Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (M Eng (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

In this research, the researcher-consultant together with the management corps of a merged IT organisation, embarked on a process of participative research with the aim to identify the competencies and skills that are required of the management-leadership corps to drive a process of change management and to ensure the organisation will be characterised by sustained growth and development. In using participative research methodology, qualitative data was mainly gathered through informal interviews and focus group sessions to identify the competencies and skills that are defined as important for the change manager-cum-leader role within the merged IT organisation. In addition, a matrix was compiled to enable each manager/leader to undertake a self-assessment of how capable they are in using the identified competencies and skills. The outcome of the assessment provided an indication of the areas of competencies and skills that through various interventions would enable the management-leadership corps to deal with the challenges of change, as well as to guide those that report to them through a process of change. While the management-leadership corps – referred to as the Executive, Senior, and Middle Management cohorts – all require enhancing their change management / leadership competencies and skills capability, it is the Middle Management cohort that is better equipped to perform their change management and leadership role. During the research, focus group sessions enhanced a participative methodology to enable identification of competencies important to the IT Company’s vision, mission and core values, as well as opportunity to identify interventions that will encourage an on-going process of change, growth and development. However, there is indication that the members of the Executive and Senior Management cohorts assessed themselves higher on those competencies that relate directly to their functionary roles, rather than the change management-leadership role. The scope of a treatise limits an in-depth and expanded research endeavour; however, the methodology used provided information on how a platform for participation in a change management process can be enabled. Furthermore, this research gives indication of how a management-leadership strata can ‘buy-in’ to the process of change, growth and development, commencing with the self and, which is aimed to encourage the same in those that share responsibility for sustained growth and development of the IT company. The research is also example of how an applied sociology endeavour can be undertaken.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Change is one of the foremost issues in organizations, if not the foremost issue in people's everyday life. Organizational change involves any substantive modification to some part of the organization. This change may be prompted by forces internal or external to the organization. Typically organizational change involves the restructuring or elimination of jobs, found in actions such as reorganization, automation, rapid growth, downsizing, job redefinition, a physical move, the effects of competition, or a shifting market. Whatever the "trigger" for the change, people are experiencing confusion, worry, anger, numbness or all of the above. The cumulative effect of change on people is the same, and is manifest in resistance. Even though people know change is imminent and even though they understand it intellectually, it still has an emotional impact that they do not quite expect and that they find difficult to cope with. Many different change techniques or interventions are used for managing change. The most common ones involve changing organizational strategy, structure and design, technology and people. The focus of this study is on people, and illustrates the general inability of managers and subordinates to cope with organizational change, and to discuss a suitable training technique to overcome the inability to cope. A literature study was undertaken to determine the suitability of introducing facilitator training for managers in the management of change. It seems that managers are not taught or possess the skills necessary in dealing with the emotional content of subordinates reaction to change. Against this background it was determined that managers lacked the necessary skill of facilitation and as a result subordinates are not helped to cope during the process of organizational change. Facilitation training equips managers to function more effectively as managers and as persons. As a result managers are able to assist subordinates to cope with their emotional reaction to change. Results obtained from research on the application of facilitator training within management, indicate positive growth in the trainee on both the inter- and intrapersonal level. This growth resulted in the acquiring of certain characteristics within the manager which were of benefit in his interaction with his colleagues and subordinates. It is deduced that managers acquiring these characteristics will be able to facilitate a process of helping whereby subordinates are helped to help themselves during an organizational change process.

"Resistance to change" is one of the most important topics of change management in organizations. The paper investigates the analytical framing of „resistance“ and the „resistant employee“ in established German literature on change management. The analysis reveals three main messages referring the characteristics of resistance and the resistant change recipient. These are 1) that resistance is a „natural“, nearly inevitable phenomenon in organizational change processes, 2) that every behavior of employees in change processes is potentially resistant and thus often „false faced“, and 3) that resistance often is based on „irrational" and "emotional” motives. From a critical standpoint, this appears as a rather problematic understanding of (employee) agency and resistance. The result once more point to the overdue reconceptualization of "resistance to change" within the change management discipline and raise general questions referring to the high popularity of the analyzed segment of literature.

Change is inevitable for any organisation to ensure effectiveness and to stay competitive in today's business environment. Change should be managed proficiently to ensure that the required outcomes are achieved. Conversations with employees of ABSA Bank in the Northern Cape region revealed that the perception of the management of change is that it is less than effective due to general dissatisfaction regarding elements such as training, communication and support during change efforts. The purpose of this study is to measure the effectiveness of change management in ABSA Bank. The importance of this being that negativity and wrong perceptions regarding change can lead to resistance that can destroy any potential change effort in ABSA Bank. The literature study revealed that in order to manage change effectively, proven change management models are to be used and the elements within the model need to be managed convincingly. A questionnaire was utilised as the measuring instrument in the empirical study to obtain information that underscored the questioning of the effectiveness of the change management model as well as the management of the elements in the model of ABSA Bank. Recommendations are made to the management of ABSA Bank, based on the results of the study, on how to improve the level of effectiveness of the change management exercise in ABSA Bank. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Change is inevitable for any organisation to ensure effectiveness and to stay competitive in today's business environment. Change should be managed proficiently to ensure that the required outcomes are achieved. Conversations with employees of ABSA Bank in the Northern Cape region revealed that the perception of the management of change is that it is less than effective due to general dissatisfaction regarding elements such as training, communication and support during change efforts. The purpose of this study is to measure the effectiveness of change management in ABSA Bank. The importance of this being that negativity and wrong perceptions regarding change can lead to resistance that can destroy any potential change effort in ABSA Bank. The literature study revealed that in order to manage change effectively, proven change management models are to be used and the elements within the model need to be managed convincingly. A questionnaire was utilised as the measuring instrument in the empirical study to obtain information that underscored the questioning of the effectiveness of the change management model as well as the management of the elements in the model of ABSA Bank. Recommendations are made to the management of ABSA Bank, based on the results of the study, on how to improve the level of effectiveness of the change management exercise in ABSA Bank. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Syfte: Syftet har varit att finna ett verktyg för att lyfta fram egenskaper som bör reflekteras och beaktas vid förändringsarbete för att optimera och anpassa uppgradering av t.ex. ett dokumenthanteringssystem.   Metod: En ny metod (COMBO-metoden) har utvecklats i syftet att finna ett nytt verktyg som kan lyfta fram egenskaper som bör identifieras och beaktas för att säkerställa arbetssätt samt optimera och anpassa uppgradering av t.ex. ett dokumenthanteringssystem. Metoden bygger på teori, en empirisk fallstudie och befintliga metoder. Insamling av data baseras på både sekundärdata och primärdata. De empiriska fakta som används baseras i huvudsak på en fallstudie och egen erfarenhet från denna. Angreppssättet har i huvudsak varit kvalitativt (för att förstå och komma nära människors tankar eller beteende) och mina slutsatser bygger både på induktion (empiri) och deduktion (logiskt resonemang).   Resultat och analys: Genom att beakta begrepp som ”Kommunikation”, ”Tydlighet” och ”Bygga relationer”, enligt i studien använda metoder och teorier, blir Change Management framgångsrikt och riskerna lägre, samtidigt som ”Förvirring”, ”Motarbete”, ”Ångest” och ”Motstånd” motverkas.   Slutsats: Syftet uppfylldes och realiserades med hjälp av teorier, metoder och en empirisk fallstudie som strukturerades efter samma princip. Därmed kunde utveckling av COMBO-metoden ske som blev ett verktyg för att synliggöra flera egenskaper som är viktiga att beakta vid förändringsarbete. Egenskaperna framträdde i metoden som ”risker” och ”ackumulerade risker” och var beroende av vilken fas av förändringsarbetet som analyseras.   Förslag på vidare arbete: Det vore intressant att göra mer omfattande tester av COMBO-metoden för att se om den kan vara användbar på flera områden och vid olika scenarier.   Det vore även intressant att vidareutveckla COMBO-metoden. Både i form av en förfinad frågeställning, och därmed få mer riktade inmatningsvärden, och utveckla beräkningar och funktioner för att få ett mer exakt resultat. Att implementera COMBO-metoden i en databas med användarvänliga formulär kunde också varit önskvärt.   Förslag på vidare arbete är också att kombinera och utveckla andra metoder för att se om de kan samverka och förstärka egenskaper vid analysen av data. / Aim: The aim of the study has been to find tools to identify aspects that need to be observed and considered in change projects aimed at optimizing and adapting e.g. a document management system.   Method: A new method (COMBO) has been developed to highlight those characteristics that should be reflected and considered to ensure successful working procedures when optimizing and customizing an upgrade of e.g. a document management system. The method is based on theory, an empirical case study and existing methods. Data collection is based on both secondary data and primary data. The empirical data is mainly based on a case study and my personal experience of this. The approach has been mainly qualitative (understanding and getting close to people's thoughts or behavior), and my conclusions are based both on induction (empiricism) and deduction (logical reasoning).   Result and Analysis: By focusing on the concepts of ”Communication”, ”Direct” and ”Relationship building”, according to the methods and theories used, Change Management will become successful and risk reduced, while counteracting ”Confusion”, ”Sabotage”, ”Anxiety” and ”Resistance”.   Conclusions: The objective was achieved and realized with the help of theories, methods and empirical case study was structured on the same principle. This enabled the development of COMBO method that became a tool to visualize several characteristics that are important to consider in change management. These characteristics emerged in the method as "risks" and "accumulated risks" and were dependent on which stage of the change process that is analyzed.   Suggestions for further work: It would be interesting to further test the COMBO method to find out if it can be applied to other applications and scenarios.   It would also be interesting to develop the COMBO method itself, either by refining the issue, and thereby getting more targeted input, or by developing calculations and functions to get more precise results. Implementing the COMBO method in a database using user-friendly forms would also be preferable.   Another suggestion for further work is to combine and develop other methods to see if they can be made to interact and reinforce certain characteristics in the data analysis.

This research critically examines school support staff’s perceptions of strategic change within a post ’92 higher education institution. The need for effective communication as well as valuing and empowering employees during any change process is discussed. The research uses a mixed methods approach. Qualitative and quantitative data are obtained from questionnaires and emerging themes identified. Further qualitative data are gathered from diary logs, interviews and focus groups. This research represents the opinions of school support staff at a particular moment in time within a particular educational context. The results suggest some limitations to the change capabilities of the post ’92 institution, but also some areas of good practice. The production of a change framework and the change competencies workbook provides both the institution and its employees, with an opportunity to explore further the prospect of improving their ability to manage change. Both the framework and the competencies require an environment of trust for them to work effectively. The subject headings of identity, perception and communication are utilised in the change framework and the change competencies. The subject headings were chosen in order to assist the researcher to categorise various data covering areas of concern raised by research participants. This thesis suggests that the post ’92 institution has yet to establish a corporate change policy or embed a continuous change culture within its organisation. This thesis concludes that incorporating the following could assist the institution’s management of change: * create a culture of change by utilising the change framework and implement a corporate change strategy based on Kotter’s (1996) eight steps for change; * create an environment of trust through excellence in two-way communication by promoting Perkins (2008) supportive communication and listening skills; * create empowered and change sophisticated people by improving their change competencies using the workbook and regular targeted staff development.

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