Сhange management

Section 1
Demonstrate your understanding of the background to organisational strategic change

Discuss models of strategic change

There are a number strategic change models – such as the evolutionary model and, currently popular, the sustainability maturity model – you will need to briefly describe the main, established models, and their most common uses Diploma in Strategic Management andLeadershipUnit 3: Strategic Change Management

Evaluate the relevance of models of strategic change to organisations in the current economy

Following on from the above point, discuss how relevant each model is in today’s businessenvironment– dominated in the West by the continuing recession, and in the East by rapid expansion of internal demand but constraints due to the recession affecting external markets  assess the value of using strategic intervention techniques in organisations

An “ intervention”, in this context, is when a strategic change (of direction/policy) is made in order to re-align the organisation with the current business and external environments. An example of this is the strategic intervention that many organisations have been forced to make due to the exponential growth of on-line, internet sales – of products and services which until very recently were safe and profitable off-line, traditional markets. You will need to discuss why using strategic intervention techniques is necessary and what the benefit could, or should, be.

Section 2

Demonstrate your understanding of the issues relating to strategic change in an organisation – examine the need for strategic change in an organisation

Here you will need to select a specific organisation, or type of organisation, and analyse, examine, the need for strategic change in that organisation. An example of a suitable organisation would be a major high-street retailer, or a West based manufacturer facing increasing competition, mainly on costs, from the East, or afamily-owned business that needs funding for growth which is only available by becoming a PLC. An alternative would be to select a business sector, and discuss this from the point of view of organisations operating in that sector. assess the factors that are driving the need for strategic change in an organisation

Using the organisation(s) that you selected in the point above, assess the relative importance of – potential impact of – each of the factors that is driving the need for strategic change – assess the resource implications of the organisation not responding to strategic change

A major strategic change is usually costly, in terms of human, physical, and financial resources, and often, reputation, image, brand awareness, for example – but the cost of not changing direction, not adopting a new strategy, can be far greater and potentially devastating. You will need to discuss this.

Section 3

Explain how you would be able to lead stakeholders in developing a strategy for change – develop systems to involve stakeholders in the planning of change

Stakeholders in an organisation can include: operational employees, managers, suppliers, customers, clients, funding organisations, trades unions, professional associations, local authorities, local communities, the local and national media, government, and more. Here you need to devise and present a system – a process – a plan – that will involve such stakeholders in the planning of change in an organisation Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership Unit 3: Strategic Change Management

– develop a change management strategy with stakeholders

Following on from the point above, you will need to outline how you would involve stakeholders in the development of a change management strategy  evaluate the systems used to involve stakeholders in the planning of change

There are established mechanisms, methods, systems, designed to involve stakeholders in the planning of change – the decision making process. You will need to briefly describe these and give your view as to the effectiveness of each – create a strategy for managing resistance to change

Resistance to strategic change is almost inevitable – but it can be minimized / localised – there are established, proven methods of overcoming, or at least minimising, resistance to change – an obvious one is to involve as many people as possible in the early discussions, decision-making, and implementation of a strategic change, but there are others you will need to research and discuss In the strategy that you create, you should take into account the possibility of resistance from any or all of the stakeholders – operational employees, suppliers, middle to senior managers, customers, suppliers, shareholders, unions, external agencies, and so on.

Section 4

Explain how you would plan to implement models for ensuring ongoing change – develop appropriate models for change

Here you will need to discuss available models, and against the background of continuous, ongoing change (remember the saying “ Change is permanent!), discuss the core model of change that you propose, and then describe the actual, completed model that you plan to use – plan to implement a model for change

Following on from the point above, here you need to prepare an outline plan – showing timescales, resources, stages, and objectives, for the implementation of your change approach – develop appropriate measures to monitor progress

Just as it asks … straightforward monitoring and control for effective implementation – virtually the same approach as would be taken for the monitoring and controlling of the implementation stage of any project or plan – but … don’t forget the “ resistance” factor has to be addressed Don’t forget that you also need to write a Reflective Statement and add a list of Sources of Information-References showing any books, websites, articles, case studies, reports, internal documents, people interviewed, that you drew on to complete this assignment. The Reflective Statement and Sources of Information