Reference no: EM132830031

Case Study 

Margaret House, CEO of Bounce Fitness has asked you to act as the Change Management Agent for an initiative to be undertaken nationally at Bounce Fitness Centres. You have been asked to prepare a plan to implement a whole-of-business change and she has committed a budget of $20,000 to this.

The Executive has recognised that the lack of standardisation of operations and the different levels of training has reduced the quality of the customer experience and potentially safety and makes it difficult to plan for the future as each Centre currently makes many of their own decisions.

Bounce Fitness is about to become registered with Fitness Australia (www.fitness. org.au) as a Fitness Australia Registered Fitness Business. This will require meeting the Code of Practice for the State in which each Centre is located. Bounce Fitness also wants to ensure that all trainers meet, or immediately undertake training to meet the standards associated with Fitness Australia's business registration. More about registration can be obtained by going to the Fitness Australia website and clicking on the Registration tab. The Codes of Practice for each State are also linked on this page if you scroll down - within 'Business Principles and Guidance'.

The financial considerations for this (available on the Fitness Australia website)

Must take into account:

• The joining fees and membership fees for each linked Centre and joining fees.
• There is no stipulation as to trainer numbers outside those in the Code of Practice. Registered businesses complying with the Code will only employ registered exercise professionals.
• Individual exercise professionals must also be registered.

The minimum educational qualification currently necessary for all trainers is the Certificate III in Fitness Instructing and all trainers must hold this to continue to work as a trainer of classes and individual clients. At this point in time, this has not been consistently applied. In Cairns all are qualified, in Brisbane two need the basic training, two also in Sydney and in Melbourne there is one. It is intended under the change management initiative that all trainers, once they have completed the basic training will continue to pursue further training, the Certificate IV and Diploma annually as personal development.

Bounce Fitness will pay for the training fees and other incidentals such as text book requirements and provide one paid hour per week for study leave. Bounce Fitness will also reimburse travel and accommodation for compulsory study attendance sessions. You can get more information on this at Fitness Australia's website under the Learning & Development tab.

It is expected that the change management process will be fairly smooth if adequate measures are taken and the process is well managed.   The major resistance will come from the five trainers who do not have this qualification and have learned through experience. That is why they do not have it now. They will also not want to participate in the further training initiative.

If the whole standardisation process is not managed carefully, there is a potential for great dissatisfaction and all Centres will not comply with the standardised procedures. This is a major concern for the Executive, hence your employment.

Task 1: Identify Change Requirement

This task requires that you are able to document a change process that details the rationale for the change, its objective and the process of implementing the change as well as a critical evaluation of how the change process was managed. You are also required to know techniques for responding to resistance to change and finally, have knowledge of the change management process / cycle.

The final plan must be in the report format described in the Bounce Fitness Style Guide but ensure that you include each of the following points:

a) Identify the needs for a strategic change through analysis of strategic plans contrasted with the practices as defined in the Case Study. You may prefer to use a SWOT analysis, but this is optional.

b) Discuss any patterns or trends in the external environment which impact on the achievement of the organisation's change management objectives.

c) Identify major operational change requirements due to performance gaps, business opportunities or threats, or management decisions for this change management initiative.

d) Discuss how you review and prioritise change requirements / opportunities with relevant managers.