An analysis of the perception of the effectiveness of a Change Management Process mid merger at a University of Technology

Abstract

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Business Administration in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology

The main aim of this study was to analyse perceptions of the effectiveness of a change
 management process and how it impacted on the psychological contract of employees of the
 institution in question for this research study. In addition, the aim was to identify improvement
 opportunities for future change management processes. The institution that this study
 focused on is a university of technology in South Africa.
 The study utilised a qualitative approach and conducted interviews for data collection and
 analysis. Data was processed in response to the problem statement and the results were
 analysed using the thematic content analysis method.
 The research study identified various areas of improvement to recommend to management
 for any future change management initiatives. The recommendations made by the
 researcher are relevant, topical and can add value to the institution in question.
 The findings of this study have revealed that employees perceive the institution as having
 little or no regard for how employees feel and that the human aspect during the change
 process was never considered. The study further revealed that employees perceive that
 there was a lack of communication and transparency throughout the process which resulted
 in an enormous amount of speculation and spreading of rumours. Lastly, the study also
 revealed that employees’ psychological contract was negatively affected by the process of
 restructuring and it caused a decline in their organisational commitment, trust and morale.
 The researcher is of the view that it would be beneficial to conduct a comparative study
 across all the institutions that have undergone a merger process to establish how their staff
 experienced the mergers. In conclusion, the researcher recommends that a study can also
 be conducted on how to plan an institutional merger through a proper project management
 methodology process.