A slice of management in merged Institutions: Some Deans’ perspectives

Abstract

When institutions are instructed to merge as has been the case in South Africa, it is the managers within the institution who have to ensure that this happens optimally. The context of this article is around how some deans have had to grapple with their roles within merged institutions. This article attempts to tell the stories firstly, of the deans in one institution and then these findings are compared with interpretations of three deans of Education. The methodology for the study is immersion/crystallisation and is conveyed using a narrative style. The objective is to highlight the challenges experienced and to determine if there are areas of commonality that could be used to address these challenges collectively.