Purpose of the study: The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of the merger experiences academic staff were exposed to during the pre-merger phase of the University of Johannesburg merger. Of particular interest is how these experiences translate into acceptance of the merger amongst academic staff. The study was borne out of the transformation of the higher education landscape in South Africa, which is typified by a spate of mergers between higher education institutions.Design / methodology / approach: As the purpose of the study was, inter alia, aimed at understanding the merger experiences of academic staff, the study was conducted according to an interpretive research paradigm, where interpretation of data calls for an insider perspective, in order to "see things through their eyes" as it were. In this regard, a qualitative methodology was employed.Findings: Findings indicate that academic staff members at the University of Johannesburg experience two distinct mental states during the pre-merger phase. Following the announcement of the merger, reaction and experience tend to be emotionally driven but as merging efforts become more concrete over time, this emotive state is replaced by a more rationally driven disposition. Implications:The distinction between an emotive and rational demeanour during the pre-merger phase of a merger affords managers and leaders the opportunity to plan change interventions in such a way that irrational, emotive responses and behaviour do not hamper progress in terms of merger implementation. In a more general sense, this study highlights the process of transition individual staff members pass through as they have to come to terms with the changes brought about by a merger Originality / Value: The majority of merger literature, as well as change literature, focuses on the organisational context of change during a merger. Limited literature exists on the personal effects of a change event such as a merger. This study can thus contribute to the understanding of the personal effects of change during a merger. Furthermore, scant literature exists concerning mergers that are not driven by "conventional" economic motives. As the University of Johannesburg is this type of merger, this study presents the opportunity of gaining a better understanding of this type of merger.

Boiler combustion air is generally controlled by the excess air content measured at the boiler economiser outlet using oxygen (O2) analysers. Due to duct geometry and dimensions, areas of high and low O2 concentrations in the flue gas duct occur, which poses a problem in obtaining a representative measurement of O2 in the flue gas stream. Multipoint systems as opposed to single point systems are more favourable to achieve representative readings. However, ash blockages and air leakages influence the accuracy of O2 measurement. The design of multipoint system varies across ESKOMs’ Power Stations. This research was aimed at evaluating the accuracy of the multipoint oxygen measurement system installed at Power Station A and to determine the systematic errors associated with different multipoint systems designs installed at Power Stations' A and B. Using flow simulation software, FloEFDTM and Flownex®, studies were conducted on two types of multipoint system designs This study established that significantly large errors, as high as 50%, were noted between the actual and measured flue gas O2. The design of the multipoint system extraction pipes also introduces significant errors, as high as 23%, in the O2 measured. The results indicated that the sampling errors introduced with Power Station A’s system can be significantly reduced by adopting the sampling pipe design installed at Power Station B.