The recent global economic challenges have drastically impacted several economic sectors across the world.
As such, Eskom, the South African electricity utility, has experienced a number of changes, ranging from the
organisational structure to the functional processes or models, to meet the demands of the volatile global
market. This research acknowledges that the Eskom Transmission organisation, a division within Eskom, has
interrelated departmental processes. However, the transition from the conceptual phase to the execution
(implementation) phase had a number of misalignments. These manifested in the following challenges,
amongst others: late execution and completion of projects which often results in cost overruns; poor quality
completed projects; a high number of projects at execution stage with inadequately defined scope of work
which led to scope changes during implementation; and a high staff turnover, particularly of project
managers. As such, the project lifecycle model was adapted to address these challenges. This research
focused on the change management principles that were followed in realising the new Eskom Transmission
lifecycle model, and investigated the impact that this had on the people “living” with the new model as well
as the inter-departmental relations, control mechanisms, attitude towards the management, and organisational
performance. Available literature on change management, as well as some aspects of organisational
behaviour, such as organisational performance, were utilised to try and provide an understanding of the
above-mentioned areas of interest. The chosen and most appropriate methodology for collecting data was the
qualitative approach as it allowed for descriptive and extensive information gathering. The researcher sought
subjective information through human interpretation. For data collection, a comprehensive questionnaire for
all the stakeholder groups was used, as well as documentation analysis. The data was then analysed and
interpreted, which allowed for pertinent findings and recommendations to be made. The findings included
the establishment that Eskom Transmission adapted Kotter’s (1988) eight stage model in implementing its
new lifecycle model. The impact of Eskom Transmission’s new lifecycle model on the people “living” with
this model was found to be premature to measure. However, an improvement has been noted in the definition
of the scope of work for projects, possibly owing to more effective interactions between employees during
project meetings and is an indication that the new model is a contributor towards improving Eskom’s
organisational performance. Further findings included inadequate stakeholder consultation, which rendered
the followed implementation strategy non-optimal; as well as varied stakeholder views on the support of the
new lifecycle model for Eskom Transmission’s goals and vision. The latter suggests an opportunity for
Eskom Transmission management to review the lifecycle model to improve its alignment to the division’s
goals and vision in order to encourage commitment levels which, amongst others, impact organisational
effectiveness. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/9934 |
| Date | 07 November 2013 |
| Creators | Hadebe, Dudu Promise. |
| Contributors | Pillay, Kriben., Gerwel, Cecile. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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