Author: Burger, Hanli
Supervisor: Professor Erik Schmikl
Date: September 2010

Eclipse Networks is an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solution and service provider company that has grown from a privately owned company into a business with 14 branch offices and 10 business units. The executive leadership has grown with the business and was not skilled to lead and manage the Eclipse group of companies with all its stakeholders.

Radical transformational change was attempted to be implemented without a strategic vision and mission for the company that could be translated into specific measurable goals and objectives. Partial structural, behavioral and operations strategies have been implemented without following programme management principles. This resulted in the three strategies not being aligned and the three executives involved that implemented the various strategies having difficulty being convinced of each other’s goals.

The objectives and performance of the company was not measured against the value system, vision and mission statements as it was nonexistent. No critical success factors and key performance indicators have been identified. As an Information Technology Company, ownership of lagging indicators is lacking and is seen as a head office responsibility. No leading indicators have been identified and implemented.

The lack of leadership, poor governance and project management caused the company to fail. The research was conducted primarily during the last month of the existence of Eclipse Networks (Pty) Ltd.