Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Organisations in South Africa face constant change be it radical or incremental in nature. Change is often introduced to bring about improved organisational performance. If the change is ineffectively managed, it brings about catastrophic consequences impacting on sustainability, financial performance, and reputation of organisations. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a composite organisational effectiveness change management measurement, suited for the South African context. A quantitative research approach was followed by means of a cross sectional and survey design. Data was collected from participants in the Private, Public and State-Owned Entities in South Africa. The final sample consisted of 1950 respondents. The study resulted in the development of a suitable measurement instrument after conducting a literature study. An etic approach was applied in the selection and the identification relevant constructs and the items from existing questionnaires. The Perceived Effective Change Management (PECM) instrument was found to have adequate convergent validity (compared with cognate constructs) and was found to be suitable for use across different samples, and different sectors, namely the private and public sector as well as the State-Owned Enterprises as sample groups. EFA and CFA was conducted in order to test reliability and validity of the measurement. Acceptable fit indicators were reported for the PECM. The dimensions relating to Organisational Management and line management communication, trust in management, the involvement of employees in the change process are found to be critical for implementation and provides accurate measurement of effective change management in South African organisations.