CHANGE MANAGEMENT

SIMULATION:

BUILDING A PRO FORMA

MODEL TO LEAD

CHANGE

Brittany Auerbach, Heather Stewart, Joshuaine Toth, Matthew Urdan

1

Introduction

Mission: Through the appropriate use of

change levers, persuade a critical mass of

Spectrum employees to adopt a new initiative

Approach: Demonstrate change management

skills in an online simulation as the director of

product innovation at Spectrum Sunglass

Company

2

Learning Objectives

There is no

right or

wrong way

to manage

change

Practice diagnostic and action-planning skills

Gain insight into change resistance, learn to overcome

Identify key contextual contingencies

How and when to choose change strategies and tactics

Identifying common missteps of change agents

3

Types of Change

Radical/re-creation

Game-changing

Short amount of time

Upheaval across departments

Critical for long term survival of company

Change in approach to corporate social responsibility

Incremental/adaptive

React to change in industry trend and customer demand

Changing market conditions

Critical to remain competitive

Organizational

restructuring

Adaptation of

manufacturing process

General approach

4

Managing Change Radical vs. Incremental

Change Agent

Upper level Mandate

• New Product Development /

Product Innovation

• Supply Chain Issues

• Modify Production Processes

• Accelerate Marketing and

Sales

• Existing organic structure was

optimal

• Ideas “bubble upward from

lower-and middle-level

employees” (Daft, 2013, p.

453)

Middle management: Poor

position for top-down

strategy implemented in

radical changes

Middle management:

Empowered by CEO and

given aggressive timelines

Radical Incremental

5

Contingency FactorsPolitical Frame

Increase Credibilit

y

Political frame

Coalition building

1:1 Interviews

Recognize adopter

Larger social

networks

increased

impact

6

Contingency FactorsEnvironmental

Strengthen Horizontal Network

Personal Interviews

Town hall meetings

Consultant approval

External training

Coalition building

Changing external environment called for “a more

flexible, organic structure with strong horizontal

coordination and collaboration” (Daft, 2013, p. 70)

7

Applying our LeversUtilizing Frames

HR• External skill

building

• Email notice

• Reward system

Symbolic• Walk the Talk

• Get CEO’s Support

• Hold Town Meetings

Structural• Goals/deadline

s

• Reorganization

• Pilot project

Political• Build critical

mass

• Public support

• Private meetings

• Build a coalition

8

Lever SummaryTeam Results

Levers

Incremental

Results

Net Sum of

Changes in

Credibility

Sum of No. of

Weeks Engaged

in Lever

Ratio of

effectiveness

(Result to

Weeks) Leadership Frame

Conduct Private Interviews 68 0 18 3.8 Political, Human Resources

Hold Town Hall meeting 43 -1 15 2.9 Political, Human Resources

Walk the Talk 40 12 21 1.9 Symbolic

Announce goals & deadlines 22 -1 16 1.4 Symbolic, Structural

Get consultant's support 17 5 15 1.1 Political, Symbolic

Conduct pilot project 15 0 36 0.4 Symbolic, Structural

Recognize an adopter 14 -1 21 0.7 Political

Tell a success story 14 -4 12 1.2 Symbolic

Restructure organization 12 0 16 0.8 Structural

Provide external skill building 10 0 24 0.4 Human Resources

Revise reward system 9 -1 36 0.3 Human Resources

Build a coaltion of support 9 -4 30 0.3 Political, Structural

Get CEO's public support 8 14 20 0.4 Political, Symbolic

Privately confront resister 6 -3 7 0.9 Political, Human Resources

Issue e-mail notice 5 -2 5 1.0 Human Resources

Provide internal skill building 4 0 12 0.3 Human Resources

Post Progress Reports 0 -6 6 0.0 Symbolic

Grand Total 296 8 310 1.0

9

Coping with Resistance

Decision Result Factor

Failure Success

Lever 1

Lever 3

Lever 2

Time

Choices

Leve

r 1Failur

eLeve

r 2

Success

Leve

r 3Failur

e

10

Pro Forma ModelCommon Missteps

Situ

ational A

ware

ness • Incorrectly

diagnosing the situation

• Mistaking the situational power of the change agent

• Miscalculating organizational awareness and appetite for change

Speed • Employing radical change levers for a situation where incremental is better

• Utilizing incremental change levers when a more radical catalyst is needed

Tim

ing • Incorrectly

applying a change lever at the wrong stage

11

Change Models

Information

Personal

Implementation

Impact

Collaboration

Refinement

Organization

Frame Bending

Heroism vs.

Stewardship

Six Changes of

Concern

The 8 Steps to

Transforming

your organization

A range of

Uniform and

Differentiated

Approaches

12

Recommendations for Leading

Change

• Making mistakes is good if you learn from them

Decision Learning

• Change is not formulaic

• There is more than one way to drive change

No Magic Button

• Organizations are like complex organisms

• Change in one area will often affect others in another area

Complexity

• Change happens One Person at a Time

• Use the power network to your advantage

Incremental

• Reframing is essential

• Try to color the assessment using more than one frame

Four Frames

• Change Levers don’t always work in each stage

• Time the catalysts appropriately

Timing

13

Final Thoughts

There is no right or wrong way to manage change

Utilize levers that enhance political power

Know what stage each employee is at in the change

process

Change happens one employee at a time

Respond to the needs of each employee as they pass

through the stages of concern

Strategic utilization of leadership frames in

conjunction with change levers can prevent common

missteps and ensure the success of the change

process

14

References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons,

Inc.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (n.d.). The power of reframing: Reframing leadership. In Reframing Organizations (Third ed., pp. 107-

129). Retrieved October 25, 2014, from https://quinnipiac.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1191757-dt-content-rid-

6257611_1/courses/MBA625DE_14FA/The%20power%20of%20reframing%20leadership_bolman%20and%20deal.pdf

Daft, R. L. (2013). Organization Theory & Design. Mason, Ohio: South-Western : Cengage Learning.

Harvard Business School Publishing. (n.d.). Change management: Power and influence Online Simulation. Harvard Business School

Publishing. Retrieved December 4, 2014

Higgs, M., & Rowland, D. (2005, June). All changes great and small: Exploring approaches to change and its leadership. Journal of

Change Management, 5(2), 121-151.

Kotter, J. (1996). 8 steps to transforming your organization summary png image. In J. Kotter, Laeding Changes. Retrieved December

5, 2014, from

https://quinnipiac.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fe

xecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_37839_1%26url%3D

Nadler, D. A., & Tushman, M. L. (1989). Organizational frame bending: Principles for managing reorientation. Academy of

Management Executive, 3(3), 194-204.

Senge, P. M. (1990, Fall). The leader's new work: Building learning organizations. Sloan Management Review, 32(1), 7-23.

The Ken Blanchard Companies. (2008). Leadership strategies for making change stick. Perspectives, pp. 1-8.

Watkins, M. D. (2009, January). Picking the right transition strategy. Harvard Business Review, 1-9.

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Appendix16

The following four slides consist of personal examples of change each of our

group members has experienced within our own work history.

These examples demonstrate a synthesis of the concepts we learned in this

class through the assignment of change levers that were involved in our own

change efforts and the recognition of the Four Frames of Leadership as they

were dynamically applied.

These personal examples clearly show the relevance of the course material.

We now have new tools at our disposal to more effectively lead our respective

organizations.

Change Management Example- Brittany Auerbach

Travelers Insurance

Situation: Open VP position at my company.

Actions: Interviews took place with current senior leadership team,

candidates met with all potential peers, research was conducted on past

performance of all candidates, debriefs with all interviews, and finally the

decision was made.

Levers: Individual Interviews were conducted, meetings held with all senior

leaders, discussion 1x1 with each leader about transition, announcement

of January 1st transition (goals and deadlines), town hall meeting with VP’s

new organization to introduce new leader, email from CIO was sent to the

whole organization announcing transition

Learning: For me, it was really interesting to see change levers applied in

class through a real and recent example at work. To me, this example also

ties closely with the political frame and shows the importance of

communication and conversations up front with all impacted individuals.

The timing of the town hall and email was also critical to ensure that all

employees of the organization would be comfortable with the change in

leadership.

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Change Management Example - Joshuaine Toth

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical

Situation: New Global Head of Research + budget shortfall = “Resetting the Baseline”

Actions: New research strategy introduced in order to meet the demands of the market while keeping up with our competitors

Levers: (1) Informative email introducing the idea of a new research strategy (2) Town hall meeting announcing more specifics with interactive Q&A (4) Reorg that consolidated groups based on overlapping research focus (3) creation of middle management led work-streams that will design new components of the organization (5) Continued updates from our new leader via email and site visits

Learning: This new guy is good. I am on the Research Communication Committee. Based on feedback from our most recent survey, people are pleased with our new guy and his dedication to communication. Not only is he using levers that seem to be working (we all love the idea, we’re all on board), but he is friendly, approachable, and most importantly, he is visible.

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Change Management Example – Matthew S. Urdan

Nantahala Outdoor Center

Situation: Conduct a Corporate CSR and Environmental Stewardship Benchmark Assessment per CEO Directive to Begin the Process of Culture Change by Aligning Company Decision Making with Corporate Mission and Strategy

Actions: Data Compilation, Analysis and Reporting

Levers: 1) Issue Email Notice Explaining the Data Gathering Project and the Need for Department Head Input. 2) Announce Goals of the Project and Deadlines for Employee Survey Completion and Collection. 3) Get CEO’s Public Support. 4) Hold Town Hall Meetings to Explain the Project. 5) Conduct Private Interviews and 6) Walk the Talk to Continually Explain how Data Collection Can Improve Processes and Benefit Employees, the Community and the Environment through adding Corporate Benefits Employees want, Supporting Volunteerism and Increasing Local Community Involvement and Charitable Giving, and Reducing the Company’s Environmental Impact through Smart Energy Utilization and Conservation, Recycling, and Carbon and Pollution Offsets. Not only would employees, the community and the environment benefit, but the company would also benefit from the differentiator of improved reputation among consumers that would result in greater market share and increased business revenue.

Learning: The project was assigned to me by the CEO without any preparatory work in ascertaining a problem or perceived need within the company for a CSR or Environmental Assessment, let alone a culture change. Thus I was met initially with significant resistance and a lot of questions. After informing the CEO of the issues, he sent out an email to department heads to give me the support and access I needed, and then together, we held Town Hall Meetings explaining the scope of the project and why it was being undertaken.

What I learned from the process was how important it was to obtain a coalition of support and informational awareness prior to beginning any company wide change project with comparable scope and magnitude. What I learned looking back at the process after completing the change simulation was how important symbolic leadership played in the process. Achieving cultural change is difficult and complex—even an act of aligning the culture more closely with the company mission and strategy is a shift in cultural interpretation. Therefore it was critical to share a vision of change, tell stories, relate examples from other companies and even share other corporations’ success stories..

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Change Management Example – Heather StewartBlount Inc.

Situation: Build and Global Procurement Organization through process and functional reporting

centralization of activities with geographically separated teams.

Actions: Information Gathering: World Tours for Interviews, World Tours to “Sell” the Concept,

Restructuring, Recruitment, Legal Entity Formations, Workshops, External Consultants, Multiple

Board Meetings, Board Announcements and Approvals

Levers: 1) Personal Interviews for all affected stakeholders in global Blount locations 2) After

identifying pain and resistance points, developing “Walk the Talk” presentation 3) World tour to

“Walk the Talk” and gain support from all global stakeholders 4) Incremental Board

Announcements of Change 5) Hiring External Consultants to provide support and unbiased

reviews of current organization 6) Restructuring of organization including legal entity formations in

China and Europe 7) Redesigned award and promotion system 8) Internal and external training

on new processes 9) Iterative public announcements of support from Board 10) Displays of

progress in visible areas 11) Recognition of adopter by public announcement from those adopters

Learning: I was recruited to the position with the intent that Procurement needed to be

restructured to a shared service concept across the global organization to capitalize on

economies of scale, best practices and ensure seamless post M&A transitions. Although there

was a considerable amount of resistance because I was an “outsider”, adoption was quite rapid.

The implementation, however, was quite lengthy as I had underestimated the competitive

employment market in the area and recruitment proved to be difficult. Timing of bringing in

external consultants was very key; had I brought them in earlier, the “outsider” view may have

been amplified as there was certainly some displays of resistance. Symbolic platforms helped

immensely; once the structures started to take shape, these displays created healthy competition

that drove the organizational acceptance and learning forward.

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