassment, the implementation of such policies is not effective and few academic staff members received training and/or guidance on the utilisation of the policy. Significant correlation coefficients were found between the elements of an effective policy and between population group and some of the elements.Practical/managerial implications: Employers across the board should regularly conduct an audit to determine the level of awareness of sexual harassment policies and procedures and plan interventions.Contribution: No other study in South Africa attempted to measure the awareness levels of academics and its impact on the management of sexual harassment.

The war for talent remains a challenge that many organisations face but more so for distance education institutions to deliver on its mandate to provide effective online academic offerings. The question that remains is: How can intellectual capital be managed effectively in order to recruit and retain talent that is necessary for success? This study was conducted at a mega open and distance learning institution, and this institution has identified talent management as one of the key strategic initiatives to ensure institutional strategic goal attainment and adopted an inclusive/developable talent approach as its framework. The aim of this article is to report on the perceptions of senior line managers regarding their experience with implementing the talent management strategy in their operational areas at the institution. This study adopted a qualitative approach and purposive sampling was used to select interviewees. The population group included chairpersons of 26 talent committees who are senior line managers and 11 of them were interviewed. Participants were of the opinion that policies and strategies do not always support the implementation of talent management in their respective environments. The findings show that although the university embraces the inclusive/developable talent approach in its strategy, the impact thereof is inhibited by a lack of methodological implementation, a lack of integration of supporting Human Resources policies with talent management, and insular line manager discernment.

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The higher education landscape in South Africa is dynamic and one of the most rapidly changing environments, which is undergoing fundamental metamorphosis. The higher education institutions (HEIs) are facing, among other challenges, the alterations in government funding and globalisation of higher education which bring with them new competitors. It is in this sense that this study focuses on the involvement of operational employees in decision-making processes. This study sets out to explore the employee perceptions of them being involved in decision-making with an emphasis on the cascading of responsibility and accountability for power, information, knowledge and rewards to lower levels within their institution. A quantitative study was conducted with 410 randomly selected employees within one University of Technology in South Africa.The overall perception of employees with regard to their involvement in decision making indicated that there is a lack of them being involved in decision making processes.