The effect of a merger in higher education on staff members: the importance of change management.

The National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) submitted its final report in 1996 to the then President Nelson Mandela, which argued for the creation of a single, co-ordinated system of higher education. Since then, institutions of higher education have been confronted with unexpected and far-reaching demands and challenges. One of these challenges is the transformation and restructuring of the higher education landscape in South Africa. In December 2002, the Ministry of Education released its proposals, which were approved by cabinet, for the transformation and restructuring of the higher education system. Evening out the differences between the historically white and historically black institutions was the central motivation behind the South African government’s restructuring plan for higher education. The restructuring and consolidation of the institutional landscape is a key element in the broader strategy for achieving the broader goals and objectives, namely, to ensure an equitable, sustainable and productive higher education system that will be of high quality and contribute effectively to the human resources, skills, knowledge and research needs of the country and which is consistent with non-sexist, non-racial and democratic values assigned in the constitution (Ministry of Education, 2003:3). The National Working Group recommended that in particular circumstances and conditions, comprehensive institutions that offered a combination of technikon and university-type programmes could be established to facilitate the effective and efficient provision of higher education. The Ministry of Education accepted the proposal to establish this new institutional type and the merger between RAU and TWR was set for 1 January 2005. Implementing the restructuring proposals was complex, time-consuming and placed an enormous burden of additional work on the affected institutions. Merger activities cause change, and change creates stress. It is very difficult to implement organisational change successfully, because employees frequently resist organisational change. Effective change management and visionary leadership are therefore essential for current and future managers to satisfactorily implement organisational change. The scope of this study is to provide insight and understanding of the perceptions, fears and uncertainties that existed amongst staff members of the former TWR during the pre-merger phase with RAU and the function of management during the process of transformation. A literature review conducted emphasised the importance of change management prior to and during a merger. Focus was placed on the reasons and readiness for change in higher education; change leadership; communication; stressors in the change process and prerequisites for a successful transition. Based on the results of this review, different stressors were identified, which normally accompany a merger. Questionnaires were used to obtain primary data from a sample of TWR staff in order to ascertain their perceptions, fears, uncertainties and stressors with regard to the merger. The most conclusive finding was that staff members experienced a certain amount of uncertainty prior to the merger. They felt that they could not create their own destiny in the merger process, nor could they plan for the future. Some staff members felt inferior to their merging partners and assumed that the dominant institution’s employees would fill most of the positions. A majority of the respondents felt that they needed more opportunities to be trained and that management should support them in the training. Communication during the merger was important and the respondents wanted more merger information on a continuous basis. A sizable majority of respondents indicated a strong need for emotional support from management during the merger. Mergers are extremely complex and influence every level of operation and all functions of the institutions to be merged. Strong leadership is needed to combine the traditions of academic freedom and collective decision-making.Dr. M. Gou