Socio-historical analysis of organisational change: a case study of Zimbabwe posts (Zimpost), 2010–2020
- Kambarami-Zengeni, Faith Chipo
- Authors: Kambarami-Zengeni, Faith Chipo
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Organizational change Zimbabwe , Fordism , Industrial management , Taylor, Frederick Winslow, 1856-1915 , Industrial relations , Postal service Management
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327920 , vital:61170 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327920
- Description: Postal organisations play an important role in the provision of basic communication services. In Zimbabwe, post offices have a large physical distribution network of over 240 post offices country-wide to make communication services accessible to the populace. However, e-substitution has threatened mail business significantly. Postal operators globally are experiencing declining mail volumes in the face of advanced information and communication technologies. The overall goal of this thesis was to undertake a socio-historical analysis of organisational change at ZimPost using Taylorism, Fordism and post-Fordism as broad ideal types to explain how industry evolves in different phases of capitalism. National politics and economics play an integral role in how Taylorism, Fordism and post-Fordism assumed at ZimPost. Studies on these broad organising types have mainly focused on private sector organisations. However, this thesis argues that these analytical paradigms are also valid in public sector organisations, but they will unfold differently given the context in which change is experienced. Using a qualitative approach, the study established that the 1980s and 1990s can best be described as the ‘golden years’ of postal services in Zimbabwe, characterised by mass production and mass consumption of postal products and services. At that time the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation enjoyed a monopoly of postal services in the country. The stable market share, competitive salaries for postal workers, increased unionisation and a fairly stable economy enabled a Fordist regime of accumulation to develop. The cycle broke down when the mode of regulation was weakened by national economic and political changes towards the late 1990s. PTC started to experience a decline in the consumption of postal products. The decline was also attributed to increased competition from smaller private courier operators that could provide specialised services to a market with changing needs. With increased competition, the advancement of information, and communication technologies, mail volumes dwindled. This period can best be described as the crisis of Fordism at ZimPost. In the year 2000, the government unbundled the posts and telecommunications corporation to create four companies including Zimbabwe Posts. This was perceived as one of the most radical organisational changes in the history of postal services in Zimbabwe. More organisational changes took place at ZimPost that can best be described as characteristics of post-Fordism. These changes were attempts by ZimPost to remain relevant in light of the economic, political and technological changes taking place in the country. The postal operator introduced customised products in the form of agency services, supported by increased use of information and communication technologies in the post office. Organisational changes at ZimPost were shaped mainly by the economic and political environment in which they took place. Organisational change is complex, changes do not follow a linear pattern, they are processual. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Kambarami-Zengeni, Faith Chipo
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Organizational change Zimbabwe , Fordism , Industrial management , Taylor, Frederick Winslow, 1856-1915 , Industrial relations , Postal service Management
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327920 , vital:61170 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327920
- Description: Postal organisations play an important role in the provision of basic communication services. In Zimbabwe, post offices have a large physical distribution network of over 240 post offices country-wide to make communication services accessible to the populace. However, e-substitution has threatened mail business significantly. Postal operators globally are experiencing declining mail volumes in the face of advanced information and communication technologies. The overall goal of this thesis was to undertake a socio-historical analysis of organisational change at ZimPost using Taylorism, Fordism and post-Fordism as broad ideal types to explain how industry evolves in different phases of capitalism. National politics and economics play an integral role in how Taylorism, Fordism and post-Fordism assumed at ZimPost. Studies on these broad organising types have mainly focused on private sector organisations. However, this thesis argues that these analytical paradigms are also valid in public sector organisations, but they will unfold differently given the context in which change is experienced. Using a qualitative approach, the study established that the 1980s and 1990s can best be described as the ‘golden years’ of postal services in Zimbabwe, characterised by mass production and mass consumption of postal products and services. At that time the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation enjoyed a monopoly of postal services in the country. The stable market share, competitive salaries for postal workers, increased unionisation and a fairly stable economy enabled a Fordist regime of accumulation to develop. The cycle broke down when the mode of regulation was weakened by national economic and political changes towards the late 1990s. PTC started to experience a decline in the consumption of postal products. The decline was also attributed to increased competition from smaller private courier operators that could provide specialised services to a market with changing needs. With increased competition, the advancement of information, and communication technologies, mail volumes dwindled. This period can best be described as the crisis of Fordism at ZimPost. In the year 2000, the government unbundled the posts and telecommunications corporation to create four companies including Zimbabwe Posts. This was perceived as one of the most radical organisational changes in the history of postal services in Zimbabwe. More organisational changes took place at ZimPost that can best be described as characteristics of post-Fordism. These changes were attempts by ZimPost to remain relevant in light of the economic, political and technological changes taking place in the country. The postal operator introduced customised products in the form of agency services, supported by increased use of information and communication technologies in the post office. Organisational changes at ZimPost were shaped mainly by the economic and political environment in which they took place. Organisational change is complex, changes do not follow a linear pattern, they are processual. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Colonial displacements and African coping strategies: The experience of BaTonga of Binga, Zimbabwe, 1956-2008
- Authors: Dhodho, Codelia Govha
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Tonga (Zambezi people) Refugees , Subsistence farming Zambezi River Valley , Hunger Zambezi River Valley , Food security Zambezi River Valley , Adaptability (Psychology) , Food relief Zambezi River Valley , Non-governmental organizations , Kariba Dam (Zambia and Zimbabwe)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327642 , vital:61139 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327642
- Description: This study examines the challenges faced by BaTonga in livelihood reconstruction after involuntary displacement and resettlement from the Zambezi valley to pave way for the Kariba dam reservoir. It shows how they were forcibly evicted without compensation because of the racist policies of Southern Rhodesia. Their resettlement into an arid region infested with marauding elephants, malaria and tsetse fly undermined their complex livelihoods and eroded their self-sufficiency, but the study argues that they were active and resilient agents who adopted complex coping strategies. It shows how they had to adapt to dry-land farming and counter the effects of wildlife which plundered their crops and managed to secure the harvest in the drought-prone region. The study shows that although they adopted precarious livelihoods, they managed to survive under extreme circumstances for decades without any external assistance until the coming of NGOs who began to distribute free food from 1982. It argues that prolonged distribution of emergence food aid may not have been necessary, but its coming for almost three decades largely served political interests of both the NGOs and their governments. This perpetuated poverty as BaTonga also manipulated its distribution as a coping strategy against fragile livelihoods. This caused dependency which further plunged them into chronic food insecurity because they abandoned their traditional coping strategies. The study argues that both the colonial and postcolonial government as well as NGOs failed to address the root causes of livelihood insecurity in Binga for the five decades under study. It is therefore the contention of this study that the problem of food insecurity in Binga was not only an issue of recurring drought but was deeply rooted and pervasive due to multiple complex factors which made it difficult for the people to establish sustainable food production after displacement. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Dhodho, Codelia Govha
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Tonga (Zambezi people) Refugees , Subsistence farming Zambezi River Valley , Hunger Zambezi River Valley , Food security Zambezi River Valley , Adaptability (Psychology) , Food relief Zambezi River Valley , Non-governmental organizations , Kariba Dam (Zambia and Zimbabwe)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327642 , vital:61139 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327642
- Description: This study examines the challenges faced by BaTonga in livelihood reconstruction after involuntary displacement and resettlement from the Zambezi valley to pave way for the Kariba dam reservoir. It shows how they were forcibly evicted without compensation because of the racist policies of Southern Rhodesia. Their resettlement into an arid region infested with marauding elephants, malaria and tsetse fly undermined their complex livelihoods and eroded their self-sufficiency, but the study argues that they were active and resilient agents who adopted complex coping strategies. It shows how they had to adapt to dry-land farming and counter the effects of wildlife which plundered their crops and managed to secure the harvest in the drought-prone region. The study shows that although they adopted precarious livelihoods, they managed to survive under extreme circumstances for decades without any external assistance until the coming of NGOs who began to distribute free food from 1982. It argues that prolonged distribution of emergence food aid may not have been necessary, but its coming for almost three decades largely served political interests of both the NGOs and their governments. This perpetuated poverty as BaTonga also manipulated its distribution as a coping strategy against fragile livelihoods. This caused dependency which further plunged them into chronic food insecurity because they abandoned their traditional coping strategies. The study argues that both the colonial and postcolonial government as well as NGOs failed to address the root causes of livelihood insecurity in Binga for the five decades under study. It is therefore the contention of this study that the problem of food insecurity in Binga was not only an issue of recurring drought but was deeply rooted and pervasive due to multiple complex factors which made it difficult for the people to establish sustainable food production after displacement. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Socio-historical analysis of organisational change: a case study of Zimbabwe Posts (Zimpost), 2010–2020
- Kambarami-Zengeni, Faith Chipo
- Authors: Kambarami-Zengeni, Faith Chipo
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422518 , vital:71954 , DOI 10.21504/10962/422518
- Description: Postal organisations play an important role in the provision of basic communication services. In Zimbabwe, post offices have a large physical distribution network of over 240 post offices country-wide to make communication services accessible to the populace. However, e-substitution has threatened mail business significantly. Postal operators globally are experiencing declining mail volumes in the face of advanced information and communication technologies. The overall goal of this thesis was to undertake a socio-historical analysis of organisational change at ZimPost using Taylorism, Fordism and post-Fordism as broad ideal types to explain how industry evolves in different phases of capitalism. National politics and economics play an integral role in how Taylorism, Fordism and post-Fordism assumed at ZimPost. Studies on these broad organising types have mainly focused on private sector organisations. However, this thesis argues that these analytical paradigms are also valid in public sector organisations, but they will unfold differently given the context in which change is experienced. Using a qualitative approach, the study established that the 1980s and 1990s can best be described as the ‘golden years’ of postal services in Zimbabwe, characterised by mass production and mass consumption of postal products and services. At that time the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation enjoyed a monopoly of postal services in the country. The stable market share, competitive salaries for postal workers, increased unionisation and a fairly stable economy enabled a Fordist regime of accumulation to develop. The cycle broke down when the mode of regulation was weakened by national economic and political changes towards the late 1990s. PTC started to experience a decline in the consumption of postal products. The decline was also attributed to increased competition from smaller private courier operators that could provide specialised services to a market with changing needs. With increased competition, the advancement of information, and communication technologies, mail volumes dwindled. This period can best be described as the crisis of Fordism at ZimPost. In the year 2000, the government unbundled the posts and telecommunications corporation to create four companies including Zimbabwe Posts. This was perceived as one of the most radical organisational changes in the history of postal services in Zimbabwe. More organisational changes took place at ZimPost that can best be described as characteristics of post-Fordism. These changes were attempts by ZimPost to remain relevant in light of the economic, political and technological changes taking place in the country. The postal operator introduced customised products in the form of agency services, supported by increased use of information and communication technologies in the post office. Organisational changes at ZimPost were shaped mainly by the economic and political environment in which they took place. Organisational change is complex, changes do not follow a linear pattern, they are processual. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Kambarami-Zengeni, Faith Chipo
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422518 , vital:71954 , DOI 10.21504/10962/422518
- Description: Postal organisations play an important role in the provision of basic communication services. In Zimbabwe, post offices have a large physical distribution network of over 240 post offices country-wide to make communication services accessible to the populace. However, e-substitution has threatened mail business significantly. Postal operators globally are experiencing declining mail volumes in the face of advanced information and communication technologies. The overall goal of this thesis was to undertake a socio-historical analysis of organisational change at ZimPost using Taylorism, Fordism and post-Fordism as broad ideal types to explain how industry evolves in different phases of capitalism. National politics and economics play an integral role in how Taylorism, Fordism and post-Fordism assumed at ZimPost. Studies on these broad organising types have mainly focused on private sector organisations. However, this thesis argues that these analytical paradigms are also valid in public sector organisations, but they will unfold differently given the context in which change is experienced. Using a qualitative approach, the study established that the 1980s and 1990s can best be described as the ‘golden years’ of postal services in Zimbabwe, characterised by mass production and mass consumption of postal products and services. At that time the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation enjoyed a monopoly of postal services in the country. The stable market share, competitive salaries for postal workers, increased unionisation and a fairly stable economy enabled a Fordist regime of accumulation to develop. The cycle broke down when the mode of regulation was weakened by national economic and political changes towards the late 1990s. PTC started to experience a decline in the consumption of postal products. The decline was also attributed to increased competition from smaller private courier operators that could provide specialised services to a market with changing needs. With increased competition, the advancement of information, and communication technologies, mail volumes dwindled. This period can best be described as the crisis of Fordism at ZimPost. In the year 2000, the government unbundled the posts and telecommunications corporation to create four companies including Zimbabwe Posts. This was perceived as one of the most radical organisational changes in the history of postal services in Zimbabwe. More organisational changes took place at ZimPost that can best be described as characteristics of post-Fordism. These changes were attempts by ZimPost to remain relevant in light of the economic, political and technological changes taking place in the country. The postal operator introduced customised products in the form of agency services, supported by increased use of information and communication technologies in the post office. Organisational changes at ZimPost were shaped mainly by the economic and political environment in which they took place. Organisational change is complex, changes do not follow a linear pattern, they are processual. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
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