D.Phil. / The strategic change process that the South African Transport Services, South Africa's largest transport undertaking, had to undergo with its transformation into Transnet Limited in April 1990, was one of the most extensive any undertaking in South Africa had yet to go through. Central to the change process was the transformation of the company from an "undertaking of the State" to a commercialised/privatised entity. The process is characterised by three phases viz. deregulation, commercialisation and possible future privatisation. This discontinuous change process affects every aspect of the company, in particular the Human Resource processes thereof. Against this background an extensive theoretical conceptualisation of change management was devised from a modernist perspective. A model was developed describing the WHY, the WHAT, the HOW (process and micro-dynamics) and the WHO of the change process. Human Resource Management was identified as Human Resource Provision, Human Resource Maintenance, Human Resource Development, Labour Relations, Equal Opportunities/Affirmative Action and Social Investment. This dissertation is the result of an extensive diagnostic exercise on micro-level within Transnet to ascertain what the perceptions of Transnet employees are towards cardinal Human Resource variables. These variables were identified against the background of Human Resource theory and deemed as critical for the successful strategic change of Human Resources in Transnet. Against this background, problem areas could be identified, the readiness of employees to change could be scientifically measured and the overall "fit" of employees with the changing conditions could be ascertained. A test sample of 1 875 employees of all employee groups in Transnet (excluding the general group) was taken. The sample was spread out over ten regions of the country. The practical research was done in conjunction with the HSRC in September 1991 - roughly 18 months after Transnet was formed amidst an extensive process of commercialisation. An effective response of 60% was achieved. All statistical processing and analyses were done at the HSRC's computer centre in Pretoria. To make sense out of the mass of information, a factor analysis was done. Two main factors were identified in a second order analysis - one factor which was construed as broad Human Resource Management/Social Investment and a second as broad Labour Relations/Equal Opportunities. The main finding of the research was evidence of an entrenched Human Resource system and that a gap exists between aspects of Transnet's mission and the practical realisation thereof and perceptions of employees on the work floor. A participative culture has not yet been formed while additional problem areas were identified as the management style of the company, employees' motivation, discrimination, work organisation and individual relations, work security and upward mobility. An extensive strategic change model was conceptualised out of these findings so that problem areas could be addressed and managed effectively. Due to the diversity of Transnet's work force a second model, namely a typological model, was devised. The model was conceptualised after further statistical analysis (MANOVA/ANOVA) was done. Accordingly, further problem areas were identified around population group, language, region and occupation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:10246 |
| Date | 12 September 2012 |
| Creators | Mittner, Maarten Jan |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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