Die effek van die sluiting van 'n afdeling op die "lewensstorie" van 'n groep werknemers: 'n narratiewe fokus

Abstract

International competition forced South African industries to improve their competitiveness in the global market. Modern technology has proven to be a critical factor for successful companies to sustain their competitive advantage. Technological upgrading inevitably results in a downsizing in the work force. In the company where the research was done, a division was closed down because of the high production cost of the product produced due to old technology. A study of available literature was done, followed by an impirical investigation to determine what effect the announcement of the closing down of the division had on the employees and their families. The impressions of employees on how the management conducted the announcement, of the closing down of the division, and the resulting actions initiated by them were also investigated. This was followed by a narrative investigation with some of the redeployed employees, after the final closure of the division, on how their "life stories" were effected by the closing down of the division. From the impirical and narrative investigation it was concluded that there was no program to enable the redeployed employees to establish themselves in their new environments (divisions).