The interactive role of organizational strategy and culture : a strategic management approach
- Authors: Weeks, Richard Vernon
- Date: 2015-09-28
- Subjects: Strategic planning , Corporate culture , Organizational behavior
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:14169 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/14612
- Description: M.Com. , This study has been undertaken with the specific objective of acquiring an insight into the concept "organizational culture" within a strategic management context, as well as the role played by the concept in the formulation and implementation of organizational strategy. Researchers from within various disciplines, such as anthropology, industrial psychology and strategic management, have analysed various aspects of the concept ...
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Managing strategic and corporate change within a turbulent environmental context : a strategic management approach
- Authors: Weeks, Richard Vernon
- Date: 2014-02-20
- Subjects: Strategic planning. , Organizational change - Management.
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:4181 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9528
- Description: D.Com. , Traditional strategic management thinking is no longer appropriate within a prevailing context of discontinuous and rapid environmental change. A swiftly changing environment necessitates the need for a new approach to strategic management. Executives frequently experiences great difficulty. in managing strategic and organizational change. Managing strategic change requires a new way of dealing with the future, one often requiring executives to go against practice anchored in experience and traditional theory, frequently acquired within a less volatile context. A dynamic unpredictable and swiftly changing context provides impetus for challenging and researching the underlying assumptions on which the tradi tional strategic management paradigm is based. This study is thus directed at acquiring an understanding of the complexities and dynamics involved in managing strategic change, within a turbulent context. In this study an endeavour is made to gain an understanding of strategic and organizational change, from a theoretical and a practical perspective. A central premises of this study is that in order to understand the management of strategic change a clear understanding must be attained, as regards the dynamics of environmental change. Privatisation and deregulation, as environmental determinants, will in all probability have a profound impact on organizations in the public sector and they thus serve as an ideal frame of reference for researching the management of strategic and corporate change. An analytic-descriptive research approach is followed. The study is based on two fundamental foundations, namely acquiring a sound theoretical understanding of the concepts and processes involved in managing strategic change within a turbulent context and substantiating these insights acquired, by means of interviews conducted with management practitioners from selected organizations in both the public and the private sector. The former organizations in particular have been subjected to a traumatic period of micro- and macro-environmental change, stimulated by the privatisation process. It is concluded from this study that the future can no longer be extrapolated in terms of historical trends or events, as the future rarely resembles the past. Visionary leadership, incorporating the unknown in a dynamic context, is identified as being a vital dimension in managing strategic change. Management must in particular note that an established organizational culture can generate resistance to change, resulting in stagnation, thus preventing the organization from realizing its vision and strategic objectives. In conclusion it is affirmed that a holistic management approach is vital for contending with corporate and strategic change in a dynamic future milieu.
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Key determinants in strategic realignment within a digital global business environment.
- Authors: Weeks, Richard Vernon
- Date: 2008-05-06T10:11:46Z
- Subjects: communication and technology , information technology , organizational change management , globalization , strategic planning
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:6815 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/324
- Description: Information and communication technology is rapidly transforming the world of business. It in particular has played a significant role in globalisation, the ramifications of which South Africa can ill afford to ignore. A key facet of emerging innovative technologies and globalisation is the environmental uncertainty, complexity and turbulence it has engendered. Traditional strategic management paradigms and practice are largely founded on the assumption of environmental predictability, a reality that is rapidly being eroded. This thesis attempts to determine to what degree strategic management theory still correlates with contemporary strategic management practice. Various levels of environmental uncertainty are defined in order to gain clarity as to strategic management processes that are best suited for dealing therewith. Three key determinants are identified as having a significant impact on the strategic realignment of business institutions within a global business environment, namely information and communication technology, business systems, and change management. A central tenet that emerges from the study is the need for a framework to integrate the first two mentioned determinants at strategic and operational levels, while taking due cognisance of the human resources implications involved. Human emotions, feelings, relationships, fears, values, beliefs and aspirations collectively assume relevance as dimensions that can either inhibit or facilitate the strategic realignment process. These dimensions are analysed with reference to the concepts “emotional intelligence” and “organisational culture” in order to gain a greater understanding of the role they play in strategy formulation and implementation. Leadership is also identified as being business critical in managing strategic realignment. The findings of this study serve as a source of reference for researchers and practitioners who are attempting to formulate and implement strategy within contexts that are best described as being uncertain, complex and subject to discontinuous change. , Prof. N. Lessing
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