1-A corporation has had recent problems with increased turnover of employees and decreased profitability. However, nobody is sure exactly what the problem is or what to do about it. Senior managers have been arguing for many months about what to do, but it is clear nobody is being objective or has a clear idea about what to do to get the company back on track. Explain which organizational change model would be most suited for this scenario using at least one of the required background readings.
2-A financial services company has been using the same software system for 10 years and employees have grown very accustomed to using this system. The employees are hard-working but very resistant to change. When word leaks out that management is considering a switch to a completely new software system, the employees become very upset as a new system will require a tremendous amount of training and hard work. Management determines that a new system is necessary in order to remain competitive but is concerned about the difficulty in dealing with employees who are so resistant to any type of change. Explain which organizational change model would be most suited for this scenario using at least one of the required background readings.
3-A company has been gradually losing market share to competitors and the CEO believes radical change is needed in order to stay in business. He is concerned that his employees will be resistant to change and may be successful in blocking the necessary changes. The CEO also believes that if he can make a strong enough case that changes are urgently needed, he will obtain a the support of a large enough number of employees and senior managers that will help him overcome any resistance to the needed changes. Explain which organizational change model would be most suited for this scenario using at least one of the required background readings.
4-Conclude your paper with a discussion about which of the three change models you think is the most useful and which one you think is the least useful. Support your answer with references to the required background materials.
Introduction
Organizational change is necessary for this contemporary business. There is a need to embrace different change methods to bring an effective organizational change. Organizational change is a way of replacing things or doing things in different ways. It seems interesting to navigate different scenarios and identify different issues. Based on the nature of the business and the style of the issue, the change method or model can be embraced.
Scenario 1- Increased Turnover of Employees and Decreased Profitability
In scenario one, the management of the company is struggling to retain its best employees in the company. The rapid employee turnover is not in the best interests of the company. It increases the cost of production and decreases work efficiency. The company has to hire new employees and invest in the training and development process. Thus, low-cost operations are at risk. Immediately, the organization needs the big change to get things settled and regain growth. Putting the firm back on track is mandatory for the management in this contemporary era.
In this case, organizational change is possible through adopting Kotter’s eight-step model of change. It is a fact that the increase in the employee turnover is due to the poor work culture and organizational environment. The company has to make some structural changes to change the working environment and regain growth and success. The leadership team in the company will initiate the change through creating the urgency. As mentioned in the case, no one is aware of the issue. Creating the urgency will help to communicate the issue and create awareness regarding the change need. The second step in this change process is to contain the powerful coalition (Kotter, 2012).
For instance, the company can enhance the team building process and want people to know the need for the change. An effective change team will be made to streamline the new idea. The third step is to create a vision. For Instance, the vision of the company will be to create the most effective and friendly working environment to create harmony, loyalty and long-term sustainability of employees. The firm can make the power strategy to implement the vision. The fourth step is to communicate the vision when training employees and to review their performance. The fifth step is removing different obstacles. The change resistance may occur, and it can be reduced through appreciating and rewarding people.
The sixth step is to create short-term wins. Starting from small initiatives is a good approach to rationalize the change. In the seventh step, building the change is necessary. For Instance, to enable the employee sustainability or stability, improvements should be streamlined instead of declaring the early victory. The seventh step is to anchor or absorb the change in the corporate culture. To integrate with the new workplace trends, the change process must be the core of the culture (Hayes, 2018).
Scenario 2- Switch To a Completely New Software System
The financial service company needs to change the software or system to stay competitive in the competitive market. The firm aims to gain a competitive advantage through this change. Employees of the company are working hard, but they may depict the resistance due to intense training and hard work on the new system. It is a technological transformation that can be streamlined through a clear vision. However, a different organizational change is necessary for the firm to be relevant.
The Lewin’s change management model is the best option for the company to make a difference. There are three elements of this change process. These elements are unfreezing, changing and refreezing. Refreezing is the first step of the change. The firm or technical team will shut down the traditional software. In this process, the firm can communicate the change process to employees. The most important thing is to tell employees that the change is necessary to be competitive and aggressive in the competitive market (Liu, Akram, & Bouguettaya, 2011).
The company cannot afford to use the old system now, as it is the biggest threat to profitability as well. The second step in this organizational change is replacing old ways of doing things in new ways. It seems an actual change. The firm may introduce a new system or software in the company. People may depict this resistance. However, the training and development process is a part of this phase to reduce the resistance and increase the overall efficiency. The final step in this organizational change is refreezing. Employees will embrace the change in the change procedure. Of course, the new system will create new job roles and responsibilities. In the refreezing process, the clear and consistent job description should be shaped. It is not a big change process. After pertinent training and rationalizing the change, working on the new system is in the comfort zone of employees. The financial firm will finally institutionalize the change in the final step (Hiatt, 2006).
Scenario 3-Radical Change to Stay in Business
In this case, the main issue is the lack of market share. The firm needs radical change to increase its market share. However, internally, there is a need to reduce the resistance to change. The chief executive officer of the company is looking to gain the support of managers and all key stakeholders to rationalize the change. A workable change process is needed to meet the purpose and survive in the market.
The action research project is needed to increase market share. Different steps are the initial reflection, planning, action, observation, and reflection. In the initial reflection, the management of the company will drive several market insights along with some competitive factors through the intense market research. The firm may find poor branding, differentiation, and lack of competitive advantage as some key causes. Reflecting all these factors is better to make a better plan (Burns, 2007).
The team manager will make different strategies to regain the market share in the next step. Along with the strategy, the execution plan will also be streamlined. The third step is action, which needs some improvisations. Making several teams work on market data and integrate it with the internal process will help the company to make things better. The next step is observation, as the team of managers will have an effective market watch. It seems important to examine the impact of all actions to stick with the change or improve with the time. Finally, reflection is imperative to measure success. The biggest measure will be an increase in the market share.
4: Concluding Discussion
Based on different issues, described in different scenarios, three different change models have been applied. The most important thing is to derive the solution for organizations. The best solution or change model in all these scenarios is Kotter’s eight-step model. It is a comprehensive change process for an organization. It seems a steady process for the management as well to change things and growth easily. From urgency to change building, the organizations experience the effective flow that drives the change and eliminate the main issue. On the other hand, the least important change model is the action research project. It seems longer than other change processes.
Market trends can be changed with the passage of time, and the firm may stick to the first phase of the change. Therefore, it seems ineffective to me. The employee turnover, traditional technology, and low market research are three major issues that organizations face in this modern business era. Therefore, managerial cognition is needed to apply suitable change models (Cameron & Green, 2012).
References
Burns, D. (2007). Systemic Action Research: A Strategy for Whole System Change. Policy Press.
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.
Hayes, J. (2018). The Theory and Practice of Change Management.
Hiatt, J. (2006). ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government, and Our Community. Prosci.
Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading Change. Harvard Business Press.
Liu, X., Akram, S., & Bouguettaya, A. (2011). Change Management for Semantic Web Services. Springer Science & Business Media.
+447462439809