Investigating SAP as an intervention case study: Johannesburg Water

The objective of this research is to study how to successfully implement organizational change in a large organization. The study deals with an approach for implementation that incorporates both efficiency and flexibility. Within the domain of organizational change, this research focuses on business process change, more specifically the Human Resources Information systems planning and implementation and evaluation. The research question is approached by first studying how to carry out planning, implementation and evaluation according to the relevant existing theories of organizational change. Then, an ERP change implementation program is reflected with the existing implementation approaches and finally characteristics of a successful approach for change implementation are concluded. This study follows the logic of inductive theory building and qualitative case study. The research is designed as an embedded case study, the primary research object being an extensive change program that focuses on SAP implementation at Johannesburg Water. The case data is mainly qualitative in nature and is collected through participant observation, archives and numerous and diverse documents created within the program. The focal terms and the scope of the study are defined based on relevant theory of organizational change. For understanding the existing body of knowledge on change planning, implementation, a multidisciplinary review is carried out including the theories of organization development, organization transformation, business process reengineering, project management and organizational learning. As a conclusion of the review, four research constructs are elaborated for guiding the case study. The constructs define essential elements of change implementation: initiation, management structure, and process and change advancement. Using the elaborated constructs, two generic implementation approaches are conceptualized, planned and emergent. The former represents centrally managed, sequentially proceeding holistic change, whereas the latter is about locally managed, continuous and incremental change.Dr. R. Huysame