Kotter tells us that “change, by definition, requires creating a new system, which in turn always demands leadership.”[i] In the case of Renfield Farms there is no doubt that Jackson provided the necessary leadership for change. Her change plans started strong with a personal understanding of the need for help and the company wide town halls. In doing this she followed Kotter’s first rule of change and was able to create a sense of urgency, she publicly address the perception of the company, and the need to restore their reputation.[ii] She “hit the ground running” as one her colleagues stated. Jackson outlined changes to the company’s structure and reporting lines and spent time getting feedback from trade partners and consumer groups which she then shared with senior managers and their teams. Jackson then applied Kotter’s second rule of change; establish a powerful guiding coalition, by creating a planning team made up of change agents …show more content…
The product development department was advancing new ideas but didn’t have the necessary supporters as champions. Jackson, herself admitted that there were some in the company who just weren’t convinced of Renfield Farms new direction. In the long run, I believe her process for change will work. Jackson is a strong leader and the company now has a clear vision and values statement which will help as they reconnect with their customers and increase brand awareness and satisfaction. Jackson now needs to institutionalize the new vision and values and articulate the connection between the new behaviors and the company’s recent success.[vi] When this happens I believe she will be able to win over her critics and complete the revitalization of the company. Alternative
Leaders are key to successful planning and implementation of change. Weiss (2016) noted, “To be effective in such a marketplace, it is essential to manage change. Companies not only need to manage change to survive, but to create a competitive advantage” (p. 4). In order to remain competitive in the tire industry, Discount Tire Co. leadership should focus on organizational change on the limited geographical locations in which they operate out of compared to its leading tire retailers such as TBC, Les Schwab Tire, Bridgestone Retail Operations, and Cooper Tire & Rubber; and large general retailers selling tires such as Wal-Mart, Costco, and Sears. Moreover, many of these general retailers such as Wal-Mart are expanding their retail operations in the replacement tire market.
Step 2 is forming a powerful guiding coalition. Leadership will have to be on board and on the same page in regards to the change. Kotter and Cohen reveal the core problems people face when leading change. Their main findings are that the central issue concerns not structure or systems but behavior and how to alter it (Farris, 2008). The success of the changes will depend on the ability of the managers to show their commitment to change and motivate the employees to do the same. Without any process to track the implementation, the change can also fail.
Today’s companies are challenged by frequent changes in market demands and consumers’ desires for new products and services. Companies which fail to adapt to these changing conditions often find themselves struggling to survive. This is the situation for the Texas Plant, as described in the case study by Pryor, Humphreys, and Taneja (2011). The Vice President, Human Resources Director, and Organizational Development Manager find themselves not only facing the struggles of transforming the Texas Plant, but also the difficulties of working together to achieve it. The following paper describes these difficulties and examines how the actions of the leaders impacted the change process. Recommendations to assist the plant’s leadership in moving forward will be offered.
dad,” whom “had inherited the extra farm” that Ty had farmed for six years (12). His good
The intent of the proposal is to address the case brought forward to our organization concerning “The Young Change Agents,” at Price Waterhouse (PW) who later merged with Coopers & Lybrand. It is my understanding that the platform to address the need for change in the organization plummeted with three young pioneers (Shaw, Middleburg and Sgaralgli) recognized a need for change. Prior to Shaw and Middleburg arrival to PWC, they had an opportunity to work in a well-known student organization AIESEC. In their tenure at AIESEC life was different, as Shaw recalled while operating as the president of the national organization in New Zealand division; he recognized that AIESEC focused on developing his leadership skills by focusing on such programs as skills, attitudes, values and cultural understanding. Furthermore, he noted that his transition to PwC led to a lower echelon, and it was difficult to transition from the president to a staff member. PwC also had a high spending budget for stationery compared to New Zealand AIESEC. Moreover, the technology was not up to par for such a large cooperation. (Jick & Peiperl, p. 463) Shaw and Middleburg later partnered with Sgaralgi to fight the deficiencies that they saw in PwC. They created a force that focused on overhauling the existing values at PwC. They approached each situation, manager and employee one step at a time. Expecting nothing in return, but only to share their message on the new
Foreword by Spenser Johnson: One the surface, the story of this book appears to be a fable that is relatively easy to grasp, but it does subtly impart an invaluable lesson on change. The book covers John Kotter’s Eight Steps to bring about successful organizational change and can be equally useful for a high-school student as it is for a CEO of a multi-national organization.
John Kotter, the author of the well known book “Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding under Any Conditions “, taught for more than thirty years at Harvard Business School. Kotter could be considered an expert in the field of business with his many years of experience. After retiring from teaching, he then founded Kotter International and has spent his time assisting others in the area of implementing changes. He, like many others before him, observed the challenges that many businesses, organizations, and other institutions faced when trying to make changes. Over the years he observed that changes are not easily implemented or accepted because people in
In order to examine this issue further, this research will look at a number of different sources. Contemporary managerial sources are explored in order to understand how other voices in the field are describing similar methods for change. First, popular structures for change management are examined, especially within their correlation to Palmer & Dunford (2009). This is followed with an extensive
The company transformation from private equity ownership with an immediate shift of CEO marked new challenges for the company. The company has been going through rigorous changes to keep up with the strong
Acorn Industries made several changes to the organizational structure in effort to support the new business model. The changes made in upper management were not effective because it did not trickle-down to the lower levels as well as it should have. Case in point, the Functional Managers were focused only on meeting their KMIP annual program targets and did not actively participate in the overall transformation. At the end of the day, Acorn was only able to meet its year-to-year financial requirements but failed to grow with the “new” customers in
Competitive imperatives of market forces and customer demands in today’s environment have led to the emergence of less hierarchical and more flexible organisations (Doyle, 2001). In working towards this paradigm shift, a distinction and clarification of the relationship between leadership and management in the change process needs to be addressed. According to Caldwell (2003), change leaders are executives or senior managers at the very top of the organisation who envision, initiate or sponsor strategic change of far-reaching or transformational nature by challenging the status quo, communicating a vision that employees believe in, and empowering them to act. In contrast, change managers are usually middle level managers and functional
Leadership is critical when executing a strategic change initiative. By differentiating leadership and management, leadership styles and the key factors of change we can better understand what should be done to successfully lead change. Success is not obtained through leadership alone but by developing a group of individuals from all levels of the organization who work together as a team. . (Leban and Stone, 2007)
In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, a major turning point in the novel was when Napoleon used his secret police force, his dogs, to exile Snowball. Snowball had previously been trying to improve the animal’s lives for the future by building a windmill. After Snowball was exiled, Napoleon became leader and everything immediately went amiss. Orwell stated that: "Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer- except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs" (p.86). In other words, no one was benefiting from the animal’s labours apart from the pigs and the dogs because the amount of authority the dogs and the pigs, especially Napoleon had, was corrupt. Frighteningly, if Snowball had been
Annelise Larson is a passionate Organization Development (OD) professional who obtained her Master of Business Administration degree from Saint Thomas University in 2011 (A. Larson, personal communication, October 8, 2014). She has been employed by Tennant Company, a global manufacturer of industrial and commercial
I woke up before my alarm. A distant square of eerie half-twilight from the window held the familiar outline of the locust tree. In the dark, I fumbled to dress without waking my parents. I slipped outside.