Managing at Kauflauf Company at Heidelberg in Germany - Case Study Example

CHANGE MANAGEMENT Name: Institution: Professor: Course: Date: EFFECTIVENESS OF JESS IN TAKING CHARGE AS ASSISTANT PRODUCT OWNER AT KAUFLAUF COMPANY Jess Westerly is an American who lived in Germany. She is actually the vice product owner at Kauflauf. This is a company that deals with provision of enterprise software that can be subscribed. The company is based at Heidelberg in Germany. Jess joined the company and in few months she wanted to embrace change. The reason why she was opting for change was basically to improve the performance of the company. This could be a turn over for the success of the company. However, this was not the same case for jess at Kauflauf. Her attempt to bring changes to the company at first backfired (Aiken and Keller, 2009 pp.107). Sales call patterns was the main objective of change for Jess. Sales call is understood in the business world as meeting involving salespersons and the potential customer. This meeting is ideally meant to ensure that there are sales for the company. Jess therefore was in the process of changing the patterns or ways in which this was done. The director of sales is the one who gave Jess a go ahead for this implementation of change. However, this sparked a lot of controversies in the company. This ended up contributing to its failure. The effectiveness of Jess as the assistant product owner therefore is good. Within the short months she joined the company, she realized a loop hole. She therefore tries to embrace change for the success of the company at large. However, at some point Jess was not very effective. She was expected as the assistant product owner to work in collaboration with her colleagues, global sales force and also designers to ensure efficient and effective marketing strategy. In her position the company did not achieve the best out of her. Her effectiveness therefore is not clearly depicted in the roles and duties she does (Worley and Lawler, 2009 pp.248). REASONS AND EXPLANATION TO THE FIRST FAIL IN THE ATTEMPT TO CHANGE SALES CALL PATTERNS The first attempt to change sales call patterns failed for several reasons. There is a procedure that is supposed to be followed when implementing a sales call in a company. Jaffe and Scott (2003) argue that “Change does not occur in a straight line. It is a journey that flows through a series of phases as you come to terms with the change. The phases signal a process of renewal, a passage way from the old to the new” . The phases that are expected include denial, resistance, exploration and finally commitment. Jess attempt to change therefore is categorized under the denial and the resistance stages (Jaffe and Scott, 2010 pp.5). In the denial phase people fail to understand the need for change. They do things in their usual and normal ways. They do not have any interest of embracing change whatsoever. Resistance phase happens when people in the organization realize that change is inevitable. They come to the understanding that change will happen. Many people react differently to change on this occasion. Some will be sad, disappointed, confused and others find it hard to cope with change. Jess attempt to change sales call pattern there failed. It faced denial and resistance. The emails that she circulated for the purpose of adoption of change were not received warmly. Some of the members of various departments in the company claimed that they were not consulted. Jess therefore as assistant product owner should have ensured that various team leaders were consulted about the intended change. The right procedure for successful change of sales call patterns should also have been followed. All these contributed to the failure of the change (Kotter, 2007 pp.6), (Balogun and Johnson, 2005 pp.1581). THE SENSE AND EXPLANATION OF JESS’S PROPOSAL TO CHANGE SALES CALL PATTERNS Westerly on June 2011 circulated an email that was meant to create awareness about the intended change. The email also highlighted the reason for the change that the company was to embrace. The change concerned sales call patterns. It was meant to redirect call patterns toward greater coverage of larger, more established, potential customers of customer relationship management software services in the computer and office supply business (Cummings, 1995 pp.22). To clarify and expound if the proposal makes sense, the following Lewin’s framework for change table will be a good guide: UNFREEZE Reduce forces and change the existing attitudes in the organization to see the need for change Identify the problem Prepare ground and communication Collect data CHANGE Developing new behavior toward change being implemented Data obtained, diagnosing of the problem, planning of action, follow up and assessment REFREEZE Consolidation of change and reinforcing through support adjustments and mechanisms Assessing Monitoring Learning According to the categories and steps that Lewin’s framework for change outlines, the proposal for change of call patterns doesn’t make sense. The procedures given should be followed to the latter (Pennings, 1985 pp.55). ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY JESS TO ENSURE SUCCESSFUL CHANGE OF SALES CALLS PATERNS There are several actions that need to be done in order to ensure that the next attempt for change succeeds. These are basically Dr. Kotter’s methodology of change leadership. The 8-step process for leading change will be very important here. The steps are as follows: 1. Create a sense of urgency The first action to be taken in order to adopt change successfully is to create a sense of urgency. Jess should ensure that the whole stakeholders of the company feel the desire and need for change. Her colleagues, partners and workers of Kauflauf should feel the need for change. Leaders who ensure that all the stakeholders of an organization embrace this method will be successful. Jess should be guaranteed of succeeding in her trial to adopt change (Kotter, 2012). 2. Creating the guiding coalition This is the second method for successful change in an organization. Jess should put together a team in order to work together. Team work is very important for successful change in an organization. No individual whether skilled or experienced can solely embrace change in a company. Jess therefore should form a team to aid her in this process of embracing change. There are five stages that are involved in group development. The stages are: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Kotter, 2012). 3. Developing a change vision Developing a change vision clarifies how the future will be different from the past or current. The vision of change is very significant to any company or organization adopting change. Jess therefore needs to develop a change vision. Vision of change simplifies several decisions that are detailed for the company. It also motivates the stakeholders of the organization to work to achieve the best. The change vision that jess should develop should be a guide and provide strategic feasibility in the company (Kotter, 2012). 4. Communicating the vision for buy-in This is the fourth step of leading change in an organization. The main purpose of this is to ensure that majority if not all the members of the organization accept the intended changes. This step is also aimed at making it clear and precise. Usually it is not very easy or simple to adjust to accommodate changes. Communication therefore is very important here. Jess is supposed to ensure that everyone in the company is aware and clearly understands the anticipated changes. They should be aware of the benefits and how the company at large will benefit from the change (Murthy, 2007 pp.25). 5. Empowering broad based action There are several barriers that can block the process of change in an organization. The way companies are structured can easily be a block to the anticipated changes. His could be the kind of leadership or power that the company has. Empowering broad based action therefore goes a long way to overcome these barriers. Jess therefore needs to identify these barriers and single out alternative ways of overcoming them (Kotter, 2012). 6. Generating short term wins This step involves creation of immediate and straight forward success. The success that the company wishes to achieve should be as soon as possible. Jess therefore needs to put in clear and tangible plans to ensure that the change in the sales call pattern happens immediately. The stakeholders of the company will be in a position to accommodate any other changes if they occur. 7. Don’t let up This step is where the benefits of change are consolidated and more change is produced. If the change in sales call pattern becomes successful, the benefits must be consolidated. Then the company then looks for ways of bringing in more changes. The stakeholders of the company will anticipate for the benefits of change. 8. Let it stick This is the final action or step for successful change. The culture of change in the organization should be cultured and deeply rooted. Everybody in the organization will leave to know that change can happen any time. Jess and the leadership of the company should orient every new employee to the company’s change culture. They should also reward and use incentives to promote the culture of change in the organization (Kotter, 2012). CHANGE STRATEGY TO BE USED EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY There are four change management strategies. Table below will guide us to the best change strategy to be used. CHANGE STRATEGY UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS SELECTION FACTORS EMPIRICAL-RATIONAL People are rational and normally follow their interests They are reasonable hence can reason Risk managing Balancing of use of incentives NORMATIVE-REEDUCATIVE People are social beings and adhere to their cultures For change to occur they have to be committed to the new changes This strategy is based on culture It is hard to change culture immediately or within a short time POWER COERCIVE People can be authorized Change here occurs through use of authority and sanctions Time and seriousness of the treats by the authority are major factors here ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTIVE People may resist change but if change happens they will adapt accordingly The extent of change is key here It is very applicable where radical transformations occur The best change strategy to be used here is empirical-rational strategy. People in a company can be persuaded or even be bought to accept change in the company. Persuasion process can take various forms depending on the company. Incentives can be used here to attract the attention of the stakeholders. The risk is management in the other hand. When people are persuaded there will be varied reactions. Some will see the light hence need for change. Others will choose to resist change. This method is very applicable since nobody in the company is forced or coerced. The majority decides to embrace or not embrace the anticipated changes. Empirical-rational therefore is the best strategy for change (Burnes, 2004 pp.979), (Bridges, 1991). IMPLEMENTATION PLAN INTRODUCTION Kauflauf is a company that has been operational for a long time. It is therefore a company with experience in its undertaking. Changing the sales call patterns is therefore not an easy task. The company leadership needs to conduct SWOT analysis and also PEESTLE analysis. Both of these analyses will be handy in the successful adoption of change. SWOT analysis will give the company strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and treats. This information will be used in various decision making processes in the organization. The PEESTLE analysis will highlight political, economic, environmental, social, technological, legal and ethical factors affecting the organization (Pugh, 2009pp.30). MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW The way leadership of the company is structured is also key to change. In some companies only the managers at the strategic level are the ones to make decisions. The management of this company should ensure that the operational, tactical and strategic managers all participate in decision making process. This will ensure that changes can be embraced immediately and effectively when they are adopted. All the mangers at the various levels will be ambassadors of change at their levels (Burnes, 2004 pp.982). IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT There is great need to support the changes to be implemented in the company. This will ensure that all what it takes to adjust and accept change is available. The people in the organization need various supports to adjust to changes. In the case of changing the sales call patterns, workers can be trained, rewarded and even motivated to accept the change. The benefits of the change need to be communicated in clear and precise manner. This therefore will contribute to the successful adoption of change. Clear communication will be very supportive in the support for implementation of change in the company (Stolzenberg and Heberle, 2006 pp.61). IMLEMENTATION This is the actual implementation of change. The prior process involved includes persuasion, education, training, creating awareness, using incentives to attract acceptance to the anticipated changes. The SWOT Analysis and the PEESTLE Analysis will be crucial here. After all is done the company needs to implement the changes. Resistance to change is neutralized when the majority has accepted change. Implementation of change will be a boost to the success of the organization. Some changes can affect the organizations negatively or positively. However, on many occasions risk management is included and well calculated (Bull and Brown, 2011 pp.114). REFERENCES Aiken, C. & Keller, S. (2009). The irrational side of change management. McKinsey Quarterly, No. 2, 101-109. Kotter, J. (2012). The 8-Step Process for Leading Change. Retrieved June 8, 2015 from http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps Kotter, J. (2007). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, January, 3-9. Burnes, B. (2004). Kurt Lewin and the planned approach to change: A re-appraisal. Journal of Management Studies, 4, 977–1002. Cummings, T. (1995). From programmed change to self-design: Learning how to transform organizations. Organization Development Journal, 13, 20-31. Worley, C. & Lawler, E. (2009). Building a change capability at Capital One Financial. 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