Trident University International

MGT401: Leadership and Change

Module 4 Case

March 20, 2018

Introduction

“Change is a common thread that runs through all businesses regardless of size, industry
and age. Our world is changing fast and organizations must change quickly, too. Organizations
that handle change well thrive, whilst those that do not may struggle to survive” (Mind Tools
Editorial Team, 2014).

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.
As this corporation isn’t fully aware of what the issue is and the senior managers

continue to argue over what it may be, their best course to figure it out would be Kotter’s eight

step process. In following these eight steps they would possibly transform their organization.

This corporation’s first step would be to “establish a sense of urgency; identifying and discussing

crises, potential crises, or major opportunities” (Kotter, J, 2007). The crises that they would

identify would be their increase in employee turnover, decreased profitability, and infighting

amongst senior managers. Their second step would be to “forming a powerful guiding coalition;

assembling a group with enough power to lead the change effort, encouraging the group to work

together as a team” (Kotter, J, 2007). This could be done by assembling a group consisting of

senior managers who can work together, various department leads such as accounting and human

resources, union leads if applicable, and lower level employees who are willing to work as part

of the team. The third step would be “creating a vision to help direct the change effort,

developing strategies for achieving that vision” (Kotter, J, 2007). This would be done by stating

the end goal, decrease employee turnover and increase profitability, while also developing ways

of reaching this goal. Holding focus groups to determine what may be things that could keep

them from reaching their vision. Once they have done this they would move on to step four
“communicating the vision, using every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision and

strategies, teaching new behaviors by example of the guiding coalition” (Kotter, J, 2007). This

could be accomplished through direct training, engaged leadership, handouts, meet and greets

with department leads, walk-abouts by senior executives, or letters from the CEO the options are

endless. Communicating the vision needs to be done in a whole hearted educated manner by

everyone who is connected to the guiding coalition, their enthusiasm for the vision will spreads

to others. Next is step five “empowering others to act on the vision, getting rid of obstacles to

change, changing systems or structures that seriously undermine the vision, encouraging risk

taking and nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions” (Kotter, J, 2007). This is where focus

groups can really come into play. Maybe there is an over redundant process in place where four

different managers have to look over the same request before a sales representative can do

anything for a customer, this could make customers unhappy and unwilling to spend money, thus

cause loss of profits, also causing employees to become unhappy due to possible losses in

commissions, possibly leading to employees leaving for other employment. This is just one

example, another example could be a manager who is not willing to change their way of doing

things, no matter how many times his or her subordinates have presented them with a process

improvement they refuse to make any type of change, this again is some that can lead to lost

profits and employee turnover and have an effect on the vision. Step six would be “planning for

and creating short-term wins, planning for visible performance improvements, creating those

improvements, recognizing and rewarding employees involved in the improvements” (Kotter, J,

2007). This step could be as easy as having signs around the office spaces with arrows showing

growth in profits or as complex as spreadsheets with profit comparisons for the past number of

years. Employees who create process improvements could be recognized with an award such as
employee in the spot light that could be published in the company newsletter and sent out via

email. An employee of the quarter and of the year program could be set up with incentives for

promotions for those who receive those recognitions. Step seven would be “ consolidating

improvements and producing still more change, using increased credibility to change systems,

structures, and policies that don’t fit the vision, hiring, promoting, and developing employees

who can implement the vision, reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change

agents” (Kotter, J, 2007). As this corporation nears its vision, less employee turnover and

increased profitability they need to ensure that they have turned over every rock and looked in

every corner to find any detractor from the plan or any policies or procedures that would

undermine the success that the corporation has hard thus far with the vision. The employees that

they have rewarded for process improvements need to be promoted and encouraged to continue

their way of thinking. At this point they could also evaluate their operations and see if there was

anything else that they could change. Lastly would be step eight “institutionalizing new

approaches, articulating the connections between the new behaviors and corporate success,

developing the means to ensure leadership development and succession” (Kotter, J, 2007). At

this point the corporation could have incorporated the training that was given to their current

employees into an indoctrination program for new hires, and developed questions and scenarios

for interviews prior to hiring. Another import thing for them to do is to ensure that the person

that is going to replace the current CEO has the same understanding to the importance of the

policies and procedures currently in place with regards to continually achieving the vision. IF

the corporation is able to complete these eight steps they have a strong possibility to be

successful.

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.
This company having used the software for the last ten years has settled into a

comfortable routine and is not looking forward to having to make a switch to new software. The

company’s best approach to implementing this software change would be to use Lewin’s Change

Management Model. A simplified break down of the model would be “If you have a large cube

of ice but realize that what you want is a cone of ice, what do you do? First you must melt the ice

to make it amenable to change (unfreeze). Then you must mold the iced water into the shape you

want (change). Finally, you must solidify the new shape (refreeze)” (Mind Tools Editorial Team,

2014). In the unfreezing stage the company would want to develop a compelling message

showing why the existing way of doing things cannot continue. This is easiest to do this is to

point out declining profits, competitors advantages, and things of this nature. These would

demonstrate that things have to change in a way that everyone can understand (Mind Tools

Editorial Team, 2014). This phase needs to get down to the core and completely change attitudes

and behaviors. It will be stressful and cause strong reactions, but that is what needs to be done.

“After the uncertainty created in the unfreeze stage, the change stage is where people begin to

resolve their uncertainty and look for new ways to do things. People start to believe and act in

ways that support the new direction” (Mind Tools Editorial Team, 2014). This is the phase where

the company would begin the training on the new software, reinforcing the importance and

benefits of making the change. Not everyone is going to be open to the change and some are

going to want to continue with the way things are, “time and communication are the two keys to

the changes occurring successfully. People need time to understand the changes, and they also
need to feel highly connected to the organization throughout the transition period. When you are

managing change, this can require a great deal of time and effort, and hands-on management is

usually the best approach” (Mind Tools Editorial Team, 2014). Once management has

determined that the employees are engaged in learning the new software and are eager to move

on from the old software the refreeze stage has begun. “The refreeze stage also needs to help

people and the organization internalize or institutionalize the changes. This means making sure

that the changes are used all the time, and that they are incorporated into everyday business.

With a new sense of stability, employees feel confident and comfortable with the new ways of

working” (Mind Tools Editorial Team, 2014). It is imperative for the company to ensure that this

final refreeze is complete, failing to do so could cause future changes to fail.

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 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.
This CEO has a problem, his company has been gradually losing market share to their

competitors, he wants to make radical changes to stay in business but believes he will have

resistance from his employees his best approach to this would be to use the Five Step Approach

modelled after Lewin’s Action Research Project that was developed in 1946. The plan would

start with a general idea, in this case, gradual loss of market share. The CEO would need to work

the progress through the five steps. Step one: Initial Reflection. “Action research arises from a

problem, dilemma, or ambiguity in the situation in which practitioners find themselves. It may be

at the level of a general concern, a perceived need, or a course-related problem. For example”

(Center for Education Innovation, n.d.):

1. Loss of market share.

2. Concerns of resistance to change.

3. Blockage of necessary change.

“For a concern to be translated into an action research project, it needs to be made more

concrete, so that it becomes susceptible to change or improvement. You need to devise a specific

course of action, which you can try out, to see if it affects your original concern. More specific

questions for the above concerns might be something like” (Center for Education Innovation,

n.d.):

1. Reverse loss of market share

2. Gage resistance to change

3. Address possible blockages

“Preliminary observation and critical reflection is usually needed to convert a broad concern to

an action theme. A concern does not often directly suggest the remedy” (Center for Education

Innovation, n.d.). Things the CEO could possible do to change these are:

1. Run a market analysis report

2. Conduct a resistance to change survey

3. After conducting survey the CEO may find he has no need for concern of blockages.

Once the CEO has completed this initial phase he can move onto the planning phase. This is

where he would be able to start to gather up his support team, the people that would be there to
back him in the changes that he is looking to make. He could set up committees to develop

training, implementation, survey taker, and so on. After the planning phase he and his team

would move into the action phase. Carrying out their plan to make the necessary changes to

successful compete in their market place. A key for them to be successful in this phase is to

ensure they are documenting everything thing, the training they are conducting, the things that

are working for them, the things that are not working for them, it will be important for their

future. Once they have completed the action phase they will move onto the observation phase

where they can monitor the effectiveness of the changes that they have made and adjust anything

that is not working, this will help to keep them avoid the problems they were facing in the past.

Once all the changes have been made the CEO can move into the reflection phase. He can look

back at the time where his company was losing market share and he was of the belief that his

employees were opposed to changes. After using this method the CEO will see that decisions

that he made even though they may have been difficult, were the correct one for the company’s

future.

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.

After reviewing the three change models this writer’s opinion is that Kotter’s eight step

model would be the most useful. Step two of this plan establishes a powerful guiding coalition,

encouraging the group to work together as a team (Kotter, 2007). In doing this it establishes who

is in charge, and when there is chaos there needs to be someone in charge. Step five of the plan

empowers others to act on the vison, by doing this it gets more buy-in, when you have more buy-

in you get more ownership, when people own something they what it to succeed. Step eight of

the plan is institutionalizing new approaches, developing the means to ensure leadership
development and succession (Kotter, 2007). This is the most important step, it not only ensures

that the process is successful today with the current management, but it will continue with

leaders in the future.

The model that would be least useful would be Lewin’s Change Management. This

method calls for unfreezing, or forcing and organization to break down the way they are doing

things. “By forcing the organization to re-examine its core, you effectively create a (controlled)

crisis, which in turn can build a strong motivation to seek out a new equilibrium. Without this

motivation, you won't get the buy-in and participation necessary to effect any meaningful

change” (Mind Tools Editorial Team, 2014). If this unfreezing is not done correctly, or the

company doesn’t have the correct leadership in place to handle it then the company could fail.

Once the unfreeze has occurred then the change has to happen “Some people will genuinely be

harmed by change, particularly those who benefit strongly from the status quo. Others may take

a long time to recognize the benefits that change brings” (Mind Tools Editorial Team, 2014).

This again can cause problems that this writer feels would make this plan least useful. The last

part of the plan if successful in the first two phases is the refreeze. This phase has its share of

problems also, if the company is not able to get the change to fully take then the refreeze cannot

happen, thus inhibiting future attempts at change. For these reason this would be the model that

would be less useful.

REFERENCES

Center for Education Innovation. (n.d.). Stages of an action research project. Retrieved from
http://cei.ust.hk/files/public/ar_intro_stages_of_an_action_research_project.pdf
Kotter, J. P. (2007). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review,
85(1), 96-103. [Business Source Complete]
Mind Tools Editorial Team. (2014). Lewin’s change management model. Mind tools.
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm