, PUB3701
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER (PORTFOLIO)
2026
DUE 23 OCTOBER 2026
Overall Introduction
Change management has become an indispensable competency for organisations operating in
South Africa's volatile, complex and politically charged environment. State and non-state
organisations alike are confronted with the reality that transformation initiatives, whether driven
by legislative reform, technological advancement, market pressure or service delivery imperatives,
will inevitably encounter resistance from employees and stakeholders across different employment
categories. The consequences of failing to manage this resistance are severe: strategic objectives
remain unattained, performance and productivity decline, tensions between key stakeholders
escalate, interpersonal relationships deteriorate, and conflict and litigation become commonplace
(Cummings & Worley, 2015:174). A central problem identified throughout this portfolio is that
decision-makers frequently lack the competencies and experience required to manage change
circumstances and modalities effectively, efficiently and appropriately. This portfolio addresses
that problem by examining the phenomenon of resistance to change from two complementary
angles. The first question analyses the reasons why employees and stakeholders resist change,
using a selected South African organisation as a case in point, in order to establish a grounded
understanding of the internal and external drivers of resistance. The second question builds on this
diagnosis by examining the change management strategies that management leadership could
apply to achieve change objectives while responding to both internal and external drivers of
resistance. Together, the two questions form a coherent argument: effective change leadership
begins with understanding why people resist, and proceeds to selecting evidence-based strategies
that address those specific causes rather than merely suppressing their symptoms. The discussion
is grounded in established change management theory, including the work of Kotter and
Schlesinger (2008), Cummings and Worley (2015) and Rousseau and Tijoriwala (1999), and is
applied throughout to the South African public sector context, where bureaucratic inertia, political
interference, skills shortages and leadership instability frequently compound the challenges of
transformation. The portfolio demonstrates that resistance is not an irrational obstacle to be
overcome through force or persuasion alone, but a rational response to perceived threat that must
be understood, engaged and addressed through deliberate leadership action.
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER (PORTFOLIO)
2026
DUE 23 OCTOBER 2026
Overall Introduction
Change management has become an indispensable competency for organisations operating in
South Africa's volatile, complex and politically charged environment. State and non-state
organisations alike are confronted with the reality that transformation initiatives, whether driven
by legislative reform, technological advancement, market pressure or service delivery imperatives,
will inevitably encounter resistance from employees and stakeholders across different employment
categories. The consequences of failing to manage this resistance are severe: strategic objectives
remain unattained, performance and productivity decline, tensions between key stakeholders
escalate, interpersonal relationships deteriorate, and conflict and litigation become commonplace
(Cummings & Worley, 2015:174). A central problem identified throughout this portfolio is that
decision-makers frequently lack the competencies and experience required to manage change
circumstances and modalities effectively, efficiently and appropriately. This portfolio addresses
that problem by examining the phenomenon of resistance to change from two complementary
angles. The first question analyses the reasons why employees and stakeholders resist change,
using a selected South African organisation as a case in point, in order to establish a grounded
understanding of the internal and external drivers of resistance. The second question builds on this
diagnosis by examining the change management strategies that management leadership could
apply to achieve change objectives while responding to both internal and external drivers of
resistance. Together, the two questions form a coherent argument: effective change leadership
begins with understanding why people resist, and proceeds to selecting evidence-based strategies
that address those specific causes rather than merely suppressing their symptoms. The discussion
is grounded in established change management theory, including the work of Kotter and
Schlesinger (2008), Cummings and Worley (2015) and Rousseau and Tijoriwala (1999), and is
applied throughout to the South African public sector context, where bureaucratic inertia, political
interference, skills shortages and leadership instability frequently compound the challenges of
transformation. The portfolio demonstrates that resistance is not an irrational obstacle to be
overcome through force or persuasion alone, but a rational response to perceived threat that must
be understood, engaged and addressed through deliberate leadership action.
