Keyrus IT System Upgrade: Leadership and Change Management Report

This report analyzes the change management strategies implemented by Keyrus, a consulting company specializing in digital information and data analytics, during its IT system upgrade. The report details the application of Lewin's change theory, outlining the stages of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing, and how Keyrus utilized these stages to communicate the need for change, implement new objectives, and ensure the sustainability of the changes. The report also explores Kotter's 8-step model, explaining how Keyrus increased urgency, built a guiding team, created and communicated a vision for change, and planned for short-term wins. The study highlights the importance of employee involvement, communication, and the adoption of new technologies to maintain a competitive edge in the market. The report emphasizes the need for continuous improvement and the role of leadership in navigating organizational change effectively.

LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Lewin's change theory.................................................................................................................1
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................4
Kotter's 8 step model...................................................................................................................4
RECOMMENDATION...................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The study has been made to show that why change is necessary in the organisation. As it
is IT company so keeping all the systems up to date and improving the services is necessary and
it helps the company in doing more advance work and facing competition in the market. The
study has been made to show how company is going to make changes in organisation. The report
contains Lewin's change theory model, with the help of that change can be made in the company.
Further the study also contains Kotter's Model as by following that model change can be easily
made in the KEYRUS.
INTRODUCTION
Keyrus is a consulting company that focuses on digital information, data strategy and
data analytics. The company is providing various types digital information and services to
customers. It supplies various types of software and services to consumers. The report will
highlight the changes which the organisation is about to do in business. The will study highlight
the Lewis's model for implementing change in the organisation (Binci, Cerruti and Braganza,
2016). The model contains the stages and according to that company will make changes in the
organisation. Further the study will highlight the Kotter's 8 step model and according to that how
change will be made in the KEYRUS.
TASK 1
Lewin's change theory
The KEYRUS is planning to upgrade new IT system within 3 months. So for that
KEYRUS is making new strategies and plans so that it can easily implement the change in the
organisation. For upgrading its IT system organisation is following Lewin's change theories.
Lewin's change theory-
Kurt Lewins developed a change model which involves three steps ie, unfreezing, changing and
refreezing. The model represents a very simple and practical model for understanding the change
process. The three stages are as follows-
Unfreezing
This is the first stage in which KEYRUS will determine that what are the necessary
changes which are to be made by the KEYRUS. The organisation communicates with all their
employees about what are the changes which are to be made, why KEYRUS is planning to
upgrade the system (Binci, Cerruti and Braganza, 2016). In this stage KEYRUS makes ensure
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that they have full support of their top level authorities, as permission from them is must without
their concern any change can not be made. Old behaviour s, ways of thinking, organisational
structure are carefully examined to show employees how change is necessary for the KEYRUS.
So for upgrading their systems the management communicates with their employees and inform
them what are the changes and also takes suggestion from them. As taking suggestions from
them can give better ideas and results to the upgrading process. Technology keeps upgrading
from time to time so that why KEYROS is also making plans for upgrading their systems. The
organisation amylase its current procedures and ways of working and after that makes a list of
things which are needed to be upgraded. After finding out what are the weak points which are
need to be upgraded (Deschamps and et.al., 2016). The leader makes plans and procedures and
clears the doubt of employees regarding upgrading process. The unfreezing stage is about
creating motivation to change. Leader makes new plans for making change, the new plans will
be communicated to employees and if they had any doubt they are cleared by leaders and
management.
Change
In this stage change is made by the KEYRUS that what are the objectives and what are
the things which are going to be change in the KEYRUS. In this stage by the help of
communication change is been made in the organisation as KEYRUS is upgrading there
sysrtmes so what are the new objectives and what are new plans which are needed to be changed
all these tasks are done at this stage. Leader stops current working systems and make changes
according to the objectives. Experiments is done with different types of improvements and see
that which things works better (Deschamps and et.al., 2016). Testing process is been followed by
the management and according to the result change is made. In this Stage action is taken by the
leader after all testing process ie, change in policies and management operations so that the
changes which is been made can give best result to the organisation. As leader can not do
upgrade process by their own so emplotees are involved, they are given task and with the help of
their innovative ideas and efforts change is been made in the KEYRUS. The change is made by
the innovative ides of employees as It is an IT KEYRUS so it is improving its network and
systems (van der Voet, 2016). The tools and techniques which was been used by the organisation
till now. All these are changes and replaced with new measures. The KEYRUS is adopting new
measures that how the new technology can be used, better service can be provided to customers.
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As technology keeps on changing and KEYRUS can lack behind as other competitors are using
latest technology that why the organisation is making change. It is beneficial for a KEYRUS to
keep its system updated as if not people will attract by the other competitors in the market and
this will result in loss for business. Leaders in this step makes necessary guidelines for the
employees which are needed to be followed by staff so that the change can be successfully
implemented (Cameron and Green, 2015). This is the major stage in which main work is done as
the organisation in planning to upgrade the system so new working policies are implemented by
KEYRUS and change is made. Leaders makes changes in policies and frameworks of the firm.
For upgrading finance is also required by the firm as leader makes new financial policies so that
the organisation system can be updated.
Refreezing
This is the final stage of the model. The changes made in the organisation process, goals,
structure and people are accepted and refrozen. In this stage changes made are analysed that is
the change made is good for the organisation. At this it is monitored that the change made is
according to the culture. All upgrades which are made in KEYRUS are monitored that it may not
void the culture of the organisation. Leader makes way so that the change made can be sustained
foe a longer time as many issues will be arise in the implementation so for dealing with that
various measures are taken so that the objective of making upgrading is not suffered (Hao and
Yazdanifard, 2015). For dealing with this leaders arranges various training and development
programmes for employees so that they can learn better and perform well in their job. Employees
are given different types of training which can be either on job training or off job training. The
stage of refreezing is the ultimate stage in which people accept or internalize the new stages of
working. Higher authority provides support to their subordinates and guide them through out the
plan. Support in the sense that employees re provided flexible timing according to which they
can work and other benefits are provided so that employees work happily in KEYRUS. When all
work is done successfully, the task which was to be completed in a desired manner if that
completed celebrations is made in the organisation. At last in this stage when all the tasks are
carried out carefully and desired results are been obtained celebrations are made (Hao and
Yazdanifard, 2015). Celebrations are so that the workers are also happy and it keeps them
motivated. In this stage as the systems are been updated so it also requires talented employees
who can work with latest systems, so for that KEYRUS hires new talents so that the change
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made can give good result as expected. Promotions are been made by the KEYRUS so that the
employees feel motivated and this helps them in raising their morale and successful
implementation of the plan. Appraisals and incentives are given to the employees after they
perform well in the development plan (Levene and Higgs, 2018).
TASK 2
Kotter's 8 step model.
Kotter's 8 step model is been used by KEYRUS which is as follows-
Step 1: Increase urgency- In this stage the company should identify the potential threats that
can which can be come up on future. As the company is making change in so for this leaders
should aware the employees so that any change which the organisation is going to made can be
carried out in a desired way. Opportunities are examined which can be tapped through effective
innervations. This could be accomplished by talking with them about the potential threats or by
discussing possible solutions (Van Rossum and et.al., 2016). KEYRUS has decided to upgrade
its system so for that leaders must take support from the other industry people. Laedwers must
concerned to stake holders and customers about the change ie, what are the changes which is
been made and why it is necessary to make such changes, all these things must be communicated
and discussed with stake holders and customers. Leaders should make sure that the new polocis
and strategy must be satisfactory for customers and stakeholders, as their satisfaction is very
necessary for the organisation.
Step2: Build guiding team- It is a good idea to establish a project team than occupy with the
changes the organisations want to implement. In this step a group is formed by the leader which
help in making plan possible (Van Rossum and et.al., 2016). The stakeholders are requested to
participate in the change process making an plan successful. As group is made by the leaders so
there are weak points also so to deal with that leaders must ensure that the team made is effective
and do all tasks according to the planned objectives. The group can also as a sound board which
enables an open communication. Effective group should be made so that better communication
can be made between the employees and the expansion plan can be fulfilled. Coalition helps in
improving efficiency of KEYRUS and better output can be generated by coalition. Leaders must
ensures that their must be influential people in the organisation so that they can influence another
people about the changes which KEYRUS is planning to made (Van der Voet, Kuipers and
Groeneveld, 2016).
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Step 3- Create a vision for change: Formulating a clear vision can help everyone understanding
that what organisation is trying to achieve within the agreed time limit. Leader must make a clear
vision about the goals of organisation and why they are necessary. It makes changes more
concrete and create support to implement them. Leaders should communicate with employees so
that better idea can be gathered which help in making a clear vision for organisation. As by
linking the adopted vision to strategies can help employees to achieve their goals. It must be sure
that the change made in the vision can be easily communicated to different departments in a
manner that can be easily understood by people. At this step core values are determined and
ultimate vision and strategies for realising a change in the organisation. As clear vision assist
employees in work in organisation and help in overall development of KEYRUS (Rich, 2016).
Step 4- Communicates the vision: This is the step in which vision made by leader of KEYRUS
is communicated to the employees. The vision is communicated to workers so that they
understand what are the objectives of firm and according to that employees has to work. At this
step when the vision is communicated the suggestion from the employees are also taken so that
the plan can be better made out. The new vision made by leader must be fully adopted across the
entire organisation. All task are communicated to workers so that they can understand better and
perform well on job. If they don't understand the task, employees are given training so that view
can perform well on job. Communication is must in organisation as when the plans are
effectively discussed with employees they can perform better and thus this impacts overall
productivity of the organisation (Li and et.al., 2016).
Step 5- Empowering action
This is the next phase of managing IT changes in Keyrus effectively. Firm is required to
implement the right action to minimise resistance of employees in effective manner. It should
ensure that people accept changes and work on it effectively. Hence there is required to remove
all the obstacles that create barrier in implementing changes in the workplace in significant
manner. Keyrus has to make great plan and have to remove such issues by encouraging people to
accept modification to contribute well in accomplishing goal of business unit. It would be
beneficial for Keyrus in implementing IT changes in the firm in appropriate manner and
managing such modification properly (Hussain and et.al., 2018).
Step-6 Creating short term Wins
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Managers of Keyrus is required to create short term vision, clear vision would help the
firm in giving correct direction to employees and making employees positive towards the
location. Due to IT changes people are in threat of losing job if they fail to perform their work
effectively, in such condition firm is required to create short term wins goal and have to give
rewards to workers so that they accept changes. If employees are aware with the changed process
and its benefit for them then they will be able to perform better which will support Keyrus in
minimising their resistance and getting their support to implement the new IT system in company
in effective manner (Al-Ali and et.al., 2017).
Step-7 Consolidate improvements
Whenever organisation plans to make some changes in the business unit, it assumes
victory soon. But sometimes many external factor create problem in getting desired results.
Changes are slow process, it takes time to get desired results, hence there is required to make
continuous improvement in the changing process so that such kind of sudden challenges can be
managed timely. Such kinds of improvements are helpful in improving credibility of the firm and
supports in making people positive. By this way they can work comfortably (Neves and Schyns,
2018).
Step-8 Make changed stick
Now at the end Keyrus’s management has to discuss with employee the successful stories
when they have implemented changes in the workplace. Mangers are required to ensure that
such modification work as integral part of organisation and people accept such changes
effectively. Leaders have to give their support to the employees so that they feel happy and
encouraged. Support of leaders and their motivation aids business unit in making employees
positive and making them ready to work better in the new changed atmosphere. Hence leaders of
Keyrus is required to involve employees in decision making process and have to take their
suggestion time to time. Such kinds of thing will help Keyrus in managing changes in significant
manner and getting desired results by implementing new information technology at workplace
(Arif, 2016).
RECOMMENDATION
Keyrus has decided to update their system and working process. So it is recommanded
that the leaders should adopt necessary measures for working. The company must make use of
latest technologies and various training programmes must be set by the management so that it
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becomes easy for employees to perform their activities. All plans made by the leader must be
communicated to the workers so that they feel value in the organisation and helps in raising their
morale, as employees are the only persons which play a key role in the working of organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is concluded that being an IT company it is necessary to upgrade
the systems as technology is been advance. Company has made plan to upgrade their system and
made initiative to improve the services which help in increasing their market share and retaining
customers for a longer time. Keeping up to date and provide better services helps the
organisation in facing market competition. The study also includes Kottar's model by which the
change will be easily implemented in KEYROS. The study focuses on team work as working in
team results in increasing productivity of the organisation.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Neves, P. and Schyns, B., 2018. With the bad comes what change? The interplay between
destructive leadership and organizational change. Journal of Change Management. 18(2).
pp.91-95.
Al-Ali, A.A. and et.al., 2017. Change management through leadership: the mediating role of
organizational culture. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. 25(4). pp.723-
739.
Hussain, S.T. and et.al., 2018. Kurt Lewin's change model: A critical review of the role of
leadership and employee involvement in organizational change. Journal of Innovation &
Knowledge. 3(3). pp.123-127.
Li, M. and et.al., 2016. Linking empowering leadership and change-oriented organizational
citizenship behavior: The role of thriving at work and autonomy orientation. Journal of
Organizational Change Management. 29(5). pp.732-750.
Rich, G.J., 2016. A cross-cultural perspective on creative leadership and change management: a
case study of the influence of Barack Obama's early years. International Journal of
Teaching and Case Studies. 7(1). pp.15-23.
Van der Voet, J., Kuipers, B.S. and Groeneveld, S., 2016. Implementing change in public
organizations: The relationship between leadership and affective commitment to change
in a public sector context. Public Management Review. 18(6). pp.842-865.
Van Rossum, L. and et.al., 2016. Lean healthcare from a change management perspective: the
role of leadership and workforce flexibility in an operating theatre. Journal of health
organization and management. 30(3). pp.475-493.
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Hao, M.J. and Yazdanifard, R., 2015. How effective leadership can facilitate change in
organizations through improvement and innovation. Global journal of management and
business research.
Binci, D., Cerruti, C. and Braganza, A., 2016. Do vertical and shared leadership need each other
in change management?. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 37(5).
pp.558-578.
Deschamps, C. and et.al., 2016. Transformational leadership and change: How leaders influence
their followers’ motivation through organizational justice. Journal of Healthcare
Management. 61(3). pp.194-213.
Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to
the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
van der Voet, J., 2016. Change leadership and public sector organizational change: Examining
the interactions of transformational leadership style and red tape. The American Review
of Public Administration. 46(6). pp.660-682.
Levene, F. and Higgs, M., 2018. Leadership and change implementation in a Russian context.
Journal of General Management. 44(1). pp.5-16.
Arif, S., 2016. Leadership for change: Proposed organizational development by incorporating
systems thinking and quality tools. Business Process Management Journal. 22(5).
pp.939-956.
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