The importance of communication,
participation and the availability of recourses in
change projects in Uganda.
Research on change projects at the Ugandan Red Cross Society.
Master thesis, Msc BA, specialization Change Management University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business
14 October 2009 Bastiaan F.H. Pilon Studentnumber: 1656244 Otterlostraat 39 2573 AT Den Haag tel.: +31 (0)6 15058239
e-mail: b.f.h.pilon@student.rug.nl / bas.pilon@gmail.com Supervisor / University
B.J.W. Pennink Supervisor / Field of study
Jessica Bagenda
Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) , Kampala/Mbale
‘To enlighten the pain of as many poor people as possible,
is in the inner voice of the human being.’
Henri Dunant, founder of the International Red Cross Movement (ICRC).
‘The only human right that the poor and the vulnerable
need at least, is the protection of incapable aid.’
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The importance of communication,
participation and the availability of recourses in
change projects in Uganda.
Research on change projects at the Ugandan Red Cross Society.
BASTIAAN F.H. PILON
University of Groningen
Abstract
Purpose – There are critical success factors examined on change management projects in western based profit
organizations. This thesis conducts research on the success variables communication, participation and the availability of resources within an non-governmental organization in Uganda to see if they are also important in an non-governmental organization in Uganda and to what extent.
Design/methodology/approach – After presenting a summary of the success factors, a qualitative research
methodology focuses on three cases and examines these critical factors in more depth.
Findings – The variable communication is very important because of the great number of different languages spoken
in Uganda and because of the fact that Ugandans do never say “no”. Concerning participation, 85 percent is working as a volunteer. This makes it very important to let the people participate and let them feel involved. Because of the great number of volunteers is this resource extremely important. The financial resources are also of a major importance to let the organization operate more effectively and help more vulnerable people in the end.
Research limitations/implications – The research is conducted on three cases. To give a better sight on how the
variables are influencing a non-governmental organization in Uganda, measure points are needed.
Practical implications – In Uganda they speak 56 dialects and the main language is English. Not all the people do
speak English or they speak it poorly.
Originality/value – Through this research there is more information about the influence of success factors of change
management projects in an non-governmental organization in an east-African country. At this moment there is conducted very few research on this area.
Keywords: Change management, Organizational change, East-Africa, Non-governmental Paper type: Master Thesis
INTRODUCTION
In today’s increasingly globalized business environment, companies need to change to help them weather the whirlwind of transformations (Burnes, 2004). Within this whirlwind of changes the only thing that seems to be stable is the continuous changing environment (Elving and Bennebroek Gravenhorst, 2005). Many organizations try to weather themselves against the changing environment by reducing costs. According to Zink, Steimle and Schröder this is not always the correct solution. They say “Looking at change initiatives in the last decades, one can
see that in most cases they only focused on single issues, such as cost reduction or process improvement, and only led to limited success” (Zink, Steimle and Schröder, 2008, p 527). So, how
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emerged, that there is a need of critical success factors addressed to significant changes in the organization (Weber and Weber, 2001; Graetz, 2000). These researches are conducted in a western setting and in profit organizations. Therefore the success factors which are researched are prominent in the western context.
During these researches on significant success factors in change management there are defined different important factors. In the first place, Westphal and Fredrickson (2001) and Whipp (1991) utter the need to make the necessary resources available for the change project. Secondly, adequate participation is needed of the individuals and group that are affected by the changes (Bouckenooghe and Devos, 2007; Lines, 2004). Thirdly, there must be a coherence between different change initiatives to generate a holistic process instead of different isolated change projects (Cao and Mc Hugh, 2005). Fourthly, comprehensive communication is crucial. Communicating the change message at all levels in the organization is inevitable for the success of the change project (Greatz, 2000; Klein, 1996). Fifthly, top management support is vital, because active and visible support is good by having a champion (Chrusciel and Field, 2006).
The soul of the previous mentioned researches and its results are based in a western setting and conducted with for profit organizations. However in an non-governmental organization (NGO) based in east-Africa, like the Ugandan Red Cross Society (URCS), it can be a totally different story. Because there is a difference in culture and the rules and laws are different in Uganda. NGO’s do combine three main things, like missions, members and money (Abraham, 2006). Therefore, it seems important that communication, participation and the availability of the resources are researched in this thesis. The very reason of the existence of NGOs and the central trust is their mission (Drucker, 1989). There can be various missions. Most often NGO’s are “involved in the provision of health services, education, personal social services, and cultural services of various kinds” (Salamon, Hems and Chinnock 2000, p. 5). The mission of the URCS is stated as follows: “Improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable people in Uganda
as an effective and efficient humanitarian organization” (URCS Strategic Plan, p. 8).
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Since it is costly, in terms of financial resources, managerial time and it creates emotional upheaval, to be ineffective in your change projects (Lewis, 1999). It is vital for an NGO that they are very effective in their change projects because they do not make profit. They are dependent on funding, grants and if they can generate income it is used for paying volunteers in the case of the URCS. According to Kotter and Cohen (2002) failures of the effectiveness in change projects are not technical issues like this, but more commonly related to human issues. To overcome these failures and be more effective in executing change projects, communication, participation and facilitation are considered to be the most powerful (Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979). Although this information might look a bit outdated there are still made no adjustments to that model (Metselaar, 1997). Armenakis et al. (1993) and Bandura (1977) confirm that creating readiness for change is the impetus to influence the personal cognition is persuasive communication and active participation.
Therefore, taking this all together, the aim of this research concerns if differences or similarities between western literature and the east-African practice in change projects. The success factors as stated in the western literature will be researched, to see if these success factors are also success factors in Uganda, east-Africa. In the thesis the focus is on the determination of the differences and/or similarities aiming on communication and participation at the URCS. In addition, there is special attention for the impact of the availability of the
resources. This will be divided in two different resources, the financial and the volunteers. In an
organization like the URCS which depends on a lot of volunteers and funders, plays this a major role. In consequence, the research question can be formulated as follows:
How does communication, participation and the availability of resources influence the successfulness of a change project at the Ugandan Red Cross Society?
To conduct this research a qualitative and retrospective approach will be used in three real life cases. Those cases of organizational changes are finished or are in their ending stage. Interviews are held to gain the qualitative information needed, including literature research is executed and observations are made.
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THEORY
In the first place, this section will explain why the variables communication, participation and
resources are used for this research. Furthermore, the research variables will be defined,
described and the interrelationship among them will be presented.
To conduct the research in a proper way, there are made some assumptions. These assumptions will describe the expected differences between the western literature and the expected execution of the change projects by the URCS. This will be combined with the expected results. The first assumption is based on a statement of DiFonzo and Bordia (1998). These two state that communication is very important during a change project in western organizations. In that concern I assume that this is also the case with communication in change projects in Uganda. My experience is that in east-African countries communication is maybe even more than very important. This because the east-Africans assume to know a lot and act on that but at the end of the day it seems something different than they thought by themselves. This can cause a lot of problems during the execution of change projects.
In the second place, there is a so-called language problem. Till 1962 Uganda was a colony of Great Britain. This is the reason that the main language in Uganda was, and still is, English. Nevertheless, not all the people had the opportunity to learn the language. Only the rich people could afford education, in English or with English as a course. Therefore, a lot of Ugandan people did not speak the same language, like in Uganda the language of English. The people were, and still are, proud on their local language. So they only spoke their local language. The problem that occurs is that people do still not understand each other clearly or not at all. There are 56 different languages in Uganda some do show similarities where others do not. In the western society the people have had a better education, in general. As a result, people speak their foreign languages on a higher level. This reduces, in the west, the so-called language problem. The misunderstandings during a change project is probably higher in Uganda than in the west because Ugandans have their language problem.
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The outcome of several different researches on participation in western countries (e.g. Chawla and Kelloway, 2004) state that participation is vital in change management. But is this also the case at the URCS? And how do they participate? Participation is very important in western profit organizations, but it is probably even more important for an NGO in an east-African country. This is because of the great amount of volunteers who are working for the URCS. These people are the fundament of the organization. Therefore, it is essential to let these people participate in for instance the process of decision making. This is to let them feel part of the project. People at the URCS participate probably in a different way than employees from a western profit organization, because they are motivated in a different way.
The second issue of participation is how the Ugandan people participate compared with the western people during change projects. In an NGO there is assumed that there is more like a bottom up approach and in a western profit organization more like a top down approach. This is big difference in the way of participation. Probably is there in the URCS a stronger relation inside groups. East-Africans are less individualistic than western people, in most cases. This makes it plausible to think that they have a stronger participation based on relation and feeling with each other. This phenomena is called ubuntu. This ubuntu is more like a philosophy which is used by sub-Saharan countries. Desmond Tutu (1999) describes it as followed: “One of the sayings in our
country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity.” Therefore, ubuntu can play a big role in participation. You cannot do it by yourself
you need each other. A thing like ubuntu is a very strong embedded aspect in the culture of sub-Saharan countries. I expect that this group culture and bonding is less the case in western profit organizations and therefore interesting to conduct research on the effect of it on change projects.
People who work at the URCS are probably less money minded than the employees of western profit organizations. At the URCS the volunteers work for free, obviously, and the staff in Uganda work for less they can earn in profit organizations. The URCS participants are differently, intrinsic and/or extrinsic, motivated and therefore they participate in a different way in the organization.
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There are no missions without members (Abraham, 2006). These members within the URCS are divided in professionals and volunteers. 15 percent is working as a professional and 85 percent is a volunteer. Volunteers are worth a lot, especially if managed well. Professionals do have most of the time an education finished. With that the professionals do have most of the time more insight in how to run the URCS. In western profit organizations most of the people who work in the organization has followed an education. Therefore it is interesting to conduct research on how the volunteers are managed in the URCS and what the influence is of volunteers on change projects. This is mainly because the biggest part in URCS is working as a volunteer compared within a western profit organization.
Lastly, the financial resources. The URCS depends for the greater part on funding and grants. This is not the case with profit organizations, they earn their own money. This gives the URCS less air to breath and with that they cannot execute the change projects as good as they wanted to do. This compared with the western profit organizations. Therefore it is important and interesting to look in what way the more instable cash flow influences the change projects at the URCS.
The three research variables as mentioned will be presented below to clarify the definitions and how they can be interpreted for this research.
Communication
Communication is seen as very important concerning an effective implementation of organizational changes (DiFonzo and Bordia, 1998). But before I proceed it is important to clarify what communication really is in organizational change. According to Daft (2004) communication can be defined as the process by which information is exchanged and understood by two or more people, usually with the intent to motivate or influence their behavior. The link of the influence between communication and organizational change is a very important one. Lewis (1999) confirms this important relation between communication and organizational changes by stating ‘the empirical picture that is slowly emerging indicates that
communication process and organizational change implementation are inextricably linked process’
(Lewis, 1999, p 41).
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information everything must be addressed even the worries of the employees concerning the change (Elving, 2005; Kanter, 1985). The result of an open and fair communication is the avoidance of problems that can emerge. This can be considered as very important because communication enhances the openness and positivity of employees’ attitudes towards change and will effectively reduce uncertainty with that (Bordia et al., 2004). Also Chawla and Kelloway (2004) state that open communication will create favorable attitudes towards change, by combining the worries and the strengths of the employees’ competence in making the change happen. In addition, Elving (2005) and Kanter (1985) complement this by stating, employees need information timely, has to be understandable and contain no errors or what so ever. Therefore they can prepare themselves mentally and get ready for the change itself.
During the exchange of information about the change, the possibility of having a dialogue is very important. According to Matson and Montague (1979) is there a dialogue when there is an open exchange of perceptions, by which participants accept each others differences and searching for the right synthesis. Dialogue is important in change projects because it can help the different stakeholders come closer towards each other in realizing the project successfully. On the other hand it can occur that people have different perceptions and therefore different results if not communicated well in a dialogue. This is also the reason that dialogue is a transformational medium where different stakeholders get aware of each others organizational reality (Gergen, 1999). During these dialogues is it important to have reciprocal and equal exchange process to get the whole picture (van Nistelrooij, 2004). An African way of having a dialogue which is embedded in the culture is called lekgotla. lekgotla means “the meeting”. In a Lekgotla people use eight principles, see figure 1, which results in a more effective and better result (de Liefde, 2002). There is an open communication where everyone is invited and people trust and respect each other. With these basic elements the people in Uganda do have a different way of having a dialogue than in the western countries.
--- Figure 1 about here ---
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environment or not. Every environment can be interpreted in a different way, but with enactment adepts a person or a group itself towards the environment. With that he or she is automatically pro or against the change. At the end there are more people with the same kind of picture in their head, which decreases the chance on ambiguous ideas. This results in a better end.
Furthermore, change agents must be aware that organizational change is a multilevel process of modifying a group of employees’ collective cognitions and behavior (Berneth, 2004). So, it is difficult to communicate effectively the change message in the organization. Therefore employees skills can be improved in communication. Employees can be educated by communication and be the providing cadre for experimentation with the desired behavior (Chawla and Kelloway, 2004). But to create a real change momentum in the organization, communication is key. To create that momentum, Klein (1996) suggests that communication must be used in the unfreezing phase of Lewins’ model (Cumming and Worley, 2005, p. 23-24) to justify the change. Although Lewin makes clear that communication is important during the whole change process.
To create that momentum Armenakis and Harris (2002) suggest a five step model (figure 2) to communicate the needed change message. To give a better insight in the those five steps of Armenakis and Harris (2002), the five steps are a bit more elaborated.
--- Figure 2 about here ---
1. Self-efficacy: Confidence in individuals and group’s ability to make the change succeed. “Can I successfully implement the change?“ is the related question. This message gives people confidence by providing information. So, individually and collectively they are sure to successfully implement the change (Bernerth, 2004).
2. Principal support: Key organizational leaders support this particular change.
The related questions are “Is management walking the talk?” and “Do organizational leaders believe in the change?”. In this message it is important that the formal and informal top-managers give the employees the information and confidence in successful implementing the change. By showing that they are committed and believe in the cause (Bernerth, 2004).
3. Discrepancy: The discrepancy between the current state of performance and the ideal
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This refers to the question “Why to change?” or in other words is the change really necessary? The necessity can be explained by showing the discrepancy between the current state of performance and the ideal and desired end state (Bernerth, 2004). 4. Appropriateness: The correct reaction to fix the gap identified by discrepancy.
Why are we executing this change and not a different one? is basically the main question. Therefore, in this message the appropriateness of the used change is explained (Bernerth, 2004).
5. Personal valence: Clarifies the extrinsic and intrinsic befits of the change.
This message is about the personal gains for the employees. The related question is in this case “What is in it for me?” By clarifying the extrinsic and intrinsic benefits of the change people know their gains (Bernerth, 2004).
Not only the change message is important but also how the message is spread. The five steps, as displayed in figure 2, can be communicated in many different ways. Klein (1996) did research on how these five steps can be communicated. He came up with the following key principles:
- Message redundancy is related to message retention.
- The use of several media is more effective than the use of just one. - Face-to-face communication is a preferred medium.
- The line hierarchy is the most effective organizationally sanctioned communication channel.
- Direct supervision is the expected and most effective source of organizationally sanctioned information.
- Opinion leaders are effective changers of attitudes and opinions.
- Personally relevant information is better retained than abstract, unfamiliar or general information.
(Klein, 1996, p. 34)
The combination of enactment, lekgotla, the five components (Armenakis and Harris, 2002) and the way how to communicate the change message are critical for the change management program at the URCS. Because of this importance, these factors are used to conduct research with. Even Armenakis et al. (1993, p. 103) states, ‘The purpose of the change message is to create
core sentiments in members of the organization by answering a set of five key questions they have about change’ When one of the change message components is not communicated in a proper
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In conclusion, in the western literature, as mentioned before, communication plays an important role in the successfulness of the change project. With this research I want to conduct research on how the Ugandan people use communication in their change project at the URCS and what the influence of it is on change projects.
Participation
In several studies on participation in change management the results show that participation is vital concerning the successfulness of change projects (e.g. Chawla and Kelloway, 2004). In most of the cases employees are committed towards the organization in the way of time and effort. Maybe even more important, the employees are often financial dependent on it. Therefore, according to Zajac and Bruhn (1999) employees have much to lose or gain from organizational changes, which is why they need to have a certain voice in the (major) organizational decisions.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s there is done some interesting research on participation. Firstly, there was conducted the so-called Hawthorne-experiment by Mayo (1949). Secondly, there were the Harwood experiments, conducted by Lewin (1947, 1951). These researches show that when you give people attention they are more motivated in executing their work.
On the other hand, to be successful in a change project it is not only attention that you have to give. To realize a change project Conger (2000) stresses that widespread participation and buy-in are essential. Sharing information and accepting ideas, whether it is positive or negative, creates a certain change in a person’s believe (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). This is very important to make the people aware of the organizational change.
However, participation is very important, a total top-down or bottom-up approach will give mixed-results even when you use participation (Davis and Lansbury, 1996; Sagie, Elizur and Koslowsky, 1996). Some sort of an African bottom up approach is called legkotla, which is also described in the communication part. The way legkotla works would be a good solution for the expectancy theory. Because constructing on the early studies, there is a theory emerged in the late 1980’s, the so-called expectance theory. The expectance theory restrains the following: Firstly, the expectations between the change in behavior and the performance is uncertain. Secondly, the link between performance and outcome is uncertain. Lastly, the result of the change project has a negative value for the employee (Hope and Pate, 1988). If we look at the three issues, as described above, participation solves these problems (Lines, 2004).
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is according to recent research, of Bouma and Emans (2005), that participation in organizational change makes the project as one of their own. In addition Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) state that within their concern participation is perhaps one of the most effective ways to bring about change because it capitalizes on self-discovery. Self-discovery is important in the way that it produces a feeling of partnership and according to Metselaar (1997) this will increase the pressure to perform the desired behavior. Self discovery and make it something of their own is especially important for the volunteers at the URCS.
If we look at participation, this can be can be divided in three different types (Armenakis
et al., 1993). The first is enactive mastery the organization is using small incremental steps to
prepare on the in the target of the change as a whole. In this case employees are getting trained in the needed skills, required knowledge and the vigor to successive involvement and practice (Armenakis et al., 1993). In the second place there is vicarious learning this is an continuous learning cycle of observing and learning from others (Armenakis et al., 1993). In addition Gist, Schwoerer and Rosen (1989) are stating that observing others who are applying new and productive techniques will enhance the confidence in adopting an innovation of the people. The third kind of participation defined by Armenakis et al. (1993) is participation in decision making (PDM). Which concerns direct involvement of people in activities. With the reason to share rich information pertaining to communicate the five message components described in Armenakis and Harris (2002).
Twenty years ago Cotton et al. (1988) did research on these different types, or so-called classifications, and combined them with a number of dimensions. Basically there are three dimension described in this paper (Cottons et al., 1988) by Dachler and Wilpert (1978), one is added by Locke and Schweiger (1979) and one is added by Cotton et al. (1988). The five dimensions will be described briefly.
The first dimension is about the formal – informal relationship related to participation. As stated in Cotton et al. (1988) with a quotation of Dachler and Wilpert (1978, p. 12) “Formal
participation has a "system of rules . . . imposed on or granted to the organization" (e.g., formally established quality circles). Informal participation, in contrast, is a "no statutory, consensus emerging among interacting members" (e.g., casual superior-subordinate exchanges).”
Secondly, there is a direct – indirect sort of participation. When there is "immediate
personal involvement of organization members" Dachler and Wilpert (1978, p. 12) there is a
so-called direct participation. On the other hand does Cotton (1988) define indirect participation for instance that it is some form of employee representation.
The third dimension defined by Dachler and Wilpert (1978) is called the access to
decision making. For this part there is made a continuum by Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1973),
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Access to the decision making is defined as the extent of influence the employees have in terms of the decision making (Cotton, 1988). The continuum of Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1973) is based on western profit organizations. Therefore it can be different at an organization like the URCS. During the research I will be aware of it and look and adapt on that if needed.
--- Figure 3 about here ---
In the fourth place Locke and Schweiger (1979) acknowledge that outcome of PDM might vary concerning the content of decisions that are involved. In short they proposed the four following content categories (Cotton, 1978):
a. Routine personnel functions (e.g. hiring, training, discipline, performance evaluation); b. Work itself (e.g. task assignments, job design, and speed of work);
c. Working conditions (e.g. including rest pauses, hours of work, placement of equipment, lighting);
d. Company policies (e.g. layoffs, profit sharing, capital investments, and general companywide policies).
However, de Leede and Looise (1994) made a distinction between the content of the work, which matches with the “work itself” of Cotton (1978); personnel policies this matches with the working condition of Cotton (1978); and organizational policies, which is similar with Cottons’(1978) company policies. This displays that it is difficult to make a clear distinction between these definitions because they are very closely related to each other.
In conclusion, the western literature, described as above, shows the real importance of the role of participation concerning the success of a change project. This is also the reason why it is used as a theoretical framework to conduct research on. Therefore, it is interesting to conduct research on how participation is arranged and the importance of participation during the execution of change projects at the URCS.
Resources
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not-for-profit (NPO) organizations, and independent of government and business. In addition states Abraham (2006) that NGOs are melting pots who combine their mission, members and money. The members and the money can be seen as the resources of an NGO. Therefore, it is in the first place appropriate to make a distinction between these two different resources. Secondly, there will be used a finance cadre that is commonly used in NPO because of the similarity between an NGO and an NPO (Michael, 2004; Abraham 2006).
Financial resources
Given the fact that the mission of an NGO is the reason of its existence, it is adequate to focus on financial resources to carry out the mission in an appropriate way. Especially in their association with the mission and the people who are served by that mission (Parker, 2000; Wooten et al., 2003). To serve the mission of the URCS, organizational changes are needed. But for a proper execution of the change project finances are needed. An organization which is operating in an NGO body has a different type of cash flow than profit organizations. They are more dependent on grants and funding.
Therefore, they have to be extra careful with their finances. According to Abraham (2006) are questions raised which relate the performance of NGOs to their financial resources, their mission and their membership. This is one of the important things the NGO has to be aware of. The funding at the URCS comes from grants, lobbying and twinning projects. Twinning projects are projects which have a partnership with an other country. These countries are financing the major part the project and also deliver a lot of knowledge to execute the organizational change.
NGOs have a mission they will fulfill. This mission is for the URCS to “Improve the quality
of life of the most vulnerable people in Uganda as an effective and efficient humanitarian organization” (URCS Strategic plan, p. 8). This means that fulfilling the mission is core. Corfman,
who is cited in Dennis (1997, p. 73) tries to make clear how change projects are financed and planned. He states that people in a financial positive position have to understand that an NGO budgets for the mission and that they do not change the mission to suit the budget. Despite the fact that they do not change the mission to get the money, there are financial recourses needed to help these most vulnerable people. By making organizations more effective, in executing organizational changes. Often there are situations where the URCS has a problem with the lack of financial resources.
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project. The only question that raises is how efficient this is and how this influences the success of the change project.
Therefore, Abraham (2006) designed a model to measure that. The model uses four different questions to determine if the needed resources are available so that it can be successful. The model is based on NPOs but is also applicable on NGOs because they can be seen as the same (Michael, 2004; Abraham 2006). The four questions are presented below:
Model of financial performance analyses by Abraham (2006) - Does the NPO have adequate money to support the mission?
- What sources of funding are available to support the NPO’s mission? - How is the NPO’s mission supported by the available financial resources? - Is the application of the financial resources both efficient and effective?
With these questions, research will be conducted. How the URCS manages the financial resources and related importance of these financial resources in combination with the organizational changes.
Volunteers
The other resource, which is conducted research on, are the volunteers. Since 85 percent of the people at the URCS are volunteers, it shows the importance of these volunteering members. Gloud (2008, p. 4) defines the term volunteers as “a person that works for an organization and
does not receive any salary for services rendered”. Within the URCS volunteers are very important.
Firstly, they make it possible to execute big change projects without making extraordinary costs. In the second place, they are with many. Abraham (2006) agrees on the fact that in an organization, there is no mission without members. These members are in this case the volunteers, for the biggest part.
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In the highly competitive marketplace, which is also the case in the NGO world, the management of people is one of the primary keys of the organizational success (Jackson and Schuler (2000) in Grobler and Wärnich, 2002). Organizational success is achieved by organizational changes that make the organization to operate better en smoothly. To combine these facts of organizational success and volunteers. The organization needs a good guidance system to let them work with the volunteers as effective and efficient as possible. Because people, and therefore also volunteers, are the most difficult asset (Baruch, 1998). The reason is, they are unpredictable, and are affected by the internal and external environment. Therefore, it is essential when the volunteers are working well and are successful in executing their change projects.
To manage the volunteers, in change projects effectively, there is an effective volunteer management system (EVMS) developed by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) in 2005. This EVMS is based on three easy steps. The three easy steps will be elaborated as follows:
The first step is to prepare for volunteers. This encloses the way how the organization is prepared for the upcoming volunteers so that the first impression is positive. With that there is laid a solid foundation for the volunteers. The related questions towards this first step are:
- Are there policies, procedures, record-keeping systems to document them in a volunteer handbook?
- Are the legal and liability issues pertaining the to volunteer involvement taken care of? - Is there a system to evaluate the volunteer’s performance and initiatives?
- Are the recruited volunteers trained well enough to speak enthusiastically and on the required level?
- Are the upcoming chapters reviewed to identify the needs of the volunteers? - Are the positions of the volunteers described including the benefits and “costs” of
volunteering?
(Healthcare Executives, 2005)
The second step is called recruit volunteers. This means that when you recruit the volunteers there has to be awareness about the fact where you need the volunteer for. After that you can ask the volunteers for help. Related questions with the second step are:
- Who is qualified for, and interested in the position?
16 - What motivates them to serve?
- What is the best way to approach them?
(Healthcare Executives, 2005)
As shown the second step aims on the skill, interests, and the availability of the volunteers. With this information there can be assessed what kind of message can be distributed to motivate the volunteers. The consequence will be that specific persons can be identified for specific roles. The last step, step three, is called recognize volunteers. Recognition is essential in a EVMS and can take many forms. The best way is to tailor the recognition towards the individual volunteer. Because some persons like a personal thank-you and others like the public commendation (Healthcare Executive, 2005). The main question which can be related towards the third step is the following:
- How does the volunteer gets his recognition?
(Healthcare Executives, 2005)
These steps of the ACHE (2005) are important for recruiting, managing, and developing of the volunteers effectively. And also to let the volunteers operate effectively. If the volunteers are operating effectively in the organization they also will be more effective in change projects. Therefore, when the volunteers and the volunteer system is operating effectively the change projects can also be executed effectively.
The effectiveness of the organizational changes is depending on the effectiveness of its employees (Grobler and Wärnich, 2002). To make the volunteers more effective there are several things to do. Outside the three steps of ACHE (2005). For instance there can be given trainings in the needed skills. However, it is important that these trainings are effective and cover the needs of the organization. So, when there is a change project going on there is a need for people who have the required skills. Some training techniques give the people the required skills, like: job rotation, job instruction training (JIT), coaching, mentoring, using videotapes, lectures, conferences, case studies, role playing, management games, assessment centers, wilderness training, sensitivity training and behaviour modeling (Grobler and Wärnich, 2002).
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METHODOLOGY
In this part, the underlying method is described on the conducted, in depth, research. Preliminary chapters already described that the research is conducted on different cases. These cases will be described in this section, these cases were or are based in the eastrn part of Uganda.
Research setting and cases
It is demonstrated that communication, participation and the availability of resources are very important topics concerning organizational changes. In order to see how these variables work out on employees in Uganda during a change project, there are used three cases. By shedding a light on these three variables in the context of change projects there hopefully will emerge some interesting findings.
The objective in this case study is to analyze the variables on cases at the URCS. With analyzing the variables there can be gained more clarification how they influence the change projects at the URCS. Thereby, with the results there can be lessons learned, at the URCS, if they do need a different approach or what are critical issues. Maybe one less western based approach. Because the variables could be of more importance in Uganda then in western countries or the other way around. This is presented in the conceptual model, see figure 4.
--- Figure 4 about here ---
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Case 1: Mbale branch, a structural change by a new manager.
The change in this case can be typified as a small-scaled and planned change on branch level. The focus lies on the structure of the organization in a relatively stable environment. It is a slow transformation whit a new head, which is called from now on a branch field coordinator (BFC), of the Mbale branche in the east of Uganda. This new BFC wanted to restructure a business unit. The BFC had a lot of good ideas how to do the restructuring. He communicated this towards his so-called vocal persons. A vocal person is a person that works for the URCS, but does not get paid for it, a volunteer. The BFC was the only paid employee. This vocal person disperse the message towards the other employees. The Mbale branch has quite a history of changes. This is because it is one of the most innovative branches within the URCS. This causes a bit of tiredness against all the changes. Thereby, is there a high exchange rate of employees towards other branches. This is because of the knowledge they have and gain by being very innovative. The equipment the branch possess is three pc’s, one with an internet connection. This causes some difficulties in communicating the messages and especially receiving themselves. A major benefit that the Mbale branch possess is that they have some income generating activities (IGA). These IGA make it possible to generate some income which they can use for different projects of there own choice. Through the IGA is the branch not totally dependent on grants and funding.
Case 2: Busia branch, a cultural change towards a more participative branch.
The change in this case is a small-scaled and planned change on branch level. The environment is a bit turbulent, the focus is on individuals and groups and the transformation can be considered as slow. The Busia branch is based near the Kenyan border. There is one BFC and he is also the only one who gets salary. There are problems in the branch and one of them is demotivative behavior. Therefore he wants to change the culture in a more participative one. With this change he wants to get people more motivated and with that perform better. People are less motivated because on the border of Kenya it is some how turbulent environment. This affects the people’s behavior. By let them participate more in the organization they can feel it is more a change project of themselves. There is unfortunately very few equipment to spread and exchange the message. There is one pc and the people are not always within easy reach. There is a strong kernel of youth which can help, but they bring less experience than wanted. All the people have their own thoughts and ideas, but do not share them.
Case 3: Soroti branch, structural change: a new department.
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branches, situated in the north of Uganda. There are three employees working who receive a wage from the URCS. The other great part is volunteer. There are three pc’s and one of them has internet, now and then. During the implementation of the new department was there a lot of trouble they had to take care of. One of the major thing was that that a lot of people were made homeless by the Lord Resistance Army. This influences the execution of the change project in a negative way. The people who were involved during the change project possessed good skills and education. There were also younger volunteers, but the older ones were the so called vocal persons. During the period of the change project other priorities were there and the project faded away.
Data collection
The conducted research is of a qualitative type. Qualitative research is appropriate to use in cases where the ‘how’ and ‘why’ question has to be answered. It is also good in use to analyze organizational and managerial processes in the past (Yin, 2003). By using qualitative research I want to gain more in depth information, and how they influence the change project, about the variables mentioned before.
To gain the right information I chose to use three different tools. The first one is by using interviews. By the use of interviews there is the possibility of using aimed questions about the topic. Thereby, there is a possibility to interpret the reaction and react on the answer given. The second way of gaining information is by document analysis. This is done with the reason to see what is behind the scenes. How the organization is organized and how they structure their information supply. Lastly, I monitored the daily practices. By monitoring the daily practices I could gain more information about how they really execute their projects. For instance, if they walk the talk. The three different tools are described as follows:
Interviews
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During the study the questions are reassessed several times to gain better information and ensure the right questions are asked. The questions of the interview are in consensus with the conceptual model (see figure 4). The interviewees are asked to answer the questions as honest as possible and using a chronological order in the change project. The interview is shown in appendix F. Positions of the interviewees, within the organization, are: an employee of the ministry of health, heads of the organizational development departments of the head quarter, national and local board members, branch managers, head of communication, project officers, and participants of the change project. Participants are employees and volunteers.
Document analysis
During the research also secondary information is used to get a better insight of the change projects. Also in this part the focus lies on the variables resources, participation, and
communication. Several organizational documents are used for this. The documents used in
general are minutes, organizational plans, including the strategic plan of the URCS.
Monitoring
Monitoring is also executed during the research for gaining information. The monitoring concerns attending meetings, the projects and observing how the organization is organized. With this information a solid picture can be formed. Monitoring is used because sometimes people say things which are not covering the whole picture, or there is a bias in interpreting the information by the interviewer.
Data analysis
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RESULTS
In this part the results of the conducted qualitative research will be presented. The results presented are dedicated to the research variables and each has their own paragraph.
Communication
In this part the results about the communication variable will be shown. The results are a summary and a compilation of the outcomes during the interviews, monitoring and document analysis.
Self-efficacy. The people at the URCS are in general well motivated concerning the change
projects. In case two there was less motivation. In the group meetings the volunteers explained that the motivation and the confidence comes from the way the organization is organized. The professionals who work in the URCS are in many cases started as volunteers. This means that they are very concerned with the projects the URCS executes. The BFCs do all agree on this. The volunteers are also very motivated, they have a strong intrinsic motivation to make the project to a success. This is a good trait concerning the many changes done already said the BFC of Mbale branch. They stay positive and do the best they can. All in all there were some mixed results of the change. The branches in Mbale and Busia were hindered by the lack of money. But because of the good spirit of the URCS employees there is a lot of positive energy.
Principal support. The principal support is a bit difficult. On one hand the principals were
motivating the people a lot during the change projects. However, during a group meeting at the Mbale branch came out that the BFC was not really walking the talk. Some coordinators were talking very enthusiastically about the change project, but during monitoring and observation there was not much to see of the just said. However, the change coordinators were positive about the project. The actors of the change projects were not always feeling the commitment needed was told in a group meeting in Busia branch. A volunteer of the Busia branch explained that also the fact that there were sometimes discrepancies between the talk and the walk of the coordinator was not giving the people more confidence.
Discrepancy. For the employees of the URCS at the branches, where the change projects
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awareness of the need for change, that people have, is important to initiate and also to execute the change project successfully.
Appropriateness. According to the interviewees, group and personal, there was chosen
for the appropriate change approach in the Mbale and Soroti branch. But as a volunteer said at the Busia branch: “maybe there were other ways to motivate the people and let them be more
participative”. During the group interviews at all the branches some said that there were no
better alternatives, others suggest that there were. But overall they did feel convenient with the approaches. Although, there is sometimes a lack of knowledge on the alternatives. Which can result in ignorance and acceptance of the approach without questioning the used approach.
Personal valence. As in every change there are people in favor and some are against. Most
of the time it is related to the personal valence. A volunteer of Soroti branch said that most of the people had no problems with the change and were gaining from it. Most of them are gaining in the way of intrinsic benefits. This because the most of the people who are participating are volunteers. This was confirmed during the group interviews at the Soroti branch. One of the project managers told that the professionals can be promoted, which is an extrinsic as well an intrinsic gain. This is communicated very well and is in general rather clear confirmed the BFC of Soroti.
Key principles of communication
“Communication gives the direction, feedback and makes it possible to see the progress. Which can
make the project a success or let it fail” BFC of Busia branch. All the interviewees of all branches
do agree that communication is vital and that it reduces problems and conflict. During the change in Soroti this was the reason that there are very few miscommunications, said a volunteer in a personal interview. The communication during the change projects is considered as good and also as important. The redundancy in the Soroti branch and the walking the talk issue was a problem in Mbale branch.
The goals for the change projects were clear for the most of the people. Althoug the people were not really convinced in Busia branch, was the result of a group interview. The change was especially clear for the BFC, but not always to the affecting people. A personal interview showed that for the volunteers the goals were not always defined well. The Busia of Busia branch told that the difficulty for defining the goals well, is related to defining the right target area.
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needed, said the BFC of Busia. Also a group meeting with volunteers at the Busia branch showed the same result. Adding to that, e-mail and internet is in the western countries everywhere available. This is not the case in Uganda, which causes a lack in exchanging information. To improve the communication there can be made use of posters, more frequent meetings and more intensive two-way communication said one the project assistants of the Soroti branch.
On the question if the information needed was timely received the answer is that most of the times the information is on time. However there are suggestions made that it could be earlier, according to the BFCs. Timely information is very important. As said by the BFC of Soroti branch “Timely information is effective, slow information is ineffective”. The early communication is good for mobilization and implementation. In addition, during a group interview in Busia, people mentioned that the information needed was not always of the expected quality as they thought it would be. One of the volunteers in this interview tried to explain this as follws: Maybe it was because of the discrepancy in expectations because many people have very high expectation. But there are challenges.
The BFC of Mbale dealt with the problem that the change message has to be packed in a more simple language because otherwise people have difficulties to understand it. Problems with information occur in the way that they do not always have the desirable level of English. And there are 56 other languages in Uganda which are sometimes a bit and sometimes not at all related with each other. There are problems in what one another means when they are communicating, this was especially the case in Soroti branch which was situated in the northern Uganda. People do not always know what it means, a change project in general, and is it unclear what is meant with the information provided, was told during a group interview at Soroti branch.
Meetings are hold on regular base at all the branches. So there is redundancy of the information. The different volunteers interviewed at all the three branches consider frequent communication as important. According to the BFC of Busia will the effectiveness also increase by frequent communication because communicating the wrong message causes more problems than benefits. During the meetings there is a very open communication. Still, there is only one problem. Which is that the Ugandan people do not say “no” in general. The BFC of Mbale agrees on that and reacts on that with “Nevertheless the exchange of information is important, check and
balance is what it is all about.”
24 Participation
The participation process will be shown in the upcoming part. There is made a summary and compilation of the interview outcomes.
Formal-Informal.
The balance formal-informal participation at the URCS is rather equally divided according to the volunteers in Busia branch. The URCS uses official meetings to communicate and it works with procedures. There are meetings on regular base at all the three branches. Monthly basis in the branche/organization and quarterly base, to report and interact with all stakeholders of the change project. According to the BFCs is this to enhance the involvement of the employees in decision-making. But there is need for more meetings was one of the results at the Busia branch. Also the Mbale branch suggested for more meetings of once in the two weeks and even once in a week. This will improve the exchange of information is said in a personal interview in Mbale wihth a volunteer. In emergencies there is a possibility to have a meeting as soon as possible, utters the BFC of Busia. The frequency of meetings will influence the end result of the change projects and related to that the quality of the projects. On the other hand uses the URCS informal tactics to gain information about how to execute the change project in a proper way is monitored in the Soroti branch. According to the BFC of Soroti there has to be done research prior of the execution of the change project on the best way to execute the project. Therefore, the informal tactics are needed to get the real thoughts and feelings of the employees. Why they act as they do.
Direct-Indirect
Participation is very important inside the URCS, in both, direct and indirect way. The direct participation of the people who are concerned with the change project directly are for instance the branch coordinator and the people who work with him in the project. During the group interviews the volunteers agreed that they are directly, but sometimes also indirectly involved. They told that the way they participate in the change projects is in the way of decision making, planning, implementation, education, assessment, networking and collaboration. So, actually the development of the project in the broadest way, confirmed the BFCs.
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Access to decision making
Concerning the access to decision-making, the following results can be presented. A personal interview with one of the project managers and a volunteer showed that people do feel participated, especially the coordinators. The group at Soroti branch agreed that volunteers do feel involved as well, but not always at the same level. The BFC of Busia branch explaind this as “In the case of the volunteers there is also a certain level of pro-active behavior needed” Otherwise there is no participation. Although there is no such thing as a top-down or bottom-up approach pure sang. The URCS uses a very detailed bottom-up approach do all the interviewees agree on. The employees make the coordinators aware of the gaps that occur or will occur and how they can be solved said the BFC of Mbale branch. In addition he think that the decision making process is very important because people feel involved and there is a chance to get all the information needed form all the parties. Especially when all the beneficiaries are involved, which all the BFCs support.
Content of decision involved
The issue of the content of decision involved covers several parts. The changes in the research conducted are behavioral, restructuring and cost cutting. The expenditures were to high and had to be reduced according one of the staff members. With the restructuring is the shifting of positions involved, said the BFC of Mbale branch. In some of the cases there is made a redefinition of the positions. This was related with the growing workforce or the lack of financial resources. The influence that employees have on this process is not that big in the professional structure was the result of the group interveiws. But in the volunteering structure it is. There is a yearly election of the chair, who represents the volunteers in that area.
Duration of the participation
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Additional results
A group interview in Busia mentioned the following: With the thought of, two heads know more than one, there is a request to let more people participate. A project manager in Soroti added on that that especially more people with a broader scope of knowledge of great value. This will improve the input in the change projects. Which assumes that it will result in a better qualitative change project.
Secondly, all the BFCs and the staff members interviewd give in on that the participation in the URCS is used to make it something of their own and let them feel responsible for it. It is important that the participants feel respected and feel important, about the work they did in the change project. Ownership is than given to them, which is incredibly essential.
Participation is good to help the organization up to a whole new level said a volunteer in a personal interview. He added that it contributes in the way that people feel responsible and part of the project. This results in the feeling that they will fight for the cause.
“Participation is vital to meet the goals.” BFC of Busia banch.
Resources
The results concerning the resources in the change projects will be displayed. There is made a distinction between the financial resources and the resources like the volunteers and professional.
Financial resources
Does the NPO have adequate money to support the change mission?
He interview with the BFC of Busia he states that the financial resources were enough in the early days, but nowadays there is not enough money. There are too many projects in progress now, which consumes all the finances piece by piece. The small amount of money that is available is influencing the change project in two ways, according to the BFC of Soroti. In the first place, the change projects are influenced positively by the small amount of money. In the way that it helps the organization to be more effective. On the other hand it influences the result negatively. The project has to manage itself with the financial resources which are available. This means that there is less moving space and results in poor and limited execution of the change projects.
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player and sets priorities was told by one of the staff members. Concluding on that, the BFC of Busia branch told that there is a lot of competition and this makes it necessary to get and keep enough financial resources.
What sources are available to support the NPO’s mission?
The resources which are available can be categorized as people (volunteers and professionals), financial resources and materials, according to the all the interveiwees.
How is the NPO’s mission supported by the available financial resources?
The BFCs and the staff members say that there is need for more financial support in the URCS. At this moment they are scared that the collaboration will disappear. This collaboration makes it possible to gain enough resources to execute a project emphasizes the BFC of Mbale branch. In fact, at this moment the feeling is already there that it is slipping away. Without the financial resources it is not possible to accomplish the change projects. If the change projects are not accomplished adequately, there is a problem with helping the most vulnerable people feel the volunteers in the group meetings.
Is the application of the financial resources both efficient and effective?
In a groupmeeting at the Mbale branch they say that it is easy to get the financial resources needed. The at the other branches it is less easy especially at the Busia branch. This is because the branches have to generate or fund their own money. Some branches are based in more attractive areas, for the funders, which makes it possible to get the costs covered. The branch in the less attractive area will experience the opposite, like Busia branch.
A capacity planning is made first in relation with a planning of the project, after that the priorities are set was told in an personal interview with a project manager in Soroti branch. The estimation is what you get, so you have to be precise in estimating the budget you need. Although there are not always enough financial resources, the volunteers are good assets the project manager in Soroti branch said.
Volunteers
Step 1: Prepare for volunteers
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An important issue to mention is, that volunteers are not always people without education. Some of them even have a masters degree, but are unemployed and help the URCS or just want to help. Trainings are given on a continues basis is said during a group meeting in Soroti. This makes the change more sustainable. It is important that people know how to work in the new situation, otherwise it will not last long they added on that in the same group meeting. A project manager at the soroti branch suggested to make a trainings manual. With that it would be easier to carry out the same quality of the trainings in the whole organization.
Step 2: Recruit volunteers
Volunteers are the backbone of the organization said one of the volunteers at the Mable branch in a personal interview. Money wise volunteers are better than professionals. Professionals are more expensive. On the question if the volunteers are influencing the change project in a positive way all the interviewees agreed on the fact that the volunteers have a positive effect on the change project. Because they advocate for the best said a staff member. Even when they did not get salary or an other incentive, it is intrinsic motivation what fires them states a group during an interview in Soroti. But without the professionals it is difficult they admit. The professionals have more experience in general and the interviewees are sure the professionals enhance the quality of the change projects. This is supported by the BFCs. The combination between the professionals and the volunteers make it work is a staff member fully convinced. The resources which are most of the time available are the volunteers and not the money. These volunteers are until now sufficient to carry out the change project, but there has to be a continues process of recruiting, states the BFC of Busia branch. This to get enough people for the future projects.
Step 3: Recognize volunteers
According to the personal and group interviews are the people rewarded in three different ways. Sometimes the people do receive a small financial reward. This is only the case when there are enough financial resources. Most of the time the people receive a thank-you from the coordinators. Also people in the community give the volunteers a lot of recognition when they are carrying out the change projects.
Additional results and observations
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Never say-no
The Ugandan people do not say ‘no’ towards each other or at least to their executive. This is reckoned and experienced by one of the staff members. So, if for instance there is asked a favor by the executive the employee will not say that it is not possible. This is even when they know for certain they cannot fulfill the needs of the executive. The problems which occur, are that someone is expecting the promised, but this will not be done. This will cost time and money and frustration and irritation will rise.
Turbulent environment
The turbulent environment where the URCS is working in, has a certain impact on the change projects. There is never a guarantee that the area stays stable. Because when there is an emergency, like the refugees during the Kenyan elections that came to Uganda, has this the priority told the BFC of Busia.
Time management
The people have difficulties to attend on time on an appointment. The problem is that the person who you made an appointment with, he or she has also an appointment after yours. Most of the people are not aware of that or do not care about it. Especially the staff members and the BFCs who have a responsible job have this feeling. The successfulness and effectiveness of operating the change project will get lost. The consequence is that change projects will delay or, worse, fail.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion that can be drawn form this research is presented below. The conclusion related to the variables are organized in the same order as used in the research, per variable.
Communication
To give answer on the sub question: “how does communication of stakeholders affect the success
of the change project?” The following conclusions are needed:
Communication in Uganda during change projects is maybe even more important than expected. This is where the problem emerges. Firstly, there is the problem of the so-called “never say no” issue. The Ugandan people do not say “no” which results in miscommunication. Also promises and expectations will not be met. This results in disappointment and irritation. It is important that people can trust one another in doing business and on what they say.
