Reference no: EM133696454
Homework: Managing Organizational Change- Quantitative Reasoning, Introduced Level
Overview
Students' Quantitative Reasoning skills will be assessed three times during the Leadership program. They will be assessed in a Signature Homework at the "introduced" Level of Quantitative Reasoning in MGT401. The second time students' Quantitative Reasoning skills are assessed is in the Signature Homework for Quantitative Reasoning in LED402 at the "reinforced" level. Toward the end of the program, they will be assessed again in MGT423 at the "emphasized" level. Rubric criterion for the other two courses are included in their respective homework.
For this homework, first, do a thorough review of the required background materials and read up on each author's discussion about Kotter's eight-step model of change, Lewin's three-step model, and the five phases of Action Research. There are also some videos on some of these models that might help as well.
The table in this Case homework is an example of one way to summarize the data acquired for this small research project about why profits decreased and potential steps to take to move them in the opposite direction. A table or graph are both good tools to use to display data that is easy to follow without being overwhelmed with too much data. You can read more about tools to display statistical data in the following optional reading:
Elliott, A., & Woodward, W. (2020). Describing and Examining Data. (Vols. 1-0). In Quick guide to IBM® SPSS® Statistical analysis with step-by-step examples. SAGE Publications, Inc.,
Case Homework
When you are done reviewing these models of organizational change, take a look at the following scenario, determine which of the three models of change would be most appropriate, and answer the questions below. You are required to use APA style of writing, cite at least three of the scholarly sources from the background readings (required and optional), and write 4 full pages (excluding title and references pages).
Scenario
Acme corporation has had recent problems with increased turnover of employees and decreased profitability. However, leadership is not sure exactly what the problem is or what to do about it. Senior managers have been arguing for many months about what to do, but it is clear that leadership does not have a strategy to get the company back on track. The company (prior to organizational changes) had 24 sales associates that averaged $423,000 in combined sales each month with a profit margin of 32%. This breaks down to a monthly sales average of $17,625 per sales associate.
Since the changeover, the employees are stretched thin and have become demoralized as management has been slow to respond to the turnover and has increased pressure to exceed monthly goals. The average monthly sales have steadily decreased for six months after the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) replaced the vice president of sales, two sales directors, and six sales managers with employees from another organization. The Vice President, directors, and managers have yet to establish relationships, are not very engaging or motivating, have more of a transactional style of leadership, and micro-manage every detail of the sales associates performance. The following table shows company sales performance since January of this year and includes month, number of staff, average sales, profit percentage and total profit.
Month
|
Sales Staff
|
Sales
|
Profit %
|
Profit $
|
January
|
20
|
$322,800
|
45%
|
$145,260
|
February
|
19
|
$321,100
|
42%
|
$134,862
|
March
|
18
|
$318,500
|
42%
|
$133,770
|
April
|
18
|
$267,900
|
44%
|
$117,876
|
May
|
15
|
$260,500
|
45%
|
$117,225
|
June
|
12
|
$247,700
|
45%
|
$111,465
|
Use the scenario and the table above to answer the following questions (support each section with sources from the required and optional readings list):
1. Introduce your paper with your thoughts on the scenario and why it happened. This goes immediately below the title of the paper at the top of page 2 but it does not have its own heading.
2. What could have happened in the months of April-June to see a large drop in profits after what was seen as a slowdown in lost profits (indicating a potential increase coming next) at the end of March?
3. Explain which organizational change model (Kotter's Eight-Step, Lewin's Three-Step, or the Stages of an Action Research Project) would be most suited for this scenario. Support your decision and response with a source from the required or optional readings list.
4. Provide a solution to the scenario and build a plan of action for this organization using the individual steps of your chosen change model.
5. Use and fill in the table below with your expected forecast potential to show growth in sales staff, sales, and total profit from July through December. Use the formula below the table (New Month Sales x 42% = ______), to calculate expected sales and profit percent for an increase in profit dollars for Acme Corporation.
Table 1: Expected Sales and Profit Forecast
Month
|
Sales Staff
|
Sales
|
Profit %
|
Total Profit $
|
July
|
|
|
42%
|
|
August
|
|
|
42%
|
|
September
|
|
|
42%
|
|
October
|
|
|
42%
|
|
November
|
|
|
42%
|
|
December
|
|
|
42%
|
|
o New Monthly Sales X Profit Percentage = Total profit
6. Conclude your paper to align with your introduction, a summary of findings from each section, and wrap up in a final thought. This section of the paper should have the heading Conclusion (bold and centered).