Change Management
Change management is familiar to organizations due to the dynamism of the business environment. Every organization that wishes to survive in the market must ensure it embraces change to remain relevant in its industry. In the current McKinsey's seven-step model will act as an example. The theory is pegged on the importance of ensuring all parts of the organization work in harmony because any disruption from one department would interfere with the whole system. In the model, seven internal elements of the organization are aligned together for the success of an organization. The application of the theory enables an organization to enhance its performance, establish the probable effect of changes in the organization, merge processes and departments whenever mergers or acquisition takes place, and ascertain the best means of implementing a new strategy (Brown. & Eisenhardt, 1997).
Seven Elements
The seven elements divided into hard and soft components. The hard components include strategy, structure, and systems. On the other hand, the soft elements comprise of skills, style, staff, and shared values which deal with the organization culture. The strategy refers to the blueprints that are designed to enable an organization to compete favorably. The structure relates to the chain of command as the systems denote the day to day procedures and processes of performing duties. The shared values refer to the culture and norms of the entity that are embraced by everyone in that organization. The staff is the employees, as the skills are the natural and learned attributes of employees that enables them to perform duties effectively. Lastly, is the style that represents the type of leadership adopted by the organization (Brest, 2010).
Change Process at Concepts Manufacturing Company
The change process enabled Concepts Manufacturing Company to introduce a new technological system of operations in all its departments (Brown. & Eisenhardt, 1997). Through this, activities such as record keeping, retrieval, and arrangement were made easy. Furthermore, the company was able to serve its customers swiftly, and manufacture the products in large volumes within a short time. This managed the company to compete favorably due to cost and time savings as well as attracting more customers (Blamey, & Mackenzie, 2007).
Resistance to Change
Yes, there was resistance to change because some employees believed that by incorporating the new technology, some would lose their jobs. Besides, there was also difficulty with some staff regarding training on the new system. However, the employees were engaged in the change process by being involved in decision making. Besides, the managers organized training for the staff and demystified the assumption of losing jobs as a result of the transition. The benefits of the process were emphasized as well as the rewards for those that accept the process and in phases. Furthermore, the shared values were also emphasized (Tuck, & Yang, 2013).
Leadership Styles in Grocery and Checkout Departments
The grocery manager uses team and transformative leadership in his department. This has enabled him to convince the staff to work in shifts to cover holiday sessions (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, &Van Engen, 2003). Besides, the rotation of employees from one area to another allows them to sharpen their skills and avoid the monotony of working in one area for a long time. Through this, the goals of the organization regarding customer service were realized (Funnell, & Rogers, 2011). This is attributed to the manager's team spirit and foresight in the department. Besides, he practices participative and issue-based leadership style whereby the employees are given an opportunity to offer suggestions on how products that near their expiration date can be handled.
On the other hand, the checkout manager appears to use an autocratic form of leadership. This is evidenced from clear instructions that she needed to be accomplished. However, no follow up is done thus making no progress. This is also attributed to the high absence rate of employees due to demotivation (Bushe, 2001). Unlike the Grocery department, Checkout does not practice job rotation which leads to monotony and inability of employees to acquire more skills and knowledge.
Checkout Gaps
The first gap relates to the training of the cashiers which is only done once during entry. No additional training was done during the job. This could jeopardize work operations. Secondly, there is overstaffing in the department. This can be attributed to absenteeism due to lack of coordination, and accountability. Thirdly, is the extra training during inductions of new staff that goes unsupervised by anyone as can be depicted from the recruits conducting extra training without assistance. Fourthly, is the setting of the same target for all the staff. This should not be the case due to experience, education, and job position. Lastly, is the organization's manager's hands-off style in management that leads to staff absenteeism and lack of coordination.
Grocery Gaps
The rotation of the employees from one area to another in the department would make it difficult to carry out the appraisal. Besides, the disruptions from the rotations could lead to inefficiency due to lack of product knowledge thus leading to losses in the organization.
References
Blamey, A. and Mackenzie, M., 2007. Theories of change and realistic evaluation: peas in a pod or apples and oranges?. Evaluation, 13(4), pp.439-455.
Brest, P., 2010. The power of theories of change. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 8(2), pp.47-51.
Brown, S.L. and Eisenhardt, K.M., 1997. The art of continuous change: Linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations. Administrative science quarterly, pp.1-34.
Bushe, G.R., 2001. Five theories of change embedded in appreciative inquiry. Appreciative inquiry: An emerging direction for organization development, 17, pp.117-127.
Eagly, A.H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M.C. and Van Engen, M.L., 2003. Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A meta-analysis comparing women and men. Psychological bulletin, 129(4), p.569.
Funnell, S.C. and Rogers, P.J., 2011. Purposeful program theory: Effective use of theories of change and logic models(Vol. 31). John Wiley & Sons.
Tuck, E. and Yang, K.W. eds., 2013. Youth resistance research and theories of change. Routledge.
