The impact of fourth industrial revolutions' digital influence on negotiation in South Africa

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the nature of change arising from the digitalisation of negotiations and evaluate the implications of these digital transformations on negotiations. To achieve this aim, a study was conducted on a sample of N = 43 participants from the KwaZulu Natal Department of Health (KZN DOH). Data was collected through self-developed instruments to measure both negotiation and digitalisation. A quantitative methodology was adopted with descriptive, correlation and regression analyses used to analyse data.

The results of the study revealed that generally, negotiations were an important part of the organisational process in the KZN DOH and that digitalisation was generally high. Digitalisation was found to have a significant positive impact on negotiations. The implication of these findings is that the KZN DOH needs to invest in digital technologies in order to enhance the quality and level of negotiations in the organisation.

While every effort was taken to ensure that this study is valid and that its findings added value to the KZN DOH, the study still had some limitations. Firstly, this study was quantitative therefore it was not possible to enquire into the reasons why participants would have rated a statement in a way they did. In future, researchers may need to adopt either a mixed method or a qualitative design to deal with limitations of a quantitative design. In addition, the study was cross-sectional, meaning the responses were solicited at a particular point in time. That implies that whatever happened before or after the study could not be captured. In future, a longitudinal study would need to be adopted to account for changes in negotiation and digitalisation before and after the cross sectional period