Reference no: EM133649694

Homework: Leading Change Effectively- Written Communication

Overview

For this Performance Task Homework, you will review a business case study and will use pertinent information from that case to write an analysis on organizational change.

Length: 1,800 to 2,775 words (24 to 37 paragraphs).

Professional Skills: Written Communication and Information Literacy are assessed in this Competency.

Review the case: Askin, N., &Petriglieri, G. (2016, August 26). Case: Tony Hsieh at Zappos: Structure, culture and radical change. Harvard Business Publishing.

Organizational Change Case Analysis

You are a business analyst at a company that is undergoing some challenges, and you have been asked by your manager to use a real-world example to present some information to company leaders about organizational change strategy and approaches. Your manager mentions that he's read quite a bit about Zappos as a company and thinks that might be a good example to use, since your organization is in need of change and guidance on how best to go about it. You agree to put together a written analysis to present to leadership for their review and consideration.

For this Homework, you will analyze the "Tony Hsieh at Zappos: Structure, Culture and Change" case study and will use that analysis to write your report on organizational change. Using the information provided in the study, along with any additional information and insights you gather from your own research, address the following bulleted items in a written analysis. Please note that although some items will focus directly on the Zappos case study, there will also be items that address general concepts related to leading organizational change-as well as items that focus on both. Please refer to each bulleted item for the recommended lengths of the required elements of your analysis. Your completed Homework must contain at least four references from the Walden Library or other scholarly academic sources.

Click on each of the following items to reveal details about Parts 1 and 2 of the Homework.

Part I: Strategy and Organizational Change (10-16 paragraphs)

Question A. Analyze three factors that leaders should consider when developing a strategic approach to change management. As part of your analysis, describe each factor and why it is important to the change management process. (75-150 words, or 1-2 paragraphs)

Question B. Based on the three factors you selected, review the Zappos case study and analyze Tony Hsieh's approach to change management. Provide specific examples to support your analysis of whether Hsieh took each factor you identified into consideration when preparing his organization for the change in structure. (150-225 words, or 2-3 paragraphs)

Question C. Examine at least three common challenges that leaders of organizations face during times of change management and identify at least one strategy to address each type of challenge. (150-225 words, or 2-3 paragraphs)

Question D. Examine why organizations may want to implement organizational change, including two specific examples of relevant situations to support your explanation. (75-150 words, or 1-2 paragraphs)

Question E. Explain two major changes that Zappos went through (as described in the case study), including leadership's reason(s) for implementing each change. (150-225 words, or 2-3 paragraphs)

Question F. Identify two challenges that Zappos faced throughout its history (as described in the case study) and explain how change management approaches were or could have been applied to address these challenges. (150-225 words, or 2-3 paragraphs)

Part II: Leading Organizational Change (14-21 paragraphs)

Question A. Analyze at least three considerations that leaders of organizations should be aware of as they plan for organizational change. Describe the importance of each consideration and the potential impact of taking it into account or failing to take it into account during planning. (225-300 words, or 3-4 paragraphs)

Question B. Explain at least two communication strategies that leaders of organizations can incorporate in order to facilitate a more successful organizational change. (75-150 words, or 1-2 paragraphs)

Question C. Analyze the effectiveness of how Tony Hsieh communicated his decision to move to a holacracy. Explain why it was or was not effective. (75-150 words, or 1-2 paragraphs)

Question D. Identify at least three change management tools and explain how leaders can incorporate them.

Question E. For at least two of the change management tools you identified, provide an analysis of how Tony Hsieh either incorporated or could have incorporated these tools while implementing organizational change at Zappos. What were or what could have been the effects of incorporating those tools? Was organizational change within Zappos handled more effectively (or could it have been handled more effectively) due to these tools? Explain your answer. (225-300 words, or 3-4 paragraphs)

Question F. Analyze Tony Hsieh's leadership throughout times of organizational change. Provide at least two examples of situations in which he demonstrated effective leadership. Additionally, provide at least one example of a situation in which he was not as effective in his leadership approach. What could he have done differently in that situation to improve his leadership effectiveness? (225-300 words, or 3-4 paragraphs)

Question G. Analyze the role of employees in organizational change. As part of your analysis, explain how Zappos employees were empowered to take an active role in the change process during the transition to a holacracy. (75-150 words, or 1-2 paragraphs)

Question H. Analyze at least three examples of how Tony Hsieh and Zappos made efforts to create transformational change (i.e., significant organizational change) that yielded a positive impact, both internally (within the company) and externally (in the community). As part of your analysis, be sure to explain the impact(s) of these efforts. (150-225 words, or 2-3 paragraphs)