An exploratory study of how different cultures evaluate transformation at state owned enterprises

Abstract

The main goal of a change process is to improve the ability of an organization. People are likely to facilitate, implement, and manage change effectively in order to improve organizations effectiveness therefore good leadership is vital to the success of any change initiative. Understanding how different cultures evaluate change is vital at South Africa's State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) as more SOEs are contracting foreign companies and adopting globally competitive technologies based on their expertise in order to meet the delivery of services and infrastructure. The main objective of this study was to determine how different cultures evaluate transformation in SOEs in South Africa and to verify whether these factors are influenced by demographics. A quantitative research strategy was utilised to investigate the factors influencing the transformation process. A survey was developed and utilised to gather data regarding the transformation process. The data was statistically analysed in order to support or reject the research propositions. The findings of the research indicated that the one cultural value that affected the transformation process within the organization was long-term/short-term orientation. The results further indicated that the degree of inequality within the SOE was affected by age; long-term orientation was affected by gender and nationality; femininity was affected by gender and job level. Finally, the results indicated that a relationship does exist between transformation within an organization and the organizations leadership.