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The thesis was based on a unique opportunity to compare the perceptions of participants before and after a scenario planning project conducted in a water utility. The researcher was able to explore the perceptions of the participants of scenario planning as a change agent directly, and so address a concern in some of the literature that much of the body of knowledge on scenario planning has been filtered through the viewpoints of scenario planning practitioners. Through the use of an adapted grounded theory approach, the perceptions of the participants emerged independently of a pre-conceived theoretical framework and explanations of the outcomes of the process were developed from this data. As well, the assumptions behind the practice of scenario planning were explored and from this a theory for scenario planning was developed. This was effected while constant comparison of concepts emerging from the data was in progress and provided a theoretical framework for the discussion of the empirical research. In this case scenario planning was perceived more as an instrument than as an agent of change, with a role of setting a framework for the strategic conversation in the subsequent phases of the change initiative. The outcomes of the research illustrated that uncertainties internal to the organisation had affected the implementation of change. In particular the conceptual ecologies of people in the organisation were not explored in depth, and this perpetuated a driving force for the future of the organisation that was not merely uncertain but remained unknowable. It was concluded that whether a scenario planning project achieved its objectives was matter of perception, with evaluation differing depending on the viewpoint taken. / Change of mind-set was not necessarily needed for a change of strategic direction, which could be explained using a political metaphor. However, for cultural change to be effected, there was a need for operatives to identify with it. It was concluded from this case that unless change and/or the change process were adapted to resonate with the world views of the operatives, it was unlikely it would become embedded in the organisation and may be resisted. Conceptual ecologies needed to be explored for this adaptation to occur.

Organizational Change has become a maintrend nowadays, due to the influence of globalization, customer need, technology innovations and the convenience of information acquisition. By reviewing relative literature extensively, it is found that the research on how organizational culture and organizational learning affect organizational change is very seldom, thus this research is intended to aim at this topic finding out if there is any relationship. The questionnaire is distributed to 400 employees from four companies, 178 pcs questionnaire is returned, and 103 pcs complete questionnaire is analysised. After examining the reliability and validy by cronbach alpha and factor analysis, this research do the analysis of variance and multiple regression, and finally finding out the following conclusions, 1. Employee¡¦s perception to organizational culture ¡§innovations¡¨ has a sigificant positive effects on their resistance to change of ¡§subjective acceptance.¡§ 2. Employee¡¦s perception to organizational culture ¡§customer orientation¡¨ has a sigificant positive effects on their resistance to change of ¡§subjective acceptance.¡§ 3. Employee¡¦s perception to organizational culture ¡§innovations¡¨ has a sigificant positive effects on their resistance to change of ¡§objective identity.¡§ 4. Employee¡¦s perception to organizational culture ¡§teamwork¡¨ has a sigificant positive effects on their resistance to change of ¡§objective identity.¡§ 5. Employee¡¦s perception to organizational culture ¡§customer orientation¡¨ has a sigificant positive effects on their resistance to change of ¡§objective identity.¡§ 6. Compare to employee¡¦s attitude of production and manufacturing dept., employee¡¦s attitude of information technology dept. and marketing & sales dept. show low level resistance to change in ¡§subjective acceptance.¡§ 7. Compare to employee¡¦s attitude of production and manufacturing dept., employee¡¦s attitude of information technology dept. and research & development dept. show low level resistance to change in ¡§objective identity.¡§

Background: Wilderness therapy is one type of residential treatment that has been shown to successfully engage adolescents in mental health and substance use treatment. A growing body of wilderness therapy outcomes research supports this and wilderness therapy is being increasingly recognized as a legitimate intervention for adolescents experiencing challenges with mental health and substance use. Some evidence suggests that not all elements of wilderness therapy necessarily work the same for all clients. The question of client fit in wilderness therapy, or what works for whom, is one that has yet to receive much empirical attention in the literature. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how participation in one Canadian wilderness therapy program effects two outcome variables, trait emotional intelligence and readiness to change, and how client fit moderates these relationship. Specifically, this research examines: (1) changes in clients’ trait emotional intelligence from pre- to post-wilderness therapy, (2) changes in clients’ readiness to change from pre- to post-wilderness therapy, and (3) if these changes differ by pre-treatment client-level variables – sex, age, funding, digital interference in everyday life, or substance abuse severity. Methodology: Research was conducted with 48 participants ranging in age from 14 to 20 years. A longitudinal case study design was employed. Data were gathered by program staff using standardized data collection tools, modified versions of standardized tools, and administrative forms. Findings/Conclusions: Findings indicate that participation in this Canadian wilderness therapy program leads to statistically significant increases in readiness to change but not trait emotional intelligence. On average, participants who experienced interference in their everyday life due to video games or online activity before wilderness therapy had larger trait emotional intelligence change scores, while participants who experienced interference in their everyday life due to a virtual relationship had larger changes in readiness to change. None of the client-level pre-treatment variables included in this study significantly predicted increases in readiness to change following wilderness therapy. / Graduate / 2021-12-08

In a fast paced change external and internal business environment in which businesses are to deliver to their maximum capacity, there is little room for resistance to change by employees. Acknowledging all the elements responsible for resistance to change within the corporate world, the study aimed to find if there is any relationship between the emotional intelligence of employees and their resistance to change initiatives which slows down company potential to stay abreast of market needs. By making use of a 4-point Likert type scale and questionnaire data was collected from 47 pharmaceutical representatives based in 5 different provinces within South Africa. The analysis was done based on a variety of statistical methods such as Mann Whitney, Spearman’s rho’s. The results suggest that there is a definite relationship between the overall emotional intelligence of employees and resistance to change. The study focusses its efforts on the pharmaceutical industry that offers service and products to healthcare professionals. Perhaps research on other sectors of the business could offer a broader view of the impact of emotional intelligence on resistance to change as the representatives only make up a small proportion of the overall business. An important insight of this study is that emotional intelligence has proven to play a very significant role in a variety of functions of the business and deserves deeper investigation and attention. Although only a small share of the business formed part of the sample of the study, it is clear that the company has to address resistance to change and the initiators thereof. Little study has been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence and resistance to change within the South African market, adding available data relating to the topic relationship and importance. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In a fast paced change external and internal business environment in which businesses are to deliver to their maximum capacity, there is little room for resistance to change by employees. Acknowledging all the elements responsible for resistance to change within the corporate world, the study aimed to find if there is any relationship between the emotional intelligence of employees and their resistance to change initiatives which slows down company potential to stay abreast of market needs. By making use of a 4-point Likert type scale and questionnaire data was collected from 47 pharmaceutical representatives based in 5 different provinces within South Africa. The analysis was done based on a variety of statistical methods such as Mann Whitney, Spearman’s rho’s. The results suggest that there is a definite relationship between the overall emotional intelligence of employees and resistance to change. The study focusses its efforts on the pharmaceutical industry that offers service and products to healthcare professionals. Perhaps research on other sectors of the business could offer a broader view of the impact of emotional intelligence on resistance to change as the representatives only make up a small proportion of the overall business. An important insight of this study is that emotional intelligence has proven to play a very significant role in a variety of functions of the business and deserves deeper investigation and attention. Although only a small share of the business formed part of the sample of the study, it is clear that the company has to address resistance to change and the initiators thereof. Little study has been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence and resistance to change within the South African market, adding available data relating to the topic relationship and importance. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The aim of the present study was to investigate how dispositional resistance to change (RTC) and neuroticism could predict shift work tolerance (SWT) over a period of six months. Electronic questionnaire were completed by 74 shift workers employed in Trondheim municipality in January 2013 (T1) and in June 2013 (T2). The results showed that age, gender, neuroticism, and RTC were related to SWT. Age at T1 predicted better SWT at T2, while male gender predicted worse SWT at T2. RTC at T1 predicted better SWT at T2, while neuroticism at T1 predicted worse SWT at T2. The findings suggest that individual differences, especially neuroticism, can predict SWT over a period of six months.

The importance of enhancing internal communication and its content during organisational change appears to be neglected by many organisations. Although change management literature agrees generally about the role that communication plays in facilitating change, there is still a dearth of empirical studies that focus on improving internal communication during organisational change phases. The evolution of communication technology has provided some new tools that can enhance internal communication within an organisation. This study explores the role of using of one of these new communication technologies in communicating organisational change through the development of a novel conceptual model. The developed model covers the communication needs in each phase of a planned change, and combines the benefits of communicating organisational change with the benefits of using Enterprise Social Networks (ESN), as found in the literature. The aim is to investigate empirically how ESN as a new internal communication technology can be employed to communicate organisational change effectively in order to facilitate that change. To do so, the researcher in this study has applied a qualitative approach through a case study strategy in order to validate the conceptual model being proposed. The researcher conducted 32 interviews and analysed all of them qualitatively using Nvivo software. The findings of the conducted study revealed that using ESN had many positive impacts on employees, such as increasing their awareness, engagement and participation, which helped to facilitate the overall change projects. Moreover, the study proved the suitability of the validated novel model to contribute in facilitating organisational change through ESN, which can guide leaders, managers, change agents and academics on how ESN can be used to communicate planned change effectively in order to facilitate it.

The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate and is implicated in the onset of serious and life threatening health problems of both a physical and psychological nature. The current research comprised of three main components. Firstly, the reliability of a readiness to change questionnaire was examined, which had been completed by parents of obese children enrolled in the Bodywise childhood obesity programme. Secondly, an analysis of outcome data from 36 families who completed the above programme was also undertaken in order to determine if the data identified their stage of change, as defined by the questionnaire Thirdly, four semi-structured interviews were conducted with families involved with the Bodywise programme. These parents provided information related to their experiences of lifestyle change, including what initiated change, what assisted change, and what barriers to change they had encountered. Findings revealed that in accordance with the transtheoretical model the readiness to change questionnaire was a reasonably reliable instrument for indentifying parents' readiness to change their child's eating patterns and physical activity levels. Analysis of the outcome data from the 36 families revealed individuals in the action stage of change for both eating and physical activity made more rapid change at the outset of the programme than individuals in earlier stages of change. In addition, information derived from the interviews with families identified several promoters and barriers to change, many of which were similar across families. Until now no studies have examined the application of the transtheoretical model to an intervention for childhood obesity. Previous research has shown support for the model's use with other health problems. Overall this study lends support for the utility of the transtheoretical model in childhood obesity intervention.

This exploratory research investigates students’ responses to innovative instructional methods, focusing primarily on identifying the barriers that discourage students from engaging with methods that are new or not expected. The instructional methods explored are examples of learning-centred teaching and assessment methods, and are considered to be innovative since they are not yet widely used in higher education. To investigate this issue, literature from organizational change management, resistance to change, and higher education is reviewed. Gaps from the higher education literature suggest that no comprehensive framework or model exists regarding students’ barriers to engaging with innovative, learning-centred instructional methods. Additionally, few studies compare faculty member and student perceptions, clarify whether the instructional methods studied are innovative for the students, or apply theories and concepts from the change management literature. This research attempts to address these gaps. Case study methodology is selected to enable a detailed study of a course that employs innovative instructional methods. A modified grounded theory approach is used to inform both research instrument design and data analyses. Data are collected from multiple sources and via multiple methods, and both thematic and comparative analyses are presented. Overall, support is found for the four research propositions posed. The students’ barriers fall into eight key themes, and comprise various codes and properties to provide further understanding. The saliency of the codes appears to vary by time of term and type of instructional method. Other relevant factors include: the students’ year of study and amount of instructional variety, the academic discipline and culture of the innovative course, and misalignments between the students’ and instructor’s perceptions of the barriers to change. The value of course evaluation data as feedback about innovative courses is also questioned. Finally, connections are made between the findings and the Reasoned Action Approach theory for future possible research. The findings provide a new comprehensive barrier framework, analytic fishbone tool, and testable theory to help guide the development of future research projects. Additionally, future practitioners – both faculty members and educational developers – can benefit from knowing what factors to consider when planning for and confronting student resistance to innovative instructional methods.