Alignment of change management with strategy by South African leaders

Abstract

South Africa is a country in transition. our workplaces are in transition, and to a large extent all the social identity groups are out of their comfort zones and are trying to re-establish their own identities relative to all the other social identities in the new South Africa" (Booysen, 2005:32). The expansion of markets, which has been brought about by the introduction of a democratic government in 1994, has led to drastic changes in the way companies do business. Technological advances coupled with globalisation and new labour laws have had a tremendous influence on business. The changes in the way of conducting business in particular and the country in general have left some leaders confused and unable to cope with this change. Some organisations change because of obstacles experienced in the course of running business without having put proper plans in place. Some companies change strategies too often without reaping rewards from any single strategy. Higgins (2005:3) argues that, " ... with significant changes occurring so frequently in the business environment, strategies are changed more often now than they have been in the past, and thus the alignment process has become an even greater challenge." A change strategy aligned to corporate strategy can lead to the achievement of strategic goals set by the company. The purpose of this research is to examine whether South African leaders are able to develop change management capabilities that are in line with corporate strategy in order to carry the company to higher levels as required by the new market forces in the new South Africa.