M.Com. (Business Management) / The study was conducted with the purpose of finding a thorough understanding of the importance of the implementation of change within the context of the existing organizational culture. The culture of an organization can lead to a strategic myopia where leaders underestimate the changes in the external environment due to strongly held common beliefs. The paradox of planned organizational change is that the need for change develops at all levels in the organization, but the responsibility for implementing change rests with management who in themselves resists change and acts as guardians at the existing organizational culture. Managers must realize that the existing culture and the competitive needs of the organization may be in conflict, as a result of changes in the environment. Faced with pressures for change, managers will be likely to deal with the situation in ways which protect the culture from challenge. This raises difficulty when managing strategic change for it may be that the action required is outside the scope of the culture and members are required to change core beliefs and values. The findings of this study confirm the importance of the role of the existing organizational culture in the implementation of change. The lack of compatibility between the existing culture and strategic change leads to resistance to change programmes.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The phenomenon of change has been the subject of debate for decades. Whether the change was planned or as the result of a catastrophic event, change affects nations, people, businesses, the economy and the environment. Typical changes in businesses are mergers, restructuring, transformations and retrenchments. Consequently, to this contentious phenomenon, change has been the subject of research by social scientists, behavioural theorists and analysts. Their collective endeavours have provided the world with a wealth of scientific knowledge. The Metro District Health Services in the Western Cape have undergone major restructuring and transformation. It is with this premise the question is posed, are change agents, leaders, and employees sufficiently empowered to mitigate the challenges and appease the expectations associated with restructuring, transformation and change?Supporting and contextualizing the study to the existing body of knowledge, previous research is reflected upon in an attempt to add value to future change initiatives. The reflections include different perspectives of change management, the multifaceted and evolutionary nature of change. The theoretical framework underpinnings of organisational development and transformation were also explored. One point of departure was to establish what is needed to ensure organisational success and describes activities, action plans and strategies, which modifies the organisational structures. The suggested methodologies, dimensions, variables influencing or enabling transformation formed the baseline for this study, with the emphasis placed on models of change, communication, theories of success formulae for organisational change, competencies of change agents, behaviour and attitudes of all stakeholders. Circumventing the purpose and contextualizing the baseline for this research, the survivor syndrome was explored and the dimensions of different change elements offered value to this study. The intent of the restructuring and transformation initiative, was to strengthen the Metro District Health Services by decentralizing Primary Health Care Services. Selected employees were tasked as change agents to facilitate the process and were simultaneously directly impacted by the process. The objective of this study is to explore and understand the effects of change on selected employees functioning at different levels within the Metro District Health Services during restructuring and transformation of the provisioning of healthcare services. In determining the effects the variables explored were their attitude towards change, their commitment to the organisation, the barriers and challenges encountered with the implementation of the process.The selected participants were part of an intensive restructuring and transformation process. The sample chosen from the population of 350 employees at the regional office of the Metro District Health Service and was representative of the greater population. The sample includes selected managers and employees at different hierarchal levels ranging from salary levels five to fourteen. Ensuring representativeness the different departments were used as strata and within each department a random sampling method was used to select respondents. Support was provided to explain that stratified sampling is a procedure of selecting a probability sample where a heterogeneous population is first divided into subgroups (known as strata) on the sampling frame, and simple random samples are drawn from each stratum. The research methodology was a combination of qualitative and quantitative research design. A questionnaire was distributed consisting of three sections, Section A Biographical Information, Section B Structured Interview (10 participants), Senior Managers were approached to conduct the structured face to face interviews asking open ended questions and Section C Survey Questionnaire was completed by the rest of the sample group by indicating on a likert scale their agreement or disagreement with the statements. The questionnaires have been demonstrated to be psychometrically sound in that their reliability and validity have been reported on and supported in previous studies. The analysis of the raw data involved statistical computations using Statistical Package for Social Science called Moonstats© and Thematic Content Analysis for the interpretation of the qualitative data. The limitations of the study are discussed as well as recommendations for future change initiatives and future research projects on the subject.

A lot of attention over the years has been focused on understanding employees resistance to change. A few researchers have provided insights into the reasons why some employees remain positive and engaged during times of uncertainty and changes in the organosation. To help build this knowledge area the study was aimed to investigating the factors that drive employee engagement during change. One-hundred-and-twenty employees, across a cross-section of jobs at a specific bank in South Africa, were surveyed. The empirical results obtained from the survey showed that independent variables such as dialogue, organisational culture and a clear4 career plan were congruent with the expected results. In other words these vriables displayed a significant association with the de[endent variables (e.g. job involvement, organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour.).

Tourism has been acknowledged for the past decade as one of the leading driving forces for economic development in post-apartheid South Africa (Nel & Binns, 2002:189). The objective of this study was to investigate the determinants of corporate entrepreneurship for firms in adventure tourism sector in the Eastern Cape Province; South Africa. The population for the study were firms registered with the Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism Portal (NMBT) and the Dirty Boot Adventure South Africa. Convenience sampling method was used. Data was collected through the use of a self-administered questionnaire. For the purpose of data collection, one hundred and fourteen questions were identified through a thorough review of the literature. Principal component analysis was used to reduce the one hundred and fourteen questions to twelve factors namely: flat organisational structure, management support for intrapreneurship, vision and strategic intent, rewards / reinforcement and sponsorship, innovativeness and creativity, multi-disciplined teamwork and diversity, entrepreneurial leadership, resources and time, strong customer orientation, continuous cross-functional learning, tolerance of risk, mistakes and failure and work discretion and discretionary time. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, T-test and ANOVA. Cohen`s (d-value) was used to measure the effect size of differences for t-statistics. The Cronbach’s alpha was used to test the reliability of the scales. The results showed significant positive relationships between the twelve factors and corporate entrepreneurship. Recommendations included an integrated framework that could assist adventure tour operator to establish and sustain corporate entrepreneurship within this sector.

It is widely accepted that design changes, occurring during construction projects, can account for a significant proportion of the engineering design consultant’s total cost. Projects with multidisciplinary, distributed and virtual project teams, working on technically challenging problems, make the impact of design changes increasingly difficult to predict. Existing guidance suggests ‘best practice’ protocols for recording, reporting and communicating design changes. However, best practice protocols do not provide guidance for predicting the impact in terms of project cost and duration. Impact assessments are essential in the decision to implement changes and subsequently being in a position to justify fee claims to clients. Decisions in the construction process are normally based on experience and professional knowledge of practitioners, such as architects, engineers, project managers and contractors. There is evidence, however, that, in design management, sharing of professional knowledge tends to be tacit and socially constructed (where team members draw on their own experience and the experience of those around them). Although practitioner experience and intuition is invaluable in determining the impact of a design change, this research is based on the position that a more structured process is required. It is argued that a software based approach, to better inform practitioners’ existing knowledge, is required to improve the quality and accuracy of impact assessments. The current practice for managing and assessing change was examined through studying the operations of the case study organisation, undertaking a literature review and conducting interviews with representatives from organisations in other industries. A new project management tool was then developed which provides support for practitioners to make better-informed impact assessments. This is achieved through providing: (a) a process map to visualise rework, (b) instant access to previous similar impact assessments and (c) an embedded, standardised method for knowledge sharing. The concept for this tool was developed by combining appropriate techniques and tools found in the design management and knowledge management literature. Users are further encouraged to use the software tool through a system to automate the updating of Microsoft Project schedules, thus eliminating time currently spent scheduling rework. The validation and verification stages consisted of formal interviews with potential users and preliminary user testing. Regular feedback on the support tool was obtained from a wide range of peers and potential users and this was then used to develop its functionality. Positive feedback has included comments about the concept of the tool, user-friendliness and need for implementation.

D.Cur. (Professional Nursing Science) / It was very dear that dramatic transformation is needed in the new South Africa to accommodate the transformation demanded by the Reconstruction and Development Programme, the National Health System, and other political, economic, social, technological and staff management changes. It was also evident that transformational leadership was needed in nursing in general and in nursing management in particular. This is a qualitative, contextual, exploratory, descriptive and theory-generating study, with the overall aim of exploring and describing a model for transformational Ieadershlp by nursing unit managers to facilitate individual and nursing unit transformation. To accomplish this aim, specific objectives were formulated. Firstly, a conceptual framework and model were explored and described by means of analysis, synthesis, derivation and deductive reasoning. The model was described within the meta theoretical assumptions of the Nursing for the Whole Person Theory (ORU 1990; RAU 1992). The theoretical assumptions were derived from till' Nursing for the Whole Person Theory whereas the methodological assumptions were based on the Nursing Research model of Botes (1995). This Nursing Research model proposed functional reasoning approach. During the exploration and description of the model, connect identification and classification were handled according Lo the survey list of Dickoff, james and Wiedenbach (1968). Thereafter, an education programme was explored and described by deriving the theoretical content on transformational leadership from the conceptual framework and LIl(' model. TIll' principles of adult education (Knowles 1984, Gravett 1991) and the constructivistic learning theory (Klopper 1994 (a» were utilised for the didactical development of the education programme. This education programme was then implemented in a nursing service. Through purposive sampling, four nursing unils in the same nursing service were selected and the model implemented for a period of 12-14 weeks. The cases Ludy method was utilised.

Recent authors identified a lack in leadership competencies to deal with organisation change within the South African organisation context as a burning issue (Tizard, 2001; Kriek, 2002; Fontyn, 2001; Msomi, 2001 and Rossow and Bews, 2002). This has resulted in a lack of employee initiative, adjustment, empowerment and a high turnover rate. With this research the author examined the influence of role utilisation, according to leaders’ competence, on the outcome of organisation change. The aim of this research was to contribute towards finding solutions for the perceived lack in leadership competence in managing change. The design used was quasi-experimental ex post facto: post-test/observation only. Three organisations in the manufacturing industry were selected because they were busy with the implementation of major organisation change initiatives. Two phases were identified for this research. Phase I investigated the utilisation of leaders in specific leadership change roles and Phase II investigated the influence of leaders’ change role competence on change outcome. Hypotheses were formulated for each phase. Phase I Leaders’ utilisation in change roles was investigated. This entailed the extent to which they were utilised in roles for which they received their highest average competence ratings. A literature study was done on leadership competencies. From the literature study, four leadership change roles (Initiator, Shaper, Monitor, and Assessor) were identified. A questionnaire measuring the level of competence for each role was designed. The respondent organisations’ management teams were asked to identify the leaders they utilised and for which roles they were utilised. These leaders were rated by means of a 360-degree assessment. The respective leaders were assessed by themselves, their managers, a peer and a subordinate. Competence was determined by means of the average ratings received on all four competence clusters . The results obtained from Phase I were expressed in terms of role congruence. Role congruence referred to situations where leaders were utilised in roles for which they received their highest average competence ratings. The hypotheses for Phase I were: H0: There is no statistical difference between the average competence scores leaders received on the different roles. H1: The average competence scores for the roles leaders were utilised in, are higher than for those they were not utilised in. Phase II Phase II investigated the influence of the congruence results on change outcome. A questionnaire measuring the “soft” dimensions of organisation change was developed. Random samples of all the literate employees in the respondent organisations were used to complete this questionnaire (Change Outcome Questionnaire). The hypotheses for Phase II were: H0: There is no statistical difference in terms of change outcome for roles where congruence was obtained and roles for which congruence was not obtained. H1: For roles where congruence was obtained, there will be higher levels of success (change outcome). Both questionnaires (Leadership Role Competence Questionnaire & Change Outcome Questionnaire) were validated in terms of content validity. A Cronbach alpha was determined for both questionnaires. Only the Leadership Role Competence Questionnaire was initially found to be reliable. To resolve the reliability dilemma on the Change Outcome Questionnaire, the constructs and their items were factor analysed to determine the underlying validity of constructs, resulting in construct validity for this questionnaire. A Cronbach alpha was again administered to this questionnaire (after the factor analysis) and it was found to be reliable. Phase I Results: Role Congruence The extent to which leaders were utilised in roles for which they achieved their highest average ratings (expressed in terms of role congruence) was determined through the application of a correspondence analysis. The results for Phase I were: • Two roles (Initiator and Assessor) achieved potential congruence. • The other two roles (Shaper and Monitor) did not achieve congruence. • A relationship between both the Shaper and Monitor roles was identified. The competencies for these two roles were linked to the items that measured Resistance to Change. • For Phase I the null hypothesis was rejected. There was a difference between the average competence scores leaders received on the different roles. Phase II Results: The Influence of Role Congruence on Change Outcome The change outcome results were determined through the Change Outcome Questionnaire. The results for Phase II were: • The factor analysis done on the Change Outcome Questionnaire (discussed on p. iii) resulted in the extraction of three factors. One factor represented only one item and was therefore excluded resulting in the analysis of only two factors (Change Buy-In and Support & Resistance to Change); • The results obtained from the Change Outcome Questionnaire indicated a successful outcome for the Change Buy-In and Support factor and an unsuccessful outcome for the Resistance to Change factor; • The similarity of the results for the three organisations obtained for Phase I (correspondence analysis on congruence between role utilisation and role competence) and for Phase II (ANOVA on Change Outcome results) allowed for the comparison of their results. No significant statistical differences existed. Statistical evidence was therefore not conclusive to either reject or accept the null hypothesis for Phase II (there is no difference between roles with high congruence and roles with low congruence on change outcome); and • Although the null hypothesis for Phase II could neither be accepted nor rejected, the indications are that role congruence appears to have had a positive influence on change outcome and that a lack of congruence appears to have had a negative influence on change outcome. From the results of this study it was concluded that the research goals had been satisfactorily addressed. / Dr. Louis Carstens

This research is based on the premise that change management implementation is significantly related to employee engagement in post-merged organisations. The relationship between employee engagement and the demographic variables age and length of service, and variable change experience is also explored in the postmerged organisation. The study uses a quantitative design methodology to cover the objectives of the research and to answer the questions relating to the topics of the study. The sample was drawn from a mining industry within the private sector that has undergone a merger in the last five years. The sample for the study was selected using the convenience sampling method. Statistical tools that were used in this study included frequency analysis, measures of central distribution, t-tests, Friedman‟s test, and analysis of variance. The study found high levels of employee engagement in the dimensions emotional commitment and discretionary effort. The responses for the dimension intent to stay were above average while the response for rational commitment remained neutral. A significant difference was found between the levels of emotional commitment between the two merged companies. The extent of change management implemented differed significantly between the two merged companies. With regards to the demographic variables age and length of service and variable organisational change experience, no significant relationship was found with employee engagement. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this paper is to explore the control of emotions in organizations. An analysis of stories collected from members of different organizations who experienced the events of September 11, 2001 (when the USA was attacked by terrorists killing thousands of people) in their workplaces seems to validate previous findings that organizations respond to the expression of strong emotion with equally strong controls. However, organizations seem to differ by the types of emotional control they use and the reactions these controls elicit in their members. All four of Ashforth and Humphrey's organizational control behaviors were used. While buffering, prescribing and normalizing employee emotions seemed to have a somewhat positive effect on employee morale, the use of neutralizing controls seemed to be damaging to employee commitment. A contingency model of organizational control of emotional expression is developed.

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