Organizational_Behavior_Mba_University_of_Phoenix

Sean McBride Professor Kevin Koch Organizational Behavior March 16, 2010 Change Strategy Change Strategy “If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies; a caterpillar would never cocoon, nor would a breakthrough ever occur.” (-Sherlock Holmes) Change has, and will always be met with some form of resistance. Because it is uncertain, it tends to lend itself to chance. In other words, it opens the door to equal opportunity for both positive and negative outcomes. The notion of change and chance is often viewed through distorted lens before probability is calculated. While this idea of change subconsciously creates anxiety among the people, it is the leaders job to add clarity by painting a picture of changes’ infinite success. Don Ruiz, Chief Executive Officer of Gene One, is undoubtedly a believer that change is necessary, often times for the better. After all, it is he who turned a $2 million dollar investment into a $400 million dollar company. Through advanced technology, Ruiz and his colleagues changed the way farmers grew tomatoes and consumers picked potatoes. One can safely assume that Ruiz equates change with growth and vise versa. Therefore, realizing that change was needed to “keep the pace of demand,” he understands he has to shift gears to accommodate Wall Street’s interests. Ruiz sets forth a concise strategy to develop and launch two new technologies to raise public interest in the company and to obtain a minimum of 40 percent revenue growth annually. Gene One must go public, “but the company needs IPO capitol for new development, advertisement, and marketing if it is to remain successful.” Ruiz insists that changes need to be made, but does not thoroughly explain how he plans to achieve this goal. The leadership in Gene One begins to fold, not because of uncertainty of the change, but because there is no clear idea of how the change is supposed to be taking place. Ruiz lays out a strategy with great urgency, but fails to organize a plan in bringing it all to life. In this scenario, change is not the problem. The problem lies within the lack of education and communication. Ruiz understands very well that a changes need to be made and needs to be made fast. However, he does educate nor fully express with his team, his desires and expectations. Ruiz does not develop the vision that he sees clearly to his team. Change is not the issue. Getting the team to visualize, understand, cooperate with the change becomes the issue in this situation. In my analysis of the Gene One Scenario, I propose a change strategy that consists of various training programs and activities to prepare employees for the shift in objectives. Step 1 would begin with a thorough presentation of Ruiz’s understanding of Gene One’s shift to go public, and why it is necessary for the company to make this leap. In this presentation, Ruiz must develop his vision and expectations. Developing the vision for the company is key. Before anyone can support radical change; they need to have a vision of a better future that is attractive enough to justify the sacrifices and hardships that change will require. A clear vision helps to guide and coordinate the decisions and actions of the team. (J. M. Howell and C. A. Higgins, “Champions of Change”) Ruiz needs to sit down and paint the picture of a desirable future that appeals to the values, hopes, and ideals of the organization members. (J. M. Howell and C. A. Higgins, “Champions of Change,”) It is important that the vision highlights and emphasizes distant ideological objectives rather than immediate tangible benefits. The vision must be challenging but realistic. (J. E. Dutton, S. J. Ashford, R. M. O’Neill, and K. A. Lawrence, “Moves that Matter: Issue Selling and Organizational Change”) I am inclined to believe that the first step to getting your team on board is to help them see what you see. Help them see why this is important. Most leaders have intuitive foresight, but how useful is this gift when it is not conveyed well to its followers. Dr. Martin Luther King was a successful leader of the Civil rights movement because he did these things. He proposed change, a better future, and a list of his expectations and desires in his infamous, “I Have a Dream” speech. It is important that your team has something to look forward to. It is important that they see the vision through your eyes and understand it as you do. (Step 2) The next step would be to have members actively participating in the change. Get the team involved. It is difficult for individuals to resist a change decision in which they participated. (E. H. Neilsen, “Understanding and Managing Intergroup Conflict”) This is an important part of the change strategy because it works against negative attitudes toward change. Have you ever been or seen that kid confused on the sideline while the coach was going over a new play' A basketball coach is demonstrating with a few of the players how they were going to run a new triangle offense. He is having the small forward bring the ball down, pass and set the screen for the point guard. And you’re thinking in your mind, “why are they so close together, or why isn’t the guard bring the ball down'...they just look stupid!” Now it is your turn to practice the new play. You still aren’t able to fully understand how this works, but you practice it anyway. Game time comes, and the coach calls the play, and you score 30 points that night off the same play that was seemingly stupid from the outside looking in. But after putting it into practice, you are able to see how it comes together. The important thing to take from this is the leadership initiative. The coach knows the play is different, and a change of pace. But he knows that it adds depth to the organization. Therefore, he has the team practice the play daily. He has them actively participate in the change to overcome that bit of resistance. It is important to show your team how everything works to get the team motivated and inspired to perform. Lack of involvement and understanding usually results in a haphazard effort. Needless to say that poor work ethic is unacceptable. The last thing I want to introduce in this strategy is technique that I would encourage all leaders to use. I would ask Ruiz to demonstrate commitment to the change. If change is to be as effective as it is laid out in the vision, it must be enforced. Change is only as good as it has been tested. Therefore, in order to get an accurate depiction of how effective this change will be, the leader has to be hands on in fueling and leading this movement to the end. Consider the Roman army and its kings. When it came to time to go to war, it was not enough for Augustus to say, “I declare war!” The King had to saddle up and ride out with his troops in every battle. This kind of commitment showed the soldiers what dedication, devotion, and determination looked like. Demonstration of commitment helps to dissolve doubt and any inquiries about whether this is a good idea or not. It is a lot like seeing your parents play in the snow for the first time. Though its cold, and it’s new, and looks strange, you feel more comfortable when you see that they aren’t afraid to get in. It eases the tension to know that the person you look up to and admire, is right there along side you. As a leader, I feel it is important to literally stand by the decisions you make. “When we are no longer able to change the situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” (Victor Frankl). This is a scenario where the team must adjust to maintain its success in the business world. The case with Gene One can easily be resolved by implementing a thorough plan of preparation before going head first into this business endeavor. These steps would clear up all confusion as to what the goal is and how it is to be achieved. These steps will help reassure team member loyalty to the organization. This strategy will help the team in adjusting to the necessary change and cause them respond appropriately. The strategy presented is designed to refute resistant attitudes to ensure maximum team effort. And in order to achieve the tasks at hand, the entire team must be on the same page. “A little leaven, leavens the whole lump.” Before one can implement dramatic change, it is empirical that everyone agree that change is beneficial to both the team and the company. References Based on D. Ulrich, S. Kerr, and R. Ashkenas, The GE Work-Out (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002); and A. Kleiner, “GE’s Next Workout,” strategy + business, Winter 2004, pp. 1–5. J. E. Dutton, S. J. Ashford, R. M. O’Neill, and K. A. Lawrence, “Moves that Matter: Issue Selling and Organizational Change,” Academy of Management Journal, August 2001, pp. 716–36. E. H. Neilsen, “Understanding and Managing Intergroup Conflict,” in J. W. Lorsch and P. R. Lawrence (eds.), Managing Group and Intergroup Relations (Homewood, IL: Irwin-Dorsey, 1972), pp. 329–43. J. M. Howell and C. A. Higgins, “Champions of Change,” Business Quarterly, Spring 1990, pp. 31–32; and D. L. Day, “Raising Radicals: Different Processes for Championing Innovative Corporate Ventures,” Organization Science, May 1994, pp. 148–72.