The role of change management in improving policy effectiveness in the SANDF

Abstract

Armed forces the world over have three primary functions – force development, force deployment and force employment. Defence policy plays a guiding role in all of these, but it is especially important in establishing the rationale for the creation of credible military deterrence. Usually, a  defence policy presupposes the development of armed forces that are effective at executing their mandate, a condition that is measurable in terms  of the discipline, skill and quality of the organisation. The study on which this article reports, used this concept to describe how change  management – especially by focusing on incorporating effective prioritisation – could enhance the current defence policy. A general analysis of  South African defence policy publications indicates that, indeed, the policymakers had thoroughly considered the effectiveness of the armed forces  when they wrote the White Paper on Defence of 1996 and the Defence Review of 1998. By 2006, the South African Army had interpreted national  defence policy and formulated a future strategy of its own very much in alignment with the ‘modern system’ approach of the original policy  publications.