Change Management Assignment: Developing A Change Strategy For WilderCorp

Question

Task:
The purpose of the change management assignment is to develop a change strategy for the organisation.

Requirements 

You have been appointed to coordinate the change process. Develop a change strategy proposal for consideration by the leadership management team. Your proposal should address the following: 

• Possible problems/challenges/opportunities presented; 
• Driving and restraining forces for change (both internal and external); and 
• Recommendations, including communication and consultation. 

Format

Your proposal should be Figure 1: Challenges in Change Managementin a suitable business report format and draw on relevant change management literature to justify the recommendations. 

It is important to justify answers. In-text citations should be used, and a reference list (end-text) included. Students are required to examine more sources (academic sources and business periodicals / newspapers / popular media) to explain and support ideas. 

The Scenario - WilderCorp 

WilderCorp is a medium-sized organisation which specialises in group and outdoor training and adventures, targeted at corporate organisations keen on providing team-building and culture-based development to their managers and employees. They started as a small family-run business 10 years prior, and due to demand and popularity from local and interstate clients, expanded nationally. They now have 1,000 employees, with a majority located in Western Australia. Approximately 100 employees are based in the East Coast; these are mostly consultants and facilitators. 

Their leadership management team consists of a CEO (and one of the original founders of the organisation) and three Executive Directors – Outdoor Education, Corporate Education and Administration. The leadership management team is mostly concerned about meeting clients and creating high quality group and outdoor training experiences. Their operating model is based on consultants working with clients to understand the outcomes required from training and outdoor adventures, with these then being delivered by a facilitator. They then use sales metrics to measure the success of the organisation. 

Due to the significant growth, five years ago they purchased software designed to streamline all finance, human resource, payroll, and sales systems. The system was selected by the leadership team and implemented quickly. It has several configuration issues, with employees expressing frustration about how they have to maintain manual records as they do not trust the system. Rumours suggest there is also anger at having to use a system which does not meet their needs, given they were not involved in any decision around its selection. 

At the same time a new competitor has arrived in the market providing similar experiences to WilderCorp but with a technological edge – they use virtual and augmented reality as part of their team building experience options. A number of WilderCorp’s previous clients now use this competitor. 

Over the last two years, WilderCorp has become concerned by a significant drop in sales. They first responded by requiring all departments shave 5% of their operating budget, with most opting to make employees redundant or not fill roles which became vacant due to employees resigning. They are now looking at merging the role of consultant and facilitator and making all existing consultants redundant.

Answer

Introduction

The report on change management assignment will analyze the strategy of change management for the development of a business. Change management strategy describes the particular ways of an organisation, such a WilderCorp, which address such definite things to the supply chain, the inventory, or projecting an actual scope. The report will be consisting of the problems of the organisation for which the change management strategy needs to improvise. The challenges that will face by the organisation and the opportunities that it faces during the implementation of the system. Both the internal and external forces will be discussed, which can influence the operations of the business. Also, there will need recommendations which will be required for the growth of the company. A type of leadership approach will be chosen along with the kind of hard or soft model which will make an alignment with the change management. The conclusion part will give a concise overall study and analysis, which helps to create a strong base for the company. 

Possible Problems

There are some definite problems which is common and natural, and mostly 70% of the organisation face these problems while implementing change management into business development (Dzwigol, 2019). When there is a process of change or the principles is like changing the structure of the business strategy for the product. Without any kind of necessary effort, WilderCorp may face the worst. The types of possible problems are:

1. Shortcomings of Strategy

The strategy process fails because the logistical and the tactical issues were overlooked and skipped. It can also be assumed that the team has not built up properly. The strategy implications should start with some solid strategy by knowing the change, the outcomes, the impact and the proper planning procedure (Rosenbaum, More & Steane, 2018).

Underestimate the Scale and Scope

It is needed to understand that what is the scope for the change to the management in WilderCorp. It will help to achieve the sky of success. It is one of the most powerful understandings that receive a great scope of the resources and the initiatives that failed due to the extent underestimated. There is a lack of resources running out of the clock (Al-Ali et al., 2017).

Challenges of Change Management

The change of management affects every business, but the difference is crucial when the growth of the component and the evolution facilitate a smooth transition of the business. The resistance is expected to overcome the challenges, whereas it also exemplifies the characteristics of a company. Many evitable obstacles face along the way of the implementation that are all parts and parcel to reduce the problems which safeguard WilderCorp Organisation and help to identify the common challenges faced and eagerly deal with the issues (Jayatilleke & Lai, 2018).

Conflicts

The conflicts bring change to the management, which evokes fear and uncertainty which leave their staff to take out their frustrations to each other. The competition is a consequence and the responsibility of a leader which helps their teams to overcome all the difficulties. The conflict also disrupts the schedule of the change management and mitigates the issues of any problems. 

Setbacks 

The setbacks are also inevitable, which helps reduce the impact of the change management in WilderCorp and identify. The change is not at all flawless and foolproof, but it is accurate the future if something goes wrong, which helps to maintain a positive mental attitude which helps to prevent recurrences (Matthews et al., 2018). The setback helps to identify the challenges, which make sure that everything is prepared and the surface of the challenge access the critical outcome, which gives a shape to the strategy of WilderCorp through the change management system. 

Figure 1: Challenges in Change Management

(Source: Matthews et al., 2018)

Opportunities of Change Management

The opportunities that are left behind with the fact which can minimize the change to improve the productivity, the quality of work which helps to strengthen the cooperation with collaboration and the communication. As per Thakur, & Mangla (2019), a planned approach also changes to lower stress and encourage anxiety which helps to stay loyal. It is one of the most critical opportunities that help to bind the ground of the business with the change management implications. 

There are different opportunities for change management, such as:

• It helps to assess and understand the need for development and the impact of the change. 

• It also helps to align the resources that need to support the change. 

• It helps to manage the diversional cost of the change. 

• It helps to reduce the time and the evolution of the implementation. 

• It is also beneficial for the cooperation and the collaboration to your business. 

Figure 2: Opportunities in Change Management

(Source: Thakur, & Mangla, 2019)

Driving and restraining forces for Change Management

The driving ability navigates the cycle of success for WilderCorp. Change Management affects everybody, every business and the industry every day. According to Hayes, (2018), the future of the change goes round with a better lot and succeeds into the professionalism of the organisation and the personal life of the employees. There are two primary forces: Internal and External which have a good understanding of the leaders and the team members, which helps understand the development of both the driving and restraining forces. 

Internal Forces

• Managerial Personal Change

There are frequent reasons for significant change in the WilderCorp where the changes of executives are at the top. The behaviour of the managers is selective, and the managers might provide favor with different designs, the procedures of the objectives and the policies.

• Effectiveness of the declination

The decline is the pressure of the effectiveness is about the change. The experience of WilderCorp must experience and motivate undoubtedly of doing something about the declination. There are also some external forces driven outside of the company, such as:

External Forces

a. Globalization

The global economic systems are the competitors far across from the ocean. According to Cameron & Green (2019), there are the power players who play globally in the market with the multinational and the trans-national organisations with no mental distinctions between the domestic and the foreign operations. In WilderCorp, globalization means to rethink the most efficient process to use the resources and gather factual information for the development of the people.

b. Diversity of the Workforce

This diversity depends on globalization, which increases the challenges of the workplace, which makes a diversional way and creates a powerful force to change the organisation. 

• The workforce helps the participation of females.
• The workforce is all aged, and there will be new workers who are young and also middle-aged. 

Figure 3: Driving and Restraining Forces in Change Management

(Source: Cameron & Green, 2019)

Recommendation for Change Management

Recommendations will enhance the critical asset like the employee of WilderCorp. Loosing of employees is very costly for the organisation, which is associated with the cost of recruitment. The time of when the involvement of the employees is getting o a high speed. As per Doppelt, & McDonough (2017), there are many other effective ways that should be recommended to WilderCorp for the better growth of the company. 

1. Communication Strategy

Communication Strategy highlights the effectiveness of WilderCorp. It is one of the most effective ways for the group or individual that brings everyone on the same page. The communication strategy includes a timeline that changes the messages, the channels of communications and the mediums incrementally.

Providing Consultations

Consultations provide the message of in and out so that the people know about the discussion. The talk can be informal, which also helps to receive training if needed. It also helps to boost up the knowledge of learning’s which operates the role of WilderCorp efficiently. As opined by Ifenthaler, (2020), WilderCorp could structure the models of understandings with microlearning models blended with different approaches. 

Figure 4: Leadership Approach in Change Management

(Source: Ifenthaler, 2020)

2. Type of leadership approaches

Effective leadership is one of the main components necessary for all leadership approaches, which brings change into the initiative. The leaders are very effective in implementing the charge who can focus the operational structure of the side and prioritize the human component for WilderCorp.

Engage and Support Employees

Transformations of the project, the leader must think about the role of the employees that know the need of the people in the WilderCorp Organisation. This leadership approach helps to provide different opportunities that discuss the challenges and the prospects with definite change that incorporate with the feedback of all the employees. 

Soft Approach of Change Management in WilderCorp

The change of the soft approach involves the business project which aim to change the culture of the organisation of an adventurous company. The case describes the process of the change in WilderCorp where there is the signal of the trend that is declined and the revenues. The manager of WilderCorp comes up with typical indicators with different tools.

Conclusion

Change management increases the WilderCorpby applying different tools and forces, which helps implement several methods and design the process precisely. The managers of WilderCorp are a prominent part that allows for the implementation of the change program. The management of Wildercorp also ensures the involvement of the top management, which helps the change management for further performance. There are different cultural changes and takes necessary action to solve the problems. Their challenges are there, which shows the barriers of the implementation for the development and the opportunities guides with positive impact. It also ensures effective performance, which brings a positive outcome for the company. 

References

Al-Ali, A. A., Singh, S. K., Al-Nahyan, M., & Sohal, A. S. (2017). Change management through leadership: the mediating role of organisational culture. International Journal of Organisational Analysis. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJOA-01-2017-1117/full/html

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2019). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organisational change. Kogan Page Publishers. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=LX-5DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=change+management&ots=v-iJQeXKFx&sig=1DEjkUNXF0QJzV_vsPXxR3pV0Ts

Doppelt, B., & McDonough, W. (2017). Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781351278966/leading-change-toward-sustainability-bob-doppelt-william-mcdonough

Dzwigol, H., Shcherbak, S., Semikina, M., Vinichenko, O., & Vasiuta, V. (2019). Formation of Strategic Change Management System at an Enterprise. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18, 1-8. https://search.proquest.com/openview/a378b9011a0836f5382799da83d6f8bb/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=38745

Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sbZIDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR2&dq=change+management&ots=hEWGCuc6A-&sig=dozYD6UGAzgH52p33bHV32UrELM

Ifenthaler, D. (2020). Change management for learning analytics. In Artificial intelligence supported educational technologies (pp. 261-272). Change management assignment Springer, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41099-5_15

Jayatilleke, S., & Lai, R. (2018). A systematic review of requirements changes management. Information and Software Technology, 93, 163-185. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950584917304664

Matthews, J., Love, P. E., Mewburn, J., Stobaus, C., & Ramanayaka, C. (2018). Building information modelling in construction: insights from collaboration and change management perspectives. Production planning & control, 29(3), 202-216. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09537287.2017.1407005

Rosenbaum, D., More, E., & Steane, P. (2018). Planned organisational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organisational Change Management. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JOCM-06-2015-0089/full/html

Thakur, V., & Mangla, S. K. (2019). Change management for sustainability: Evaluating the role of human, operational and technological factors in leading Indian firms in the home appliances sector. Journal of cleaner production, 213, 847-862. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652618339179