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This paper explores meaning of leadership and management in the context of South Africa. It does this by clarifying the way in which Ubuntu – traditional African leadership values – may impact an organisation. It explains how this tradition‐based concept could be integrated into the organisation to enable the leadership to dismantle the past organisational culture, promote the development of a new and more inclusive culture, and, finally, create a set of leadership skills and competencies that enable globalisation processes.

As more and more organisations need not only be competitive in their internal markets, but need to be globally competitive, these economic changes impact on the content and context within which business education takes place. Company changes in the new millennium will impact on educational institutions, especially the traditional role of the business educator. As an example, due to the nature of companies becoming more and more information sensitive, managers and leaders alike need to enhance their oral and written communication skills. The pace of change within the economy as a whole is asking of managers and leaders alike to become more flexible and progressive in their management style, including developing entrepreneurial and innovation skills. Especially in the South African environment, it is important for leaders to realise the incredible potential in valuing the diverse perspective and talent of each person. The leader of the future has to learn to assist people of divergent values, beliefs and backgrounds and to weave all employees’ efforts into ultimately benefiting each individual and the organisation as a whole. Hence, what managers must be able to do in future will have a direct impact on what is needed in management education.

Considering the ongoing international debate on the role of public administrations in economic systems, the interest around public service motivation (PSM) has significantly grown among practitioners and scholars in the past two decades. Following the research streams that have investigated topics of organizational behavior within the public context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of PSM on public employees’ feelings of job satisfaction. The novelty of the study lies in linking some characteristics of the work context presumed to be more prevalent in public organizations with specific job characteristics, regarded as relevant antecedents of job satisfaction.

The study is based on two complementary studies conducted in an Italian public administration. The paper shows how PSM influences job satisfaction, job engagement, and life satisfaction.

This paper shows how PSM influences job satisfaction, job engagement, and life satisfaction. The findings display how job engagement affects both job and life satisfaction in such contexts. Additionally, the findings display how job engagement affects both job and life satisfaction in such contexts.

Although based on a specific context of public administration, the analysis allows some generalizations.

Based on these results, the paper contributes to two main streams of the literature. First, it enriches the existing research on PSM by analyzing how it can be managed in complex organizations. Second, it informs the literature on job satisfaction and work-related stress and relates to the intersection between organizational behavior and human resource management that informs the drawing up of HR policies. Furthermore, the paper sheds new light on how to deal with such problems and at the same time opens new avenues for investigations.

Although private health care is regarded as providing a premium quality experience for both patients and staff alike, it is not without its daily challenges for health professionals. This study aims to explore the psychological contract of nurses to develop a greater understanding of how employee–employer interaction impacts motivation levels.

Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with thirteen nurses at a private hospital in South Africa. Five nursing managers were interviewed to provide a management perspective. Thematic analysis was used to identify the salient elements of the psychological contract and to establish connections with motivational features.

The psychological contract of nurses was balanced in nature, contained predominantly relational elements and was characterized by the need for manager support, leadership and autonomy. Motivation was a by-product of fulfilment and was enhanced by a combination of tangible and intangible rewards.

Nursing managers should recognize their role in caring for the wellbeing of their staff and should be trained accordingly. Equipping nurses with the necessary tools to work autonomously, as well as acknowledging their skills, will stimulate confidence and improve motivation.

This study makes an important contribution to the existing literature on the psychological contract of nurses within the health-care system. It provides insight into relationship-based mechanisms that can be used to improve the motivation of nurses and thus impact the overall quality of patient care.