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

Abstract

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.