Emphasis Case Study

Emphasis is placed on the “see-feel-change” dynamic. Within many organizations that recognize change is profitable they miss he proper approach when it comes to implementation of the need change. Successful change does not come from analysis and reports.

Change is grass root and simple, if you show employee the problems, how to solve them and, give then incentive to do so you then ultimately changing their behavior (Cotter and Cohen, p. Technology and Globalization have caused markets and organization to grow at a rapid pace (Cotter and Cohen, peg 26). Along with growth comes change. The demands placed on organizations, its’ employees, and work environment have stretched organizational resources and they are forced to do more for less, causing organization to change their view and the way they focus on retention, performance requirements, and the overall approach to business.

Organization will be left behind if they do not learn how to effectively manage change.

Organizations are well aware that change is the rule and must be followed. As with any thing you will have those who drag along some kicking and screaming and other Just out right refuse to change those organization will be left in the red. You also have these who don’t believe that some changes in industry standards or practices will last or stick so they decide to wait out the change.

Sometimes when you see the sign that a company has men in business wince but the est. ebullient is empty an d the same size it Nas in 1940; you will find an owner that ” the old way of business is the best way of business” and by doing so they are left behind not only I technology but also in employee retention and of course economically. Resisting the reality of change will lead to conflict, reduced performance, Job dissatisfaction, decreased morale, and increased turnover (Evangelic, Kankakee, & Matheson, p.

-9). Cotter and Cohen, the authors of The Heart of Change have simplified the art of effective change. Their message through the book is that people change what they do primarily because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings. In other words, they do not change organizational processes, workflow, regulations, or practices as a consequence of some systematic effort in which their thoughts and knowledge are rearranged, but rather as a response to something that can connect to on an emotional level.

According to Cotter the concepts of change often leads to initiatives to promote change that fails simply because they have not been developed from the perspective f the need for a sequential process of identifying what is wrong and needs to be Changed, the alternatives for change that are available, the best strategies for bringing about change, and the actual mechanisms which must be activated to ensure that change occurs but from a reaction to market failures.

(Cotter & Cohen, 2002), Cotter and Cohen (2002) base their text on two sets of interviews involving almost 400 individuals from 130 organizations.

They found that feelings rather than thought processes tend to shape organizational change efforts on a large scale. John Cotter and Dan Cohen identify and express through real world cases he “Eight Stages of Successful Large Scale Change”. The authors’ points out that the root of change begins with the changing of the behavior of people. The stages discussed in the book the factors that are evident in the work environment that Influence behavioral changes in the employees will increase their motivation and therefore performance.

The Eight Stages for Successful Large-Scale Change are: 1.

Increase Urgency, 2. Build the Guiding Team, 3. Get the Vision Right, 4. Communicate for Buy-Len, 5. Empower Action; 6.

Create Short Term Wins, 7. Don’t Let Up, and 8. Make Change Stick. Organizations no longer need to struggle through or strong arm changes with their organization. There are great models in Change Management. Cotter and Cohen not only set a standard model to accomplish true change they also challenge us to do better way when implementing change.

I will discuss these eight stages that employees must meet to remain motivated and meet the challenges, ups and downs, and disappointments of change in the workplace. In addition, I will compare and contrast issues from our text as it relates To the Heart of Change. As more firms begin to learn how to use the knowledge for mastering change, the overall state of organizational change will be tort the better and tools will not be triad to it DISCUSSION Stage one: Establishing a Sense of Urgency Changes in the markets, the economy, and our world cause organization to be on the ready to change.

Effective implementation of change can mean the success or failure off business. In order to meet the needs and demands of our constantly changing marketplace, organizations need to effectively change, adapt quickly, and be ready for the next call to change. The agility of an organization in regards to change hinges on the ability of the institution to analyze, predict and adjust in order o meet the market demands and successfully cope with rapidity of change :alleviative, Kankakee, and Matheson, peg 22) “establishing a sense of urgency” as explained by Cotter would be critical (Leading Change, peg 35).

The ability to influence change from the perspective of the individual to consequently effect the larger change of the organization requires three faction that will dictate the direction of the organization, intensity of the required change, persistence directly related to the motivation necessary to realize the urgency of the situation, and the need for change (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, peg 413).

Determining the significance of the problem as related to urgency, impact and growth tendency would necessitate potentially shifting priorities and establishing the level of urgency needed to motivate the organization to move towards change. An organization can have may ‘red lights” that would indicate the need for the urgent change the fears associated Ninth the unknown, shuffling of positions, or changing of established routines could lead to resistance and the subsequent absence of initiative and urgency to move in the direction of organizational improvement.

When urgency is lacking, the Intervention of an external change may be necessary. Even with my current organization outside consultants were brought in to create this sense of urgency. Stage Two: Creating the Guiding Coalition No one person no matter how confident of skillful can make change occur alone.

Stage two leans toward good leadership. There must be a “buy in” for the changes that are trying to be implemented.

Cotter promoters that without this “sufficiently power guiding coalition” leading the way “sooner or later, countervailing forces undermine the initiatives” (Leading Change, peg 6). The authors of Organizational Behavior and Management; Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson all agree that “any aerogram that support and a commitment from management will only have a has only a slim chance of success (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, peg 354).

As a leader for change you cannot underestimate the advantage of charismatic attributes of visionary thinking, ability to communicate the vision, conviction, extraordinary behaviors and self confidence in regards to developing the coalition (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, peg 356). There are pro and cons to teams which is clearly outlined in detail by Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson; Cotter and Cohen takes this idea to another level by pointing out the importance of teams and the names being comprised of top leadership and those that truly posses position power and the authority to drive change (Leading Change, peg 57).

I would also conclude that the teams should involve those employees in that area that manage the productivity or efficiency to the area. Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson states that the “managers have access to power and can use their power to influence non- managers to change in the desired direction” (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, Peg 356). I lean on the examples given that were studied in our course as an example of successful leadership from the case of Southwest Airlines.

The leader and founder at the start, Herb Keller demonstrates how leadership being involved in the change within the organization and leading by example can drive an organization to very high levels while the example of the California Electronics firm, though it appeared they were doing everything right failed miserably and eventually went bankrupt (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, pegs.

8-40 Stage three: Developing a Vision and Strategy Vision is defined as an organization’s aspirations: a formal statement that expresses the aspirations and goals of a company or organization in its most effective arm according to Cotter is rather simple and often monotonous (Leading Change, peg 71). The need for simplicity was confirmed when Taco Bell, through surveys, found their customers actually desired the basics of cleanliness, fast service and hot, good tasting food.

Taco Bells keep it some approach aided them in avoiding what would have been a costly change. Taco Bell, staying less glamorous and stuck to the basic Inch were easy and simple, developed its vision, reinvented itself and has become an industry leader (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson (PDF), peg 494). Many great Ideas crumble during the execution phase for various reason unclear vision, lack of commitment,/buy in, and or the feel of the need.

Vision gives you a goal. Sets the mark to reached for.

Stage Four: Communicating the Change Once the vision of the organization is laid out it is time to effectively communicate ‘Sino to the person affected in such a way that the change means something to them. Cotter states that the issue with the attempts to effectively communicate the ‘Sino of an organization is that everyone may not be able to identify with it. Without understanding the implementation will fail.

In one example Cotter uses is that off iris-line manager who he tells us is “overwhelmed with information” (Leading Change, peg 86).

In part of the text it is clear as you read on all the communication is downward which according to Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, as a rule has proven to be inadequate and leaves many organizational members confused and or increase miscommunication. This downward communication is not only ineffective. Cotter managements condescending attitudes are evident in their communication Leading Change, page). This type of behavior only aids in the strengthening of stereotypes and intensifies the feelings of division between the “workers” and management.

Not in complete disagreement but Cotter approaches is very different in that he believes that leadership is to exhibit behavior consistent with the Change vision, many similarities exist compared to the actions of charismatic leaders as one that “creates an environment conducive to efficiency from the motivation based on an emotional commitment the organizations vision, philosophy and style on the part of the followers. Stage Five: Empowering Employee Empowerment or giving the power and much to the decision making to the people or Norfolk sounds very simple but is extremely hard to accomplish (Evangelic,

Kankakee, and Matheson, peg 346) when implemented correctly it will result in more of a self-directed team concept which is more inline with delegation (trust) since the true ownership, responsibility and accountability lies at much higher levels. Delegation and empowerment as Cotter explains, many of the managers and workers are placed in to positions they may not be equip to handle due to lack of experience. Much of the difficulty is very evident in the older workers that have “habits built up over years that are no longer relevant, sometimes even dysfunctional (Leading Change, peg 107).

The need for training in an attempt to be more self-directed is obvious and according to Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, “movement to new learning” must include training of lower level employees who are not in manager or leadership roles in order to provide them with the tools required to become ’empowered to take on behaviors they previously had only vaguely imagined possible” (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, peg 350).

The problem lies in the fact as Cotter explains there are way too many Franks in the industry (Leading Change, pegs. 112-114).

The Franks of the world are unyielding (kicking and creaming), hate change, and can suck the creativity and forward out of the room. Rhea Franks are autocratic leaders and don’t teach, train and for sure don’t mentor and would prefer to direct, tell and demand due to their reluctance to let go of any bit of power they posses in an effort to empire build and control their little piece of the world. Stage Six: Generating Short-Term Wins To ensure success, short-term wins must be both clear and fair with clearly communicated regulation or guidelines.

The wins should also be equal to the effort.

Such wins provide confirmation that the “sacrifices” that people are making are paying off. This increases the sense of urgency and the optimism or motivation of those who are making the effort to change. These wins also serve to reward the change agents by providing positive feedback that aids increasing moral, enthusiasm, and motivation. The wins also serve the practical purpose of helping to fine tune the ‘Sino and the strategies.

The guiding coalition gets important information that allows them to course-correct. Leaders or managers also need to take into account that establishing short term wins may also add pressure to the workforce should be addressed in an effort to minimize the impact in order to provide the incentive on a notational basis without losing momentum to the change it is attached to.

Problems associated with the duration and uncertainty associated with change in a worst-case scenario move from acute to chronic stress.

Unchecked stress in the end can result n negative organizational consequences with the cost being personal and organizational capital and avenues to address and teach positive coping skills must be implemented (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, peg 244). Cotter, ‘charismatic leaders are often poor managers” and while their domain is that of ‘Sino and looking into the future the managers are those that have the knowledge, kills and abilities to realize short-term wins quickly (Leading Change, pegs. 128-130). Stage Seven: Don’t Let Up Pressure is necessary to make diamonds.

Don’t allow all of your hard work to slip away.

Relaxing too soon and cause a set back. It is important for an organization, to ‘keep them moving” in the direction of quality change and motivate them to reach even higher levels of achievement (Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson, peg 176). Nile interdependence can be very useful Cotter and Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson agree problems can arise when change effort is effected and influenced by ACH individual component of the organization (Leading Change, peg 136).

Stage Eight: Make It Stick New practices once established needs to be embedded within the culture of the organization, which may take time. Culture is the combination of norms, behaviors, and shared values. These social forces of an organization are strong thus the necessity for proper orientation.

Every individual that Joins an organization is indoctrinated into its culture, generally without even realizing it. According to Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson “although, culture can’t be seen, it can be ensue or felt through a person’s or institutions employees’ attitudes, emotions and perceptions (peg 35).

As I stated above the old ways of doing business can be a stronghold for some organizations and provide a slow deaths as Cotter Illustrates the fact that cultures that have taken many years to develop and mature don’t go without struggle. The idea of cultural change coming last, not first by Cotter (Leading Change, peg 1 55) is further reinforced by the example of the California electronics firm as explained by Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson which were unsuccessful in their experiment to create a positive, productive culture. CONCLUSION In both text it is clear that they go hand and hand.

Both having differ approaches to affect change Just in different but sometimes similar ways. In Cotter and Cone’s Rhea Heart of Change of Change, implies the most important yet difficult challenge to tackle: changing people’s behavior. Cotter and Cohen is centered on the emotional concept of See-Feel-Change would work much better to foster heart-felt buy-in and overcome resistance to behavior change. In contrast to Evangelic, Kankakee, and Matheson concept being more from the application of an analytical, “perceived forceful” approach to change.