SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS
8.3 CONCLUSIONS
Because different views have been the norm rather than the exception, the conservation sector suffered from considerable polarization around the interpretation of the mission.
For example, amidst the evolution of the mission, required competencies have undergone significant changes as well. From an explicit focus on enforcement-related competencies, based on the interpretation of the conservation mission as being largely about protecting wildlife and seeing the role of conservation as being custodial, the nature of skills and capabilities to perform the evolving role of stewardship have changed. Thus, from essentially one core competence (enforcement), there has been an expansion in core- competencies to include: scientific services and research; tourism; recreation community participation and business management skills (to meet the commercialization imperative).
Each of these core-competencies reflects a desired improvement in what are regarded as strategic performance areas of the expanding mission. Re-definition of the role to mean more about stewardship and not necessarily the previous custodial function has facilitated the recognition of the importance of partnerships in an effort to ensure sustained and functional relationships with a variety of stakeholders. Thus, we see in the current management of EKZNW that the creation and sustenance of partnerships is emphasized as being one of the mandates alongside those of conservation and eco-tourism. Based on the above findings, I now wish to revert to the stated study objectives by stating the conclusions and implications for managing change in organizations.
the relationship between basic assumptions and strategic objectives and to understand whether or not there are any tensions between organizational culture and strategic directions, and (3) to assess the value of using a cultural perspective in the study of management challenges in the conservation sector. These objectives should be reviewed bearing in mind the stated study hypothesis and the various questions I have raised as the dissertation progressed.
Generally, organizational culture has been shown to be very influential in creating resistance to change. During the various developmental phases of the NPB, culture was so strong that it also effectively served to facilitate insularity and an inward looking perspective. Such a culture was predisposed to dealing with predictable situations through processes of gradual change. But in time, the external forces became too forceful to face using gradual changes. The resulting changes then were dramatic and disruptive, and left in their wake different organizational implications including difficulties in adapting to the changes in the external environment. An encapsulation of the findings relative to the above-stated objectives helps clarify the implications of the study.
Regarding the first objective, it was found that leadership played a critical role in interpreting the environment and developing strategies based on an interpretation of the environment. Also, it was apparent during the succeeding leadership phases that different management styles were developed and used for different times in the agency's history.
A consequence of this was that different management styles and aspects of 'conservation effectiveness' were emphasized over time to reflect leaders' interpretations of the environment during the different phases of conservation's development in KZN. An outstanding development, however, was that of persistence of founding assumptions which occurred partly because they were strongly shared and reinforced at the level of artefacts and espoused values. A command and control management style created a conducive 'organizational climate' which supported the persistence of the founding assumptions.
With respect to the second objective, the relationship between organizational culture and strategy was found to be initially one of harmony. This was a unique period - one characterized by a benign environment, guaranteed funding and a strong but functional organizational culture. A major mediating factor was the mission - which was simple in so far as it was based on protecting species and was underpinned by enforcement as the ideal approach. Under those circumstances of a clear mission, employees were highly motivated and dedicated to common goals, both being consequences of widely shared and strongly held values and beliefs.
This study has revealed the absence of a robust theory for understanding of conservation agencies as public service organizations characterized by strong organizational cultures.
It is in this context that I see the third objective being relevant and addressed in this study. Schein's framework provides a critical and useful starting point for empirical examinations of the relationships between organizational variables and conservation agency management approaches and related implications69. The framework is robust because it is theoretically and conceptually rigorous. With reference to the former, the framework is clear about its underlying normative commitments. Conceptual rigour refers to the specific ideas and concepts used in the framework. In this connection, Schein has posited that terms such as beliefs, attitudes and values are principally different psychological constructs and uses the concepts sparingly as opposed to the trend of interchangeable use in many other studies.
In view of the above, I submit that Schein presents us with a useful framework on human experience as it occurs in groups and organizational settings. Generally, the framework provides three distinct but interrelated dimensions: an understanding of how cultures are formed, a philosophical view of how to conduct research (about change, learning, organizational culture and related concepts) and a specific methodology for interpreting data. To this end, it is critical to the research process since it helps to streamline the data collection by aiding different aspects of research including conceptualization, design and implementation and data interpretation.
69 I have outlined the reasons for choosing Schein's framework, but here, I am reflecting after using the framework.