Abstract
Organizations are constantly faced with pressure to make changes. Forecast of changing customer expectation, information processing and communication, and competition force top management to evaluate their organization and consider major changes.
Organizational change is a challenge that companies often take on but just as often fail in implementing. Emergency Management Services decided to take on such a challenge when the City of Johannesburg transformed. This was a challenge not only management faced, but all the employees of the Emergency Management Services.
The transformation process for the City of Johannesburg began in 1997 and was driven by Political and Social Development. These developments have put emphasis and strain on the relationship between: Municipality, with the unwanted side effects on workers. Societies are getting increasingly intolerant towards poor levels of service delivery.
The Emergency Management Services need for change was emphasized through management’s decision to improve on service delivery. The integration of all Johannesburg Metropolitan Local Councils EMS was a big step forward. The integration wasn’t just about growing the City size; JHB EMS also opened various doors for the City to become the World Class African City. When the organization decided to take on the challenge, management needed to review all aspects of the organization. These included culture, values and performance and reward system.
The challenge facing the organization leaders today is to become “World Class” or perish.
Prof. S. Kruger