Natasha Winkler-Titus

University of Pretoria | UP · Department of Human Resource Management

Organisations are frequent targets for social activists aiming to influence society by first altering organisational policies and practice (Briscoe & Gupta 2016). Especially in resource-restricted times, we observe a broader context of socio economic and political pressure creating stress on organisations and its leaders. We observed just such a case, at the heart of the education sector in South Africa. This study aims to make a contribution toward understanding how the context influenced change. Further, historically change models were predicted on assumption that the organisation is the key actor. In this case, the primary drivers of change were associated with the organisation but in no ‘formal’ position of power. An embedded, single (interpretivist) case study design has been approved and the strategy of inquiry will be nested in constructivist grounded theory following (Charmaz 2006) thinking. A theoretical sampling strategy is followed; data to include semi-structured interviews with stakeholders both internal and external to the organisation, documents and observations. A reiterative process starting with causal process tracking and followed by co-variational analysis will be done on multiple examples of similar output variables within the case. Data and informant triangulation, to expedite validity, will be conducted and along with a rigid case protocol will further enhance quality.