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Introduction SET, a player in the re-cycling industry is facing a common situation that most of the small companies face as they grow big The challenge to Change in order to remain competitive and relevant in the current (future context). Started in 1997, the company grew steadily for close to five years but there had been no attempt during this period by the management to keep changing the practices / processes / culture. Due to this, it has now achieved a plateau with dependence on a single client and no new business coming. In addition, there have been challenges in the form of increased scrutiny by Environmental agency as well as general public. Immediate Change Management initiatives are required to enable the company to sail through. Situation Analysis (Field Force Analysis (Lewin K. (1943) In order to understand the situation in detail, let us use the Lewins Field Force Analysis (Lewin K. (1943)) framework as given below:

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Current Situation Currently, SET is going through a tough phase considering to the following factors: Over dependence on a single client New business not coming Lack of commitment from the top management (Chairman) Growing government interventions as the industry is becoming increasingly regulated Growing scrutiny and intervention from Environment Agencies and the public Newer technological developments leading to tougher competition SETs own systems and processes having become outdated and inefficient over time

Implications in case Current Situation continues: More bargaining power in the hands of existing client leading to lower profitability Tougher competition leading to pressure on sales and profits Possible closure of the business due to pressure from Environmental / Government agencies Possible sell-off due to lack of chairmans commitment

Based on the above analysis, it is suggested that immediate actions are required to sail SET through these turbulent times. Desired Situation In order to arrive at the forces that are acting as restraining or supporting factors, let us first arrive at the desired Change (desired Situation). Considering the current context, SET would basically like to achieve the following objectives: Improved Sales

This should be the foremost objective considering the present scenario. In order to achieve this SET would need to focus on improved technology, better processes , sincere Marketing and Branding efforts. SET would like maximize its focus on garnering more customers Improved Productivity (& therefore profitability) The analysis of the current situation clearly shows that the current systems & processes at SET are not efficient which in turn must be having an impact on the overall productivity as well as the profitability. SET would therefore like to achieve higher productivity through improved Systems & Processes. Professional Management One of the key factors pulling SET back is its old fashioned Management practices. The organization would clearly like to restructure the organization and make it professionally managed rather than promoter managed (as it is currently). Driving Forces analysis Reference the Force Field analysis model (fig.1) and understanding of the situation, following are the Driving Forces towards Change: Possibility of closure / sell-off This is the biggest driver for change in case of SET considering its over - dependence on single client, stagnant sales , lack of commitment from Top Management (Chairman) Pressure from Government / Environment Agencies Increased pressure from the Government / Environment agencies has brought the organization to a stage where it should either Change or perishes. There has been increased regulation towards this industry by the Environment agency making sophisticated systems / processes / technology. which requires use of better and more

Technological Changes Audits at each step of process are forcing the Organization to subscribe to innovative and more efficient technology and processes. Considering that SET is still using same old technology , the technological advances taken by its competitors would give them further advantage and therefore would reduce sales and profitability for SET. Attraction of Potential Opportunities SET would like to take advantage of the fact that the industry is growing at a fast pace. Specifically, the new shipping terminal announced near the SET site would open a plethora of opportunities for SET. Restraining Forces analysis Based on the understanding of the situation, the following factors would act as a Restraining forces towards Change: Organization Culture This is one of the major restraining force towards Change (in general, and specifically in case of SET). SET since its inception, has not been open to change and this would have led to a set way of working in the organization. It would be really difficult to overcome the personal attributes / perceptions / fears / attitudes / self interests of employees as well as the management. Lack of Leadership Considering the fact that SET is chaired part-time by someone who has significant outside interests and Senior Staff being clueless of how to manage the current crisis, this is another considerable force that is resisting change. Lack of Economic Resources

With SET going through a lean phase for over a year now, it may lack in economic resources to bring in large scale technological changes (that its competitors have been /may be able to) Personal Interests of Promoters The promoters may not like to loose the control of the Management (as illustrated in the case also) which may hamper plan that SET be professionally managed.
F orces AffectingChang e
Driving Forces Restraining Forces

Possibility of closure / sell-off

Organization Culture Pressure fromGovernm / Environm Agencies ent ent Lack of Leadership Technological Chang es Lack of Econom Resources ic Attraction of Potential Opportunities Personal Interests of Promoters

Change in case of SET In order to analyze the type of change that SET requires, we have used Ackermans classification of types of Changes Ackerman (1997) as given below: Developmental change A change that is either planned or emergent. This is generally incremental in nature. It focuses on few existing forces of the organization and is corrective in nature. Transitional Change A change that brings a shift in the way a process is designed. This intends to achieve a state which is radically different from the current state.

Transformational Change A change that brings complete shift in the culture of the organization as a result of changed Strategy and processes. Based on the above analysis, we may conclude that SET requires Transitional Change to achieve its objectives. This is also based on the consideration that Transformational change would generally take a considerable time to be achieved (and in the current context SET needs quicker turnaround). Evaluation of Change Manager SET has taken a first step towards the Change Management by hiring the Change Manager. Based on various theories (basically by Dave Ulrich and Nilakant & Ramnarayan), let us analyze the traits that would make the Change manager successful (generally and specifically in the current context).

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According to Prof. S. Ramnarayan (6 | ISBinsight | December 2006), a leader needs to play the following four crucial roles in order to be the change agent / change master: Cognitive Tuner A change agent needs to visualize and consider all the possible factors worth consideration in the change management initiative. He has to ensure that people are committed towards the transformational process by making them part of the larger process. Cognitive Tuning may be achieved through conversations and dialogues. Cognitive tuning requires paying attention to and understanding of mental models both inside and outside of the organization. Considering the current context of SET, the change manager would need to take into consideration all the possible factors into consideration like Culture / Values / Organization Structure / Promoters concerns / Technology / Economic Scenario / Business environment etc. People Catalyzer The success of any Change Management initiative depends to a large extent on the Change Managers ability to manage dependencies of external stakeholders. In the current context of SET, the Change Manger would need to manage multiple dependencies in the form of Environment Agency / Government Dept. / Current & Prospective customers / Employees etc. Systems Architect An effective Change Manger needs to create an efficient Organization Architecture based on roles, responsibilities, people and processes. The new Change Manager at SET needs to redesign the systems and processes as well as the organization process in a way that may help SET transform itself from a old school of thought company to a professionally managed organization.

Efficacy Builder One of the most important role of the Change Manager is to foster a positive belief in the people and the organization that they can face the challenges of change. He ensures that the opportunities are structured in a manner that people / organization can set challenging goals and achieve them. Considering the case of SET, the Change Manger has to play this role effectively , especially due to the fact that SET (as the Organization) and its human resources have not been very open to change in the past. Change Management Models In this section, let us evaluate two Change Management models in order to select one of them to be applied in the context of SET. Lewins Three Step Model (Lewin, 1947) According to Lewin, it is difficult to sustain a long term change in an organization and therefore it is necessary for the organization to include the permanency of the change in the objective. The model has three steps: Unfreezing This step involves removing prejudices in order to correctly manage planned change and also to identify appropriate objectives and goals Moving This step involves the actual action - change implementation Freezing This is an important step (according to Lewin) and ensures that the change is maintained and the situation does not go back to the previous levels.

Kotters Eight Step Change Process (Kotter, 1996) This model includes the following steps: 1. Establishing a sense of urgency 2. Creating Guiding Coalition 3. Developing a Vision & Strategy 4. Communication of the Vision & Strategy 5. Empowering broad based action 6. Generating Short Term wins 7. Consolidating Gains 8. Anchoring new approaches in the culture Change Management at SET We will use a mix of the above two models in order to create a Change Management plan for SET (i.e. We will follow the eight steps as suggested in Kotters model and use the third step of Freezing from the Lewins Model) Step 1: Establishing a sense of Urgency This step would involve analyzing the market and competition as well as understanding and consideration of all the internal as well as external factors governing the environment for SET. This step is necessary as it forms the basis of developing the further plan of action. In absence of a clear understanding of the internal and external factors, a Change manager would not be able to arrive at a effective plan of Action. This is in line with Cognitive Tuner role (Ramnarayan 2006). The newly appointed Change Manager has done the right thing by making contact with all staff, local environment agency manager, local council, Board members etc.

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Step 2: Creating the guiding Coalition This step involves bringing together a group which is powerful enough to lead change. This is an important step as a Change management initiative would require a lot of tough decisions to be taken which would be possible only if there exists a group with enough powers to take these decisions. Though, SET Change Manager seems to have got the support of the Managing Director but he may consider creating a core group which would be responsible to for the Change Step 3: Developing a Vision and Strategy In order to achieve long term Change, it is essential to chalk out a convincing Vision (which holds the Organization and its employees on the path of Change) and a detailed Strategy (which would help in achieving the Vision). The Vision arrived should be in line with business objectives and must be compelling enough to convince the employees towards contributing towards its achievement. The SET Change Manager though has arrived at the long term strategy to achieve the desired objectives, but he also needs to consider creation of a compelling Vision for the Organization. Step 4: Communicating the Changed Vision & Strategy Arriving at a compelling Vision and a concrete strategy is one thing but the success of the Change Management initiative would depend on how effectively it is communicated right to the last man standing. An organization is a system dependent on its parts (employees and other stakeholders) as they are the factors which would ensure that the Change management initiative sails through or sinks. SET Change manager seems to have missed this step and therefore needs to consider this for

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Successful implementation of the initiative. Step 5: Empowering broad based action This step involves actual action in terms of planning and achieving short term wins by improving systems and processes / structures / systems. Risk taking should be encouraged and nontraditional ideas recognized in order to achieve Change. This is in line with the concept of Efficacy Builder (Ramnarayan 2006). SET Change Manager has brought various process / systems improvements like preparation of tender documents in line with customer requirements , accredited quality management system , revised recruitment & selection process and appraisal system etc. Step 6 : Generating Short Term Wins This step involves planning and achieving short term wins and also rewarding the people responsible for these wins (in order to encourage more and more employees to work towards the desired change). SET Change Manager has been able to achieve these short term wins (in the form 3 year period contract). He should consider developing a program for recognition of those leading to these short wins. Step 7: Consolidate Gains and producing more change Having achieved Short Term gains, the next step is to further the change process by changing more systems & processes which are not in sync with the new Vision. This stage would involve bringing in more people which are in line with the change process and getting more Change agents from within. SET Change Managers plan to conduct regular management meetings is in line with this step as these meetings would give direction for where to implement the next change.

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Step 8: Anchoring new approaches in the Culture This is to be achieved through articulating linkages between Organization success and new behaviors. The Change Manager / Organization should try to arrive at better performance through customer oriented culture and better leadership. SET Change Manager impressively chalked out the exit strategy for the Chairman (a major road block) and implemented the same. This is in line with the objective of bringing strong leadership. Besides, he has envisioned some long term plans for the organization in terms of TQM and creating a SET brand Step 9: Freezing This is an important step and must not be lost sight of in a long term Change management initiative. It needs to be ensured that the short term gains / improvements of the initiative are not lost. In addition to the above 9 step process, special emphasis should be given to the fact that Employees are generally resistant to change and therefore the changes should be brought in such away that the internal coherence is not lost in the organization. The following points needs to be considered in this context: People Performance may go down if the Change is thrust upon the employees. Therefore it is necessary that maximum involvement of employees right from the start is ensured in the Change Management process Performance may dip if the new objectives are not made clear. Therefore an effective two way communication channel must be ensured. Summary

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SET, a company in the re-cycling business became stagnant as a result of not changing with the times. In this Case Study analysis, I have tried to first understand the current scenario by using Field Force analysis (Lewin K. (1943) charting out the factors driving and restraining change. Then, based on types of Changes as per Ackerman (Ackerman (1997)), we arrived at the conclusion that SET needs transitional change. We also arrived at the competencies of a effective Change Agent and evaluated the new Change Manager at SET on these parameters. Then we used Kotters Eight Step Change Process (Kotter, 1996) to arrive at the operational plan for SET. We found that the SET Change Manager has taken care of most of the steps mentioned in our model. Few suggestions are in terms of arriving at a compelling vision for SET, introducing rewarding mechanism for those employees who bring short-term wins and to have a long term plan to ensure that the short term successes are not lost over time.

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References Lewin K. (1943). Defining the "Field at a Given Time." Psychological Review. 50: 292-310. Republished in Resolving Social Conflicts & Field Theory in Social Science, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1997, Retrieved (14 May,2011) LEWIN K. (1947), Frontiers in group dynamics,Resolving social conflicts field theory in socialscience, May,2011) KOTTER J. (1996), Leading change, Harvard Business School, Retrieved (14 May, 2011) Ackerman, L (1997) Development, transition or transformation: the question of change in organisations. In: Van Eynde, D., Hoy, J and Van Eynde, D (eds) Organisation Development Classics. San Francisco, Jossey Bass, Retrieved (13 May, 2011) Prof. S. Ramnarayan (6 | ISBinsight | December 2006), Retrieved (13 May, 2011) Psychological Association,Washington DC, USA, Retrieved (13