The purpose of this study was to build an understanding of the transitional experiences of four Directors of Education who led school division restructuring initiatives in rural Saskatchewan. The data regarding the participants experiences were collected through participant observation, a survey, and a series of three interviews in which the participants were asked to describe their transitional experiences. Additionally, an interview with a member of the Restructuring Coordinating Committee and a process of document analysis provided further information about the restructuring initiative in which the Directors were involved.<p> The conceptual framework for this study included the work of several researchers who had previously focused on transitions. It included the concept that transitions took place in three non-linear stages: the ending, the neutral zone, and the beginning. Additionally, the conceptual framework reflected the belief that transitions are influenced by the individuals personal circumstances. This study added to the collective knowledge of change leadership as it chronicled the lived experiences of leaders who went through personal transitions while in the process of leading change and managing the transitions of employees within their organization.<p> This study utilized a multiple case study design to explore the transitional experiences of educational leaders, charged with the task of leading organizational restructuring. Participants included four Directors of Education from rural Saskatchewan school divisions that were involved in the January 2006 provincial restructuring initiative.<p> The data analysis resulted in three understandings: a) Variations in personal circumstances have a significant impact on the way that individuals experience transitions. b) Relationship building is a key component of the transition process. c) The leader must first negotiate interpersonal relationships and then focus on repatterning processes and building relationships within the organization.

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The purpose of this study was to build an understanding of the transitional experiences of four Directors of Education who led school division restructuring initiatives in rural Saskatchewan. The data regarding the participants experiences were collected through participant observation, a survey, and a series of three interviews in which the participants were asked to describe their transitional experiences. Additionally, an interview with a member of the Restructuring Coordinating Committee and a process of document analysis provided further information about the restructuring initiative in which the Directors were involved.<p> The conceptual framework for this study included the work of several researchers who had previously focused on transitions. It included the concept that transitions took place in three non-linear stages: the ending, the neutral zone, and the beginning. Additionally, the conceptual framework reflected the belief that transitions are influenced by the individuals personal circumstances. This study added to the collective knowledge of change leadership as it chronicled the lived experiences of leaders who went through personal transitions while in the process of leading change and managing the transitions of employees within their organization.<p> This study utilized a multiple case study design to explore the transitional experiences of educational leaders, charged with the task of leading organizational restructuring. Participants included four Directors of Education from rural Saskatchewan school divisions that were involved in the January 2006 provincial restructuring initiative.<p> The data analysis resulted in three understandings: a) Variations in personal circumstances have a significant impact on the way that individuals experience transitions. b) Relationship building is a key component of the transition process. c) The leader must first negotiate interpersonal relationships and then focus on repatterning processes and building relationships within the organization.

Research into the phenomenon of change has attracted interest from a range of management disciplines; organizational, management, behavioural and operations. Each discipline brings with it a perspective which informs the theoretical debates and empirical research, resulting in different ideas, meaning and approaches taken in studying the phenomenon of change. Ideas about the meaning of the content of change, why contextual factors might influence the process of change and, how does the process of change unfold over time, are three important aspects to understanding the phenomenon of change. This literature review draws on the three concepts of the content, context and process of change to explore the extant change literature. Evidence based literature reviews have a strong tradition within the medical field and have been shown to be a rigorous method for determining efficacy of clinical trials. This review applies the principles of this method but within a management research context and reviews 52 papers. Variations in the aspects of organizational context and process of change empirically studied confirm that context plays a significant and influential role in processes of change and change outcomes. There is little evidence to support the idea that the content of change influences the process of change activities and this is an area that needs further research. Further research is also needed to develop the idea of the importance of emergent change activities within planned change frameworks.

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.

The increasing competition is making increasing demands of today's businesses to be changeable. Change projects have therefore become increasingly common in order to satisfy market expectations. These projects have often proved difficult to implement and fail rather than succeed. There are many people who reflect on why this is and theorists are increasingly reasoning about the importance of communication in the change process. This is something that has given rise to a new area of expertise called change management. For the most part, it is about developing strategies for management to communicate change to employees and working together with these to reach the intended goals. In the relationship between a third party such as IT consultants and their customers the communicative challenge gets a bit different. The purpose of this study has been to identify important factor that makes communicating change a challenge in this relationship. This has occurred in the context of an IT consulting company and their interactions with the customer in the implementation process of a new web solution. The aim has been to seek greater understanding for the role of communication in the relationship. The study has resulted in a number of factors identified to be important when understanding how communication becomes a challenge in these change projects.

abstract: As global competition continues to grow more disruptive, organizational change is an ever-present reality that affects companies in all industries at both the operational and strategic level. Organizational change capabilities have become a necessary aspect of existence for organizations in all industries worldwide. Research suggests that more than half of all organizational change efforts fail to achieve their original intended results, with some studies quoting failure rates as high as 70 percent. Exasperating this problem is the fact that no single change methodology has been universally accepted. This thesis examines two aspect of organizational change: the implementation of tactical and strategic initiatives, primarily focusing on successful tactical implementation techniques. This research proposed that tactical issues typically dominate the focus of change agents and recipients alike, often to the detriment of strategic level initiatives that are vital to the overall value and success of the organizational change effort. The Delphi method was employed to develop a tool to facilitate the initial implementation of organizational change such that tactical barriers were minimized and available resources for strategic initiatives were maximized. Feedback from two expert groups of change agents and change facilitators was solicited to develop the tool and evaluate its impact. Preliminary pilot testing of the tool confirmed the proposal and successfully served to minimize tactical barriers to organizational change. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Construction 2011

This thesis is concerned with the ‘problem’ of change in education, an issue characterised in much of the literature as a paradox of innovation without change. The thesis draws upon school-based empirical research, undertaken in the context of the reactions by Geography, History and Modern Studies teachers to the notion of teaching integrated social subjects, set against the wider framework of the Scottish Executive’s curriculum policy. The thesis first sets the topic in its Scottish and wider context, before undertaking a comprehensive review of the themes that emerge from the worldwide literature on educational change. These include the paradox of innovation without change, teacher mediation of change initiatives, departmental and school cultures, the subject centredness of schooling and factors that have been noted to underpin successful change initiatives. The thesis sets out a theoretical position that draws upon the critical realist social theory of Margaret Archer. This approach posits a centrist approach to the contentious structure/agency debate, suggesting a complex relationship between social structures, cultural forms and individual agency, whereby social reproduction and transformation are played out through continual social interaction. From this foundation of theory, I develop a practical methodology for researching change in school settings. My empirical work consists of a questionnaire sent to 100 schools, and two linked case studies, where data was collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and analysis of school documents. The research identifies trends in school provision and, through the case studies, the processes of curriculum making are investigated using the aforementioned methodology. The thesis concludes that such processes are ineluctably social practices, and that those seeking to innovate in schools should pay attention to the social dimensions of change – the engagement of people with ideas and the social structures that impede, distort or promote change. The thesis concludes by presenting a set of general principles that might serve to facilitate change promoted by future initiatives.

M.Com. (Business Management) / "In the three short decades between now and the twenty first century, millions of ordinary, psychologically normal people will face an abrupt collision with the future. Citizens of the world's richest and most technically advanced nations, many of them, will find it increasingly painful to keep up with incessant demand for change that characterises our time." (Toftler, 1983:18.) More than ajlecade and a half has passed since Alvin Toffler wrote his best seller, Future Shock. The year 2000 is less than 10 years away. Future shock is something each of us lives with every day. Things change around us constantly - from there the saying: "the only constant in life is change". As individuals, our lives become more and more complicated. As managers, we face increasing pressure and uncertainty (Manning, 1987:1). One of the most important skills a manager can have in his of her repertoire these days is the skill to manage change (Burke et a/.,1991:87). Managers must manage today's business effectively while creating a new and radically different kind of business for tomorrow. It's a daunting task, but it's one that cannot be postponed - the future simply won't wait (Manning, 1987:1). Within the South African context great challenges face management. South Africa is faced with addressing major political, economic and social imbalances. Traditionally, the business community has often been reluctant to play an upfront role in the political realm. The business of business is business, was a commonly heard adage. In 1988, the formation of the Consultative Business Movement was a small sign that business was starting to take seriously it's role in a changing society (Eloff, 1992:12).