Abstract:
The goal of this research was to explore the impact of the merger on the employees of Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). The objective of this study aimed firstly, to conduct a literature review to measure the impact of the merger on the employees of Tshwane University of Technology; and secondly, to explore the impact of the merger on the employees of Tshwane University Technology through an empirical study. The research question for this study is: “What was the impact of the merger on the employees of Tshwane University of Technology”. This study utilised a quantitative descriptive research design to analyse the data using statistical procedures. All the data was statistical in nature. The sample comprised 72 respondents from the TUT Gauteng community, i.e. TUT Pretoria campus, TUT Garankuwa campus and TUT Soshanguve campus. The research tool utilised to conduct the study was a self-administered questionnaire. This was hand delivered and collected from the respondents. The findings of this study revealed that mergers definitely impact on people from both a personal and professional perspective. The study further revealed that the merger had a negative impact on management relationships, job security, job position and promotion, communication, performance standards and some elements of collegial relationships. Further research is suggested with regards to the communication breakdown and how it affected the merger. This study indicated distinctly that there was a breakdown in communication as a result of the merger. However the researcher believes that this area should be investigated further to allow others to discover what mechanisms to put in place so that communication during a merger is transparent and consistent. The researcher is also of the belief that further research is necessary to determine whether responses participants had given concerning to the impact of the merger were in any way affected by their own level of maturity and resilience. This could lead to a better understanding of individuals as they experience a merger. Copyright
