JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 1 Discussion
Organizational Change
Introduce yourself to your classmates and professor and answer the following questions:
The impact of recent events has forced change on organizations around the world. What have these events taught you about the importance of resilience and agility in creating a sustainable competitive advantage?
What roles have you played in change initiatives at work, either as a leader or as a team member, during the last 18 months?
What’s your perception of how you deal with change, either personally or professionally? Explain.
Include examples from this week’s materials, as well as your own personal experiences, to support your responses.
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 2 Discussion
Building Urgency
Discuss a situation you experienced at work where you were complacent about a change. Use the questions below to guide you:
Briefly summarize the nature of the change initiative, including what problems or opportunities it was designed to address and who initiated the change.
Based on your CSI results, what did you learn about your own reaction to this change?
What steps could have been taken, by you and by leadership, to create a greater sense of urgency around the change initiative?
Include examples from this week’s materials, as well as your own experiences, to support your responses.
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 3 Discussion
Guiding Coalitions
In this discussion, we explore the benefits and challenges of a guiding coalition in supporting organizational change.
Using the prompts below, discuss your experience with participating in, or observing, a guiding coalition:
Who was included in the guiding coalition?
Based on Kotter’s list of four key characteristics, were they the right people?
What did the change initiative set out to accomplish?
How successful was it? What were the reasons for the successes or failures?
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 4 Discussion
Change Vision
As we noted in Week 1, organizations need to change to remain competitive. Considering your organization, identify a change you would like to implement, and respond to the following:
Briefly describe the change that is needed and why it is important.
Using the Expanded Vision Matrix tool, draft your vision statement for this initiative.
How do you predict stakeholders will react to this change vision?
Include examples from this week’s materials, as well as your own experiences, to support your responses.
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 5 Discussion
What’s in It for Me?
Now that you have created a vision for your change initiative, it’s time to communicate it.
Identify two different stakeholders from different departments who may have competing interests in the change initiative. As you think about possible conflicts, consider the give and take that sometimes occurs among product design, customer service, sales, finance, etc.
Drawing on the “Key Elements in Effective Communication of a Vision” presented by Kotter in Chapter 6, develop a communication plan to support the vision for your change initiative that is appropriate for both stakeholders.
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 6 Discussion
Empowering Your Employees
Empowerment is an aspiration of many well-meaning leaders and managers, but debates persist on how best to create a work environment in which employee empowerment has a measurable impact on performance.
Drawing on this week’s materials and referencing at least one resource from outside the course that provides additional insights on empowerment, respond to the following:
What are the most important steps change leaders take to empower people during a change initiative? Explain why you have prioritized these.
What are the most significant barriers and misunderstandings leaders have to overcome to realize this empowerment? Explain why you have prioritized these.
Share one example from your own professional experience where your organization has gotten it right or gotten it wrong when it comes to employee empowerment.
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 7 Discussion
Celebrating Victories Along the Way
Change initiatives can be long journeys. As you finalize Assignment #2, respond to the following:
Identify short-term wins and milestones that are key for your change initiative.
How often and when should these milestones occur so that momentum is maintained and stakeholders remain engaged?
What types of celebrations are appropriate to recognize these milestones? Why?
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 8 Discussion
Sustaining the Change
Share an example from your own experience, or from an article published within the last year in The Wall Street Journal or other reputable source, about a change initiative that started off with great promise and then failed to achieve long-term adoption.
Drawing on Chapter 9 from Kotter, this week’s lecture notes, and other resources from the course, answer the following:
What caused things to slip back to the old ways after the initial change was implemented? Was it unaddressed interdependencies, lack of training and support, lack of accountability, or something else?
What could have been done better to consolidate gains and produce even more change? Think about both “carrots” – rewards for continuing to implement the change and “sticks” – deterrents that make using the old ways unpleasant or even impossible.
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 9 Discussion
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 9 Discussion
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Week 10 Discussion
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Assignment 1
Individual Assignment
Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence
“Don’t manage – lead change before you have to.” Jack Welch
While change is inevitable in business, it is not easy. To lead and manage change, you will need to understand the power of the change agent, urgency, and how to apply the appropriate tools to mobilize commitment to a change initiative. In this assignment, you will evaluate power and influence in creating urgency and building a change coalition to support a new initiative.
Week 2: Play Simulation
1. Run Simulation
a. Click on the Change Management Simulation Link
b. After you click on the link, the scenarios are automatically assigned and ready to play.
2. Play through each of the four simulation scenarios (30-45 minutes per scenario).
a. You will adopt the role of CEO or Director of Product Innovation in each scenario. Your goal is to convince a critical mass of key employees to adopt a sustainability initiative.
b. How to play:
i. Setup – Log in to the simulation, choose one of the four scenarios, and explore the site
ii. Prepare – Read the scenario introduction and “how to play” pages
iii. Analyze Reports – View a dashboard of company information
iv. Decide – Choose the first scenario and play by selecting change levers
v. Review Results and Repeat – Continue to analyze and make decisions until 96 weeks occur or the initiative is adopted
c. Play all 4 scenarios to completion. Complete the steps above for each of the four scenarios. In two scenarios, your role is CEO; in the other two scenarios, your role is Director of Product Innovation.
Week 3: Submit Written Responses
Write a 3 to 4-page paper that addresses each question below. This is an individual assignment and should synthesize and demonstrate the application of your learning from playing the simulation and course material.
1. Summarize the results you achieved while playing the simulation.
a. What did you do well, and what were some areas that needed improvement?
b. What were the important differences demonstrated in each of the four scenarios?
2. Analyze and discuss at least three comparisons between the simulation and what we have learned in the course.
3. How can you apply what you learned in this experience to the company you work for? Discuss at least two different applications.
Professional Formatting Requirements:
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, your professor’s name, and the course title and date
• Include a references page showing all your sources
• The cover page and the references page are not included in the required page length
• Use double-spaced, professional font (Times New Roman or Ariel), 10-12 font size
• Include headings to identify main topics and subtopics
• Separate paragraphs by a single space
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Assignment 2
Individual Assignment
Organizational Change and Culture Project – Part I: Business Brief and Change Vision Video
Change is part of the game. Leaders must set the vision and navigate the challenges of implementing change. Effective leadership requires you to harness both the minds and hearts of employees to enable change to occur and take root in the company’s culture. For this assignment, you will identify one change management need within your company or from a company you previously worked for.
You will create a plan for a change initiative, describing it in your Business Brief and presenting it in your Change Vision Video. Think of your Business Brief as a summary document that could be used as a reference by the Board of Directors, and think of your Change Vision Video as your pitch to the Board members to gain their support for your initiative.
Business Brief
Identify a needed organizational change and your perceived employee resistance to the change. Then utilize the first six (6) elements of Kotter’s eight-stage framework to create your plan for the change initiative. Write a Business Brief that summarizes your change initiative plan in 2 to 3 pages. It should be written in a professional format and include a cover page, as detailed in the Formatting Requirements section below. Use the prompts below to guide you:
1. Provide a brief background of the company and its culture.
2. Identify the problem you want to address and explain why it is important.
3. Describe your change initiative according to Steps 1 through 6 of Kotter’s eight-stage framework. Provide answers to each of the following questions to create this description:
o How will you create a sense of urgency?
o How will you build a guiding coalition?
o What is your change vision and strategy?
o How will you communicate the change vision?
o How will you empower employees to take action for this change?
o How will you create short-term wins?
Change Vision Video
Create a 2 to 3-minute video that presents your change vision in a compelling manner that will effectively engage your audience. For this assignment, you will use the Zoom tool. This should be a video of you. No PowerPoint or other props are needed. Your main points should be simple and easy to recall, the tone should be professional, you should convey an appropriate amount of urgency and generate excitement.
1. What is the change?
2. Why is this important and needed?
3. What is the benefit for the company and for individual employees?
4. What will success look like?
Upload the video in MP4 format and include your first and last name in the filename. Upload both your business brief document and video together.
Professional Formatting Requirements for Business Brief:
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, your professor’s name, and the course title and date
• Include a references page, showing all your sources
• The cover page and the references page are not included in the required page length
• Double-spaced, professional font (Times New Roman or Ariel), 10-12 font size
• Headings are used to identify main topics and subtopics
• Paragraphs are separated by a single space
JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture
Assignment 3
Team Project Paper
Organizational Change and Culture Project – Part II
Activities
1. Post your business briefs and videos in the Team Workspace by the end of Week 7; review each team member’s brief and video.
2. In Week 8, in your Team Workspace, discuss your change plans and vision videos. Use the questions in the forum to grow your perspective and add value to your feedback to peers.
3. As a team, write and submit a 4 to 5-page paper that compares and contrasts the outcomes and observations of each individual project. You may use the Team Workspace or your team’s chosen tool to work together writing and editing your paper.
4. Your team paper will focus on similarities and differences, using the prompts below as a guide:
• Compare and contrast each vision, the timeline, the intended results, and the tools proposed.
• Analyze the effectiveness of Kotter’s eight-stage framework in relation to each project.
• Compare and contrast best practices and the definition of desired results for each change management plan.
• Identify any unresolved issues or areas for improvement and provide a brief summary as to the action proposed to address those issues.
• What have you learned from this collaboration? What tools or practices helped your virtual team to work together effectively?
Professional Formatting Recommendations:
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the team’s name, a list of team members, the professor’s name, and the course title and date
• Include a references page, showing all your sources
• The cover page and the references page are not included in the required page length
• Double-spaced professional font (Times New Roman or Ariel), 10-12 font size
• Headings are used to identify main topics and subtopics