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UNDERSTANDINGCHANGEANDCHANGEMANAGEMENTPROCESSES:ACASESTUDYbyCarloD’OrtenzioThesissubmittedinfulfillmentofrequirementsforthedegreeofDoctorofPhilosophyattheUniversityofCanberraCanberra,AUSTRALIA9August2012iiiABSTRACTThecentralfocusofthiscasestudyistoadvanceknowledgeregardingemployees’understandingofchangeandchangemanagementwithinapublicsectororganisation,namely,theSouthAustralianTourismCommission(SATC).Thisorganisation,likeotherpublicsectororganisationsinAustralia,hasundergoneandiscurrentlyundergoingaseriesofsignificantorganisationalchanges,mainlyduetomandatesbroughtaboutbypublicsectorreformpolicy.PresenttrendsinchangeandchangemanagementinAustralia,bothatthefederalandstatelevel,reflectasenseofurgencyonthepartofgovernmentstorevitaliseaPublicServicethatisabletosustaincontinuityandchange.ThisisbasedonthepremisethatitisonlythroughreformthattheAustralianPublicServicewillbeabletoaddressthechallengesofarapidly-changingworld.However,thismeansthatpublicsectoremployeesarenowcalledupontoadjusttheirthinkingandpracticestorespondtothechangingneedsandexpectationsdemandedofthembygovernments.Inviewoftheabove,thiscasestudysoughttounderstandandrepresentemployees’understandingsregardingwhatinfluenceseffectivechangeprocessesandhowthesehaveimpacteduponthem.Thisisnottoimplythatthisstudyhasengagedincriticalpolicyanalysisbutratherithasanalysedtrends,bothnationallyandinternationally,inordertoascertainthemannerinwhichpublicsectororganisations,moresothoseinSouthAustralia,areembracingcontemporarypracticesinthearenaofchangeandchangemanagementandifso,atwhoseandwhatexpense?Thestudy,conductedatgrassrootslevel,spannedapproximatelysixyearsandsoughttogivevoicetothoseleastoftenheardorasked,thatis,publicsectoremployees.Thequestionsaskedofparticipantsinboththeinformalandformalinterviews–aspartofthedatacollectingprocess–wererelatedtochangesthattheorganisationwasundergoing,howthesechangeswerebeingimplemented,andtheinfluencethatthesechangeswerehavingonthem.Insightsaboutpublicsectorreformweregainedbyquestioningorganisationalchangeprocessesandpractices,andforviewinganddescribingthemeaningsthatemployeescreatedaroundtheirroles,professions,andorganisation.ivAdoptingaqualitativeresearchmethodology,theresearchquestionsfocusedonseekingadeeperunderstandingofthecomplexissueofchangeandchangemanagementfromtheemployees’viewpointsandwasguidedmainlybythefollowingquestions:HowdidemployeeswithintheSATCviewchangeprocessesandpracticeswithinthecurrentworkdynamicsoftheirorganisation?WhatwereemployeesunderstandingofthedefinitionsofchangeandchangemanagementwithintheSATC?Whatwereemployees’experiencesofchangeandchangemanagementwithintheSATC?Whatwereemployees’understandingoftheterm‘resistancetochange’andthereasonsastowhetheremployeesresistedchangeinitiativesintheSATCornot?Whatroledid‘communication’playintheintroductionandimplementationofchangeandchangemanagementwithintheSATC?Whatroledidmanagers/changeinitiatorsplayinthechangeprocesswithintheSATC?Howdidemployeesviewchangeandchangemanagementfromacritical—bureaucraticornon-bureaucratic—perspective?Thesecondaryquestionsthatinformedthemainresearchquestionswere:Whatwereemployees’expectedrolesinthechangeprocesswithregardtothechangeinitiativesbeingimplementedintheSATC?TowhatextentwereSATCemployeesaffordedopportunitiestocontributetheirexpectationspriorto,duringanda...