Report on Change Management Strategies for Lakeland Wonders (MGT540)

This report examines the change management strategies implemented by Cheryl Hailstrom at Lakeland Wonders, a manufacturer of wooden toys. It assesses the appropriateness of her approach, considering the organizational context and potential gaps in her strategy. The report analyzes the nature of change, the reasons for the change, and evaluates Cheryl’s decisions in the context of the Lakeland Wonders case. The report also discusses the Van de Ven and Poole's framework, Burne's speed and scale framework, and Alvesson and Karreman's metaphors of change framework to suggest alternative approaches that Cheryl could have adopted. The analysis is supported by scholarly literature and aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of change management principles within the context of the case study.

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE
MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
Change management is a mandatory process of every organisation and it has to undergo the
process at some point. Organisations should accept the change in the right manner so that
there is no issue regarding the acceptance of the change. The report discusses about the
appropriateness of the change and whether Cheryl has taken the right decision for Lakeland
Wonders. It also discusses the gaps in the change followed by an alternative solution or
approach for the change management process.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
2. Appropriateness of the change approach...............................................................................3
3. Gaps of the change approach.................................................................................................4
4. Alternative approach..............................................................................................................5
5. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................6
6. References..............................................................................................................................7

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1. Introduction
Every organisation wants to initiate change which would help them to grow and
compete with other organisations. For this different strategies are designed by the
organisation by assessing the strength and capabilities that they possess. In the competitive
market, every manager and operations team should keep an open mind about initiating a
change in the organisation as it might help them to gain more than following the traditional
way. This paper would discuss about the change that has been initiated by Cheryl Hailstrom
and the extent to which it is appropriate for Lakeland Wonders (McNulty, 2002). Moreover,
the report will also discuss about any gaps that are present in the approach of change that has
been taken by her. The report will further suggest any alternative approach that could have
been applied in organisation by her.
2. Appropriateness of the change approach
Cheryl Hailstrom is the current CEO of Lakeland Wonders and has initiated a change
which she thinks is beneficial for the organisation to grow and compete with the other
organisations in the market. Cheryl wants to make huge improvements in the organisation to
show the way that work should be conducted in any organisation. Cheryl has devised a plan
to change management due to the problems that has arisen in achieving the target growth. She
wanted to make the change so that she could compete with the other organisations and
establish Lakeland Wonders in the market. The major objective of Cheryl was to venture into
offshore manufacturing so that they could enhance their target market and satisfy their clients
(Goetsch & Davis, 2014). However, the extent to which Cheryl wanted to utilize the change
management process was not being accepted by the other members of the organisation. She
faced quite a bit of resistance from the other high authority members of the organisation. This
mostly occurred as Cheryl did not take into consideration the opinion and the reactions of the

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employees of the organisation and how they would perceive the change. The change that
would be brought about in the organisation needs some time to be adapted by the employees
and the aggressive approach with which Cheryl has approached the change management
process makes it hard for the people of the organisation to accept it. Even though the change
that she has proposed might have been for the benefit of the organisation, however, her
coercive approach is one of the reasons for the denial from the other people of the
organisation (Vosniadou, 2013).
Cheryl would have to understand that the employees of Lakeland Wonders are not
used to the intense decisions that she has taken since her position as CEO and that they would
require a good amount of time to beat the old practices and learn new ones. In the same way
to completely be successful in the change, the employees of the organisation would have to
learn new skills that would help them to work in the favour of the new change. However,
Cheryl did not consider these important factors and wanted to initiate the change at a fast rate
thinking only about of the progress of the organisation without understanding that an
organisation is made up of employees. Therefore the change, even though beneficial for the
organisation, might not have been appropriate in terms of time that the change has been
proposed.
3. Gaps of the change approach
There were several gaps in the approach that was proposed by Cheryl. Firstly she did
not consider the viewpoints of the employees and did not communicate with them regarding
the change and forced it upon them. This was the major gap and it affected the decision of the
change process. She had a very autocratic approach which made a negative impact on the
deal (Kuipers et al., 2014). Another gap was that even though her plan was for the benefit of
the company to put it in competition with the other organisations, she was unable to access

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the capability of the other people who worked in the organisation and perceived them to have
the same competency as her. This was gain wrong since not everyone in the organisation
shared her zeal, strategic approach and competency to accept and initiate the change
management process.
4. Alternative approach
There are four alternative approaches which can be applied in this case. The first
approach can be Van de Ven and Poole’s framework of change 5. This approach has four
theories which are life-cycle theory, evolution, dialectic and teleology. Life cycle theory
states that change occurs in a sequential manner. Evolution is when change occurs through a
natural process present in a competitive environment. Dialectic is when change is initiated
through conflict and opposition. Teleology is when change is initiated through a goal and
consensus from parties. The second approach can be Burne’s speed and scale framework of
change 5 where change is a feature which is always present in an organisation and is
important in the long run. Organisational change is an important matter where high level of
managerial skill is required. Burne’s said that organisational change happens at the speed
which is needed to align with the change in the market scenario. The third approach is
Alvesson and Karreman’s metaphors of change framework. The framework suggest three
kinds of metaphors which are aligned with communication as a tool, socially constructed
process and social transformation. These communications are helpful in the change process in
every organisation. The last approach can be Allen Maguire and Mckelvey's organisational
complexity. The approach states that organisations are complex systems which needs go
interact dynamically with each other to initiate the change process and that they are not for a
long range. These four approaches can be used instead of the aggressive nature of change that
Chery has otherwise adopted. These alternative approaches could be used in a much better
way for the change management process that Cheryl wants to adopt in the organisation.

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5. Conclusion
Hence, it can be said that change is required in any organisation for their betterment
and progress. However, every change must be in the sync with the operational technique of
the organisation and not all changes can be accepted by all organisations. This should be
clearly determined before any change is proposed or initiated otherwise it would lead to grave
loss for the organisation. Moreover, the support of the people of the organisation should also
be behind every change to have a clear acceptance.

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6. References
Garud, R., Tuertscher, P., & Van de Ven, A. H. (2013). Perspectives on innovation
processes. Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 775-819.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Kuipers, B. S., Higgs, M., Kickert, W., Tummers, L., Grandia, J., & Van der Voet, J. (2014).
The management of change in public organizations: A literature review. Public
administration, 92(1), 1-20.
Vosniadou, S. (2013). Conceptual change research: an introduction. In International
handbook of research on conceptual change (pp. 13-20). Routledge.
McNulty, E. (2002). Welcome Aboard (But Don’t Change a Thing). Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2002/10/welcome-aboard-but-dont-change-a-thing.