Dissertation Universität Mannheim, 2006.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 265-280).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-95).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. Thesis (Ph. D. in Philosophy)--The Ohio State University, 2005. / Microfilm copy: University Microfilms No. 3161111. Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-162). Also available online online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M.BIE)--Unitec New Zealand, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-173).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Adviser: Kevin Au. Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-279)

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2005. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 256 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

In order for organisations to grow and maintain their competitive advantage, change has become the norm. The healthcare industry and especially private healthcare organisations, is no exception. Organisational change often implies a change in organisational culture. The concept of culture refers to the ways of thinking, values and ideas of things rather than the concrete, objective and more visible part of the organisation. Organisational culture is not to be viewed in isolation as culture and leadership are intertwined. Leaders shape cultures and their fundamental role is affecting others and making changes that increase organisational efficiency and performance. Patient safety, cost-effective care based on the best available evidence and patient satisfaction are top priorities of healthcare organisations, especially intensive care units where critically ill patients are cared for. Alignment of the organisational culture and leadership with a hospital‘s vision, namely to deliver quality patient care, is thus essential. A positivistic research paradigm, with a quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual approach was used to conduct the study. The study explored whether transformational organisational culture, leadership and desired organisational change outcomes existed in private intensive care units in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan and East London areas. It aimed at exploring the relationship between selected demographic variables, culture, leadership and organisational change outcomes. Lastly, the relationship between organisational culture and leadership (independent variables) and organisational change outcomes (dependent variable) was explored. The sample comprised 130 professional nurses who were selected from all the adult intensive care units in the private healthcare industry in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan and East London areas. A structured questionnaire with a Cronbach‘s alpha of more than 0.8 was used to collect data. The empirical results indicated that transformational leadership and a conducive organisational culture existed in the private intensive care units sampled. However, it was found that innovation and innovative care practices could be improved. Care practices were not necessarily aligned with the latest, available innovative techniques, procedures and practices. Reflective practices and in-service training to improve care practices and encourage and promote innovative care practices were not always optimised. Recommendations related to the findings were made for managers, as well as for research, education and practice. Ethical principles were maintained throughout the study.

M.A. (Human Resources Management) / The objective of this study was to compare an actual change process within an organisation with the theory related to organisational change. This was done with the aim of determining the fit between theory and actual experience. The actual approach followed with this study was to describe the experience of an organisation which was operating in the fast moving consumer food industry, with regard to change. These experiences of an actual change process were then compared to the theories related to change and the fit between theory and reality was determined. In addition it was attempted to identify the effect that an organisation change process would have on the organisation's effectiveness, considering organisation effectiveness indicators such as organisation values, relationships and actual performance outputs. As no quantitative data was available on the quality of the relationships and the extent of the changes in the organisation values, this study was not used to conclusively prove that the approach to organisation effectiveness described in this dissertation could in fact build shared values and improve relationships. The approach followed was rather to describe the organisation's experiences with regard to change, compare it to the theories related to change and identify the fit between theory and reality. In addition to measuring the fit between theory and reality, a model integrating the various areas of organisation change was also developed to provide a conceptual framework for understanding organisation change. The degree to which the actual change process, as discussed in the case study, managed to produce change in the organisation was measured by determining whether shared organisation values as emerged in natural work teams could be integrated by management to become one set of values for the total company. In addition, specific performance output areas were measured to assess whether actual improvement did in fact occur. These were the areas which were selected as improvement projects by natural work teams as part of the change process. Some new change models were also introduced, based on the theory and actual experiences within the organisation reflected in this study. These models further assisted in conceptually clarifying the wide field of organisation change. The actual results reported from this study seem to indicate that : ~ a high degree of fit exist between the theory related to organisation change and the actual reality experienced by the organisation. the "hard" results reflected in Chapter 5, section 2 seem to indicate that in terms of the task indicator of organisation effectiveness, this change process was in fact successful. to prove that the organisation culture was altered through the emergence of shared values, an actual list of organisation norms and values as provided by the management team using the values which emerged in the natural work teams were provided. Although this indicated that change in the culture and values were in fact achieved, the strength of these changes and the degree of integration of these changes could not be proven. ~ The impact of the change process on relationships could not be proved or disproved. ~ The staff turnover reduced during the change process from a high of 16,8% in 1987/1988 to 5,5% in 1990/1991.

The overall objective of this study was to study Corporate Performance Management (CPM) with specific reference to best practice in CPM. Every organisation, regardless of type, needs a clear and cohesive performance measurement framework that is understood by all levels of the organisation and that supports the execution of strategy. CPM describes the methodologies, metrics, processes and systems used to monitor and manage the business performance of an enterprise. CPM is one the hottest trends in business intelligence. CPM is an enterprise-wide strategy that seeks to align departmental initiatives to prevent managers from optimising local business at the expense of the overall corporate performance. One of the key issues in business performance is not only the development of strategy, but ensuring that the strategy is executed. Therefore, an organisation requires a performance management process that is integrated with the strategy management process. The ability to execute a chosen strategy is as important as the strategy itself. Executives must have the ability to execute against a chosen strategy. With the right processes, methodologies, measurements and technology support, today’s companies can develop the competencies needed to execute its strategic vision in even the most turbulent of times. CPM solutions offer organisations these right processes, methodologies, measurements and technology to successfully execute against their strategies. Best practice can be defined as those practices that have produced outstanding results in other organisations that can be adapted for use in your own organisation. In implementing a CPM solution in an organisation it is possible to learn from best practice applications already in use. Best practice companies understand that effective management reporting is a balance among quality, quantity and speed of information. The problem is not necessarily the quantity or speed but rather the quality of the information. Best practice assists organisations in finding this balance. Organisations attempt to implement performance management solutions, often without success. If a framework of best practice was adopted the chances of success would have been greatly improved. The challenges of performance management are readily addressable through improved technology and best-practice processes. Studies have identified common critical success factors and best practices when implementing CPM solutions at organisations. Organisations can greatly increase the chance of successful implementations by taking cognisance of best practice in CPM / Prof. W.M. Conradie