HRM587 Week 1
Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 August
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WEEK
1: STORIES OF CHANGE
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Chapter 1 of your textbook includes, onpage 9,
Table 1.1, “Managing Change: Some Lessons from the Four Stories.” Review the four “lessons” (bullet points) on the table,
and think about what some of the key “learning points” you gleaned about change
from these stories. Then, do one of two things:
1. Post the top three learning points you gleaned from the
stories, and include how the stories for change helped you learn these points,
or
2. Research one of the four companies and see how or if that
company has since changed (yet more) since the time of the book’s publication.
How did that recent change fit with or not fit in with the “lessons” that the
textbook mentions the company “learned” from their original set of changes?
Explain what you find (bring the URL of the research/article you used to help
you).
Your instructor will
follow up with you with additional questions throughout the week to push the
learning further. Feel free to discuss your classmates’ findings and thoughts
on these questions with each other as well.
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WEEK
1: PRESSURES FOR CHANGE
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Organizations change due to many different pressures. In your lecture for Week
1, as well as your reading in Chapter 3, you are introduced to many of these
pressures. Think about a time at work, at school, or at home, when you have
been subjected to similar pressures (this is “your" example). Did that
pressure make you change or “dig in your heels” and refuse to change? What does
that say about pressures for change? Does it always lead to change?
Provide your example in your first post, and if you can, explain how the
theories on “pressures for change” help explain why you were or weren’t
actually pressured to change in your example. Please also discuss your
classmates’ examples with them. In follow-up posts, talk about how these
pressures did or didn’t cause a company to change, to their benefit or detriment.
Your instructor will come in with additional questions and thoughts based on
your comments and the pressures for change, and during the week, your main
focus will be on “why companies change.” Enjoy the discussions!
HRM587
Week 2 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 August
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WEEK
2: WHAT CHANGES IN COMPANIES?
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The textbook talks about many types of “change.” Here is a list of many of the
“types”: first order, second order, anticipatory, reactive, adaptive, tuning,
adaptation, reorientation, recreation, midroad, tectonic, incremental,
transformational, downsizing, technological, mergers and acquisitions. It is
all quite overwhelming, really. Our goal this week is to gain clarity and
understanding of the differences among the types of changes.
Consider the company you have selected (or one of them you are still choosing
between) and discuss a recent change which has occurred at that organization.
Pick which “type” of change you would say that change was, and why. Utilize the
course textbook as the start for analyzing the theory of the change. Explain
the theory of the change.
Do you agree with the change which the company has decided to take? Let’s get
started, and we will be addressing more questions about this throughout the
week. Further, feel free to debate/discuss your classmates' project/company
findings with them as well.
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WEEK
2: GREEN MOUNTAIN RESORT CASE ANALYSIS
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The Green Mountain Resort case is a perfect one for us to work together as a
class on the different images for change and how they are reflected (or could
have been reflected) in that case. We will cover multiple facets of this
throughout the week but to start, let’s talk about the role that Gunter plays
in our case study this week. For our opening posts, pick one or two of the
following (or debate with your classmates):
1. Which image of leader do you see Gunter best fitting into? Why do you think
this?
2. How did Gunter use that image to “lead” the company through this
change?
3. Which image do you think YOU would have selected to lead the company through
the change, and how would this have been better than how Gunter led the change?
HRM587
Week 3 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 August
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WEEK
3: THE DIAGNOSTIC MODELS
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Chapter 5 identifies several diagnostic models. The first five speak of the
overall structure of the organization. Select one of these five and research it
on the Internet. Discuss why you chose this particular model, with special
emphasis on the components included and how they (and the model) fit with your
view of the organization you are researching for your project. Speak also to
what you see as the model’s strengths and weaknesses.
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WEEK
3: FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS
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The Force Field Analysis Model is one of the most famous in change management.
It was originally developed by Kurt Lewin and can be found in Chapter 5 at the
end of the chapter (printed page 151). Review this model and relate it to an
issue in your organization or your associations outside of work. Define how
understanding the “forces for” and the “forces against” inter-relate. What
insights did you get from the analysis?
HRM587
Week 4 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 August
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WEEK
4: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE/OVERCOMING RESISTANCE
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(Note: This case is a
work of fiction.) Lefty’s BBQ is a
U.S. national restaurant chain which serves beef, pork, and chicken barbecue along
with Pepsi products, thin-cut French fries or slaw as sides, and offers
biscuits or garlic bread as well. The restaurant operates as a drive-up only,
with parking lots available at most locations for people to sit and eat in
their cars, as well as picnic tables outside in some southern locations. The
“average” customer is white male and about 35-45 years old. Many of the workers
in the chain are high school part-time, hourly workers who operate the
registers, clean-up, and cooking. Managers range from the age of 18+. Lefty’s
BBQ senior management has implemented a change plan to introduce alcoholic
beverages to its menu (beer and wine only). This is going to impact quite a bit
of the operations, and certainly is going to impact the employee base, as in
most states, to serve alcohol will require employees to be a minimum of 21
years of age. Due to some licensing issues, Lefty’s is also going to switch
from Pepsi products to Coke products along with introducing the beer and wine
to its new menu. Unfortunately, the press got a hold of this change in plan
before senior management had communicated the change to the rest of the
employees throughout the country. Identify, discuss, and begin to address the
many resistances, emotional intelligence issues, and unintended consequences
which the management will face and need to overcome and handle throughout this
change.
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WEEK
4: BARRIERS TO CHANGE
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(Note: This case is a
work of fiction.) Addition/Subtraction
Company (A/SC) is a textbook publisher for math education, including 1st grade
through graduate school levels. The company has been supplying textbooks to
public education schools (grade – university level) for 55 years. The company
has always prided itself on the loyalty it shows to its employees in that
almost all of its authors are full-time employees, and very little of the work
done in the organization is farmed out to independent contractors. However,
over the last 10 years, the earnings of the company have taken a huge hit,
partly because of the No Child Left Behind Act, which caused some of A/SC’s
textbooks to fall out of print before they made a profit, and partly because of
the increase in costs due to the company’s health insurance premiums when a
large number of their employee base (and their families) contracted serious
illnesses requiring lengthy and expensive treatments which has impacted the
bottom line of the company. The HR Vice President has reviewed the business
practices of their two main competitors, and realized that they are making
their profits because they rely mainly on independent contractor authors,
paying them only royalties on sales versus the salary/benefits packages which
A/CS employees make. Further, because the other companies have a wide open
subject matter expert pool by using independent contractors, they are much more
nimble at reacting to changes in need of the market, and they can offer more
math areas in their textbooks, giving them a larger market share. In fact, the
last projection which was done by the marketing team showed that A/CS was going
to be out of business in two years if they don’t change something quickly. The
HR Vice President is going to recommend to her CEO that the author group of
employees (numbering 510) be downsized out of the company and replaced with
independent contractors. Further, because of certain employment laws, none of
those who are downsized will be invited back as independent contractors. The
publishing team will be expected to work with independent contractors and
manage all book writing projects using less human power as well. That team will
be downsized by 15% over the next year. Choices of “who” will be downsized will
be based on a review of the last two years of performance evaluations,
seniority, and roles.
This week, discuss the barriers that will exist to successful implementation of
this change. Along with discussing how the change itself will be perceived by
the employees, talk about risks to the company, internal and external factors
which will create barriers, and challenges to overcome them.
HRM587
Week 5 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 August
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WEEK
5: ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY AND PRACTICES
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JetBlue Airways is a company which has embraced the OD theory and allowed OD’s
vision of emotional intelligence, value proposition, positive reinforcement,
and change through improvement and culture to drive much of its results over
the past years. The airline industry is one in which external influences have had
an unbelievable impact on the bottom line of all of the companies that fly.
Thus, it may defy imagination at first that in an industry of barely controlled
daily chaos, Jet Blue has found a way to make OD work to control that chaos.
Interestingly, in 2010, JetBlue was one of only three domestic airlines to turn
a profit, and their CEO, David Barger, is the lowest-paid CEO among the 10
largest publicly traded U.S. airlines in 2010. (Potkewitz) Doing research
online, use a Google™, Bing™, or other search-engine-style search, and find
case analyses or articles discussing JetBlue’s OD approach. After the crisis,
CEO Neeleman was terminated and Barger was put in his place. The company has
grown since Barger’s implementation. Their focus on organizational development,
and company values and culture, continues to this day, which is why it is not a
surprise to see that JetBlue Airways was one of the main case studies presented
at the 2011 Customer Experience Strategies Summit in Toronto, where Vicky
Stennes, VP ofInflight Experience presented on their inside-out approach to motivating
employees by creating a customer-service-centric business model.
We'll begin with these questions:
1. How does a company with an OD approach differ from one without that
approach?
2. Which company would you prefer to work for – one with an OD approach or one
without?
3. Do OD companies offer a higher value proposition to their customers than
non-OD companies? And if so, why don’t all companies take this approach?
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WEEK
5: NSTEP PRACTICES
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Class, you will be the “change agents” for this change. Your professor will be
the CEO, issuing dictates, orders, suggestions, support, ideas, and thoughts.
However, you, as class members, will need to take each new piece of information
and determine how it will fit into your plans for change, as change agents.
Keep an eye on the new information as well as how your colleagues are
addressing it. Innovation, creativity, and level headedness is key to making
this week’s solution succeed. Good luck!
Here’s the change: BubbleBath Inc. is a privately owned company with
approximately 2,000 employees whose make up is primarily line workers.
Management makes up about 20% of the company, with the remaining 1,600 people working
to produce the line of bathtubs, hot tubs/spas, and designer fixtures for which
the company has become famous. The company started 10 years ago working out of
the initial founder’s garage, and quickly increased in size when Jacuzzis
became a standard fixture in many middle-class remodels and new constructions.
Due to excellent marketing strategies, BubbleBath Inc. has not experienced a
downturn in sales despite the recent economic downturn in construction.
Instead, they have parlayed the middle-class flight from tourism to encourage
the “staycation” and the upgrade of the home as the new spa of the 21st
Century. Profits last year were up 15% and everyone is feeling cautiously
optimistic. Nevertheless, the CEO is concerned with market analysis reports
that despite the staycation mentality, growth over the next two years is
predicted to be stagnant to declining. Last week, as per the original exit
strategy of the founding investors, the company will be restructured into a
limited partnership of three people from an incorporation model of 15
shareholders. 12 of the shareholders will be paid a return of 8% on their
investment, and the remaining 3 shareholders will form a limited partnership.
As a result, the CEO has received word from the new partners that they want to
change the operations model as follows, effective in three months:
A. Discontinue the line of designer fixtures
and focus solely on hot tubs and bathtubs. (This will mean eliminating two
lines of 30 employees each.)
B. Move the entire operation from the city of Atlanta, GA to a town 25 miles
south of Atlanta called McDonough, where all 3 of the partners reside. No
relocation packages will be offered, but those employees who choose to “retire”
at the time of the move will receive a 4 weeks' severance package. A new
building which was originally intended to be a “HottubsRUs” factory is sitting
vacant and the partners bought it for a steal. They already have a buyer for
the old factory in Atlanta.
C. For the first time, include a sales office right in the new production
building where a showcase with sales staff will be located. Along with
supplying retail stores, the company will now also sell directly, both in the
office and online. Initially, 5 sales people and one sales manager will be
hired.
Your CEO has asked you,
the managers, to come up with a change plan using Kotter’s 8-step model. What
are the first things that you will do in order to create a plan for change
which will maximize efficiencies, utilize current processes, and ensure that profits
continue? Who wants to start?
HRM587
Week 6 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 August
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WEEK
6: TYCO CASE STUDY
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Review the Case Study on the Tyco company which appears in your textbook at the
end of Chapter 11, pp. 345-346. After reading the case, let’s start the
discussions with these questions.
1. How did the turnaround team use Gerard and Teurf’s transformation skills
(discussed earlier in Chapter 11) to overcome the frustrations of
employees?
2. What were some of the examples given in the case which led you to think
those transformational skills were used?
3. Of the three types of cultural transformation (behavioral, experiential, and
attitudinal), which of these types occurred in the Tyco case, and why do you
think so?
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WEEK
6: TYPES OF COMMUNICATION METHODS
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Throughout the term, you have been researching two companies and the change
plans each underwent. This week, you will be working on the communication plan
which you feel one of the companies most likely used (or you will create one
you would have recommended it use). This plan will include types/methods of
communication, a timeline for that communication, etc. (See the project for
more details.) This week, we want to work together and look at types of
communication. Also, you will be given an opportunity to share a draft of the
“sample” communication you are going to provide for your project, and receive
feedback from your classmates.
First, let’s talk about the different types of communication methods and when
each may be used and why. Take a look at the examples of types of communication
methods listed (in this week’s lecture). Pick ONE of the types, and describe
that type of communication, explain who would use it, provide a potential
audience for that particular type of communication and the pros/cons of using
that particular type of communication. Or respond to a colleague who has
already posted.
For example, a
conversation is a type of communication. Two managers may use it, they might
discuss with each other their roles in a change, their concerns about the
change, and how they plan to discuss the change with their teams. A pro of this
style of communication is that it is cheap, immediate, has an instant feedback
mechanism, and is relatively easy and low-key; a con is that it can be
overheard and repeated by others who aren’t to hear it yet, it is difficult to
memorialize or “prove”, and/or it can be twisted later by others.
HRM587
Week 7 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 August
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WEEK
7: CHAPTER 12 NASA CASE STUDY
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Read the end-of-chapter
case in Chapter 12 of your text and do Internet research on NASA during both
disasters, with particular emphasis on the disasters’ effects on the culture.
Why do you feel it is so difficult to “sustain” cultural change in a large organization
AFTER the immediate effects of a major event like Challenger or Columbia? What
role should leadership play in working to “institutionalize” such cultural
changes?
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WEEK
7: CRACKING THE CODE OF CHANGE: HBR ARTICLE
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Locate and read the HBR
article, “Cracking the Code of Change,” in the Online Library. It can be found
through a general search in EBSCOhost, in the Harvard Business Review
collection, May-June 2000 issue.
The article identifies two primary types of change that are most prevalent in
today’s organizational world. Which type (E Change or O Change) do you think is
most prevalent and what factors in our society influence that predominance? How
can a leader best work toward a synthesis of both types to maximize the
effectiveness of each for a successful change initiative?
