Influence of a university merger on personnel at the University of South Africa.

Abstract

The influence of a ‘technikon-into-university’ merger, as manifested in the former Technikon South Africa and University of South Africa merger, is the focus of this article. A quantitative research design was employed using a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. Randomly selected academic and administrative personnel formed the sample of 31 personnel from the Department of Public Administration and Management. The research results indicated that personnel were satisfied with their work and with management during the merger process. However, personnel were somewhat dissatisfied with the institution. A possible managerial implication for the newly merged institution is that the positive attitudes of personnel towards their work and management provide a sound basis on which the institution can build its future human resource activities. This study enables a better understanding of a university merger, and these findings may also be extended to a follow-up study in order to identify the main reasons causing the current negativity amongst personnel in the Department of Public Administration and Management towards the institution.