MANAGING CHANGE

Managing Change in Organisatuion

Table Of Content

Executive Statement3

Introduction4

Strengths5

Weakness5

Opportunities5

Threats5

Drivers of change5

The rational process6

The software6

The hardware7

Alternatives8

External sourcing objections8

?External indirect control8

?Competitive advantage8

?Time to market9

?Expense9

?Loss of investment9

?Job losses10

Internal sourcing objections10

?Expert knowledge10

?Functional competencies10

?Perceptual bias11

Functional consolidation11

The importance of change12

Expanding into new regions13

Resistance to change14

External forces14

Internal forces14

Response to change15

Conclusion16

Managing Change in Organisatuion

Executive Statement

From 1995 to 2000 the organisation has progressed through four divisional amalgamations and one closure, due to economic constraints, to reduce stock holding, maintain trading growth and retain the customer base that has proved loyal over the years. These events have not only effected this organisation but all steel traders in South Africa, some to the extent of selling and or closing non-performing divisions to remain profitable.

As the group has been successful in these endeavours there are areas were the organisation can improve service to the customer, both internally and externally. By consolidating the staff into a single division at one physical site, restructuring the divisions reporting hierarchy, eliminating system duplication and incorporating newer technologies such as B2B and B2C the organisation will be able to maintain or even increase its market share.

Although the envisaged changes will not be without some resistance and trepidation but on completion of the specific tasks the improvement to the organisations stakeholders will be greatly improved. This will ensure that the organisation will be a contender in the steel trade for the foreseeable future and possible increase the ability of the organisation to improve the export of steel to other African countries and world markets.

Introduction

This private company was started in the early 1980s by the amalgamation of two family operations supplying fencing material and gates to the local farming community. During the ensuing years of growth the operation was either organic or through the acquisition of failed operations, and is today the largest steel merchant in South Africa.

Dynamic changes during the different economic periods of growth and recession caused either closure of or amalgamation between divisions or branches. During the last five years there has been a major rationalisation of subsidiaries to maintain economies of scale. Since the first democratic elections in 1994 in South Africa, there has been a change in the way organisations have been operating due to new legislation requirements.

What has been learned during the life cycle of the organisation is that they had to create a climate conducive to change (Burnes 2000: 462). When management decided in June 2001 to begin the process of investigating the IT services of the three operations, certain difficulties were encountered.

A SWOT analysis for the organisation revealed:

Strengths

In-house Systems that were robust   

Stable and knowledgeable IT workforce

Weakness

Diversity of systems management

Separate physical IT sites

Limited conversion time span

Opportunities

Use of latest technologies         

Amalgamation of company knowledge         

Threats

Competition from other steel merchants

Iscor privatisation cause steel prices to rise

Drivers of change

The company has three operations trading in specific fields of manufacturing, steel trading, stainless steel and related products. Final consolidations relate to in the areas of: stock, consumables and non-stock, financial and information systems.

The amalgamation and rationalisation has resulted in the organisation operating with three separate ...