Reference no: EM132829401

Required to refer to the case for supporting facts. However, must clarify and justify any assumptions made when facts are not clearly available from the case.

Kamal was appointed as the new Managing Director at Look Out Sdn Bhd(LSB), a subsidiary company of Job Success Malaysia Sdn Bhd, in January 2020. His appointment was based on his excellent performance at eTraining Malaysia Sdn Bhd(eTMSB), which is also one of the subsidiary companies of Job Success Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Whereas LSB specializes in assisting Malaysian higher education institutions in job searching and placing fresh graduates, eTMSB focuses on providing digital training for private-sector workers. In the first month, Kamal did nothing much. Instead, he spent his time observing and understanding the workforce and the work process at LSB. Twenty employees were working at LSB as of January 2020. There were four executives, eight officers, six clerks, and two general workers. When Kamal looked through previous data on its performance, he found that most of the key performance indicators (KPIs) were not achieved. At first, Kamal thought the KPIs were too ambitious, but later he learned that employees are not performing to the expectation. The executives had been working in LBS for an average of six years. They were very knowledgeable in their area of works, and they could execute it well. The executives were proud of their past successes. They often talked about how the previous Managing Director praised them for meeting the job target. In a way, these past successes had been the benchmark for the executives to use the same actions to solve current emerging problems. Conflicts were also evident at LBS. Although the executives did their jobs, they were not always acted in the best interest of LBS. One executive, who was employed on a contract basis, has a vested interest in performing his job. He often by-passed his superior to make sure that the Managing Director noticed his talent. This has led to dissatisfaction and the inherent conflict between the executive and his superior. Also, those who worked with them felt uncomfortable and were not performing at their best. Eventually, the work process was disrupted, and the decision was often delayed. Even worse, the customers were not happy with the services delivered by LBS. Since many contractual relationships with the clients are nearing to end and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, many clients refuse to renew their contracts. It has been nine months now. Kamal received constant pressure from the parent company to improve LBS performance. It was not an easy task to be done, especially in the wake of a pandemic outbreak. Apart from that, the marketplace is highly saturated with training providers in the same field of interest. The higher education institutions had also begun to establish their career center. Such set-ups imply that LBS might not be relevant in the future unless they come out with inventive and innovative ways in delivering their services. Job Success Malaysia Sdn Bhd gave Kamal until the end of 2021 to turn around LBS. The top management wants to cut costs by removing overtime work and other expenditures directly and indirectly associated with LBS operations. Although the top management does not want Kamal to dismiss anyone in the workforce, they want the employees to be more proactive in undertaking their jobs with little cost. Looking outside of his office window, Kamal had too many thoughts in his head now. He believed that it was going to be challenging. He could foresee that resistance to change coming from the employees, and the clients would also be affected. Kamal thought he had to discuss this matter with an expert in finding the best possible solution.

QUESTION 1 Identify three (3) micro problems from the case study.

QUESTION 2 What was the main problem leading to the underperformance of LBS? Justify your answer.

QUESTION 3 In your opinion, should Kamal adopt incremental change strategies or transformational change strategies? Justify your answer.

QUESTION 4 Identify two intervention strategies that best solve the problem you have identified in Question 2 above. Discuss two change programs for each intervention strategy that you have identified.

QUESTION 5 Using the action research model, describe how you would assist Kamal in solving his problem.

QUESTION 6 Identify and describe one external driving force that could lead the LBS employees towards acceptance of the change.