Comparing Present and Future Business Functioning using Open Systems Framework

The assignment content emphasizes the importance of organizational change management theories in helping organizations tackle complex challenges and issues. It highlights the need for a shared view of the external environment and the allocation of sufficient time and resources to assess and understand it. The Open Systems Framework is discussed as a tool for implementing change, requiring documentation of all steps and viewing planning as an ongoing process rather than an outcome.

BR Richardson Timber Products

Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................3
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Background............................................................................................................................4
Scope......................................................................................................................................4
Objectives...............................................................................................................................4
Discussions.............................................................................................................................5
1. Identifying the present problems that are being witnessed at B.R. Richardson Timber
Products Corporation and analysing their impact on different aspects of the business.............5
2. Understanding the interventions that are available to B.R. Richardson Timber Products
Corporation for resolving the issues that they are presently encountering in their business.....7
3. Selecting one intervention and explaining why that is the most suited from the
organisational context................................................................................................................8
4. Discussing the action plan for implementing the recommended strategy successfully.........9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

Executive Summary
This assignment will provide a proper understanding regarding the importance of change
processes and management theories in the workplace and how they could be properly utilised
to change any organisational issue or situation which is having a detrimental impact on the
overall organisational bottomline. This would help us in developing the necessary skills and
competencies which would allow us to solve any unforeseen situation that might have a
negative impact on the overall morale and commitment of the employees. This assignment
will provide vital information regarding the different types of problems and issues which are
being faced by an organisation as part of the case study. This will help us to understand how
those issues are having a negative impact on the employees’ motivation at the workplace and
contributing towards the low organisational productivity. Furthermore, this assignment will
provide a detailed discussion about different interventions which could be utilised by the case
study organisation to resolve their issues in an effective manner. The most appropriate
intervention for the organisation is going to be selected and a justification would be provided
regarding its suitability from the context of the organisation. Finally, the different actions
which need to be carried out in order to ensure a successful implementation of the chosen
intervention is also going to be provided at the end of the assignment. This would help us to
understand the process through which the organisation can implement change management
with the least possible resistance and opposition from the employees.

Introduction
Background
BR Richardson Timber Products Corporation is a family held corporation which comprised
of four different and small companies which can be considered to be different divisions.
Three of the organisation’s businesses were situated in Papoose itself. The company had their
logging operations division, a lumber mill and a laminating plant at Papoose and they had a
mill in Eastern Oregon. Richard Bowman was in charge of Industrial Relations at BR
Richardson Timber Products Corporation and was calling Jack Lawler on behalf of the
organisation. Jack Lawler had made quite a reputation for himself the fields of management
training and consulting and this was the main reason why Bowman availed the services of
Lawler to address the issues faced by his organisation. Bowman was looking forward to
conduct a motivation course for their blue collared staffs at the lamination plant and he
considered Lawler to be the most appropriate person who was going to conduct the
management training.
Scope
Employee morals at the lamination plant was very low and there had been very a recent
fatality at the organisational premises which had further had a negative impact on the
motivation and commitment levels of the employee leading to lower levels of productivity
within the organisation. Considering the gravity of the problems, Bowman wanted Lawman
to conduct the management training course within the next few months so that the present
situation at the lamination plant could improve drastically and thereby help the organisation
to sustain their business operations in a normal and smooth manner (Dunlap, 2010). Bowler
had total faith in the abilities of Lawman and he had obtained approval from the founder and
president of the organisation Mr. B.R. Richardson himself. This motivational training would
go a long way in helping the organisation to restore normalcy at the workplace by enabling
the staffs to become more committed and accountable at the job roles and responsibilities.
The management training would help the management of BR Richardson Timber Products
Corporation to develop cordial relationship with their employees wherein they would be able
to understand and satisfy the interests of their employees in an effective manner.
Objectives
The objectives of the management training are as follows:

1) Understanding the issues and events which are bringing down the motivation and
commitment levels of the employees.
2) Identifying the different approaches and interventions which could be utilised for solving
the issues and problems faced by the organisation.
3) Implementing a suitable intervention which is most appropriate from the context of the
organisation and which would enable the organisation to resolve their issues.
4) Undertaking the actions necessary to ensure the successful implementation of the aforesaid
intervention.
Discussions
The management training session would play a vital role in helping the organisation to restore
normalcy within their business and this would enable the organisation to increase their daily
business productivity in the market.
1. Identifying the present problems that are being witnessed at B.R.
Richardson Timber Products Corporation and analysing their impact on
different aspects of the business
B.R. Richardson Timber Products Corporation are facing various types of problems in their
business which has invariably brought down their business productivity in the market. There
is clear evidence of the apathy of the organisational management towards the safety and well
being of the employees who are working at the organisation. The organisation has become an
unsafe place for their employees due to the lack of strict safety guidelines and protocols. The
plant is littered with sawdust, glue drippings and the employees working at the plant are
subjected to constant noise from the planer, saws, conveyors and hoists (Chandrasekar,
2011). Moreover, the aisles are also filled up with different types of tools and piles which
might cause injury to a person if they do not tread with caution inside the plant. There has
also been an incidence of a recent fatality at one of the manufacturing plants which caused a
lot of discontentment among the employees. This further showcases the utter disregarding for
implementing strict safety guidelines that would help in ensuring the safety and well being of
the employees (Christian et al., 2009).

Human resources is another issue which needs to be properly addressed within the
organisation. From the interview with Juanita, it became evident to Lawyer that Ben
Richardson was very authoritarian in his leadership style and he did not care to consult with
his employees and staffs while taking business decisions within the organisation. This
authoritarian style of leadership has essentially distanced Ben from his employees as he was
unable to understand the needs and expectations of their staffs and was totally focused on
maximising the business productivity of the organisation (Tangirala & Ramanujam, 2008).
The employees have lost their trust on the management and this is why they do not have any
commitment and dedication at the workplace.
The organisation is also grappling with structural issue which has further increased the
inconvenience of their staffs. The plant design has not been carried out in an effective
manner. The lunchroom for the staffs is housed above the offices of the manger, supervisor
and the secretary and the office for the scheduler is also situated over there. The
organisation’s head office is around 50 yards away in one direction whereas the mill is
situated approximately the same distance in an altogether different direction. This reduces the
working time for the employees and creates further confusion among the workers as there is
no one to provide their guidance and expertise to the workers when they face challenges at
the workplace (Zhang & Bartol, 2010).
Technology is another important issue which is being faced by the organisation. The majority
of the machines which are being used by the organisation are old and outdated. Most of the
work which is being done at the plant involved manual production and assembling of timber
products which involves a lot of noise from the saws, conveyors and planers. This clearly
shows an insufficient assembly line production process which could not help them to
optimise their business productivity (Roßnagel, 2017).
The organisation has also had to undergo cost escalation which has brought down their
revenues and profits in the market. Many employees have to work overtime in order to
maintain the daily productivity levels within the organisation and thus they would have to be
paid with overtime payment which is costing additional expenses for the organisation. Work
scheduling is not carried out in an effective manner and this is another reason for the low
productivity and increased business expenses for the organisation (Miner, 2015).
Lack of employee commitment due to low employee morale is another vital factor that is
threatening the normal business productivity of the organisation. The low employee morale is

contributing to rising discontentment among the employees over the management and
bringing down the performance and productivity of the workers at the workers at the
workplace (Albrech, 2011). The workers do not feel a sense of urgency at the workplace and
this is the main reason why the productivity at the lamination plant has dropped by almost
50% as compared to previous year.
2. Understanding the interventions that are available to B.R. Richardson
Timber Products Corporation for resolving the issues that they are
presently encountering in their business
There are various interventions which could be utilised by B.R. Richardson Timber Products
Corporation for tackling and resolving the issues which they are presently encountering in
their business. Some of them are Open System and Open System frameworks, Organisational
Learning and Managerial Grid.
Open System and Open System frameworks - The open system is a system which has
interactions with the external environment. This interaction can be in the form of information,
technical expertise, financial advice or guidance which invariably takes place out of the
system boundary that is defining the system. Implementing the open system frameworks
would enable B.R. Richardson Timber Products Corporation to develop a systematic
approach towards their business which would allow them to exchange information and
collaborate with the other business establishments (Rasmussen et al., 2011). The open system
framework considers the different processes and systems within an organisation to be an
organic and process oriented system that responds to the stimuli received from the
organisational culture and the market environment. This eventually enables an organisation
to adapt to the changes taking place in the business environment in an effective manner by
incorporating the necessary changes within their organisational structure and business
operations (Scott & Davis, 2015).
Organisational Learning – The organisational learning is considered to be the process which
deals with the creation, retention and transfer of knowledge within the different departments
of an organisation. This helps an organisation to enhance the skills and competencies of their
employees by enabling the more experienced and tenured employees to share their
knowledge and expertise with the new and lesser experienced ones. This eventually helps in

increasing the performance and business productivity of an organisation by ensuring highly
proficient and competent employees within their ranks (Chiva et al., 2007).
Managerial Grid – The managerial grid is a leadership style model which was developed in
1964 by Robert R. Blake and Jane Mouton. In this model, the developers initially identified
five different styles of leadership based on their importance on people and importance on
production (Gregoire & Arendt, 2014). There are five styles of leadership in this managerial
grid and they include the following:
1) the impoverished style of leadership (where mangers have low concern for both people and
production),
2) the country club style of leadership (where there more emphasis is given to people as
compared to the production),
3) the produce or perish style of leadership (which aims to control and dominate the
employees by emphasising on the production),
4) the team style of leadership (which provides a high amount of importance to both the
employees as well as production by motivating people to contribute and commit themselves
to their work), and
5) the middle of the road style of leadership (which helps in maintaining the status quo by
balancing the business goals and the worker’s needs).
This managerial grid would enable an organisation to identify the most suitable style of
leadership from their organisational context and this would enable them to foster better
motivation and commitment among their staffs (Zeidan, 2009).
3. Selecting one intervention and explaining why that is the most suited
from the organisational context
The most appropriate intervention in case of B.R. Richardson Timber Products Corporation
would be the adoption of open system structure within their business. This would allow the
organisation to monitor the external market environment in an effective manner and they
would be able to adapt to the changes taking place in their external environment. The
environment of an organisation consists of general environment, task environment and
enacted environment (Scott & Davis, 2015). The general environment includes all the

external forces which could impact an organization and includes political, economic, legal,
technological, social and ecological components. The task environment deals with the
suppliers, buyers, business rivals, the new entrants in market and the threat of substitute
products. The enacted environment deals with the managerial perceptions and perceptions
about the market environment (Hatch & Cunliffe, 2013). By implementing the open systems
framework within their business, B.R. Richardson Timber Products Corporation would be
able to assess how the organisation is responding to the external environment and set up the
business goals and objectives in a desired manner. This would allow the organisation to take
part in trans-organisational development wherein they would be able to develop and foster
strategic collaborations with other business establishments in the market. They would be able
to perform more complex tasks and find effective solutions to more challenging problems
that are being faced by them in their business (Rasmussen et al., 2011).
4. Discussing the action plan for implementing the recommended strategy
successfully
The management at B.R. Richardson Timber Products Corporation must start with assessing
their external environment as this would help them to understand how their organisation is
responding to the external environment. The management will be able to identify the core
visions and mission of the organization and this would go a long way in helping the
management to create a realistic future scenario of environmental expectations and
organisational responses. This would eventually help the organisation to develop and design
an ideal future scenario which would provide suitable organisational responses for the
changes taking place in the external environment (Scott & Davis, 2015). The organisation
needs to compare their present business functioning with those that will be taking place in the
near future and this would assist them in creating an action plan that would help them to
reduce the discrepancy in their business. While implementing the open systems framework,
the management needs to share a common view of the external environment and they must
allocate sufficient time and resources to assess and understand their external environment
(Holman et al., 2007). The need to document all the stapes of the Open Systems Framework
implementation and this would allow them to deal with key parts of the environment in an
effective manner. Finally the organisation must view planning as a process and they should
never consider it to be an outcome.

Conclusion
This assignment has played a very important role in helping to understand the importance of
organisational change management theories which can help an organisation to tackle the
complex challenges and issues that are being faced by them in their business. This has played
a very important role in enhancing our knowledge and understanding of organisational
change management theories which would indeed help us in our future careers (Holman et
al., 2007).

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