Change Management Practices And Performance Of Selected Local Governments In Eastern Uganda

Introduction

Some Local Governments in Uganda have continued to perform below the expectations of decentralization which is evidenced by poor quality services and inadequate service delivery to the citizens. Similarly, the world is now a global village which calls for a change of ways and practices in which local governments operate so as to improve performance. Change is constant and necessary and while change management practices and objectives may differ from organization to another, all face the same imperative (Insights, 2010). Change Management is not just an accessory activity to the project or a phase within the project, but rather an activity which starts with the project and lives on after the project with effective transitional support (Waters, 2003). Change management is driving an increasing need for organizations to adapt quickly and adeptly to dynamic market conditions and for this to take place appropriate change management practices need to be put in place. Changes which happen in Local Governments in Uganda are driven by legislative actions which rarely happen (Murthy & Shubha, 2010). This study will establish the impact of change management practices on performance of selected Local Governments in Uganda. This chapter presents the background to the study which is divided into historical, theoretical, conceptual and contextual. This is followed by the statement of the problem, purpose, objectives, research questions and hypotheses of the study. The chapter also addresses the issues of justification, significance and definition of major terms used in the study variables.