Factors influencing survivor qualities after downsizing
- Authors: Chipunza, Crispen
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Downsizing of organizations -- South Africa , Organizational change -- South Africa , Cost control , Unemployment -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DTech
- Identifier: vital:9381 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1219 , Downsizing of organizations -- South Africa , Organizational change -- South Africa , Cost control , Unemployment -- Psychological aspects
- Description: Today organisations all over the world have to cope with the ever-increasing rate of local and global change. Those in developing countries have to cope with the inefficiencies engendered by state-led economic, developmental and political strategies, such as new government regulations. These have had an impact on the management of human resources and are exemplified by an increasing adoption of strategies meant to reduce pressure on costs and margins. An increasing popular management response to these challenges has been to engage in some form of organisational restructuring such as downsizing. Often employees who remain (survivors) after downsizing are not given much attention, yet the achievement of new strategic goals depends on the survivors having positive attitudes, relentless commitment and high motivation. Research indicates that employees who are motivated and committed contribute vastly to the financial-bottom-line of the organisation. Therefore, downsizing organisations should continuously search for ways to increase such qualities among their survivors. The objective of this study was to identify the factors that influence the attitudes, commitment and motivation of survivors in a developing economy with a volatile environment. To achieve this objective, a theoretical survivor quality model was presented. In order to present the model, firstly, a literature survey on the importance of survivor quality in terms of attitudes, commitment, and motivation among survivors was conducted. Secondly, literature survey pertaining to the drivers of survivor quality was done, and thirdly, literature dealing with strategies to deal with survivor quality was surveyed. The theoretical survivor quality model was used to compile the research instrument that determined the attitudinal, commitment and motivational levels of survivors, how the three constructs are related after downsizing, as well as the factors influencing the observed levels. The questionnaire was randomly distributed among survivors in the selected manufacturing organisations in Zimbabwe. The empirical results obtained from the study showed that survivors in a developing economy with a volatile environment had moderate levels of attitudes, commitment ad motivation. Two categories of factors were identified as important in influencing these levels. They were downsizing strategy and demographic factors. The downsizing strategy factors were communication and victim support, while education, age, and number of years employed emerged as the demographic factors. The study further highlighted that older survivors with less education contributed more to the moderate levels of attitude, commitment and motivation observed. The study highlights that these variables must be taken into consideration when implementing downsizing in an economically volatile environment in order to manage survivor quality. A further point emanating from the study is that prior to downsizing, organisations should adopt effective communication strategies throughout the process. The key factors identified as influencing survivor quality in this study were integrated into the survivor quality model which can be used by other organisations in a similar context to manage survivor quality in order to increase their efficiency, effectiveness, iv and competitive advantage after downsizing.
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- Date Issued: 2009
The consultation and other requirements of dismissal for operational reasons
- Authors: Dyakala, Maynard
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Downsizing of organizations -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:11040 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/344 , Downsizing of organizations -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: Our employment law which originates from the common principles has in recent years undergone significant changes. Under common law the employers and employees capacity to regulate their relationship has always been limited. The recommendations of the Wiehahn Commission introduced amendments to the Labour Relations Act of 1956. The introduction of the unfair labour practice concept and the establishment of the Industrial Court was a direct consequence of the recommendation of the Wiehahn Commission. The Industrial Court together with the higher courts developed new principles regarding unfair labour practices. In the process, a wealth of unfair labour practice jurisprudence was developed by these courts. However, the unfair labour practice definition did not include dismissals. The coming into power of the democratic government played an important role in transforming our labour law system. After the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 was implemented on 11 November 1996, the old Labour Relations Act of 1956 was repealed. The law on retrenchment forms an integral part of our law of dismissals. The South African labour market has in the past years been characterised by restructuring and consequently retrenchment of employees. In most cases, employer’s decisions to retrench were challenged by the employees and unions in our courts. Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act of 1995 stipulates procedures to be followed by an employer when contemplating dismissal of one or more employees for reasons based on operational requirements. The employer does not only have to follow the procedures set out in section 189 to render dismissals for operational reasons fair, but there must also be a valid reason to dismiss. The courts have always not been willing to second-guess the employer’s decision to retrench provided that the decision is made in good faith. Whilst section 189 deals with small-scale retrenchments, section 189A applies to large-scale retrenchments. These are employers who employ more than 50 employees and who contemplate retrenchment of more than the number of employees provided for in section 189(1)(a) or (b). Section 189A also introduced a facilitation process to be conducted in terms of regulations made by the Minister of Labour. The amendments to section 189 should be seen as an attempt to tighten the procedural aspect of retrenchments. The new law on retrenchments is a product of tough negotiations between the social partners at NEDLAC in which compromises were reached. There are still certain areas of concern to both labour and business. In those areas in which uncertainty still exists, the courts will be required to provide some guidance.
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- Date Issued: 2004
Change management implications of a retrenchment strategy in a selected section of a telecommunications organisation
- Authors: Aucamp, Mertz
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Organizational change -- Management , Downsizing of organizations -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:10847 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46 , Organizational change -- Management , Downsizing of organizations -- South Africa
- Description: An audit report by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) indicated that a company needs to ensure that support is provided to those employees who remain after a staff reduction process and that their needs are managed effectively. One of the recommendations by ANAO for companies that are embarking on restructuring and future staff reduction programs, is the facilitation of change management workshops, or intervention to prepare the staff to manage change. A literature study revealed that no change management model existed that specifically focused on the “survivors” of a retrenchment or restructuring strategy in a company. The literature study was therefore used to assist in developing a change management in Telkom SA. Pre-assessment and post-assessment questionnaires were developed to test the employees’ abilities to manage change and their understanding of the changes that the telecommunications industry is facing. The findings of the survey showed a high level of employee tolerance to change and illuminated the value that was added by the developed change management model.
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- Date Issued: 2001