In a fast paced change external and internal business environment in which businesses are to deliver to their maximum capacity, there is little room for resistance to change by employees. Acknowledging all the elements responsible for resistance to change within the corporate world, the study aimed to find if there is any relationship between the emotional intelligence of employees and their resistance to change initiatives which slows down company potential to stay abreast of market needs. By making use of a 4-point Likert type scale and questionnaire data was collected from 47 pharmaceutical representatives based in 5 different provinces within South Africa. The analysis was done based on a variety of statistical methods such as Mann Whitney, Spearman’s rho’s. The results suggest that there is a definite relationship between the overall emotional intelligence of employees and resistance to change. The study focusses its efforts on the pharmaceutical industry that offers service and products to healthcare professionals. Perhaps research on other sectors of the business could offer a broader view of the impact of emotional intelligence on resistance to change as the representatives only make up a small proportion of the overall business. An important insight of this study is that emotional intelligence has proven to play a very significant role in a variety of functions of the business and deserves deeper investigation and attention. Although only a small share of the business formed part of the sample of the study, it is clear that the company has to address resistance to change and the initiators thereof. Little study has been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence and resistance to change within the South African market, adding available data relating to the topic relationship and importance. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In a fast paced change external and internal business environment in which businesses are to deliver to their maximum capacity, there is little room for resistance to change by employees. Acknowledging all the elements responsible for resistance to change within the corporate world, the study aimed to find if there is any relationship between the emotional intelligence of employees and their resistance to change initiatives which slows down company potential to stay abreast of market needs. By making use of a 4-point Likert type scale and questionnaire data was collected from 47 pharmaceutical representatives based in 5 different provinces within South Africa. The analysis was done based on a variety of statistical methods such as Mann Whitney, Spearman’s rho’s. The results suggest that there is a definite relationship between the overall emotional intelligence of employees and resistance to change. The study focusses its efforts on the pharmaceutical industry that offers service and products to healthcare professionals. Perhaps research on other sectors of the business could offer a broader view of the impact of emotional intelligence on resistance to change as the representatives only make up a small proportion of the overall business. An important insight of this study is that emotional intelligence has proven to play a very significant role in a variety of functions of the business and deserves deeper investigation and attention. Although only a small share of the business formed part of the sample of the study, it is clear that the company has to address resistance to change and the initiators thereof. Little study has been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence and resistance to change within the South African market, adding available data relating to the topic relationship and importance. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study attempts to investigate one of the most cited reasons for the failure of organisational change efforts: individual resistance to change. It also seeks to determine what personal manifestations need to exist in order for an organisation to adequately establish the extent to which a proposed change effort will yield a successful outcome. This was evaluated through the job constructs of communication, job-insecurity, participation, procedural justice and trust. The research also Management and Change Agent roles within the change process to determine whether this had an impact on the individual change experience at a cognitive and behavioural level. In a South African Motor Manufacturing company data was obtained from 306 respondents. The findings clearly indicate that a positive experience of the job constructs is likely to result in positive individual change which will result in a successful implementation and sustainability of the change initiative.

The National Health Laboratory Service is a single national entity to provide laboratory services to the public sector in SA. The NHLS came into being by amalgamating five large independent pathology service providers. The research will provide insight on how to manage change and stakeholder relations during mergers.

This study examines organisational change within the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) “the Department”, focusing on the strategies that should have been implemented in order to reduce the resistance to change and minimise the negative impact change brought to the employees. The study also focuses on employee satisfaction and the impact of change on the psychological contracts from a broad perspective of employees within the organisation.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Powerful macro-economic forces (of which technology is the main driver) are propelling organisational change. As the rate of technological change accelerates, new threats and opportunities arise more frequently, spurring the need for more rapid organisational change. According to various studies the success rate of major change initiatives is deemed to be very low. The need for accelerated change and the low success rate of the change initiative attempts to date indicate a dire need for practical change leadership competencies. This study project makes a contribution towards that need by providing a practical framework, making it easier for change leaders, sponsors and change agents to apply change leadership in the context of a project. A meta-analytical study of change leadership principles, as described by some of the leading authors on the subject, provides various insights into the high failure rate of change initiatives. The synthesis of their recommendations culminates in the description of ten critical success factors for organisational change. Each critical success factor is expanded into tasks with detail that will aid the execution thereof. Linked to the states of change, the critical success factors and accompanying task detail form a practical framework for change leadership. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Makro-ekonomiese kragte (waarvan tegnologie die grootste invloed het) dryf die versnellende tempo waarteen organisatoriese verandering tans moet plaasvind. Die tempo waarteen tegnologie verander skep toenemend nuwe geleenthede en bedreigings vir organisasies, wat die behoefte na vinnige reaksie en snelle verandering verhoog. Verskeie studies bewys dat die meeste veranderingsinisiatiewe egter onsuksesvol is. Die groeiende behoefte aan 'n vermoe om vinnig te kan verander en die lae vlak van sukses dui daarop dat 'n groot behoefte in organisasies bestaan vir praktiese veranderingsbestuur vaardighede. Hierdie werkstuk lewer 'n bydrae tot die bevrediging van die behoefte deur 'n praktiese raamwerk daar te stel wat leiers en agente van verandering sal help om die beginsels van veranderingsbestuur toe te pas in die konteks van 'n projek. 'n Meta-analitiese studie van veranderingsbestuur verskaf insigte deur verskeie outeurs oor die redes waarom die meerderheid van veranderingsinisiatiewe faal. Die sintese van hul aanbevelings lei tot die beskrywing van tien kritiese suksesfaktore vir organisatoriese verandering. Elke kritiese suksesfaktor word uitgebrei in gedetaileerde take wat die uitvoering daarvan ondersteun. Die take en kritiese suksesfaktore, gekoppel aan die onderskeie stadiums van verandering vorm 'n praktiese raamwerk vir veranderingsbestuur.

The research is framed on the premise that designing buildings that can adapt by accommodating change easier and more cost-effectively provides an effective means to a desired end a more sustainable built environment. In this context, adaptability can be viewed as a means to decrease the amount of new construction (reduce), (re)activate underused or vacant building stock (reuse) and enhance disassembly/ deconstruction of components (reuse, recycle) - prolonging the useful life of buildings (reduce, reuse, recycle). The aim of the research is to gain a holistic overview of the concept of adaptability in the construction industry and provide an improved framework to design for, deploy and implement adaptability. An over-arching research question was posited to guide the inquiry: how can architects understand, communicate, design for and test the concept of adaptability in the context of the design process? The research followed Dubois and Gadde s (2002) systematic combining as an over-arching approach that continuously moves between the empirical world and theoretical models allowing the co-evolution of data collection and theory from the beginning as part of a non-linear process with the objective of matching theory with reality. An initial framework was abducted from a preliminary collection of data from which a set of mixed research methods was deployed to explore adaptability (interviews, building case studies, dependency structural matrices, practitioner surveys and workshop). Emergent from the data is an expanded and revised theory on designing for adaptability consisting of concepts, models and propositions. The models illustrate many of the casual links between the physical design structure of the building (e.g. plan depth, storey height) and the soft contingencies of a messy design/construction/occupation process (e.g. procurement route, funding methods, stakeholder mindsets). In an effort to enhance building adaptability, the abducted propositions suggest a shift in the way the industry values buildings and conducts aspects of the design process and how designer s approach designing for adaptability.

Human resource management advocates consider that obtaining employees' affective commitment to the organisation is an important objective. A key part of this concept is concerned with employees' identification with organisational goals and values. Recent research however, indicates that employers want employees to maintain their commitment levels even though organisations are undergoing periods ofextensive change that impact on many aspects of these goals and values. In the literature, employee commitment is regarded as a stable construct that nothing seems to alter. Despite this, there is increasing evidence to suggest that commitment may change if something in the organisation changes. To date, little research has sought to measure the impact of organisational changes on employee commitment. This study seeks to find out if commitment is altered by organisational changes or if commitment remains constant after the implementation of change. It also examines the impact of a range ofvariables on employees' commitment levels not previously addressed in the literature. The study adopted a cross sectional design. Data was collected by use of both quantitative techniques, (incorporating the British Organisational Commitment Scale or BOCS) and qualitative approaches, in three organisations located in the South East of England. An evaluation of the BOCS' reliability and dimensionality was carried out. In contrast to the literature, an eight item scale was shown to be superior, providing the best fit to the data. BOCS was found to comprise two distinct, but related components, hence the measure is considered bi-dimensional. The study makes several contributions to the literature. In particular, the: process of change (i.e. strategy used by each organisation to elicit organisational changes); antecedents to commitment (i.e. personal and work related variables); extent to which changes are experienced and content of change (i.e. the changes themselves) are all shown to affect the outcomes for individuals' commitment after periods of change in the organisation. Of the changes examined, almost all lead to increased levels ofemployees' self reported commitment. This challenges the claims that suggest commitment is stable and unchangeable. The study also revealed a number of factors lead to increased commitment amongst the workforce after change. These represent employee perceptions of change. Researchers and practitioners will need to focus on these issues in the future when considering commitment if they are to safeguard it after changes in the workplace.

Working Lean, i.e. “eliminating non-value activities from work processes by applying a robust set of performance change tools and emphasizing excellence in operations to deliver superior customer service,” has received significant attention and become a concept of interest for businesses, especially during recent years. Fundamentally, the concept of Lean is built on the aims of waste reduction and value creation with keywords such as continuous improvement, quality, and efficiency guiding the process. Lean was originally developed with production in mind, but many in the field argue that its applicability reaches further and holds potential within other contexts, such as service, as well. The purpose of this study is to derive lessons learned from individuals working in the service sector regarding whether or not Lean is applicable in the context of service and to explore what factors and challenges are perceived to influence the likeliness of success. An abductive approach has been pursued by the use of semistructured interviews with employees from different levels within organizations in the Swedish service sector. In addition, an external perspective by interviewing a Lean consultant has been of interest. The data gained has been analysed to identify patterns which have then been searched for in existing literature. The findings provide evidence that Lean is applicable in service. Furthermore, success factors related to the following core categories; employee engagement and competence, having a philosophical approach, leadership, management, implementation, organizational and national culture, and management of variation were identified. Lastly, a misconception of Lean, employee resistance and suboptimization were three challenges found.

The purpose of the case study is to create a greater understanding of how the case company works with communication and information between the company and its customers and dealers. The objective of this thesis is to map the invisible value chain for a manufacturing company and make their information flow visible and point out flaws in the communication process between its customers and dealers. Theory and empirical findings will be analyzed and result in different recommendations and suggestions from the authors. The recommendations are discussed with a positive and a negative attributes to broaden the reader’s perspective. All the recommendations have been carefully selected to make sure an implementation would make the information flow more efficient for the case company.