The purpose of the thesis is to conduct a case study for investigating change and release management at Catella Bank, within the context of IT Service Management (ITSM), by measuring and to provide suggestions for improvements. Incident and operations management is included to enhance the understanding of the historical performance at Catella. The case study is set out to answer the following research questions: 1. “How does a transition in change management structure impact the performance of successfully delivering both changes and releases of IT services at a financial institution?” 2. “What are the causes of delays in the delivering changes and releases?” 3. “How does stakeholder involvement alter the performance of implementing a successful change and release?” 4. “How do Information Technology, and the corresponding departments manage and control necessary changes and releases of software at present?” Research methodology utilized in the thesis includes both qualitative and quantitative research, including interviews, participation in meetings and empirical investigation of internal material at Catella. The result from the research has provided a significant collection of issues, as well as suggested solutions for Catella to take to improve organizational maturity in enhancing the capabilities in performing work related to the four managerial disciplines within ITSM. The research culminated in the creation of the CHARM (CHange And Release Management) model, which consists of integrating change and release management into project management, split between three different components for the three organizational levels. The author has created the following components: Strategy matrix, a governance model, and a process model.

Problem - The challenge investigated in this present study is for a project-based organization to create a well-planned implementation by knowing the current state of the organization and its readiness for a change. This while also taking the time for unexpected events and communicating the issue while also taking their organizational structure into consideration. Purpose - The purpose of this study is to analyze the readiness to change for the case company with focus on three aspects of readiness: information sharing, common views and implementation approach, while also taking into account the distinct features of a PBO-structured organization. The study aims to identify supporting factors for successfully managing an implementation of a new business system at the individual level. Method - This study is a case study based on a single case company: Sweco, which is a Swedish technical consulting firm that is about to change their business system. A literature review was conducted in order to collect previously conducted research within the research area. The primary methods used for data collection in this study have been semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire, the data was mainly analyzed though thematic analysis. Results – The readiness for change for the case company is affected by their organizational structure. The results of the questionnaire show that collaboration within Sweco works relatively well, but there are some aspects that can be improved, such as communication and information sharing. The results of the conducted interviews show that most employees at the case company perceive the change of business system to be good, but they were unsure about why it would be carried through. Guides on how the change would affect the specific individual and knowing where to turn for feedback and information was pointed out as a suggested improvement by the employees. A lot of responsibility of implementing the new system was put on the unit managers. Conclusions - The study strengthens the existing theory regarding change readiness and individual supporting factors for successful change implementation. It confirms some of the strengths and drawbacks for organizations working with projects. The study also concludes how the case-company and other companies in a similar situation can utilize some advantages of being familiar with working in projects.

We have studied a global corporation that is implementing an IT-enabled change program which affect the whole organization. In this change, there exists many different perspectives that we divided into groups to enable analysis. The different perspectives hold differing missions and knowledge bases which in turn affect their respective understanding of the change and its purpose. In this study, we have divided perspectives according to two dimensions: program – project and business – IT. The aim has been to understand how these different perspectives affect change implementation. We have interviewed individuals from multiple positions in the organization to understand their view on what is happening in the organization and how they relate to the various issues found in the change program. We have found that there are many instances where misunderstanding can arise because the stakeholders involved in the change lack mutual understanding of each other’s perspectives. When there is an imbalance between perspectives, IT-enabled change is likely to become an IT roll-out and not an IT-related organizational change. We believe that when stakeholders of change broaden their awareness and understanding regarding the different perspectives that exist, they can enable coordination and cooperation between perspective groups. This will in turn help with successful change implementation.

The aim of this study was to develop a substantive theory for leading a change process towards achieving synergy between the business units of a globally diver-sified organisation. A modernist qualitative research methodology was followed. Casing was employed as research design. Grounded theory as proposed by Strauss and Corbin (1998) was applied as research strategy. Twenty seven employees were selected as research participants by means of purposive sampling. All the participants were selected on the basis of their in-volvement in synergy activities in the Company. In-depth interviews and re-quested essays were used as data collection methods to explore the twenty seven participants’ experiences with synergy. Two focus group interviews were addition-ally used as data collection methods. The nine participants in the first focus group interview were members of a regional synergy committee. The other focus group consisted of three executives of the Company. Participant observation was em-ployed as another data collection method during the focus group meetings as well as at one video conference on the establishment of a forum for recruitment and selection in the Company in which seven employees participated. The data was analysed by utilising the grounded theory methodology. After the conclusion of the data analysis phase, the first order constructs and re-lated concepts to synergy were further explored in the literature. A substantive theory for leading a change process towards achieving synergy was developed by aligning the conditional/ consequential matrix of Strauss & Corbin (1998) and the S-O-R theory of Partington (2000). Despite shortcomings the aim of the study was achieved. The study contributed to the development of theory, methodology and also contributed on a practical level. Recommendations for further research conclude the dissertation. / Prof. Willem Schurink Prof. Gert Roodt

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / The aim of this study is to investigate why the implementation of Enterprise Architecture (EA)in the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC)adopted in 2006,failed to be ineffective to address application duplication.

Problem: Continuous improvement is important in modern healthcare to control increasing costs and fulfil the demand for higher quality. This requires interdisciplinary collaboration between healthcare professionals. However, these professions are seeking to maintain and improve their social status through a ‘professional project’. There are existing professional barriers based on historical privileges and boundaries, leading to nurses holding lower status. The extent to which this motivates medical professionals and nurses in particular to be involved in continuous improvement is unclear. Is it that nurses are driven to become involved in continuous improvement by their ‘professional project’, and is there any evidence that involvement in continuous improvement benefits their status? Purpose: This thesis explores (a) the effect that the ‘professional project’ of nursing, gaining relative equality with doctors, has on involvement in continuous improvement activities, and (b) how involvement in continuous improvement activities affects the status of nurses relative to doctors.  Method: This qualitative study has been performed through an interview study based on themes, on the topic of improvement in healthcare. The empirical data is gathered through semi-structured interviews conducted with professionals from Sweden, New Zealand and The Netherlands. The participants were active within Hospitals and Primary Care, and had the position of nurse, manager or doctor. Data was analysed using the Thematic Analysis approach as proposed by Braun & Clarke (2006).  Findings: The results of our research suggest that nurses’ status has certainly improved. However, rational status-seeking described by many other researchers, could be better described as ‘seeking a voice’. Nurses are driven by ambition and improving patient care, rather than seeking strict equality with doctors. Continuous improvement has given nurses the opportunity to take on more technical roles and have more input on the way medical tasks are conducted. Enhanced communication between all levels of healthcare organisations has given nurses the opportunity to show their knowledge. It has resulted in more understanding and respect by doctors of what nurses are capable of. Nurses are highly motivated to participate in continuous improvement, driven by the common logic of patient centricity. However, external factors such as limited time and financial support slow them down.

[Integrative Summary] This study is situated in the complex field of change management, and strategy execution. The study focuses on the corporate level restructuring of Ellerine Holdings Limited (EHL), subsequent to its acquisition by the micro lending financial institution African Bank Investments Limited (ABIL). The interest of the researcher was aroused by the uniqueness of the relationship. This was the first of its kind in a South African context, where a banker owned a furniture retailer. The restructuring was undertaken shortly after the acquisition. This research paper adopted a case study approach, in describing the restructuring initiative that took place in EHL, focusing on the period between January 2008 and the end of 2010/ 11 financial year on the 30th of September 2011. The case captures the significant phases of the restructuring including a background of (1) the protagonist, Toni Fourie (Chief Executive Officer), (2) EHL as the researched company, (3) the industry it operates in, and (4) the case content. Brief teaching notes have been provided to explain the teaching value of the case and to assist with its delivery in the classroom. Attention is drawn to a presentation by the protagonist in November 2011, named 'A CEO Insight' where he gave an overview and insights of the road travelled in restructuring Ellerine Holdings Limited, and more importantly highlights the following about the purpose and nature of the restructuring of the organisation. • A plan to change the way the industry works. • The creation of a profitable, stand-alone retail business through: o The sale of two companies, the closure of two companies and consolidating from thirteen to six brands. o Separating financial services from retail. o Moving the financial services component to African Bank, also a subsidiary of ABIL. o Redesigning the credit model. o Completion of twelve system changes. • Over R600million reduction in cost • A place where people want to work. The restructuring outlined above represents a major shake-up in many aspects of the corporation. The main challenge for Toni Fourie and his team was: how best could they restructure EHL to extract synergies between their two subsidiaries Ellerine Holdings Limited & African Bank to increase shareholders ' value at Group level. The case seeks to describe this in detail. The overarching strategy underpinning the restructuring of the researched corporation is premised on the price volume elasticity equation, by reducing the cost of credit, thereby driving pricing down within the brands, and facilitating more people having access to affordable credit. The case study of the restructuring is presented in Section 1. A review of relevant literature on strategy implementation is presented in Section 2, focusing on restructuring. Successful implementation of strategies only takes place with structures that are developed by organisations to support the achievement of their strategic objectives. Organisational architecture and design have a critical role to play in the execution of organisational strategies. Nadler and Tushman (1978) emphasise the importance of congruence in the organisational design, for the organization to not only deliver superior results but to sustain them over a period of time. Research by Okumus (2005) seems to tell us that the lack of credible framework to implement strategy, has contributed the high failure rate of strategy initiatives. Although this is a strategy implementation case, it also touches on aspects of leadership - mainly the architectural role - and the role, or influence of strategic leadership, in restructuring the corporation. The results of this research paper were achieved by following a specific research methodology. The aim of the research was to analyse the restructuring of the researched company at corporate level, having the following objectives in mind; • Understanding the strategy. • Analysing the design decisions in the light of the strategy chosen by the top management of Ellerine Holdings Limited. • Analysing what monitoring and control measures had been designed to facilitate the corporate restructuring. Data was collected through documentation of the corporation that was made available to the researcher on request, as well as those that are in the public domain, and an interview with the CEO of the researched company. The interview was conducted after analysing the documentation (Hakim, 2000). The Methodology is detailed in Section 3. The researcher hopes that the case study will contribute to learning about business leadership and strategic management. The case should develop an understanding of the complexities related to strategy execution at corporate level, particularly the restructuring aspect of it.

A sector affected by a constant rate of organizational growth is the healthcare sector. Consequently, the increased demand for healthcare services underline the importance to have a well-functioning organizational control that pushes towards continuous improvements to enhance the quality of care. This requires high standards regarding the formulation of objectives that are shared by the workforce and efficiently integrated into the organizations day-to-day operations, with the help of technological solutions.The purpose of this study was to investigate how the organizational control in the healthcare sector could be improved, in order to enhance the work towards the achievement of the objectives among the employees. To achieve the purpose, the research was conducted as a case study at the infectious disease department at Danderyds University Hospital, where the findings were derived from both qualitative and quantitative methods. To address the department’s objective areas, interviews with representatives from the management were conducted. A questionnaire was then distributed to gain insight in how the department’s operational activities are anchored, in relation to the employees’ respective profession.The findings showed a considerable gap between the employees’ awareness and their understanding of the objective areas, resulting in a misalignment of how each profession contributes towards the achievement of the objectives in their day-to-day operations. By analyzing the findings in relation to the selected theory of organizational control and change management, four improvement measures were identified: (1) visibility of the effects and outcomes of goal fulfilment, (2) establishment of incentives in relation to goal fulfilment, (3) formulation of well-defined internal key performance indicators related to each objective and (4) providing continuous feedback regarding the progress of each objective area. These areas need to be integrated into the department’s current information technology system in order to further streamline their operational work in reaching objectives. With the help of a strong coalition to initiate the change, the improvement areas can be found to affect the employees’ understanding and attitude toward the fulfilment of the objectives in the healthcare sector.

The current business environment is experiencing increased levels of uncertainty, competition and change. Influenced by forces such as globalisation, fast paced technological change, recession and emerging markets, the current business environment is required to continuously adapt to these conditions and deliver new products or services to an increasingly demanding market. Such dynamic environments are characterised by fast and unpredictable changes that place traditional competitive advantages under pressure, requiring a continual pursuit of temporary game changers or radical disruptors. With radical innovation considered to be one of the key drivers of disruption and success within these environments, it has become critical for organisations to create a sustainable stream of new products that push the boundaries of technology and that ensures that those organisations stay ahead of their competitors. In dynamic environments, success is short-lived and temporary gains are quickly eroded as the competition catches up or jumps ahead. The ability for continual change, agility, ambidexterity and superior decision making, all contribute to maintaining the current advantages and quickly closing widening gaps in the innovation race. This study investigates the degree to which these dynamic capabilities influence an organisation’s innovation capability.

In South Africa, the trend has been towards the decentralising of authority and giving greater powers to schools. This implies the active involvement of the school governing body members, the school management team members and the Level One educators in the day-to-day functioning of the school. Whilst some schools have welcomed this change and seen this devolution of power as an added advantage contributing to the efficacy of schools, some schools have struggled, while others have failed dismally to cope with this added responsibility of managing their own resources. The researcher, being an educator involved in this transition, has been intrigued by the success of some self-managing schools and the failure of others. The following words of Oliver Wendell Holmes have inspired the investigator to conduct this research to ascertain the reasons for the success of certain schools and the failure of others: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Since the performance of schools is normally ranked according to their matriculation pass rates, this research focused on six self-managing schools in the Port Elizabeth District. These schools were selected on the basis of their matriculation performances in 2008. Two of the schools had achieved an above 85 percent matriculation pass rate (Category A); two obtained a 50 percent pass rate (Category B); while the other two schools obtained matriculation pass rates of between 25 percent and 30 percent (Category C). Although the research relied strongly on a qualitative method of inquiry, because of the nature of the data and the need to obtain a better understanding of the feelings, attitude and perceptions of those in management positions, governing body positions and members of the personnel, multiple instruments for data collection such as a literature review and the study of school documents and questionnaires, were used. This inclusion of these multiple instruments for obtaining information, which is also called triangulation, contributed to the reliability and validity of the empirical investigation. Although the data was presented in the form of tables and graphs, vi which alludes to a quantitative approach, a narrative interpretation of the findings, which is associated with a qualitative method of inquiry, was also presented. An analysis of the findings revealed that there was a great amount of involvement of the principals, school management team members and Level One educators in Category A schools, which had a matriculation pass rate of above 85%, in the following change management strategies: the establishment of a vision, planning and organising, teamwork, training and development, communication, praise and incentives, and evaluation and feedback. There was also a great contribution by the school governing body members. However, the study revealed that Category B and Category C schools did not effectively use communication, praise and incentives and evaluation and feedback as change management strategies. It was evident from the empirical investigation that in Category B and C schools, the school governing body members were less, or not involved in the usage of the change management strategies applied. According to the results based on the six-facet model of Emotional Intelligence, Category A schools obtained 80% and above in the competencies relating to the self and social domain. Category B schools fluctuated between 50 percent and 80 percent in both dimensions, while Category C schools fluctuated between 30 percent and 80 percent. The findings suggest that there should be greater involvement of all stakeholders, especially the school governing body members, in the establishment of a vision, planning and organising, communication, teamwork, training and development, praise and incentives and the provision of feedback and evaluation for self-managing schools to become effective and improve their performances. Professional development, especially in the areas pertaining to Emotional Intelligence competencies such as personal and interpersonal skills, should be prioritised. This thesis proposes that, on the basis of the investigation carried out at the six participating schools on the influence of Emotional Intelligence on the change management strategies adopted in self-managing schools, schools use strategies such as the establishment of a vision, planning and organising, communication, teamwork, training and development, praise and incentives and evaluation and feedback to ameliorate the damaging impact of change. There should be continuous training and development at schools, especially for the school governing body members, who are elected every three years. The newly elected school governing body members need to develop the necessary skills to effectively contribute to the efficacy of schools. The human resource is the vital ingredient in schools, thus for any progression or improvement, all stakeholders need to be informed, trained and enriched. Since Emotional Intelligence can be learned, professional development in the area of Emotional Intelligence should be given more thought and included in training courses, focusing on the development of personal and interpersonal skills. The Emotional Intelligence training should be conducted as part of teacher training courses as well as on an annual basis for educators already in the teaching system, since Emotional Intelligence can influence the use of change management strategies at schools and enhance the efficacy of the functioning of self-managing schools.