Internal_Report

Internal Report COM530 April 4, 2011 Internal Report This report is to clarify the changes for Synergetic Solutions as it transforms from a business of system integration – assembling and reselling leading computer brands, to a network solutions business of designing and implementing complex computing networks. This report will discuss in detail the internal and external forces of change, factors the leader in this organization need to weigh to implement a change strategy successfully, discuss two change models the leader might employ, the communication necessary to implement change using these models, identify and explain five kinds of resistance the leader might expect and the strategies the leader might employ to manage each of these areas of resistance. Let us first examine the internal and external forces of change for Synergetic Solutions. The changing nature of the workforce, is adjusting to a multicultural environment and human resource policies and practice have to change to reflect the needs of an aging labor force. Many companies are spending money on training to upgrade reading, math, computer and other skills (Robbins, 2007). Technology is evolving at an aspiring rate faster, cheaper, and more mobile computers. Cell phones and PDAs are seen as indispensable by a large portion of the population (Robbins, 2007). Economic shocks have continued to affect organizations through-out the world. The rise and fall of oil prices, international conflicts and war like Iraq, to national disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans to list a few. The global economy has witnessed new trading establishments with countries such as China and Vietnam. Therefore, competition can come from across the sea as easily as from across the street. Social trends are continuously shifting. For example, consumers are increasingly doing their shopping at discount warehouses and Internet super stores. The change in world politics in recent years, has led to changes in business practices related to the creation of backup systems, employee security, employee stereotyping and profiling do to post-terrorist-attack anxiety caused by the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001 (Robbins, 2007). Understanding the forces that are acting as stimulants for change we can derive why Harold Redd, CEO, has decided to focus on the Networking Solutions Business and raise revenues to 80% of total sales. This change was driven by the stagnating system integration market. Harold Redd, CEO, has also set growth targets for revenue and measures of employee involvement such as productivity and absenteeism based on the industry bench marks. These changes will see internal resistance. Internal resistance can be overt, implicit, immediate, or deferred. Overt or immediate will be the easiest for management to deal with. Such as, voicing complaints, threatening to go on strike or leave the company, productivity will slow down, etc. Implicit or deferred will be harder to deal with and less obvious to management. It will be more subtle and employees will show loss of loyalty, loss of motivation, increase in mistakes and increased absenteeism. The factors a leader in this organization will need to weigh to implement a change strategy successfully will need to be closely considered. There are several approaches to managing organizational change, but we will examine only two. The two approaches are Lewin’s Three-Step Model and Kotter’s Eight-Step Plan. Lewin’s Three-Step Model: Kurt Lewin argued that successful change in organizations should follow three steps: unfreezing the status quo, movement to a desired end state, and refreezing the new change to make it permanent (Robbins, 2007). To overcome the pressures of both individual resistance and group conformity, unfreezing must take place. If you consider that the status quo is at an equilibrium state and the driving forces that direct behavior away from the status quo can be increased and the restraining forces that hinder movement can be decreased, unfreezing will succeed. Research on organizational change has shown that to be effective, change has to happen quickly (Robbins, 2007). And once the consolidation has taken place, the new situation needs to be refrozen. Kotter’s Eight-Step Plan: John Kotter of the Harvard Business School, built on Lewin’s three-step plan to create a more detailed approached for implementing change. He listed common failures managers make when initiating change. These include the inability to create a sense of urgency, failure to create a coalition to manage the change process, absence of vision for change and to effectively communicate that vision, not removing obstacles, failure to provide realistic short-term goals that are achievable, tendency to declare victory too soon, and not anchoring the changes to the organization’s culture (Robbins, 2007). Both models clearly indicate the importance of communicating the necessary changes as clearly and quickly as possible. This can be accomplished by holding formal and informal meetings to communicate structural changes. It also creates a means in which employee concerns can be heard. And the need to monitor changes through documented procedures. Improving employee skills and performance by implementing training on critical skills and development of a mentor program will help reduce resistance to change. As change occurs, some resistance will include some of the following. Productivity and involvement will decline. Team leaders will feel their contributions are not recognized, resulting in a decline in moral and apprehension about the new team-based structure. Some tactics that can be used by change agents in dealing with resistance to change are: Education and Communication, Participation, Building Support and Commitment, Negotiation, and Selecting People Who Accept Change. Let’s examine these closer. Education and Communication: Resistance can be reduced by communicating with employees to help them see the logic of change. Change is more likely when the necessity of changing is packaged properly (Robbins, 2007). Participation: It is difficult for individuals to resist change when they have participated in the decision. The involvement of the participants can reduce resistance, obtain commitment, and increase the quality of the change decision (Robbins, 2007). Building Support and Commitment: Change agents can offer a range of supportive efforts to reduce resistance by reducing employee fears and anxiety through therapy and counseling, new-skills training, and even firing up employees to emotionally commit to the change (Robbins, 2007). Negotiation: Another way for a change agent to deal with resistance is to exchange something of value for a lessening to resistance, like a specific reward package that will meet the individual needs. There is a risk that once a change agent negotiates with one party to avoid resistance, he or she is open to the possibility of being blackmailed by other employees (Robbins, 2007). Selecting People Who Accept Change: Research suggest that the ability to accept and adapt to change is related to personality. People who adjust best are those who are open to experiences, willing to take risk, have a positive attitude and are flexible (Robbins, 2007). Synergetic Solutions needs to redesign the work environment and organizational structure to a new team-based structure. The leader needs to develop HR policies and programs to help employees transition and upgrade current employee skill sets and/or hire new employees with the necessary skill sets. By improving competencies, investing in technology, and reengineer processes will support employees to perform new functions. The decision to assess competencies and enhance skill sets will help frame realistic targets for change. Performance-based packages will provide both the means and the motivation for employees to perform better. The process improvement forum, incentive plans and variable compensation packages will also help motivate the employees to keep improving the process catapulting Synergetic Solutions into becoming a networking design ‘hothouse’. Works Cited Robbins, S. &. (2007). Organizational behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall.