Organisational Change and Development Project Report Datavision

Submitted to Prof. Ranjeet nambudiri

SECTION A GROUP 7
NAME ABHISHEK CHAUHAN NIRAJ KUMAR POTTI RAJESH PURAVANSH MAITREYA RAJENDRA BABU MELLAM SAURAV DEMTA TEJINDER KUMAR NEGI V NANDA KISHORE YASARAPU VAMSIKRISHNA ROLL NO 2012PGP009 2012PGP229 2012PGP258 2012PGPM024 2012PGP294 2011PGP858 2012PGP403 2012PGP414 2012PGP447

About Datavision
Datavision has been founded in 1985 The business of DataVision involves the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of process control monitoring systems that provide real-time visual feedback of process type manufacturing systems The current concerns of DataVision include high turnover rate, lack of collaboration between functional areas and morale problems within the organization To deal with the problems, the president and VP-Finance enroll in a 2 week executive education program at HBS in 1993 They also plan to use a organizational development consultant to identify and address the inherent issues (Dave Brennan) From 1993, the actual revenues of Datavision were less than predicted 29 of the 470 employees at Datavision were executives and managerial staff 5 functional managers reported to President Campbell

Interviews with Top management group Brennan spent a day interviewing the Top staff at Datavision Purpose: To introduce himself to the staff, to explain the goals, putting forward the plan for carrying out the team building task, to learn more about environment at Datavision

Off-Site Meeting Brennan begins the session by explaining the agenda and ground rules for the 2 day meeting Rules: Should try to stay on the topic of conversation, To maintain eye contact with the person, about whom you are discussing or criticizing, To give the person discussed, a chance to talk and respond, Receiver of criticism has the power to control the flow of conversation List of problems addressed: Trust, Confusion, Decision making, Lack of clarity related to organizational structure, Cronyism, Conflicting management styles The group developed a planning procedure for Data vision on the second day

Big Question what steps should Campbell and Brennan take next in moving change along? Brennans idea: To meet with top 25 managers to discuss what had gone in Newport and to bring in Campbell and the vice presidents. Is it still a god idea?

Need for Change

Data visions President Dr.Larry Campbell main concern was the inability to manage the Organizational issues that arise despite of organizational growth. Three main reasons were considered by him as the major cause behind this problem 1. High turnover ratio a. There was high demand in the industry for qualified people, which had a limited supply of good professionals b. The recruitment process was costly and took time 2. Lack of collaboration between functional areas a. 6 divisions representing each function was vertically integrated in themselves. There was no flexibility in information sharing. Only 1 formal report was generated by each division which were submitted to Larry separately 3. morale problems within the organization a. Arising trust issues was considered to be a problem HBS and entrance of Dave Brennan In August 1993, Dr.Campbell and Matt Leona (VP, Finance), enrolled in a two week executive education program called Managing Organizational Effectiveness,at Harvard Business School. The main agenda was to seek knowledge to develop Organizational Effectiveness. There they were referred to Mr. Dave Brennan by both faculty and fellow participants. Dave was a OD practitioner and self-employed consultant. He had wide experience in streamlining organizations and held good academic knowledge related to the same. He offered to help Dr.Campbell and proposed an action strategy for Datavision Team Building

First Phase of Intervention and its outcomes:

Interviews with Top Management Group Dave Brennan as part of his role as Organizational Development consultant planned to begin the effort to make Data visions staff effectively as a managerial team in three phases. In the first Phase Brennan interviewed Data visions top management staff. Brennan conducted individual interviews mainly to serve two purposes: 1) To clarify his role in the team building process and to explain the process goals itself, and gauge the expectations of top leaders about the exercise to be undertaken. 2) To learn about the way things take place in Datavision and how people felt about the current practices in place and to find out the strengths and weaknesses of Datavision. Most of the Vice presidents though were apprehensive of the results the team building exercise would deliver were all willing to give it a try for the betterment of their working environment

and company. From the interviews with top management staff Brennan identified six major problem areas that were hindering them from working as a team. The six key issues are 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Lack of trust among top level people and across organization Confusion about company goals Poor decision making policy and too much decision unmaking Lack of clarity regarding organizational structure Cronyism Conflicting management styles at the executive level

The identification of these issues provided a platform for discussion among the top management team for the second phase to probe deeper into the problems and to resolve them.

Second phase and its outcomes

The Off-site Meeting: Thursday In second phase, Brennan brought Campbell and staff together for a meeting over the issues listed in phases one. He makes clear ground rules for the meeting and describes his role as an outsider who would make them listen, talk and hear each other effectively. By bringing together Campbell and staff Brennan is trying to win the trust of the staff, also he has clearly defined his role. In first meeting most of the VPs expressed their concern regarding various organizational issues. It gave a forum for open discussion. One of the VP stated that they had developed strict territories and would stay out of each others departments. There was a clear reflection of lack of trust among the VPs in their opinion Trust; It came out that each VP had his own working style and usually argued with other. For example, Walter Jackson (VP engineering) and Bob Fowler (VP marketing) would argue and blame each other for missed deadlines. They lacked trust among themselves VPs did not confront each other nor did they share negative feelings with Campbell. They were skeptic of their reputation being diminished Confusion; There was also a confusion related to the goal of the organisation. They were inefficient to make future planning. Marketing department suffered from inefficiency in dealing with planning issues. It lost its sales to competitors as it could not see what was happening in the market place Most of the VPs agreed that Campbell made all the decision and most of them did not make sense Decision making and unmaking; on this issue several VPs commented that no one was willing to take a stand on long range goals. It was Campbell who made most of the decisions which were not communicated clearly to others

Lack of clarity related to organizational structure; on this issue Campbell was confronted by VPs for making decision for her own and not communicating and involving them in decision making Larry Campbell was blamed for favoring Sisco On the issue of conflicting management style Fowler was blamed by almost everyone.

As the meeting progressed members grew more willing to participate. Leona, Jackson, Fowler and Campbell were the most vocal participants. Sisco and Palmer were fairly reserved. During the entire discussion it was perceived that Bob was the centre of many of Data visions problems. Palmer, Jackson and Sisco blamed Bob Howlers approach as caustic, hostile and angry. He was criticized for his empire building and salesmanship attitude. In this meeting everyone could raise his concern and there was an active participation from almost everyone which brought forth some of the concealed feelings and feedbacks amongst themselves. Members could raise voice which otherwise could not have done so. At the end of the first meeting group felt that Brennan conducted a healthy discussion and they felt that they had made some progress.

The Off-site Meeting: Friday

Meeting was run mostly by Campbell and together the group developed a planning procedure for Datavision. Result of the previous meeting was proving to be effective to engage everyone in the decision making. It was a hint of success for Brennan to see an active engagement on part of the members who otherwise would have not been so open with their ideas.

Internalizing the change:

Campbell and Brennan needs to ensure that this change of attitude does not fade away. Decision Making: All the decisions taken in the meetings should be binding unless a consensus is reached among all Vice Presidents to change the decision. Campbell should not be able to make last minute changes. Weekly Meeting Structure: To continue the open criticism culture, Campbell should make sure that people are comfortable in sharing their honest opinions in weekly meetings. He can lead the charge by sharing the performance details of each department, be it positive or negative in the meeting and seek opinion of other VPs. This will create an open environment in the organization and lead to collaborative decision making. Appointments: All the major appointments should be discussed with VCs. Everyone should be taken in confidence before any decision is taken. This will encourage meritocracy in the organization. Performance Measurement: Objective performance measurement matrix should be used to evaluate each of the executives. This will put an end to the blame game and increase accountability.

Biweekly Executive Outing: To maintain the trust and openness between VCs , Campbell should plan a biweekly informal gathering which will allow the VCs to interact in a casual environment. This will help in bridging the trust deficit between them. Passing down the change: Firstly, all these changes should be communicated to the managers by their respective VCs. Then Campbell should hold a joint meeting of all the department VCs and managers wherein can express his commitment to the change process. This will ensure that managers remain committed to the changes.