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Running head: Change Management Plan Paper and Defense
Change Management Plan Paper and Defense
University of Phoenix
MBA 520
Transformational Leadership
Introduction
The natural order of things is to continuously grow and renew. The human body must
continuously grow and renew in order to sustain itself in an environment which is subject
to weather changes, personal stress, and even isolated conditions of trauma. The cells of
the human body are constantly growing and renewing themselves. The various cells renew
and grow at different rates over time. What is interesting however, is that within
approximately one year all the cells within the human body are completely renewed
creating an almost different person. How is this timeless process important to business and
organizational behavior?
The same parallels for change can also be drawn to a corporation in which hundreds
maybe even thousands of people are involved in successfully implementing change.
Change like in the natural world, has become a necessary event for survival in the business
world. When an organization fails to change and adapt it begins a steady decline toward
death. Not only do organizations fail to change but also fail to affectively manage change.
Therefore, this once desirable skill of change management has clearly become an
indispensable process.
The important concept here to realize is that the perception of change is to be appropriately
viewed not as a negative event to be dealt with but rather an opportunity for improvement
and growth that is to be embraced. For example, when cells multiply they can either grow
into an improved, stronger version or deteriorate into a deformed or inferior version. Such
is the case with change management. If leadership can capitalize on this change event the
organization can move forward toward a greater history of production and prosperity. How
can leadership capitalize on these change events?
CrysTel an organization poised for continuous change
"It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end."“*ƒ²*ƒ"€šLeonardo da Vinci
There was once a time in corporate history where the need for change did not occur that
often. However, in today business landscape the "natural order of things"“ has even caught
up with contemporary business and its leadership.
Case in point is the model for study, CrysTel Corporation. CrysTel is a telecommunications
company operating in Illinois. It is a $200 million dollar a year revenue organization.
CrysTel product line includes data cables, wireless solutions, and network development.
(Building Culture for Sustaining change, 2006)
In the simulation CrysTel is characterized as "an agile organization that keeps up with
volatile demands of the market"“.
CrysTel strives to develop a learning culture and promote innovation that will help the
organization sustain change. The leadership of CrysTel will use the Employee Satisfaction
Survey which quanitifies satisfaction for work-related issues such as supervisory guidance,
teamwork, and communication. Employee feedback from this survey can be used to plan
for training and knowledge updates to resolve people related issues. CrysTel will also
employee the Climate Survey to measure employee attitudes towards leadership style
adopted, communication channels, motivation levels, and job security. Positive feedback
with these aspects of the organization will help foster a healthy organizational climate.
CrysTel issues were uncovered through Employee Satisfaction Surveys and Climate
Surveys.According to the Simulation here are the issues that faces CrysTel:
"The Marketing department is weak in employee and senior communication, does not
empower its teams, and does not initiate mentoring activities to train less experienced
employees. The Sales and Delivery department does not follow a participative leadership
style, does not have a history of taking risks, and does not proactively resolve conflicts.
Therefore, these two departments are least likely to adapt to continuous change.
Further analysis of the employment satisfaction survey and the climate survey has revealed
that the Marketing department is also not very strong in leading by example, risk-taking,
and resolving conflicts. Similarly, the Sales and Delivery department is not very strong in
employee and senior communication, empowering teams, and mentoring its employees."“
(Building Culture for Sustaining change, 2006)
Two of CrysTel largest concerns for change involve (1) a organizational resistance to
change. (2) a lack of organizational flexibility. What if these concerns are not addressed?
What are the implications for CrysTel if change is implemented?
In the case of CrysTel proactive measures are taken to measure, quantify, and predict the
affects change will have on its various departments. The leadership decides to We will
examine the possible implications CrysTel must deal with once change is implemented.
The simulation describes two of CrysTel largest implications for change involve the
measured affects on resistance to change levels and productivity levels. The behavioral
activities needed to be improved include:
1. Leading by example
2. Employee and senior communication
3. Empowering teams
4. Risk taking
5. Resolving conflict
6. Mentoring Sessions
The success of CrysTel change strategy will be quantified by the forementioned
implications. The acid test of CrysTel ability to evolve into an organization that has created
a learning culture that demonstrates flexibility and adaptability begins with the following
change elements to be measured against the behavioral issues listed above:
1. Identify possible resistance
2. Implement behavioral action
3. Evaluate implemented behavior essential for smooth transitions
Interestingly enough CrysTel desire to change is not rooted in a reactionary
avoidance to external crisis, but rather a proactive internal strategy to stay ahead of a
rapidly changing telecommunications market.
The goal of CrysTel is to implement successful behavioral change in its weakest
departments. "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link"“ and a corporation is only as
strong as its weakest department.
In the book "The Goal"“ author Elihu Goldratt stresses that the achievement of a goal is
impedded by one or more obstacles or "limiting factors"“.The idea being if these so called
"limiting factors"“ are removed there would be a clear path to the achievement of this goal.
I will next focus on the greatest limiting factor or implication of change not only for
CrysTel but also for organizations across the globe looking to impliment change. This
implication of change is resistance to change by the organization. If change were to occur
within CrysTel why would employees resist if the vision for a greater future has been
conveyed? The answer may be emotional than logical.
Kreitner and Kinicki summarize the reasons for resistance to change in th following list:
1. An individuals predisposition toward change.
2. Surprise and fear of the unknown
3. Climate of mistrust
4. Fear of failure
5. Loss of status or job security
6. Peer pressure
7. Disruption of cultural traditions or group relationships
8. Personality conflicts
9. Lack of tact or poor timing
10. Nonreinforcing reward systems
In a U.S. Survey done in 1998, some barriers to a successful change management are
identified. Here are some major implications of change that can cause failure in change
management:
1. Organizational resistance to change: By far organizational resistance by employees and
managers when attempting implementing the change plan is the biggest obstacle to
overcome.
2. Inadequate sponsorship: the author of change or champion lacks the ability to
adequately drive the necessary actions for change
3. Unrealistic expectations: Goals set for change are not supported by resources or
personnel.
4. Poor project management: Adequate resources for change must be fully accounted for
and the designed schedule for change must be adhered to to ensure proper timing.
5. Case for change not compelling: Leadership not providing a strong enough why. The
leadership must convey clear and urgent need for change.
How does CrysTel address any possible negative implications of change that may
Occur?
The selection of an appropriate change model
In an effort to fully implement CrysTel change process I would recommend a synthesis of
Kurt Lewin model of change to carry the larger vision for change and John Kotter eight
step plan to be used for practical day to day applicaiton.
Lewin developed a three-stage model for planned change which will conceptually form the
overall vision of change for Crystel. Lewin model explains, "...how to initiate, manage,
and stabilize the change process. The three stages are unfreezing, changing, and
refreezing."“ (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2004).
Kotter model recommends that organizations should follow eight sequential steps to
overcome resistance to change. According to Kreitner and Kinicki the following specifics
emphasize,
"The value of Kotter steps is that it provides specific recommendations about behaviors
that managers need to exhibit to successfully lead organizational change. It is important to
remember that Kotter research reveals that it is ineffective to skip steps and that successful
organizational change is 70% to 90% leadership and only 10% to 30% management.
Senior managers are thus advised to focus on leading rather than managing change."“
(Kreitner and Kinicki, 2004).
This information not only provides valuable background into the selection of this change
model but also insight into the type of leadership that can be applied to this model, as we
will be see later.
Here is the proposed merged strategy for change (Lewin-Kotter) as given in Kreitner and
Kinicki:
o Unfreeze: Create the motivation to change
1. Establish a sense of urgency: Unfreeze the organization by creating a compelling reason
for why change is needed.
2. Create the guiding coaltion: Create a cross-functional, cross-level group of people with
enough power to lead the change.
3. Develop a vision and strategy: Create a vision and strategic plan to guide the change
process.
4. Communicate the change vision: Create and implement a communication strategy that
consistently communicates the new vision and strategic plan.
