Devry HRM587 Week 1 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest
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| Stories of Change (graded) |
Chapter 1 of your textbook includes, on page 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).
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| Pressures for Change (graded) |
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!
Devry HRM587 Week 2 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest
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| What Changes in Companies? (graded) |
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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| Green Mountain Resort Case Analysis (graded) |
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?
Devry HRM587 Week 3 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest
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| The Diagnostic Models (graded) |
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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| Force Field Analysis (graded) |
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?
Devry HRM587 Week 4 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest
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| Emotional Intelligence/Overcoming Resistance (graded) |
(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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| Barriers to Change (graded) |
(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.
Devry HRM587 Week 5 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest
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| Organizational Development Theory and Practices (graded) |
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. Start the week by reviewing this article, “An Extraordinary Stumble At JetBlue,” found at http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2007-03-04/an-extraordinary-stumble-at-jetblue.
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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| nStep Practices (graded) |
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.
Devry HRM587 Week 6 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest
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| Tyco Case Study (graded) |
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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| Types of Communication Methods (graded) |
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.
Devry HRM587 Week 7 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest
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| Chapter 12 NASA Case Study (graded) |
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| Cracking the Code of Change: HBR Article (graded) |
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?
Devry HRM587 Week 1 Topic Praposal Assignment Latest
Part 1: Topic Selection (Due Week 1)
Pick out your two companies and their change. In 1 double spaced page, please submit your company selections, with a brief write-up on the changes you will be comparing in the two companies. Pick two companies which have undergone some type of fairly substantial change in the recent past. Find the company and the change information online, using EBSCO, or using a company’s case described somewhere in our textbook. (See page 388 of the textbook index for page numbers and names of each of the cases described in the textbook.) Other ways to find information: utilize Google or Yahoo Finance, or Reuters, and look up Annual Reports of companies which interest you. Often reading the first sections of these reports (i.e. letters from CEO’s) will give you ideas about changes they have gone through in the past year(s).
Be sure that:
- 1. Your companies are publicly traded so that their information will be easy to research and find
- 2. Your change in the two companies are comparable (i.e. don’t compare a new CEO to a change in HRIS – DO compare two changes in CIO) and
- 3. The changes happened in the recent past so that you will find plenty of online information about how they were handled, but not so recent that the information about the change “results” is still up in the air.
Devry HRM587 Week 2 Assignment Latest
Part 2: The Change Analysis – Images of Change (Due Week 2)
The “Images” section focuses on the six different images of managing change and how each “approach” to change effects all that follows in its implementation and continued support. Download the “Week 2 Project Images Grid” from doc-sharing. Pick three of the “images of change” explained in the Week 2 lecture from the grid, and analyze how those particular “images” would affect the ensuing diagnosis and implementation in your two selected companies on their change plans.
Here’s what to do:
- 1. Working with the information that you provided in your topic proposal, and any feedback you have received from your Professor, flesh out the facts and information from your original proposal.
- 2. Review the changes in each company and describe them thoroughly in a word document. Explain how the change impacted the companies, and who it impacted. Compare some of the similarities and differences between the change in the two companies.
- 3. Look at your grid and pick three images of change from your grid. Fill out the empty blocks on the grid for those three images using outlines, bullet points, and rough ideas for both company’s change.
- 4. Now, in a Word document, analyze, compare and contrast the three images and explain how the behaviors of those images would be different or the same during your companies’ changes, and how those differences could (or did) impact the success (or failure) of the change, comparing and contrasting the results at both companies.
- 5. Explain which image (or combination of images) you feel would have best facilitated the described change and why.
- 6. Based on the information you actually read about the results of this change, state which image you think the leader of the change actually resembled the most. You may speculate here on which image you feel best represents the “change agent” at either or both of the companies. This will depend on how much information you found about the internal workings of the company during the change.
Devry HRM587 Week 4 Assignment Latest
Part 3: Diagnosing the Change (Due Week 4)
Select a Diagnostic Model (see Chapter Five) that you utilize to review aspects of change activities and actions that have been taken by the companies chosen. Here we are looking at the “parts” of the companies as well as their strategies, as surmised by your research in Part 1. It is acknowledged that this information will not be complete, as you are looking at these companies as an outsider; but a thoroughly researched paper will give enough data to allow some (well-defended) assumptions on your part.
Here’s what to do:
- 1. Choose one Diagnostic Model (i.e. 6-box, 7S, congruence, or etc.) to apply to the two chosen companies. Choose the model which you feel best identifies and measures the relevant aspects of the organization’s performance and therefore the diagnostic choices made will affect your findings.
- 2. Apply the data obtained in your research through an analysis of the appropriate chosen model. This will allow you to create a diagnosis of where each company is today (as per the criteria of the model).
- 3. Create a SWOT Analysis for each of the two chosen companies change plans/programs, utilizing information obtained in the diagnosis. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.)
- 4. Compare the two company analyses to each other and offer your perspective (value judgment) of the effectiveness of the changes made to date in each case.
- 5. Identify potential areas of resistance that may occur and at least one strategy to respond to each. (This will most likely come from your Weaknesses/Threats section of your SWOT. If not, take another look at your SWOT.)
- 6. Recommendations for further actions within the organizations and the rationale chosen for these recommendations.
- 7. Write your paper including each of the above sections, and analyses
Devry HRM587 Week 6 Assignment Latest
Part 4: Communicating the Change (Due Week 6)
An important part of any change project is how the change is communicated to the organization, to the change agents, to the line workers, to the customers, and to the public. Along with media relations issues, communicating change (especially in a publicly traded company) can involve multiple legal and regulatory aspects, as well as personnel and management concerns. Perhaps the single most difficult piece of handling Kotter’s “establish a sense of urgency” is that too many inexperienced or immature change agents read this to mean “panic the troops.” Never do this.
This project piece will have 3 parts:
- 1. The main part of your project this week will ask you to pick ONE of the company’s change plan, and develop a communication plan for the company. This plan should be submitted by using an excel spreadsheet, setting out the Stakeholders, the timeline of the communication plan, the method of communication, the rationale for why you chose this method of communication, the purpose of the communication and identifying “who” will do the communicating. The grid for this project can be found in doc-sharing, entitled “Grid for Week 6 – Communication Plan.”
- 2. Pick ONE of the communication pieces which you would have used which is listed in your communication plan, and write the communication in a Word document (either the text or the script, if the communication would have been oral.) Be sure to review the Week 6 lecture and the examples of communication plans and types there for more assistance on this piece of the project. If you use any form of communication from templates you find online or in a textbook, be sure to cite your source. Your instructor will grade this based on how well it relates to the audience/stakeholder group to which it is intended.
- 3. The “real world” aspect of this project is that you will write a 1-2 page analysis of one of the media pieces about one of the company’s changes written (or provided via oral media) by the company. For this section of the project, please analyze any media, news, or other communications which explained the change going on in the organization. Explain in your paper how the company handled communicating the change to its stakeholders.
Devry HRM587 Week 7 Assignment Latest
Part 5 – Annotated Bibliography (Due Week 7)
List of all of your references you used in the project to date (you should have at least 12 at this point) and create an annotated bibliography. Basically, for this assignment, you will use your reference list, in alphabetical order, and provide a 2-4 sentence summary (brief!!) of what that reference said. This is a summary style document! Your grade will be based on your ability to BRIEFLY summarize the important points in the document as well as the strength of your reference materials. (i.e. if you used mainly low-level reference documents like encyclopedias, online dictionaries, anonymous articles, etc. this will negatively impact your grade.)
