Innovation is a necessity, not a nicety - but many companies still think of innovation as being important rather than urgent. For innovation to be successful, it requires different behaviours and new ways of thinking. It is fundamentally a human activity; hence the people that make innovation a reality are the inner workings of this process. In this study, a measurement tool has been designed to assess the different types of personalities that exist in new product development teams. A model has also been proposed. This model classifies the different personalities according to their dominant traits. It was derived from a tool that is well known within many innovation driven organisations: the model for assessing brand personalities that is very similar to the Heylen model. Using this model, a new model is proposed for the assessment of individual personalities. The individual personality types were established and the overall team structure was examined to determine if diverse personality innovation teams have any correlation with the perceived output of innovation. This study served the purpose of determining if this relationship exists as well as introducing a new model for the classification of different personality types. Three companies within the Durban region were selected and upon investigation it was learned that there does exist a relationship between diverse personality innovation teams and the perceived output of the process. It was learned that diversity does contribute to the measured innovation output. There were four different personality types classified. It was established that too many of one or more type of personality (e.g. originators or effectors) or the lack of other types (in this case motivators) in a new product development team hinders the optimal output of the process i.e. it effectively delays innovation and a valuable market offering since the abundant personality types dominate with their respective functions and inhibit other critical functions for the innovation journey to run smoothly. Effective innovation is about each personality type adding his/her contribution to the process. In this study it was established that not many motivators were identified in teams and an increase in originators and effectors correlated with a decrease in perceived innovation output. Each team member exists in a team at the opportunity cost of another, and it is essential that the right mix of personalities be present for effective innovation. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

This study examines the efficacy of change management following an acquisition by a multinational corporation. Staff turnover records are examined to determine whether there are significant changes in staff turnover before and after critical events in the change process. Staff exit questionnaires are examined to determine employees' reasons for leaving. The key change agents are interviewed to obtain their perspectives on the change process. Our conclusion is that the change has been generally well-managed, although more attention could have been paid to the individual groups that make up the staff, and that communication could have been improved. Our recommendation is that a follow-up study be conducted to gauge employee attitudes following the relocation. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The manufacturing industry of eThekwini municipality has been the most important aspect of economic development and job creation. This sector currently contributes 22% of gross domestic product to the local economy, with finance and transport being the other major sectors. The growth in manufacturing has averaged about 1% per annum over the past 10 years which has contributed to jobless growth of eThekwini. Whilst policy makers have realized the importance of the manufacturing industry, the important sub-sectors within the manufacturing industry are proving to be uncompetitive in a more open economy as they are faced with numerous growth challenges. The rationale of this study was to investigate the factors that affect the growth of manufacturing businesses that operates within the eThekwini municipality. Despite the contributions of the manufacturing businesses to the local economy, this sector has never been given due attention as past studies of business performance had been biased towards larger businesses. For the purposes of this study, the questionnaire used was aimed at respondents who own manufacturing businesses within the area. Questions were distributed electronically via QuestionPro to 100 respondents and 76 respondents accessed the questionnaire with 44 respondents who completed the survey which gave the completion rate of 44%. The results from the respondents indicated that access to finance or credit, business skills, technology and globalisation were the factors that negatively affects the growth of the manufacturing businesses. The results also indicate that the unpredictable business environment, the regulatory environment and other economic factors such as inflation also affect the growth of the manufacturing businesses. The quantitative results supported by the literature review confirm that these factors affect development and growth of businesses especially small manufacturing businesses. Recommendations is also made on the actions to be undertaken to address factors affecting manufacturing businesses. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

Purpose - The purpose of the study was to determine the drivers of employee engagement in a lean manufacturing environment during a period of change. It also highlighted the importance of employee engagement with regards to the improvement of organisational performance especially in a lean manufacturing environment during the change. Design/methodology/approach – The most frequently mentioned drivers of employee engagement in relation to change and a lean environment were identified through a literature study. The potential drivers that emerged were vision, leadership, communication, immediate supervisory behaviour, team collaboration and training/career development. An empirical study was then carried out to study the impact of these factors on affective commitment, volunteerism and sportsmanship, the latter two are components of organisational citizenship behaviour. A survey with a questionnaire was conducted amongst 86 employees in a lean manufacturing organisation, which was undergoing change. The data analyses included descriptive statistics, correlations and multiple regression analysis. Findings – It was observed that all the six identified drivers of employee engagement namely: Vision, Leadership, Communication, Immediate Supervisor Behaviour, Team Collaboration and Training and Career Development explained 61.2 per cent of the variance in the employee engagement. However, the variables that had the biggest impact on employee engagement were the articulation of the organisational change Vision, Team Collaboration and Immediate Supervisor Behaviour. Practical implications – The results of the study emphasise that special focus and effort must be placed on factors affecting Vision, Team Collaboration and Immediate Supervisor Behaviour as they have shown significantly higher influence on employee engagement in a lean manufacturing environment during a period of change.

ABSTRACT BEST PRACTICES IN LEADING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IN THE LOCAL CHURCH: A MULTI-CASE STUDY Juan Carlos Martinez Robleto, Ed.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015 Chair: Shane W. Parker, Ph.D. The current study was designed to identify embedded best practices for leading organizational change in the local church ministering in an urban context. The study also sought to determine whether it was possible for the leadership in the local church to lead their congregations through successful organizational change and meaningful culture engagement without forsaking biblical and theological orthodoxy. The study validates the majority of best practices identified through the literature review and it also encountered distinctive best practices common to all three participating sites that are unique to the ministry contexts of the local church. These five distinctive best practices are: allowing doctrine and theology to inform practice, discipleship, preaching, adaptation and flexibility, and internal cultural change through transformational leadership. Chapter 1 introduces the research problem and the purpose of the research study. Chapter 2 reviews extensively the precedent literature on the subject of organizational change. This chapter emphasizes the church’s role as an organizational system and provides essential information on the area of leadership. It also focuses on John Kotter’s 8-Stage Process for leading organizational change and The Transformational Journey Method proposed by Jim Harrington, Mike Bonem, and James H. Furr. Chapter 3 provides a detailed explanation of the research methodology of the entire research study while describing the roles of the case study and content analysis approaches. Chapter 4 provides a profound and detailed analysis of the findings, and chapter 5 offers some concluding thoughts regarding the study’s contribution to the literature base as well as considerations for future research.

D.Litt et Phil. / Dynamic organisations with information technology driven infrastructures are invariably in a state of change, which can be attributed to a multitude of planned (as opposed to forced) interventions. Planned interventions can vary greatly in format and the following serves as examples: • Change required as a result of a new management structure being introduced. • New systems or technology being implemented. • Processes being improved or changed. • New corporate cultures being established. • Changing market focus. • Business Process Reengineering initiatives. Business process reengineering flowing from a planned intervention would normally culminate in a requirement for a further planned intervention in the form of change management to be implemented. This is required to not only ensure that end to end processes are established to ultimately culminate in sustained process improvement and competitive advantage, but also that the impact of such process changes map to the subsequent cultural and organisational change requirements. Should these entities however be undertaken against the background of a forced intervention, a new approach is required to ensure that not only processes are catered for, but also include behavioural and organisational considerations. Research hypothesis validation was conducted in two organisations of which one served as a Control Group, while the other organisation was split to form two separate and distinct research groups. Into the first research group of the latter organisation (Experimental Group B), the Transformation Process model, which forms the focus of this thesis was introduced to facilitate the implementation of business process reengineering and change management as planned interventions and affirmative action as the forced intervention. In terms of the methodology of the Transformation Process model, any process entity is required to be infused and mapped to a change entity and thereafter superimposed onto the applicable forced intervention in symbiotic unison to test the hypothesis. Into the second research group (Experimental Group A) the same interventions were implemented as in the case of Experimental Group B, however not in terms of the Transformation Process model, but in the traditional way whereby process change was followed by organisational change the latter, which included the forced intervention.

M.A. / Organisational transformation has become a way of life. Transformation may be prompted by forces internal and external to the organisation. Typical organisational transformation involves the restructuring or elimination of jobs. Transformation of any organisation necessarily balances the elimination of outdated systems alongside the preservation of core assets. Change creates pressure in any organisation. This is especially true when the organisation has not had much experience in dealing with it. The first taste of major change in this situation can be traumatic. Organisational transition is slow, expensive and difficult. There is a tendency to believe that change can be instant, painless and quick. The process of making a major change to an organisation's identity requires people to let go of "how it was" and move through a period of doubt and uncertainty. The focus of this study is on describing the attitude of workers towards transformation. A standardised scale was used as a way of measuring the feelings and attitudes of workers towards transformation. The actual result reported from this study indicates that there is a lot of negative feelings and attitudes towards the whole transformation process.

The research objectives which underpin this study were threefold. Firstly was to analyze the Port Elizabeth Hospital Complex (PEHC) restructuring process from a planned changed management perspective in particular the three stage model of Lewin (1951) which include unfreezing the current equilibrium, moving to a new position and refreezing in the new position. Secondly was to analyze how unforeseen circumstances were dealt with. Thirdly was to analyse the setting of objectives and measurements of targets to monitor progress. The study is based on the restructuring that took place in the PEHC which was called “Rationalization”. The research indicates that the development and implementation of the rationalization cannot be understood from the perspective of the three stage model of Lewin (1951). The conclusion was based on the manager’s perceptions of their analysis of the restructuring in the light of the theory of the three stage model of Lewin (1951). The study has shown that: · Rationalisation began by gathering information on the shortcomings of the structure of the three hospitals, but did not understand the degree of readiness to change. · The timescales for achieving rationalization were not clearly defined. · It was driven from the top with clear objectives and no timescales. · There was no structure that prepared the employees to go through the process of rationalisation. · There was lack of capacity of middle managers to respond to the workers in an encouraging way. · Rationalisation sub-committees had limited time to meet with employees at the sectional level. · External stakeholder involvement was not mobilized to its full potential. · Rationalisation was not an open process that involved both formal and informal employees. · Budget constraints and staff shortages were not informed by the restructuring needs. · Workers did not feel secure about the current and future work practises. · There was no feeling that the change will be beneficial to their wellbeing and to the organisation’s goals and mission · There was no monitoring and evaluation put in place to track progress. · There was centralisation of even the most basic administrative functions. The study seems to imply that the restructuring in the PEHC bears no resemblance to the Lewin (1951) planned change model and therefore cannot be understood from the perspective of this model. Given the initiative to rationalize, the PEHC management can learn from the model of Lewin (1951) planned change.

[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.

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.