MGMT 301: Change Management and Ethical Considerations Memo

This report analyzes a memo addressing the ethical considerations of change management within the Lakeland Wonders case study. The memo focuses on the principles of ethical change management, emphasizing mutual respect, informing employees of the need for change, and providing adequate training. It identifies resistance to change from senior managers, Mark Dawson and Barry Quince, and evaluates the response of CEO Cheryl Hailstrom. The report recommends strategies for managing resistance, including effective communication, fostering a sense of shared vision, empowering teams, and seeking input from existing management. The memo concludes by offering further information and opening the topic for discussion, underscoring the importance of a well-executed change management plan for achieving organizational goals.

Ethics of managing resistance
NAME OF STUDENT:
NAME OF COLLEGE:
AUTHORS NOTE:
Running head: MANAGEMENT OF CHNAGE
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Memo
To: Director, Lakeland Wonders
From: [Student name]
Date: February 6, 2019
Re: Change management and Managing Resistance to Change
Dear Sir,
I want to bring into your kind attention the principles of ethical change management
that can be applied in current situation inside Lakeland Wonders so as to manage changes and
resistances. I would also like to recommend some measures on managing resistance to change
in current case.
Principles of the Ethical Change Management:
The change which is proposed within Lakeland Wonders, though may be effective in
reaching the target which has been set by the board but the planned change is not receiving
buy-in from the higher management as they are resisting to the change due to lack of effective
change management principles and strategies in the organization. In order to resolve the
situation which is being experienced in Lakeland Wonders, principles of ethical change
management should be applied for management of change. As stated by Al-Haddad &
Kotnour (2015) the first and foremost change management principle which should be applied
to manage change in this case is to ensure that mutual respect is shown for each employee,
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which will help in ensuring that the change idea receives buy-in from the employees. As
opined by Eriksson & Anders (2018) it is very essential to respect the point of view of every
employee during organizational change which makes them feel valued and accordingly it
helps to receive buy-in from employees towards change.
As opined by Fireside (2014) another change management principle which should be
applied in order to manage change in this case is informing employees about the requirement
and benefits of change for Lakeland Wonders so that employees are clear on needs for change.
As opined by Girma & Gedifew (2018) during process of organizational change, it is observed
that employees tend to resist change due to concerns regarding job security and adaptability
and hence Lakeland Wonders must ensure that they inform and communicate employees
need for change which will help in addressing their fears. Also Lakeland Wonders should
ensure that they provide adequate training and development to the employees so that they
develop skills to adapt to changes in the organization.
Resistance to Change:
The two managers who were seen to resist the changes in Lakeland Wonders were
Mark Dawson, the Senior Vice President of Operations and Barry Quince, the Design Director
of Lakeland Wonders.
Mark Dawson was actively resisting change which was proposed to be implemented in
Lakeland Wonders as he felt that new change of off-shoring the manufacturing process, as
planned by Cheryl would disrupt the existing operations as well as would reduce existing
markets. Also Mark was concerned about impact of change on employees and over the
contract that was about to expire with Employee Union.
In addition, Barry Quince was also resistent to change as he perceived that it was
comfortable working with local design firm instead of working with large and reputed firms
such as Sampsen Design, in order to spearhead.
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Response of Cheryl Hailstrom:
The response of Cheryl towards Mark Dawson, was not appropriate in nature as Cheryl
should have respected his point of view, as Mark had spent more than 14 years in Lakeland
Wonders tackling various critical situations and overseeing the growth of the company and
though Cheryl was disappointed with his reaction and resistance to change but she should
have not disrespected his views. Rather Cheryl should have sought help from Mark for
resolving the issue by seeking his insights and intentions and should have motivated him by
letting him know how indispensable he would be for current change management.
Also response of Cheryl towards Barry was not justified as she should have informed
the need for change in design for the organizational products and deficiencies in current
designs so that Barry could have better understood need to get associated with eminent design
firms over local design firms.
Recommendations:
The measures which can be taken by Cheryl in order to manage the evident resistance
which has been identified in the case study are as follows:
As stated by Mari Anna & Geir (2017) Cheryl should firstly focus on
communicating her vision effectively to the higher management team of the company and
ensure that instead of using the word my vision, she should focus on using the word “our
vision” in order to develop a sense of belonging among the higher management team
regarding the new vision. As opined by Koprulu, Aksoy & Oznacar (2017) Cheryl should
focus on communicating the objectives of new vision to higher management team so as to
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gain their support and should also motivate and convince members that without their
support, Lakeland Wonders would fail to achieve desired vision.
Cheryl should appoint new employees in Lake Wonders such as Cecil and Pat to
achieve vision of expanding the company. At the same time she should pair the new
employees with existing employees like Mark and Barry and provide new team the
authority to guide the midmarket private-label development strategy and plans to avert the
impact of confusion amongst employees related to job cuts. Thus Cheryl can empower the
new team with authority to do whatever is required for improvement and attainment of
goals.
As stated by Shah (2016) Cheryl should seek ideas and views from her existing
higher management team regarding their priorities, hurdles and obstruction related to
accomplishment of new goals and the ways to address them. As stated by Jacobs (2016)
the priorities which would be named and listed by the team should be then put forward by
Cheryl for discussion and feedback and once the team members agree on one voice for
each identified issue, only then Cheryl in consultation with members must focus on
assigning individual responsibilities, on determining strategy to be followed and on setting
time frames.
I am looking forward to offer more information if needed in this case so that it
becomes easy to execute change as proposed in efficacious manner and even open for
further discussion.
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References
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: A
model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2),
234-262. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-11-2013-0215
Eriksson, Y., & Anders, F. (2018).Visual management for a dynamic strategic
change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 31(3), 712-727.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-05-2016-0103
Fireside, M. (2014). Change management in a non-profit sector of a for-profit industry: A
study of strategies used by credit union chief operations officers, chief executive officers, and
vice presidents. Business Premium Collection. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1525999382?accountid=30552
Girma, S. M., & Gedifew, M. T. (2018).Leading changes through adaptive design. Journal of
Organizational Change Management, 31(6), 1249-1270.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-10-2017-0379
Jacobs, D. (2016). Leadership behavior and change management strategy in CRM user
adoption in law firms. Business Premium Collection. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1822180784?accountid=30552
Koprulu, F., Aksoy, Y. U., & Oznacar, B. (2017).An analysis of preparatory school managers'
strategies for managing change. International Journal of Economic Perspectives, 11(1),
610-619. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1964555664?
accountid=30552
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Mari Anna, C. S., & Geir, K. H. (2017). Change your space, change your culture: Exploring
spatial change management strategies. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 19(2), 95-
110. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-07-2016-0024
Shah, I. V. (2016). Comparison of stakeholder management and change management factors
in managing successful versus unsuccessful it projects. Business Premium Collection.
Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1812961342?accountid=30552
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