The current economic downfall has forced many organizations to strategically restructure and downsize. Broadway Brokers is not immune to these economic challenges and has been faced with competition from discount brokers and Internet brokerage services. Broadway Brokers position of holding the largest market share has been jeopardized by their slow reaction to the shifting changes within the industry. Broadway Brokers staff possessed strong selling and interpersonal skills however lacked in their knowledge of the high tech skills that had been inundating the market. The organizations lack of adapting to new technology and their absorbent overhead was threatening their profitability. The organization was faced with the need to restructure, consolidate, and implement employee layoffs in order to remain competitive with the current financial climate. Rumors of impending office consolidations and staff layoffs had existed for some time. However, the CEO commentary in a Financial Times article confirmed such gossip. In fact, decisions had already been made by top management to enact a structural plan that would severely curtail offices, close offices, and reduce the level of employees across the organization. Top management was firmly fixed upon downsizing and consolidation and was now relying on its management staff to come up with a plan to implement a transition. A dozen of the company’s most respected managers – everyone from assistant vice presidents to managing directors were join together to devise a plan for change (Jick & Peiperl 2003).
In developing a transitional plan many concerns were presented to the management staff for consideration. First, Broadway Brokers has successfully grown and had not been ...
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...ees – and a potentially more flexible organization.
Broadway Broker’s management team is faced with the challenging task of downsizing and consolidating the organization. A thorough investigation as to how to execute proposed changes will need to occur before the organization can forge ahead. Change processes must be executed in a fashion that portrays compassion and consideration for all involved. For change to be successful the management team must have understanding and empathy for the psychological impact of imposed change and how employees will react. Most humans are fearful of change and do not embrace change in a positive manner. The road ahead will be difficult for the management team at Broadway Broker’s, however; with proper planning and understanding positive change can sustain the future of the organization.
This book is important to business students because it shows that even the most seasoned executive runs into unexpected challenges and can find themselves in uncharted territory. Jim Barton’s experiences and lessons can be lessons for anyone. Any employee, whether they are support staff or a top executive, should always maintain an open mind and be ready to learn from a situation or the people around them at any time.
Leading Change was named the top management book of the year by Management General. There are three major sections in this book. The first section is ¡§the change of problem and its solution¡¨ ; which discusses why firms fail. The second one is ¡§the eight-stage process¡¨ that deals with methods of performing changes. Lastly, ¡§implications for the twenty-first century¡¨ is discussed as the conclusion. The eight stages of process are as followed: (1) Establishing a sense of urgency. (2) Creating the guiding coalition. (3) Developing a vision and a strategy. (4) Communicating the change of vision. (5) Empowering employees for broad-based action. (6) Generating short-term wins. (7) Consolidating gains and producing more changes. (8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.
According to Gerard and Teurfs transformation methods, listening, having dialogue and community building can be used to transform the different cultures of a global organization, by developing newer, improved cultures. For the transformation to be successful the turnaround teams engaged in collaborative dialogue with participants to emerge the new culture and mutually agree to a newer direction for the company. The staff had to suspend their judgment of others from the past, and attach their thoughts, opinions to their new identity by actively being engaged in forms of comprehensive and therapeutic listening, living their new ethical direction that was set from the new CEO Ed Breen (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009).
Gaughan, P. A., 2002. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate restructuring. 3rd ed.New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
“The Heart of Change,” by John Kotter and Dan S. Cohen can act as a diagram for any organization facing challenges that come with implementing change. In the 21st Century in order to stay competitive with your competitors you have to implement changes, new systems and approaches to keep the organization relevant. With changes there comes errors that a company may encounter, sometimes these errors if not fixed can make the change within the organization impossible. Employees are reluctant and can’t see the views or their leader, and this makes change unsuccessful. That’s where Kotter’s eight step change model can give an organization a guideline and understanding of some of the challenges that they may encounter with change. Comparing Kotter’s
In the fall of 2001, business software pioneer Thomas M. Siebel was giddy as he looked ahead. Sure, the recession was hurting. But he claimed his company, Siebel Systems Inc. -- the leader in software for managing sales forces and customer-service departments -- would be more resilient than its competitors. ``Everybody is going to be naked,'' Siebel said with relish. ``We're going to find out who are the dilettantes. We're going to find out who are the scumbags, and who are the sleazeballs. Everybody is going to be exposed for who they are. It's going to be a remarkable time.'' Two months later, he confidently predicted that the high-tech downturn was about to end. He could be certain, he said, because of the forecasting capabilities in his own software. Well, both Tom Siebel and his software get failing grades for prognostication. The tech industry is still mired in slow growth, and Siebel Systems, software's highest flier in the go-go '90s, has tumbled farther than its ``dilettante'' rivals. Revenues last year tumbled 22%, to $1.6 billion, compared with a drop of only 2% for the overall corporate-applications-software industry. In the first quarter, Siebel's revenues dropped 30%, to $333 million. Siebel's stock price, at $8.50, is off a staggering 94% from its peak in 2000 of $119. It wasn't just the economy that hobbled Siebel Systems. A 2001 product upgrade was so difficult to install that customers were reluctant to buy it. The company's reputation suffered from bad publicity about its customer-satisfaction record. And it lost ground to corporate-applications leader SAP. In 2002, Siebel Systems' share of the customer-management market it helped pioneer slipped from 29% to 23%, according to Gartner Dataquest. No. 2 SAP gained ...
This game was an important tool on showing how a business must adapt to new situations and react to market changes. We learned how difficult it is to pick a strategy and implement it into the dynamic market.
Change usually comes with resistance in any workplace because change disrupts the employees’ sense of safety and control (Lewis, 2012). Kurt Lewin (1951) created a three step process for assisting employees with organizational Change (Lewis, 2012). The three stages are Unfreeze, Change and Refreeze. These are the steps to a smooth transition for change within organizations. Further, these steps are not possible without good communication from upper Management through line staff. Communication was consistently listed as an issue in surveys conducted by the department.
Change affects more than just a program or a process within an organization, change affects employees, collecting data on employee’s readiness and willingness to accept a change will help leaders know if the organization is socially ready for change (Cole, Harris, and Bernerth, 2006). A change might be positive for an organization but if the employees who will be affect by the change are lost in the process then it could create a greater issue than not making the change. Leadership needs to communicate and inspire the employees to be positive toward the change, seeking to enhance their job satisfaction not make changes that will increase their desire to leave. This data is best collected early in the change initiative allowing leadership to properly cast the vision while addressing concerns. This requires leadership to create platforms for employees to engage in the change initiative freely (Ford, 2006). Employee attitudes can be measured through these dialogues providing leadership with necessary measureable data (Hughes, 2007).
Changing situations throughout the world affect all organizations in business today. Therefore, most organizations acknowledge the need to experience change and transformation in order to survive. The key challenges companies face are due to the advancements in technology, the social environment caused by globalization, the pace of competition, and the demands regarding customer expectations. It is difficult to overcome the obstacles involved with change despite all the articles, books, and publications devoted to the topic. People are naturally resistant to fundamental changes and often intimidated by the process; the old traditional patterns and methods are no longer effective.
Faced with changing markets and higher competition, more and more firms are struggling to reestablish their dominance, keep market share, and in some cases, ensure their survival. Many have come to understand that the key to competitive success is to transform the way they function. They are reducing reliance on managerial authority, formal rules and procedures, and narrow divisions of work. In effect, companies are moving from the hierarchical and bureaucratic model of organization that has defined corporations since World War II to what can be called the task-driven organization where what has to be done governs who works with whom and who leads. But while senior managers understand the necessity of change to cope with new competitive realities, they often misunderstand what it takes to bring it about.
Organizational change is a very big risk for organizations. The process of change can be very difficult for employees as well as the leaders implementing the changes. The changes are usually planned to improve the company. However, sometimes change can destroy a company when things don’t go as planned. From a change in management to a change in the company structure, or way of doing daily task, organizations must carefully execute the process of change and use change strategies that will ensure success.
New York, what a city! All the lights, and busy areas are a breathtaking experience. Possibly, one of the busiest cities in the United States. From personal experience, it was a once in a lifetime thing to endure. Although, it does smell due to the sewers and Chinatown, walking at night past dark,scary alleyways was not the ideal thing to do.
The article raises the issue of revenue growth stalls that affect even the most successful companies. The article focuses on four major causes of the crisis. The first cause is the premium-position captivity that is”the inability of a firm to respond effectively to new, low-cost competitive challenge or to a significant shift in customer valuation of product features” (p.54). The second reason is the innovation management breakdown that is”some chronic problem in managing the internal business process for updating existing product and services and creating new one” (p.56). Third reason is the premature core abandonment that means “the failure to fully exploit growth opportunities in the existing core business” and “acquisitions of growth initiatives in areas relatively distant from existing customers, products, and channels”(p.56). Finally, the fourth cause is the talent bench shortfall that is “a lack of leaders and staff with the skills and capabilities required for strategy execution” (p.58). Authors emphasize that these causes are mainly within management control since they result from “a choice about strategy or organizational design” (p.54).
The change process within any organization can prove to be difficult and very stressful, not only for the employees but also for the management team. Hayes (2014), highlights seven core activities that must take place in order for change to be effective: recognizing the need for change, diagnosing the change and formulating a future state, planning the desired change, implementing the strategies, sustaining the implemented change, managing all those involved and learning from the change. Individually, these steps are comprised of key actions and decisions that must be properly addressed in order to move on to the next step. This paper is going to examine how change managers manage the implementation of change and strategies used