The South African Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) has been, over much of the last century, dominated by Eskom, a large and powerful state-owned, vertically-integrated monopoly. It produces 97 % of the electricity generated in the country and that represents almost 60% of the electricity generated on the entire continent of Africa. However, recent studies of the company's performance have lead to a decision to reorganize the industry due to the realization of poor investment decisions made in the past, which resulted in massive costs to the company. The distribution business in the industry has been hugely affected by these past inconsistencies, thus in line with global trends and escalating problems, the South African Cabinet approved the restructuring of the Electricity Distribution Industry (EDI) in nineteen ninety eight, ahead of restructuring of the entire Electricity Supply Industry (ESI). There is currently a large number of municipalities plus Eskom in South Africa supplying electricity to consumers - leading to disparities in tariffs and prices. To resolve these issues, has accepted a proposal that Eskom and municipalities amalgamate to form six independent, financially viable Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs). It is no secret that electricity in South Africa has consistently been amongst the cheapest in the world. This is credited to two principles; an abundant reserve of cheap coal resulting in economical production of electricity; and, the fact that there is still a number of citizens with no access to electricity. This is a concern for the Electricity Pricing sector now faced with the task to rationalise the price inequalities in the distribution business to be fair and equitable to all customers. The Eskom Distribution Electricity Pricing team is currently undertaking the Cost-based Tariff Design project to address tariff objectives such as; cost reflectivity and transparency. The Competency Building phase within this project affords potential future RED staff members opportunities to learn a broad overview about designing tariffs. This dissertation will report on, dissect, analyze and discuss results, and recommend the probable future of the project in light of the dynamic nature of the developments in the EDI restructuring process. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

The frequency of organisational change is accelerating to a level where change is becoming a norm of organisational life today. This change comes in different forms, whether planned or emergent. Regardless of whether it comes as planned or as emergent, organisations must respond to change by adopting and applying dynamic and responsive management approaches in order to manage the transition successfully. The overall aim of this study is to view organisational change through the application of strategic thinking. A framework of strategic thinking is therefore developed. In terms of this framework, successful management of organisational change is attributed to the following key elements: • Vision-building • Systems thinking • Complex adaptive systems • Organisational learning • Scenario planning Following the framework of strategic thinking developed, an assessment of two organisations that are currently undergoing a process of organisational change is undertaken. The two organisations are the Lesotho Electricity Corporation and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The key motivation for this study was to determine whether or not the two aforementioned organisations apply the key elements of strategic thinking in managing their change-related endeavours. With regard to vision-building, the findings of the research reveal that in the case of the Lesotho Electricity Corporation, a comprehensive process of vision-building or vision development of the desired future of the Corporation was carried out. This process was designed to facilitate a better understanding of the Corporation's major strategic purpose with the key focus on defining and creating a desired future state of the restructuring programme. In contrast, the findings reveal that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare does not have a vision for its restructuring programme. In relation to systems thinking, the findings suggest that the Lesotho Electricity Corporation has partly applied the principles of systems thinking. However, in the case of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, systems thinking is not applied at all. With regard to the concept of complex adaptive systems, the findings reveal that in managing its restructuring programme, the Lesotho Electricity Corporation is behaving like a complex adaptive system, since it applies adaptive strategic approaches, which are determined by the circumstances at hand. On the other hand, the findings suggest that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is not behaving like a complex adaptive system in managing its restructuring programme, as it relies only on predetermined strategic approaches, which inhibit the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances. In terms of organisational learning, it is evident from the findings that the learning culture is encouraged and facilitated in the case of the Lesotho Electricity Corporation. Conversely, the findings indicate that the restructuring programme of the health sector is restricted by inadequate organisational learning efforts undertaken by the management of the Ministry. In relation to scenario planning, the findings reveal that the Lesotho Electricity Corporation does not apply scenario planning in its restructuring programme as a strategic tool that explores alternative futures in uncertain environments. On the other hand, the findings indicate that although the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare suggests that it applies scenario planning as a strategic approach, it is evident that its application is done at a very superficial level. The above findings indicate the diverse strategic approaches applied by the two organisations. Following the framework of strategic thinking, the Lesotho Electricity Corporation is in a better position than the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in many respects. However, even though the Corporation is in a better position in this case, there still remain other areas of strategic thinking that are not applicable or not fully explored by management when addressing the problem situation of the Corporation. In particular, systems thinking is one key element of strategic thinking that has been found partly evident in addressing the problem situation of the Corporation, while scenario planning was found to be not applicable at all. It is in this respect that the study concludes that, in order to achieve successful and sustainable organisational change, the two organisations that are currently undergoing organisational change have to apply the integrated elements of strategic thinking. / Thesis (M. Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2007. / Kellog Foundation.

In the 1970's Kotter wrote an article, Why "Wasting" Time Is More Important Than Ever, in which he described the average manager's day. However, what he described, and what many management texts described was contrastingly different. Texts described highly structured processes whilst Kotter observed the opposite. The interesting insight after revisiting the article, he suggests in a more recent article, What Effective General Managers Really Do, is that he did not think of the word leadership to describe the process he observed. The article, and the more importantly, the language used to describe the process was a function of the era in which the article was written. Surprisingly this was also the period in which strategic planning in organisations was widely used. The language and the times that are characteristic to us today are complexity, discontinuities, uncertainty, rapid change and unpredictability. The 1970's was the era of strategic planning models, the 1980's strategic planning models failed to deliver and so we saw the rise of strategic management, and, in the 21 st century even strategic planning models fail to deal with the current realities so we have strategic leadership. Today we have the language of leadership to describe what most academics and consultants describe as a revolution. This dissertation hopes to build the beginning of a basis for a theory for strategic leadership. Most texts of strategy cover the conceptual models fairly explicitly. However, given that we are in a transition stage from one worldview to another, fundamental assumptions about how we organise, work and hence see the world are questioned and becoming invalid. This therefore calls for a rethinking of the fundamentals that underpin the process of strategy and the models embedded within the various processes. This dissertation highlights the critical concerns for strategy given that there is a shifting worldview. The dissertation covers the basic evolution of organisational design to current practices and thinking. Most importantly the basis for thinking about strategic processes, given that traditional models of organisational design and strategic management fail within the current context. The question for strategic management, is "what next?" • We know that we cannot predict the future. • We understand that there are limits to the speed of growth and more definitely for development. • We can see the limits of management but are still attempting to describe leadership and leadership practices. • We understand the need for the creation of new approaches for organising work in a global context. Such concerns and their relevance for organisational theory, particularly the lack of a general theory of strategy, has led this dissertation to focus primarily on three interrelated areas, viz. strategy, organisational design and systems thinking It was also important to draw on the current failures of strategy in order to inform a position on understanding strategic processes. This dissertation in no way hoped to resolve the above, but rather to begin a process of building new strategic frameworks. Another troubling problem of the strategy field is that there seems to be no deeper consideration given to the problem; that each school seems to further fragment the strategic processes and tends to divide, rather than create a synthesis. It is understood that defining the entire strategic field into one paradigm is not plausible. However, a deeper understanding of the fundamental assumptions that inform the different approaches to strategy will provide insight into the re-conceptualising of strategic processes rather than devising new strategic models. These processes of redefinition involves surfacing of assumptions so as to inform a synthesising (or convergent) process, which follows the divergent creative process. In the strategic field we have witnessed the creative strategic phase, and we now require a convergent approach in order to create new basis of knowledge for strategy. In essence, we need an improved understanding of the nature of the strategic processes rather than creating new tools and models. This requires understanding of complex relationships in interaction. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The ability of an organisation to change and adapt is critical. The process of change however tends to be more challenging than expected during initial planning. Organisations frequently rush into change initiatives; these often result in unintended consequences which may subsequently lead to many change efforts being unsuccessful. There is much contention around issues of participation and communication, and current theory and models are criticised for being inadequate. The skills base of employees and managers are also often inadequate to deal with proposed changes. Problems are seldom handled effectively, thereby decreasing an organisation’s ability to engage in learning. Simulations have proven beneficial in enabling participants from various backgrounds to meaningfully engage by learning from experience. The safety of the environment enables participants to explore ideas and strategies, with the aim of developing abstract thinking by observing and reflecting on experiences from the simulation. This exploratory study therefore set out to investigate how and specifically in which ways simulations can play a role in change management. Relevant literature in the areas of change management, learning, systems thinking, complexity theory and simulations were examined to establish a theoretical grounding. The empirical component of this study focused on the fisheries system in the Western Cape province of South Africa. A qualitative research approach and purposive sampling were employed. Fifteen semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted. Observations and secondary data in the form of archival data, and other relevant organisational documents were also analysed. Subsequent data analysis was then used to uncover the various pertinent issues. A simulation was thereafter designed, piloted with students, and then conducted twice with some of the stakeholders in the fisheries context. This study is significant in understanding how interactive simulations contribute to change management. The main findings from this study indicate that simulation use illustrated how the various stakeholders in a system interact, and how their actions and decisions influence each other. The findings also revealed that simulations were particularly effective in a multiplestakeholder scenario, and could show the role that mental models and stakeholder perceptions play. The findings indicated that simulations could successfully place emphasis on developing capabilities, and highlight how approaches towards communication and participation influence outcomes. General implications based on the findings were derived for change and simulation theory, as well as for the fisheries context. The simulation may be used in other areas of natural resource management, as well as general stakeholder scenarios. It may also be effective in a general organisational setting to re-examine the conventional way of approaching change. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009. / MCM.

This study explores for gender-based differences in the determinants of employee acceptance of organizational change among employees at the University of Botswana. Utilising a sample of 360 respondents drawn from academic and managerial staff the study sought to test for male-female differences in the acceptance of change, explore for male-female differences in the major factors that affect acceptance of change, and to test for male-female differences in the effects of the major determinants of acceptance of organizational change. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data required for the study. The bulk of the data were analysed using SPSS statistical package with the t-test and regression (beta) coefficients ~s the key test statistics. The study showed that the overall acceptance of organizational change among employees was moderate with male and female employees being equally likely to accept the changes taking place at the workplace. However, the sexes differed significantly in the levels of 10 of the 20 determinants of acceptance of change analysed with women, relative to men, being substantially lower in promotional opportunity, work overload, job-skill match, participative management, trust in leadership, receptivity, and in job satisfaction and higher in routinization, enthusiasm, and desire to leave. Results for regression analyses showed that eight (8) of 19 substantive variables were significant determinants of acceptance of change for all employees. However, separate regression models for men and women revealed that 11 of 19 substantive factors were significant determinants of acceptance of change for males compared to two factors for females. Although the level of acceptance of change does not differ by the sex, male and female employees have different orientations to the change processes taking place in the organization and warrant separate treatment by management if organizational change is to be successful and yield the desired results. / Thesis (M.Admin (Public admin)) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2003

This study focuses on the process that individuals who have migrated to Sweden go through when joining the Swedish Democrats (SD), a nationalistic and anti-immigration party. SDs history is filled with Racism and violence, since the parties remodelling in 1988, where the party removed its more extremist and violent grouping, SD have become the third largest political party in Sweden. Through the classic outsider theories of Elias (1999) and Becker (2006) this study is driven to explore a new theoretical view on the process of role and organizational change. By looking at what pushes the individuals away from their former organizational belonging and what pulls them towards SD, this study will try and understand the thought process and decision making of the group, immigrants in SD, around the time before and during their organizational change. As a secondary point to this paper the respondent’s sense of identity and belonging to SD will be studied. How has their change to SD affected their identity as a group and how do other groups affect them when they (SD) are trying to establish their identity. The research behind this paper is based on interviews with individuals that have migrated to Sweden and are public members of the Swedish Democrats.

This research examines how companies adapt to more unpredictable environments by developing dynamic capabilities that help sustain innovation and change. The key explanatory construct is modular architecture - the intentional decomposition of systems (products or processes) into relatively independent sub-units with standard interfaces. The dissertation is structured as three semi-independent papers plus an introduction and a literature review. The literature review describes current theories of modular systems and discusses the similarities and differences to related concepts such as nearly decomposable systems, loose coupling, and vertical decomposition. The literature review identifies three gaps in the current literature. First, there has been a limited degree of theorising on the concept outside the field of technology management. Second, the current literature is based largely on anecdotal case studies and there is little quantitative evidence of the strategic value of modularity. Finally, there is a lack of understanding concerning the implementation of modular architectures. The first paper generalises from product to organisation design and derives five principles for modular organisational architectures. A hypothetical example is developed to illustrate how a large home appliances company might apply these principles to create a process platform consisting of reconfigurable building blocks. The chapter also proposes some extensions of current theory to more realistically adopt modularity concepts in organisation design. The second paper is based on a study that explores the current product and process architectures at three leading manufacturers of vacuum cleaners. It identifies some of the key barriers to increased flexibility among companies in mature industries. It also considers the relative value of modularity for established companies pursuing incremental innovation versus entrepreneurial companies introducing more radical innovations. The third paper presents the results from a survey questionnaire study of companies in the home appliances industry in the UK. and US. The relationship between market context, product and process architecture, strategic flexibility and firm performance is examined by means of structural equations modelling. The results show a positive relationship between modular product architectures and performance, with product model variety as a mediating variable. The thesis makes the following contributions to the existing literature: It complements extant theorising by generalising modular principles to organisation design. It contributes to methodology by developing a questionnaire for assessing modularity in product and process design. Finally, it provides one of the first empirical studies of the effects of modularity on strategic flexibility and firm performance.

Balancing the spheres of employment and family can be an overwhelming task for many employed family members. Jobs are often inflexibly structured and reward systems in organizations are often based on restrictive definitions of career "commitment". As a result, these outmoded organizational structures and erroneous assumptions can penalize employees with family responsibilities. Through their initiation and maintenance of job sharing arrangements, women are actively challenging the validity of such organizational practices. Job sharing allows one to remain active and effective in his or her chosen career while devoting more time to home, family and personal pursuits. Women and men's experience as family members, parents, and employees is constrained by socially constructed notions of gender. Their different actions and experience in this regard affect how they attempt to balance their employment and family responsibilities, as well as how they perceive the job sharing option.

<p>The use of one form or another of team based work organization (TBWO) management policies and practices by firms with the aim of improving organizational performance and employee morale is well documented in popular literature. Empirical research has however found that the implementation of TBWO management policies and practices such as TB training, TB incentive schemes, participation in decision making, work teams etc. had minimal influence on the performance of firms (Locke and Schweiger, 1979).<br /> This research investigated the factors, which account for the effective implementation of TBWO management policies and practices with specific emphasis on three firms in the metal fabrications sector. The reason behind the choice of the three firms in the metal fabrication sector in the Western Cape was that these sites offered a rare opportunity to study the process of the implementation of TBWO. It was a rare opportunity because not many firms have embarked on implementing TBWO in South Africa. It was envisaged that the lessons that emerged from this study would be invaluable for firms that intended implementing workplace change. The level of analysis was the shop floor level at the firms as research has shown that this is the level that plays a critical role in the effectiveness of the TB management policies and practices implemented by the firms.</p>

This study addresses safety issues related to organizational change within safety critical operations, focusing on large-scale nuclear technology operations. Failures in safety critical operations can lead to unacceptable consequences for both man and environment. Given this, a decreased safety level due to organizational change is undesirable. It is, however, estimated that about 75 % of all general organizational changes fail to achieve the goals that are set up for the change (Boonstra, 2004). It is thus important to evaluate the safety impact of a proposed organizational change before it can be accepted for implementation. There is, however, a lack of methods for evaluating the safety impact due to organizational change, and there is also a need for developing knowledge in this field.  The dissertation hence concerns safety evaluation of organizational change, with the general aim to develop knowledge in the area of safety evaluation of organizational change, and also to develop a method for safety evaluation of organizational change. In the thesis, a literature review is presented which deals with significant parts of three areas relevant for the above aim: organizational change, decision theory, and safety science. The empirical parts of the study can be divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the identification of the dynamic aspects of organizational change in nuclear technology organizations. This part was performed by collecting and analyzing data from an already implemented organizational change. The data sources were primarily interviews, internal organizational documentation, and one survey. The second part is concerned with the development and application of a method for evaluating the safety impact due to organizational change. This part was performed by departing from an action research framework, and the developed method was applied to two different but related organizational changes in nuclear technology organizations. The results from the second part primarily concerned experiences related to applying the method for safety evaluation. In the light of the answers to the research questions that were set up for the study some important results are presented. One important result is the developed method, validated from an action research perspective. Other important results are the identification of situations that affect the rational decision making process when performing a safety evaluation, and the presentation of some reasons that explains why these situations occur. Other important tentative conclusions, primarily drawn from the literature review of the study, are that there might be an inherent contradiction between common routines for organizational change processes versus risk- and safety analysis, and that there might also be a contradiction between safety culture and the management literature encouragement of risk taking. / I avhandlingen studeras säkerhet i samband med organisationsförändringar inom säkerhetskritiska verksamheter, med särskilt fokus på de kärntekniska verksamheterna kraftproduktion samt lagring av använt kärnbränsle. Brister inom säkerhetskritiska verksamheter kan leda till oacceptabla konsekvenser för både människa och miljö, vilket naturligtvis innebär att en minskad säkerhetsnivå på grund av till exempel en organisationsförändring är oönskad. Undersökningar har dock visat att rent generellt så misslyckas organisationsförändringar i cirka 75 % av fallen med att nå de mål som satts upp för förändringen (Boonstra, 2004). Det är därför viktigt att värdera hur säkerheten påverkas innan den föreslagna organisationsförändringen implementeras. Avhandlingen fokuserar sålunda på säkerhetsvärdering av organisations-förändringar, och har som övergripande syfte att utveckla kunskap inom området säkerhetsvärdering av organisationsförändringar. I avhandlingen redovisas en litteraturgenomgång som spänner över tre för syftet relevanta områden; organisationsförändring, beslutsteori samt säkerhetsvetenskap. De empiriska delarna av arbete kan delas upp i två övergripande moment. Det första momentet avser de dynamiska aspekterna av organisationsförändringar vid kärntekniska organisationer. Denna del genomfördes genom att data samlandes in från en redan genomförd organisationsförändring. Detta gjordes framförallt genom att analysera och sammanställa resultaten från flera intervjuer, en stor mängd dokument samt en enkätundersökning. Det andra momentet avser utveckling och tillämpning av en metod för att genomföra säkerhetsvärdering av organisationsförändring. Denna del tog sin utgångspunkt i aktionsforskning, och den utvecklade metoden tillämpades vid två olika men sammanhängande förändringar vid storskaliga kärntekniska organisationer. Mot bakgrund av svaren på de forskningsfrågor som sattes upp för arbetet redovisas ett antal resultat. Ett resultat avser den utvecklade metoden för säkerhetsvärdering, vilken validerats ur ett aktionsforskningsperspektiv. Andra resultat avser identifiering av situationer som påverkar den rationella beslutsprocessen vid säkerhetsvärderingar, samt redovisning av orsaker som kan förklara varför dessa situationer uppstår. En annan intressant tentativ slutsats som kan dras från arbetet är att det kan finnas en inneboende motsägelse mellan vanliga rutiner for organisationsförändringsprocesser samt risk- och säkerhetsanalyser.