Discussion 1
Vision Statement: FedEx is the most reliable and quickest express shipper harnessing new technologies backed by top notch employees and state of the art equipment delivering the purple promise. Purple Promise: I will make every FedEx experience outstanding.
For flight training staff this will mean realigned and new funds to adopt new technologies to train pilots. This department is tasked with providing the flight crew with industry leading flight training that protects our brand from incidents in the tough environments that we operate in. The new technology may mean touchscreen cockpit trainers to bridge the gap between expensive simulators and computer programs controlled with a mouse. The new technology could be a push to provide pilots with artificial reality goggles and home study materials for practice outside of mandatory training intervals. Many pilots would get a lot out of better home study materials since we are always running “what if” scenarios in our head. The main focus for the corporation that will impact the training department is a new user interface for the company portal which will be targeted for better protection against cyber-attacks and being more user friendly. Now those two don’t seem like they’d go together as security usually makes things slower and less user friendly. However, we are confident that using state of the art technologies will allow us to streamline legacy practices into what you need where you need it with protection. Although our past cyber-attacks impacted company performance in a big way the next ones will surely be worse if we don’t take this chance now to revamp and improve our tech situation.
Flight crew will see benefits from more streamlined company website user interfaces as well. The new website interface will require less time to get what you want. Also new technologies will make reports less arduous. By making it easier for the flight crew to report operational problems we will receive better quality information that will also be timely in fixing issues before they become bigger issues. The easier reporting process must not be dumbed down too much which would mean missing capturing critical information. Flight crews would benefit from other departments being more streamlined in a sense of strength from added synergies. Flight schedules would be published quicker as well as other bidding processes while abiding by all contractual terms.
This renewed focus on harnessing new technologies while keeping our legacy culture will prevent future cyberattacks on our brand and foster efficiencies through all of our departments. Each department will be consulted for feedback throughout the entire process to get to the core of what is most important and how to clean up our user experiences. Be thinking about these solutions now before you’re specifically asked. We will seek consultant help to speed the initial progress in the change initiative but also in reevaluating whether new technologies will offer enough added benefit to pursue each year. The company performance measures already in place will remain with the addition of technology metrics. The technology metric will be specific to different departments and managed by IT and Security. I hope this sheds light on the new corporate vision and gives you a clear idea of our bright future. The textbook states, “vision refers to a picture of the future with some implicit or explicit commentary on why people should strive to create that future.” (Kotter, 1996) Meaning clear language that paints the picture of the new idea in the mind of anyone that reads this statement will have a good idea of what the future holds.
My CSI results indicate I am a slight conserver, I prefer change that is implemented gradually and incrementally. I am good at managing details and generally approach a new situation in a deliberate and disciplined manner. I enjoy predictable situations and appreciate established traditions and practices. This means we will move methodically with a realistic timeframe considering everyone’s opinion while honoring much of our legacy culture.
Response 1
I like your discussion post and agree that living up to the vision statement is one of the prior responsibilities which any organization is committed to. The vision statement of FedEx is to become the quickest and most reliable express shipper using the newest technology and state of the art equipment (Ashkenas, 2015). The articulation of the new vision in fact extension of the same vision. The use of the new technology and state of the art equipment in the form of touch screen cockpit trainers and new user interface for company portal and website portals will surely benefit from living up to the vision of providing the most reliable and quickest express service. Change is necessary (Ashford & Detert, 2015). It is always necessary because a company cannot always stay bound to one vision as it can reduce its productivity. You are right by saying that new frontiers and challenges should be accepted by companies to challenge its capabilities and expand through it continuously (Asl, 2015). However, change is never easy. Vision is the north for any company. Changing your north can cause misunderstanding and lack of motivation for the employees if done constantly, and without showing the reasons behind it. Thus, it is important to not only communicate the change and its reasons to the employees, but also to integrate all changes in a wholesome change management program (Cameron & Green, 2012).
References:
Ashford, S. J., & Detert, J. (2015). Get the Boss to Buy In. Harvard Business Review.
Ashkenas, R. (2015). To Lead Change, Explain the Context. Harvard Business Review.
Asl, G. (2015). Organizational Change Management Strategies in Modern Business. IGI Global.
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2012). Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Discussion 2
Questions
Now that you created a vision for your company, it’s time to communicate it. Using guidance from Kotter Chapter 6, identify two different stakeholders from different departments and explain how they will be impacted by your proposed change and what’s in it for them. Your message should:
Be understandable by everyone affected
Explain the rationale for change
Address the “What’s in it for me?” question
Clearly communicate the danger if change is not made
Be based on facts, or a strong case that you support well
Consider your style for dealing with change, as revealed in the CSI Assessment that you took in Week 4. Looking back at your message, how do you think your CSI style affected your communication to the stakeholders?
Answers
I have identified the Marketing Director and Director of Traditional Scouting.
Company: Boy Scouts of America, Soccer Program
Marketing Director,
Impact:
- Program Exposure
- Community Outreach
- Market Analysis
What’s in it for them?
- New Job Openings
- New Marketing Division
- Ability to expand outside of Traditional Scouting
The introduction of Soccer as a separate program from the regular traditional program has to be promoted in a different way. Marketing will be impacted by infusing new community outreach programs that enhances soccer as the big ticket for recruiting new players into the league. We would need someone that will have more of the soccer mentality to help advertise the program from the beginning. This will create a new title position. If the change is not mad in a functional fashion the program would get lost and not produce an opportunity to young players that have been involved with the program to thrive. By adjusting to the change your department would enhance a different market and are able to advertise the traditional scouting agenda through the soccer program.
Director of Traditional Scouting,
Impact:
- Enhance Traditional Scouting
- Less Traditional Scout memberships
- Budget Cuts
What’s in it for them?
- Program Directors return to Traditional scouting Recruitment
- Budget for Traditional Scouting only
- Cost of soccer program reduce and allocated to traditional scouting
We would like to keep you in the loop on how the new program of Soccer will work for the traditional side. In the past, traditional scouting was the main push to have the soccer program under to produce more scouts. Throughout the years the soccer program has been evolving and creating massive expansion of players to the league. The traditional scouting has slowed down the growth due to a lot of the players don’t want to join and be considered scouts. We need to separate from Traditional scouting and become a standalone program. We have been create more memberships from soccer alone. This will help program directors from traditional scouting have more time in getting membership for traditional scouting instead of concentrating on registering players for the soccer league. This will give back those directors to ensure your tradition scouting program is fully staffed. I know the change will be felt in your department but it will increase the visibility of the soccer league as well by recruiting more soccer specific players other than scouting prospects.
My CSI assessment has me as Slight Originator. Which in turns that I prefer quicker approach to change? I do have the ability to want to quickly finish a project by having the acronym K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid). This ensures that anyone can accomplish the tasks. I like to take all the non-sense of a project the things that are not really needed and ensure we touch on what the meat of the bones can produce.
Response 2
It is indeed true that change in vision affects every department of the organization. The change in vision for the Boy Scouts of America will translate into change for the departments of marketing and Traditional Scouting. I agree with you that the impact of the change depends on the nature of the change. If there is a change made in the functional area, then it will affect all departments with similar impact. However, if the change has been made in the core activity of the firm, then there will be a different impact for each department (Keane, 2017). The marketing will have the different impact of the change as compared to the traditional scouting department. Whatever the change, and whatever the nature of the change, it is necessary that each employee is involved in the change management process. Your opinion is valid when you say that each employee should feel the freedom to comment about how the change would affect them and clear the ambiguity about it. One thing which makes a change so difficult is the uncertainty attached to it. This uncertainty can be dissolved for the employees and departments by giving them the freedom to ask questions about it. The communication should be two-way, so any questions in mind of the employees about how the change would affect them can be answered (Johnson, 2017).
References:
Johnson, E. (2017). How to Communicate Clearly Organizational Change. Harvard Business Review.
Keane, M. (2017). What Spinning Off a GE Business Taught Me About Managing Ultra Fast Change. Harvard Business Review.
Discussion 3
Great post this week! I’m a firm believer in priming an environment for change and agree with John Kotter’s eight step process for successful organizational change. (Author NA 1, 2016) Just to reiterate, those were:
- Establishing a Sense of Urgency
- Forming a Powerful Guiding Coalition
- Create a Vision
- Communicate the Vision
- Empowering Other to Act on That Vision
- Planning for and Creating Short Term Wins
- Consolidating Improvements and Producing Still More Change
- Institutionalizing New Approaches
I found a similar 11 step process that, in my opinion, takes Kotter’s process to the next level. Per a source, for an organization to achieve long-term sustainable results from it’s change management process, it must be implemented as a continuing management operational process. Not just when a perceived change is needed. (Barron, 2016) The 11-step process is as follows:
- Build Awareness
- Recognize an Area of Need
- Diagnose the Problem
- Decision 1
- Develop, Review, and Compare Possible Courses of Action
- Decision 2
- Plan the Change
- Reassess and Adjust
- Implement the Plan
- Follow-up, Measure, and Review
- Celebrate Achievements
- The Cycle Repeats for Continuous Improvements…
I like this approach as it better aligns with my current situation and for years to come in my Industry. I hope you find this useful.
References:
Author NA 1 (2018) Kotter’s 8 Step Process: Identifying Important Elements to Successful Organizational Change. Educational Business Articles (EBA). Retrieved May 4, 2018, from, http://www.educational-business-articles.com/8-step-process/
Barron, Peter. (2016) Switch to a Continual Organizational Change Process for Fast Rapid Results! Change Management Consultants. Retrieved May 4, 2018, from, http://www.change-management-consultant.com/organizational-change-process.html
Response 3
The John Kotter’s eight-step process is indeed a very practical framework for organizational change management. The eight steps provided by Kotter are very comprehensive in providing guidance about setting up the environment for the change management process. The 11 steps mentioned here are more about processes which will be followed by the change initiation. The step of planning and creating short-term wins and the consolidating of improvements and producing still more change are the steps which, in my point of view, consist of the 11 steps mentioned here. Thus, the identification of need, problem analysis, decision making, and the reviewing process are the sub-steps of the broader two steps of Kotter mentioned above, in my point of view. It indeed makes it better by showing detailed steps of the eight steps highlighted by Kotter.
Change is needed to be lived and practiced by the leader itself. The leader needs to become the persona of change in the time of change management. The leader is the one who every employee looks up. The whole organization absorbs the signals which a leader sends. Thus the positive signals towards change translate into the positive response from the organizations as well (Miller & Proctor, 2016).
References:
Miller, D., & Proctor, A. (2016). Enterprise Change Management: How to Prepare Your Organization for Continuous Change. Kogan Page.
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