Personality Psychology is a locally developed textbook for students taking an introductory course in personality psychology either at undergraduate level as part of a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Social Sciences or a Bachelor of Psychology (B.Psych) degree, or as a Psychology Honours module.

Theory is presented with application to research and therapy, and with specific relevance to the South African context.

Pedagogical features such as case studies, 'in your own experience' activities, 'research issue' boxes, 'controversy' boxes, 'end-of-chapter review' questions, and an end-book glossary support student learning.

In 2018 the world watched as 82 per cent of all wealth created was claimed by the top 1 per cent of the global population. The bottom 50 per cent of humanity saw no increase at all. While one new billionaire was created every two days, one in every four South Africans were living on less than R18 per day – not enough to buy a loaf of bread.

Inequality has always been part of the world we live in, but in the past twenty years the situation has worsened. We have seen the rise of mega corporations, where regional companies have become global players: power brokers that are richer and more powerful than most countries. This has seen businesses record ever-increasing profits while they pay ever-decreasing taxes. How is this happening?

In South Africa, millions of people depend on the services and products of mega corporations, but to what extent do these corporations influence and affect the lives of their consumers? What do these companies do with all the power that is in their hands?

In The Dirty Secrets of the Rich and Powerful, James-Brent Styan casts the spotlight on economic inequality and unpacks historical and ongoing business practices that have a real influence on people today. This book takes you right into the corridors of power and behind the closed doors of the boardrooms of the rich and powerful to show you how, and why, the status quo seems so unfair.

Modern day organisations are more dependent on communication to achieve success than ever before. Rapid development and greater complexity of communication technologies, and the growing importance and popularity of social media, means that organisations can no longer rely on traditional methods alone to engage in effective business communication.

Social media and new communication forms, however, come with their own challenges and pitfalls. Organisations need to carefully and strategically consider the use of these new media as part of their effective communication plan.

Effective Business Communication In Organisations, 4th edition, builds on traditional communication forms with up-to-date theory. It discusses new communication trends and the changing nature of communication in businesses.

You’ll never think of flying in South Africa in the same way again.

This is an insider’s tale of the South African airline industry over the past thirty years, as told by Glenn Orsmond, and particularly the story of the dramatic collapse of Comair in 2022.

Orsmond, who was twice the CEO of Comair and the founder CEO of 1time, takes the reader on a wild ride through the ultracompetitive sector of low-cost airlines that boomed in this country after South African Airways’ stranglehold on the skies was loosened in the 1990s. Comair – which operated both Kulula and British Airways – and 1time were at the forefront of this new wave of airlines that saw domestic flying and tourism take off.

But after some incredible highs and lows, Comair crashed under Orsmond’s watch despite the company’s 75-year unblemished profit history. The pandemic’s impact, the grounding of aeroplanes after a questionable regulator investigation and poor management decisions all contributed to its downfall.

You can expect tales of industry legends and innovation but also of competitors trying to gut each other, battles between pilots and accountants, unions and bosses at loggerheads, and warfare between shareholders and directors in boardrooms.

From naughty lists to sprinting swans, wandering ducks to Amarula-based incentives, The First Kudu takes you on the roller coaster ride of a start-up, and dives into real learnings along the way.

The narrative invites you to journey through the chaos with the young team and unpacks in gritty detail what goes into building a tech start-up – with stories of fun and failure honestly told in equal measure.

The First Kudu tells the story of HouseME, a rental technology company founded in South Africa that grew to 34 employees and 50 000 registered users, processing hundreds of millions of rands each year. The company won awards, raised several rounds of funding and was sought after by competitors.

It was exciting. It was excellent. And then… it was dead.

Ben Shaw (former CEO) and Lorne Hallendorff (former COO) provide a whirlwind tour of what goes into building a start-up at the southern tip of Africa and what they would do differently, were they to do it again.

While many books focus on occupational health and safety in the international arena, few provide information pertinent to safety management in South Africa and in Africa as a whole. Safety Management in an Organisational Context aims to bridge this gap and to increase safety awareness at all levels of any organisation in Africa. The topics discussed in the book include safety in industry, functional safety, working in confined spaces, ergonomics and fire safety. The general provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 and its regulations are explained in detail as they relate to safety in the South African workplace today.

The Ultimate Business Companion CD contains all the business forms, templates and checklists that effective South African business owners and managers need to increase efficiency and growth in their businesses. The book explains how the forms fit into business processes, explains why and how each section should be completed, and guides the reader in the most effective ways to utilise the documents.

Updates to the Fifth edition include:

• All new forms and requirements for starting a business as found on CIPC website
• Forms for registration as a taxpayer and VAT vendor
• Updated marketing chapter to include new forms of reaching customers such as social media
• Updated agreements to comply with new legislation
• Updated procedures for safety in the workplace
• Updated information related to good corporate governance, specifically in terms of King Report IV
• Updated BEE info, specifically B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice

Most of the research into what constitutes effective leadership emanates from the United States and is not very useful in an African context. Africa is a continent of extraordinary cultural, geographic, economic and political diversity, featuring largely emerging economies and rapid political economic and social development. This book seeks to set leadership theory in the African context.

It takes into account typical African circumstances, values and beliefs, designed for the development of leaders' skills and provides practical, real-life examples, exercises and case studies. As well as an overview of the extensive research literature about leadership, the book provides practical, real-life examples, exercises and case studies, so it can be used in a range of management development courses and/or leadership course or workshops.

The detailed insights into, and information about, how leadership can be effectively applied in the contemporary African context should help to enhance readers' leadership skills.

Most people spend their lives solving small problems―following rules they never question, chasing goals they didn’t choose, and accepting limits that don’t actually exist. If you’ve ever felt you were meant to play a bigger game, this book shows you how.

In Counterintuitive, Naveen Jain―serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of multiple billion-dollar companies―reveals the way of thinking that allowed him to consistently do what others believed was impossible. Jain shares that his success did not come from being smarter, luckier, or more connected. Instead, it came from asking better questions and challenging the conventional.

Breakthrough success doesn’t come from working harder within the system. It comes from stepping outside it entirely. It’s thinking so big that problems become simpler. It’s using imagination as a discipline, not a daydream. And it’s choosing bold optimism when the world insists on cautious realism. This is not a book of tactics. It’s a blueprint for a mindset shift.

Inside, you’ll discover:

• Why thinking bigger is often easier than thinking small―and why the world’s most complex problems are the most solvable
• How to unlearn the invisible rules that limit ambition, creativity, and impact
• How to train your imagination to see opportunities where others see constraints
• The counterintuitive principles Jain used to build billion-dollar companies, shape industries, and tackle global challenges

Blending personal stories, hard-won lessons, and unconventional insights, Counterintuitive challenges you to stop settling for what you’re told is realistic and start reaching for what’s truly possible.

A practical guide, from the basic techniques, through to advanced applications, showing you what operational risk is, and how you can manage it.

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"Mastering Operational Risk" provides a step-by-step guide from the basic elements of operational risk through to advanced applications of operational risk management. Focusing on practical applications, it gives you the knowledge needed to understand what operational risk is and puts in place a workable way of managing it.

Everywhere she looked, the world was in poor shape. And because she’d quit drinking, she no longer had the comfort blanket of alcohol to tamp down her anxiety. How did sober people stay sane?

In recent times, the self-help industry has exploded into a multi- billion dollar global industry – and along with it has come every imaginable type of therapy, healing or general woo-woo. In the past, Rebecca scoffed at this industry, mocking its reliance on half-baked science and the way it appears to prey on the mentally fragile.

But as she searched for a meaning of life that did not involve booze, she found it increasingly hard to rationalize her default scepticism. This shit really seems to work for some people, she reasoned. And it’s not like I have any particularly solid alternatives.

Rebecca lives in Cape Town, the undisputed epicentre of ‘alternative’ paths to peace and enlightenment in South Africa. She decided that over the course of a year, she would embark on a quest for personal wellness, spiritual enlightenment and good old-fashioned happiness. She was willing, within reason, to try anything. She would open herself to even the most outlandish contemporary fads in self- improvement.

What followed was a twelve-month immersion in the world of auras, chakras, hallucinogenic drugs, sweat lodges, sangomas, past lives and more.

And by the end of it? Maybe she would find some new ways of thinking and living. Or maybe she would emerge with her prejudices untouched.

Either way, it would be a good story.

Over the past six years, Brené Brown, along with a global community of coaches and facilitators, has taken more than 150,000 leaders in 45 countries through her Dare to Lead courage-building work. In Strong Ground, Brown shares the lessons from these experiences along with wisdom from other thinkers. This is a vital playbook for everyone from senior leaders developing and executing complex strategies to Gen Z-ers entering and navigating turbulent work environments. It is also an unflinching assessment of what happens when we continue to perpetuate the falsehood that performance and wholeheartedness are mutually exclusive.

With equal amounts of optimism and caution about AI, Brown writes, 'I hear a lot of experts trying to soothe people’s anxiety about the pace of technological change by offering platitudes like, What makes us human will ensure our relevance. This is dangerous simply because, right now, we’re not especially good at what makes us human. We’re not hardwired for this level of uncertainty, and many of us feel as if the constant need to self-protect is driving the humanity right out of us. This is why organisational transformation today must foster deep connection, deep thinking and deep collaboration. We need the courage to lead people in a way that honours and protects the wisdom of the human spirit.'

Brown offers a broad assessment of the skill sets and mindsets we need moving forward, including the capacity for respectful and difficult conversations, increased productive urgency and smart prioritisation rather than reactivity, strategic risk-taking, paradoxical thinking and situational and anticipatory awareness skills. She identifies the toughest skill set as the discipline, humility and confidence to unlearn and relearn.

Brown writes, 'Individuals and organisations are building new muscles. Finding our strong ground ― that athletic stance ― is the only thing that can provide both unwavering stability in a maelstrom of uncertainty and a platform for the fast, explosive change that the world is demanding.'

The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updates and expands his 2014 New York Times bestseller on creative leadership, reflecting on the management principles that built Pixar’s singularly successful culture, and on all he learned during the past nine years that allowed Pixar to retain its creative culture while continuing to evolve.

For nearly thirty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. The joyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable.

As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the twenty-five movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as:

• Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up with something better.
• It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them.
• The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them.
• A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.

Creativity, Inc. has been significantly expanded to illuminate the continuing development of the unique culture at Pixar. It features a new introduction, two entirely new chapters, four new chapter postscripts, and changes and updates throughout. Pursuing excellence isn’t a one-off assignment but an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. And Creativity, Inc. explores how it is done.

Employee engagement is at the forefront of business agendas as it facilitates organisational performance. Engaged employees result in delighted customers, which in turn contribute to improved financial results.

The book address the following issues:

• What is “employee engagement” – different levels i.e. organisational, department/team, individual?
• Why is employee engagement important?
• Measuring employee engagement; the different instruments available; the different national and international approaches in measuring employee engagement; why is it important to account for context in measuring?
• High level overview of the Nienaber and Martins employee engagement framework and measurement instrument (including trust)
• The current state of employee engagement in SA
• Engagement and related human resource concepts/constructs (eg. organisational culture, commitment, citizen behaviour).

New results require new ways of acting. New ways of acting require new ways of looking at things … It’s called ‘reframing’, and it’s one of the most effective things humans ever do. Over the past decades, there have been amazing breakthroughs in behavioural economics. What if you could gather all the best ones in one place? An entire book packed full of ‘smart-cuts’…?

Steve Jobs once made an interesting point: ‘Animals in the wild may be more energy-efficient than humans. But put a guy on a bike, and he blows past all of them.’ That’s because technology is ‘like a bicycle for the mind.’
Turns out, the landscape is littered with bicycles. Adopt the principles and you can do almost everything faster and better. Here you will find direct answers to questions like: ‘How do you get the most out of your brain?’, What’s the best way to structure a team?’ or even, ‘How can our business be ten times cheaper or ten times faster than an industry giant?’
 
These insights are gamechangers. They come from trusted sources and work in the real world. Here is a condensation of the best brilliant breakthroughs across a range of spheres, in one easy guide. Whether you are chasing personal goals, leading teams, persuading others or are merely interested in clever ways of living the human experience, you will pick up dozens of ingenious accelerators within the pages of  Wicked Smart.

"A force of nature! Alexandria Procter will go far." - Bruce Whitfield

At 25 years old, Alexandria Procter became one of South Africa's youngest tech startup wunderkinds.

As an undergrad student at UCT, Alexandria came up with the idea for DigsConnect, similar to an Airbnb for students. Deeply affected by the violent student protests which swept university campuses in 2016, Alexandria created a website in 2018 that would address the tumultuous student housing crisis. In 2019 DisConnect disrupted the local tech terrain by raising R12 million in its first seed fundraising round, one of the largest in South Africa ever. DigsConnect has subsequently transformed from being a local student accommodation startup to catapulting into the global fourth industrial revolution.

Born in a small town in the Eastern Cape at the same time as South Africa's democracy, Alexandria's school career was characterised by defiance, rebellion and Friday afternoon detentions. Never one to toe the line, Alexandria dared to shoot for the stars.

While Upstart is a deeply personal memoir, it also offers priceless business insights and advice around startups and new tech, especially for the burgeoning African tech startup ecosystem. A unique and inspiring story.

"This girl is going places and whatever she does in her life is going to be brilliant!" - Luke Nolan, founder of Student.com

'An invaluable resource for making sense of the world, making good decisions, and placing smart bets. A fast-paced and fun read jam-packed with useful information on every page.' Annie Duke, author of Thinking in Bets ________________ Turn yourself into a superthinker and make the right decisions every time. You want to make better decisions. You want to be right more of the time professionally and personally. However, being more right consistently is a hard problem because the world is such a complex, evolving place. How do you navigate this complexity? Mental models are decision-making tools that guide our perception of the world and our behaviour in it. They help us understand life, make decisions and solve problems. The best models help us make intelligent investments, develop ground-breaking technologies and even travel to outer space. - Note your frame of reference before debating someone with different political views. If you understand how your perspective contrasts with someone else's you can prevent the conversation from getting hostile. - Apply the sunk cost fallacy to the end of a doomed project. Just because you've put a lot of hours into it doesn't mean that you have to keep going. - Before blaming someone, consider Hanlon's Razor, 'Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by carelessness'. - Try to solve mysteries with Occam's Razor, 'Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected'. When you hear hoof beats, think of horses not zebras. Building on our knowledge of well-known models such as the Bandwagon Effect or Paradigm Shift and introducing us to the lesser known like the Eisenhower Matrix or the Boiling Frog Symbol, this indispensable book distils the most effective mental models into a single, digestible volume. It will make even the most complex models accessible and engaging to enable you to make better, more informed decisions in every part of your life. ________________ 'Internalizing these mental models will help you understand the world around you. Once you can spot them, you can change your own behavior to avoid common traps, adjust how you interact with people to get better results, and maybe even articulate new mental models of the world that have yet to be discovered.' Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO, Coinbase 'You can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form. You've got to have models in your head.' Charlie Munger, vice chairman, Berkshire Hathaway

Includes personal anecdotes, case examples, and vignettes with short, concise chapters making this book easy reading for the busy executive.

At this critical junction in the history of humankind, leaders that are proficient in magical thinking aren’t going to solve our problems. Creating alternative realities is not the answer. We need a very different kind of leadership―leaders who can resist the calls of regression and whose outlook is firmly based in reality. We need leaders who analyze and draw conclusions from, or use their own experiences as a development tool, face their strengths and weaknesses, and critique their own experiences in order to build new understandings.

In this very personal and entertaining book, Manfred Kets de Vries, one of the “gurus” in the field of leadership studies offers his thoughts on leadership and life, reflections written for executives and the people who deal with them. As a psychoanalyst and leadership professor let loose in the world of renowned global organizations―as a passionate educator and scholar, or just a human being at the receiving end of heart-rending emails―he examines the pitfalls of leadership and the challenges for the professionals who work with senior executives in today’s AI-focused world.

He points out why leaders can derail, and what steps they can take to prevent this from happening. Ultimately, this book encourages you to “Know yourself,” but makes no bones about the challenge it represents. Understanding our “inner theatre” will always be an uphill struggle. Kets de Vries points out why deep dives into our inner world are always fraught with many anxieties.

Included in the many subjects covered by the author are the loneliness of command, the management of disappointment, the destructive role of greed, the impact of stubbornness, the role of storytelling, the importance of wellness, and the role of corporate culture. In addition, the book addresses the important topic of how to create great teams and best places to work. Furthermore, the book touches on endings– the ending of our career and the growing realization of the inevitable ending of our life. As time grows short, Kets de Vries emphasizes that we have no time to lose in dealing with our anxieties, regrets, and the things we spend much of our life determined not to see.

Taking a deep dive into self-knowledge requires courage and support, and he is here to guide you through it.

So you’ve come up with a winning idea for a product to sell online. What now? How do you turn your idea into a successful e-commerce business?

Selling Products Online is the book for you. Brought to you by Heavy Chef and Payfast, this guide gives you everything you need to start an e-commerce business in 10 practical steps – and you don’t have to be an expert on websites, advertising or logistics to get going.

It is designed to support you on every step of your e-commerce journey and will show you how to:

• Find your customers.
• Set up your e-commerce store.
• Take online payments.
• Sell on existing platforms.
• Attract more customers.
• Fulfil online orders.
• Manage stock.
• Serve your customers.
• Make a profit.
• Build your team.

Heavy Chef sat down with some of South Africa’s pre-eminent entrepreneurs to fill these pages with real, practical advice from experts who’ve beaten their own paths to success in e-commerce. You’ll hear from the brains behind some of South Africa’s most-loved brands, including Faithful to Nature, Payfast, SnapScan, Yuppiechef, and many more. They’ll answer all your questions about selling products online in concise “bites” – as if you’re sitting down to coffee with them.

Go on. Tuck in

Make sales! Build loyalty! Boost yoru career!

A must-have guide for all customer facing staff.

Mervyn King has transformed the global business landscape. King advocated reporting on society and the environment, not only on profit. His legacy transcends borders and continues to guide companies worldwide. His journey was enriched by his experience as a commercial lawyer; by his work as an advocate and a judge; and by his stellar career as a businessman, chair and director of many organisations.

DAVID WILLIAMS recounts his story.

It's time to leapfrog the only hurdle between you and a million-dollar company.

More people than ever want to be their own boss, but venturing forward with your own business can be hugely intimidating. Are you investing effort in ideas that have no basis in customer demand? Are you shying away from even considering starting your own business? Noah Kagan knew this feeling all too well, but has since discovered how to banish the one simple thing holding aspiring entrepreneurs back, to become a 7-figure founder.

MILLION DOLLAR WEEKEND offers an into-the-deep-end process for overcoming fear and perfectionism and making the business of your dreams a reality. Step-by-step, Noah shows what it takes to oust fear and build the "ask muscle", and shares practical advice that every entrepreneur needs to master. By demystifying what it takes to start a business, turning risk into realistic action and fear into fun, this is the beginning of your journey to successful entrepreneurship.

And the best part? You can kickstart this process in a weekend.

Simplicity is Apple’s competitive advantage. It Just Works shows you how to make it yours.

What is the secret ingredient in every billion-dollar product, from the iPhone to ChatGPT to Lego? Simplicity. Humans love simplicity; it’s a hard-wired obsession. Apple has built one of the world's most valuable companies on this single principle. But Apple’s dedication to simplicity goes deeper than the products billions of us use every day. Simplicity is at the heart of all the ways Apple wins.

In It Just Works, Apple veteran Neil West explores the principles of simplicity behind Apple's success to offer a clear, actionable guide for leaders, entrepreneurs and anyone ready to make a bigger impact in work and in life.

This book will show you how to:

• Build effective solutions from the ground up
• Make work simpler for you and your colleagues
• Remove friction from products, processes and decisions
• Solve problems that your customers don't even know they have
• Communicate simply, persuasively and quickly
• Stay focused and drive change

Based on decades of experience at the cutting edge of innovation, West delivers a set of simplification methods you can apply immediately – without permission or additional resources – to transform your output and your results.

For one-semester, undergraduate and graduate level courses in Organizational Behavior. Unique and current insight on the everyday processes and phenomena of OB. Behavior in Organizations shows students the real world of OB through its blend of cutting-edge research and practical applications. This text then challenges students to take theory one step further by having them put the concepts into action. The many changes in the tenth edition reflect the authors' never-ending mission to present a balance between knowledge and application, while including coverage on the latest advances in the field.

Nolitha Fakude grew up as a shopkeeper’s daughter in the Eastern Cape, studied at the University of FortHare and then entered the workplace in 1990 as a graduate trainee at Woolworths. Subsequently, she has worked in very senior positions at some major blue-chip companies, including Woolworths, Nedbank and Sasol. She was also managing director and then president of the Black Management Forum (BMF).

Over a career spanning 29 years, Nolitha spearheaded programmes that ensure the development of women and marginalised communities in the workplace and society. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, she has earned a well-deserved reputation as a corporate activist.

Nolitha is held in high regard within business circles and serves on numerous boards including the JSE Limited, Anglo American plc and Afrox Limited. Although Boardroom Dancing is her personal journey, it is also a lesson for South Africans committed to the transformation of boardrooms and the economy, and for women looking for role models as they climb corporate ladders and become thought-leaders

Nolitha Fakude was born in Cenyu a small village in the Eastern Cape outside Stutterheim and worked her way up from the shopfloor as a Graduate Trainee at Woolworths to become one of South Africa’s most respected and successful black business women. Nolitha is a humble leader who is widely respected as a pioneer who was at the forefront of transformation strategy, both within the companies she worked for and as a leader at the Black Management Forum where she worked with business, government and unions to drive change in South Africa.