This study explored employees' perceptions of organisational change as a stressor within a public sector work place undergoing significant change. A number of major stress-producing factors in that environment were examined and data collected of employees' perceptions of the nature of stress, changes in health status and data gathered of stress-related compensation claims. Data was also collected of employees' perceptions of effective strategies for coping with change from an individual and organisational perspective. The research design was a case study with embedded units of analysis incorporating elements of quantitative analysis. The method was chosen to flesh out the limited choices offered by many standard questionnaires. A case study approach and various categories of stress-related factors were selected measures to evaluate the perceived effects of work place change on stress levels. The eight females and three males, aged 27�50 were each interviewed for an hour for their perceptions of stress and reports of stress related illness, relationship changes and other reported changes�diet, sleep, heart disease, asthma, anxiety and headaches. Workplace changes to the Division were analysed, Departmental claims officers were interviewed and Comcare data analysed. Results show participants appeared to feel or experience "stress" in a way which they distinguished as different from feelings or experiences which were nonstressful states and they appeared able to separate these states and ascribe to each particular qualities. They also seemed able to identify that the stressful state occurred in response to some form of demands. Some subjects (36%) reported developing strategies for managing their stress. The majority of subjects (82%) believed work place change was inevitable and a number of subjects (45%) reported they believed implementation of change to be poorly managed, while some subjects (36%) perceived change impacting negatively on the work place. On the basis of the results, it would appear that a human resource management framework may enable more successful implementation of change in public sector organisations.

The last decade has seen numerous proposals to reform existing tribunal systems in jurisdictions throughout the common law world. Across the board, there have been proposals to adopt generalist tribunal models in preference to smaller, specialist tribunal systems, and to achieve these changes through the process of amalgamation. The most significant recent developments to occur in Australia have taken place in Victoria and NSW during the past five years. Legislators in these States have chosen to amalgamate a number of smaller, specialist tribunals into larger, generalist bodies. In 1997 the NSW Parliament passed legislation amalgamating a number of specialist tribunals to create the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT); comparable legislation was passed in Victoria in 1998 to create the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). There were concurrent attempts to implement similar reforms at federal level. In 1998 the Commonwealth government announced its intention to amalgamate four Commonwealth merits review tribunals to form one �super Tribunal� � the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). The Bills containing these proposals were ultimately defeated in the Senate, however the Australian Government remains convinced of the benefits of amalgamation at federal level. Similar reforms have been proposed in Western Australia, Tasmania and the United Kingdom. This thesis argues that these reforms are taking place in the absence of data about their likely implications, and without a thorough understanding of the objectives that generalist versus specialist tribunal systems can realistically achieve. This ill-considered or �over-hasty� trend towards amalgamation raises a number of questions which have not previously been addressed in academic or policy-making circles. An obvious question is whether or not an amalgamated tribunal model is more effective than a series of smaller, specialised tribunals in delivering administrative justice, in other words, whether there is any net gain to be had from a government�s decision to amalgamate. The less explored, but equally important, question addressed in this thesis is how the process of amalgamation should be approached in order to realise the maximum potential benefits that an amalgamated tribunal can bring. That is, to ask what are the ingredients of an optimal amalgamation. This is not a question about whether government decisions to pursue amalgamation are intrinsically worthwhile or beneficial for stakeholders. Rather, it is about how government decisions to amalgamate should best be implemented. This thesis proposes a way of differentiating between good and bad amalgamations, that is grounded in theory and informed by experience to date. The proposed approach is to assess the effectiveness of amalgamation processes using relevant measures drawn from an analysis of organisational theory literature: � Legislation � the legislation establishing an amalgamated tribunal needs to ensure the tribunal will have appropriate independence, powers, processes, membership and structure. � Political commitment � those responsible for proposing and planning an amalgamation need to provide appropriate funding and support for the process and for the establishment of an autonomous, self-directed tribunal. � Organisational structure � the structures put in place need to be appropriate, integrated and flexible, and should promote cohesion and interaction. � Process and procedure � the processes and procedures adopted in an amalgamated tribunal need to capitalise upon the opportunities provided by amalgamation, as well as being appropriate, efficient and able to balance the needs of a range of stakeholders. � Organisational culture � an organisational culture which counters natural tendencies towards disjunction will assist members and staff to identify with a newly amalgamated tribunal and to implement initiatives that will improve its performance. � Leadership � effective leadership plays an important role in ensuring a smooth transition from specialist to amalgamated tribunal, and engendering commitment from members and staff. Broadly speaking, these factors fall into the four categories of law, context, organisation and people. It is argued that attention must be paid to all four of these ingredients in order to achieve optimal tribunal reform. The thesis tests this proposition by examining the three most advanced tribunal amalgamations so far, namely, the Commonwealth ART, the NSW ADT and VCAT in Victoria. It is argued that the fate of the Commonwealth ART proposal proves the importance of a solid, generally endorsed legislative foundation in creating a viable amalgamated tribunal. The importance of context, organisation and people is borne out by qualitative research into the amalgamation experiences in NSW and Victoria. The fact that the NSW and Victorian governments decided to pursue policies of amalgamation at the same time provided a unique opportunity to compare the success or otherwise of two concurrent attempts at amalgamation in different jurisdictions. This thesis finds that the unfavourable political context in NSW prevented the ADT from realising its potential. In contrast, the VCAT experience highlights the benefits of paying careful attention to the wide range of factors that can contribute to a successful amalgamation. Of most relevance are the initial scale of an amalgamation, the political �will� behind its implementation, the appointment of a core of full-time members, and the creation of an open institutional culture which facilitates the sharing of information. In short, the thesis concludes that the successful construction and consolidation of a tribunal post-amalgamation requires that the necessary ingredients of optimal tribunal reform � legislation, context, organisation and people � are thoughtfully addressed.

<p>Background: Due to constant changes and unpredictability in a turbulent environment, the traditional way of planning does not seem to work anymore. Therefore, new approaches to the external and internal conditions need to develop in order to cope with the environmental turbulence. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to define a turbulent environment and identify how an organisation can cope with this environment. Procedure: We have developed a frame of reference mainly consisting of theories regarding a turbulent environment and change. In addition, we have selected eight guiding factors, which we have used when studying, systemising, and comparing how contemporary literature suggests that an organisation can cope with a turbulent environment. </p><p>Results: The conclusions we have come to are that with a definition of the environment as being fast-changing and of chaotic nature, where the changes are continuous, emergent, small, big or somewhere in between, and where paradoxes play an important role, it is necessary to develop an organisational structure, leadership, human resource, and corporate culture, in which the objective always is to create dynamics and to build in an acceptance of change.</p>

<p>The Swedish membership in the European Union has led to a closer connection to all other member nations. Big opportunities have arisen for Swedish organizations since the boarders have opened up and one large internal market has emerged.</p><p> </p><p>However, this dynamic environment is more demanding and put higher pressure on the organizations flexibility and ability to adapt to common laws and requirements.</p><p> </p><p>The winning organizations in this globalizations are the once which organizational structure are built in a way to handle the constant changes in the market and are capable to adapt to the ongoing changing needs and requirements.</p><p> </p><p>From the problem formulation of the study, <strong>How has the work been carried out at swedish listed organizations in order to adopt to the EU requirements for the members to set up their accounting according to the international accounting principles?, </strong>the purpose is to from a organizational perspective and with Swedish empirical studies, try and contribute to increased insights in the subject of forced changes and generate theories focusing on Swedish organizations. A sub purpose is to discuss and reflect on the differences between forced and voluntary changes.</p><p> </p><p>A qualitative method has been used, and representatives from eight different listed companies, active in different line of businesses have participated. The results show that the implementation process has been smoother than first expected. Furthermore, the research shows that companies do not make a distinction between forced or voluntary changes.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to this we present a model that identifies areas that organizations ought to focus on in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their change process and the reason we argue that organizations should set up the change process differently depending on the type of change they are facing.</p>

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Background: Due to constant changes and unpredictability in a turbulent environment, the traditional way of planning does not seem to work anymore. Therefore, new approaches to the external and internal conditions need to develop in order to cope with the environmental turbulence. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to define a turbulent environment and identify how an organisation can cope with this environment. Procedure: We have developed a frame of reference mainly consisting of theories regarding a turbulent environment and change. In addition, we have selected eight guiding factors, which we have used when studying, systemising, and comparing how contemporary literature suggests that an organisation can cope with a turbulent environment. Results: The conclusions we have come to are that with a definition of the environment as being fast-changing and of chaotic nature, where the changes are continuous, emergent, small, big or somewhere in between, and where paradoxes play an important role, it is necessary to develop an organisational structure, leadership, human resource, and corporate culture, in which the objective always is to create dynamics and to build in an acceptance of change.

Background: Acquisitions are a well-known method for increasing company size and strength on the market. But to reach the targets set, more than just a positive economic calculation is required. An atmosphere that supports the company's integration is needed, for which it is of great importance for management to understand the underlying sets of values that exist in the organisation, and to take into consideration the way they might become an obstacle or a tool for a successful integration. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explain and understand how cultural change occurs and how it affects the employee, as a smaller company is bought and integrated into a larger organisation. Procedure: The analysis is based on theories on organisational culture and organisational change. Data was collected through personal interviews with five employees at Sydkraft Service Partners (SSP), but also the authors'own observations and Sydkraft's internal press material, have contributed to the knowledge of the case company. Conclusions: The culture in SPP is structured after a model based on levels of consciousness, where the visual aspects on culture (the artefacts) are considered to reflect the underlying sets of values and fundamental notions that the culture consists of. These are partly influenced by the artefacts, but can also be of a threat to the culture change process. To accomplish a successful integration, good leadership that can communicate the new set of values is required.

Criticism concerning quality deficiencies and high production costs for housing has made many construction companies make efforts to improve performance, inspired by ideas from the manufacturing industry and in particular the car industry. This is often referred to as industrialised building. The ideas are not new but so far their spread has been limited. This study covers two years of one current effort to industrialise house building in a Swedish construction company, the Peab group. An investment in a new factory for automated production of concrete building elements had been made and start up of production in the factory took place during the time of the study. Two subunits, a contractor and a structural building element supplier were involved in the industrialisation effort and the study is confined to these. To improve performance, a prefabricated building system including Peab standards was to be developed and used across the organisation, instead of the existing local solutions. A project, Peab Gemensamt System concept (PGS), was established to conduct the task. The focus for the study is on the facilitators and barriers to make organisational changes for the purpose of industrialising house building in a construction company. Observations were made at meetings with the PGS core team and the involved Peab group staff was interviewed. Notions of organisational competence and embedded knowledge and action were applied to describe the studied company’s specific organisational context and to identify facilitators and barriers. Conclusions concern how organisational context, content of change and the change process interrelated and formed the outcome. In this case, fundamental ideas for change became local attempts. Establishing a project, PGS, for conducting change was new to the target organisation. Facilitators were not created to allow the organisation to learn to change in this new way. The PGS project could therefore not contribute directly to change. One building project introduced a prefabricated building system. It was beyond the team’s control to make necessary changes to benefit from it. Therefore, temporary adaptations to prevailing organisational conditions were made. Another building project introduced a new way of working during the detail design stage. It was within the team’s control to make necessary changes to benefit from it. Existing organisational competence could therefore be enhanced. The new factory had the potential to rationalise production of building elements, but it did not automatically solve problems related to the collaboration between the building element supplier and the contractor. Issues for improving performance through the studied ideas for industrialisation emerge from this. These concern combining the contractor’s and building element supplier’s different ways of working; meeting customer requirements while realising certain industrialisation ideas; and the roles of the permanent and temporary organisations for embedding knowledge without losing flexibility. / QC 20100924

The Swedish membership in the European Union has led to a closer connection to all other member nations. Big opportunities have arisen for Swedish organizations since the boarders have opened up and one large internal market has emerged.   However, this dynamic environment is more demanding and put higher pressure on the organizations flexibility and ability to adapt to common laws and requirements.   The winning organizations in this globalizations are the once which organizational structure are built in a way to handle the constant changes in the market and are capable to adapt to the ongoing changing needs and requirements.   From the problem formulation of the study, How has the work been carried out at swedish listed organizations in order to adopt to the EU requirements for the members to set up their accounting according to the international accounting principles?, the purpose is to from a organizational perspective and with Swedish empirical studies, try and contribute to increased insights in the subject of forced changes and generate theories focusing on Swedish organizations. A sub purpose is to discuss and reflect on the differences between forced and voluntary changes.   A qualitative method has been used, and representatives from eight different listed companies, active in different line of businesses have participated. The results show that the implementation process has been smoother than first expected. Furthermore, the research shows that companies do not make a distinction between forced or voluntary changes.   In addition to this we present a model that identifies areas that organizations ought to focus on in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their change process and the reason we argue that organizations should set up the change process differently depending on the type of change they are facing.

<p>In the information systems development process there are important success factors. By doing an extensive literature survey we have found that these factors emerge mainly from organisational issues concerning the objective of the process and the stakeholders.One factor - to discuss the system, its subsystems and to define the system's boundary - is a prerequisite for all the others. Factors emerging from the objective are mainly about the objective being well analysed and defined, being accepted among the stakeholders and meeting business objectives. Factors emerging from stakeholders are mainly about involving the right stakeholders in the process, achieving a positive attitude and taking care of their needs about knowledge and confidence. Based on this we have developed a framework aiming to guide organisations in what considerations they should make before the project begins. As a result of our framework there will be both a clear objective, which support the business mission, as well as positive stakeholders to support the information systems development process.</p>