MGT540 Case Study: Ethical Management of Resistance to Change Process

This case study analyzes resistance to change within Lakeland Wonders, focusing on the conflict between the new CEO, Cheryl Hailstrom, and the Senior VP of Operations, Mark Dawson. It identifies the manager's resistance stemming from a lack of community purpose, compromised values, and poor...Read More

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE 1
Management of Change
Student’s Name
University

MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE 2
MEMORANDUM
DATE:
TO: CHERYL HAILSTROM
FROM: NAME
SUBJECT: CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Introduction
Organization change is one of the challenges that management has to deal. Boonstr
(2004) states that change can be evolutionary or revolutionary and therefore if organizations
cannot be affected by revolutionat change, then they need to prepare for evolutionary. The case is
a revolutionary change which is induced by an individual. This memo gives an overview on how
to manage the change process and offers recommendations for the CEO.
How the manager is resisting change
The community purpose of change principle is based on relational approaches of building
consensus from different groups in the organization. Without seeing a common purpose that the
change process achieves, people may resist change since they feel it does not benefit them in any
way. The manager is resisting change due to his ability stick to the way things used to be done in
the organization. When you came onboard, she is proposing new ways that the manager believes
will compromise the business operations due to the fear of the unknown (McNulty, 2009). The
dialogic and social construction approach allows people to develop relational approaches for
change through a community purpose. Organization theorists argue that most change is resisted
because people prefer to maintain the equilibrium in the organization by keeping what they are
familiar with (Choi, Holmberg, Lowstedt, & Brommels, 2011; Dobosz-Bourne & Jankowicz,
2006). From Kotter’s model of organizational change, businesses can only change if they have a
sense of urgency which the manager does not see in the case.

MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE 3
In addition to that the values principle guides organizational processes and creates certain
expectations in employees on how they approach issues in the future. The manager is resisting
change because he also believes that the new changes are against their value and the challenges
of manufacturing across the border will be in conflict with organizational culture. When the
values that employees believe in are compromised or not observed, then there may be resistance
to the change process. When the change process does not respect the values principle of the
organization, then rational resistance is justified since it seeks to restore the existing conditions in
the organization. This is rational resistance which looks at the benefits and the risks that the new
process will bring to the organization (Ford, Ford, & D’Amelio, 2008). According to Mark,
manufacturing across borders will compromise employee issues and spark new challenges with
the union. Since the union negotiations are due in nine months.
Lastly, the manager is resisting change due to poor communication strategies between
you and other management teams in the organization. The community purpose principle of
change allows members to understand the benefits from any change process and how such needs
can be met. Communication creates understanding and harmony during the transition process
since it allows people to understand the changes that are taking place in the organization
(Pettigrew, Woodman, & Cameron, 2001). In the case of this change process, there are
communication issues since Cheryl is on a change process because that is what the new
shareholders want but the change itself has not been communicated well to the team. This is the
reason why there is uncertainty in the likes of Mark who believe it is wrong (McNulty, 2009). On
the other hand, other parties to the organization like the employee union and the board of
directors have not been informed of the new change process which proves tricky for the
organization.

MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE 4
Critique of Cheryl Hailstorm response towards the manager
One way that you are responding to the resistance to change is trying to consolidate
support from other employees by justifying why the change is needed. One way to convince
employees and management in an organization is justifying why the change is needed. A systems
approach to management recognizes different systems that have to work in harmony to achieve
any change process. However, this process is not yielding the expected results since Cheryl has a
formed opinion on how the change process needs to take place. To others like Mark, involving
them is only a formality since there is already a formed opinion on how the new change process
will impact the organization. From Lewin’s force-field analysis, change can only occur when
there is a consensus in the organization or when the resisting forces decrease.
Further, you are also responding to the change process by presenting the new business
proposal to management but wants to avoid a board vote by all means. This is due to poor
communication between her and other management teams which is important in decision
making. Further, she is limiting the change planning circle to a smaller number of people to
ensure that the proposal is accepted. This is seen by the fact that the board of directors and union
representatives have not been informed but form a crucial part of the change process.
Recommendations
According to Lawrence (2009), the first recommendation that you can take is to establish
open communication channels that allow communication between different levels of the
organization. From the community purpose principle, proper communication allows the leader to
relay the any information on how the organization will benefit from the change process and
reassures them of status quo and stability in the work place.This will allow the new business
process to be discussed at all levels and allow the recommendations to come from within. This is

MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE 5
an ownership strategy that ensures all levels of management are included in the change process
to reduce tension between the CEO and other members of the management team. For Lewin, this
will reduce the resisting forces thus creating room for change (Watson, 2009). Good leaders are
situational leaders who are able to realize the potential of their followers and unite these abilities
to form a team that speaks one language. Through improved communication, organizational
dynamics will be reduced making it easy. Burnes, (1996) suggests that there is no good change
but rather all chnages in the organization must be analysed and assesed to ensure the meet the
needs of the organization. This means that she is not supposed to make any changes rather use
the participatory achieve to develop new strategies for meeting organizational targets to increase
ownership and collaboration.
Secondly, the CEO also needs to identify the obstacles to change and address them before
moving on. From the community purpose principle, different groups in the organization have
rational reasons as to why they accept or resist change. Thus relational approaches to change
need to be used to validate the change process in the organization. The rational reasons fronted
by the manager are valid and need to be analyzed so that all factors can be considered before the
decision is made (Thomas & Hardy, 2011). This reduces tension between her and the rest of the
team and the same time any chances of sabotage that may occur. Further, the fact that she is
having challenges with the current team means that there are issues that need to be ironed within
the management team before any new strategy is developed.
Lastly, establishing personal relationships with each member of the team can improve the
uptake of business decisions. From the values principle, employee’s expectations need to be
affirmed so that they can support the change process. Therefore, you need to establish rapport
with the team and explain to each member her leadership strategy so that they can all understand

MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE 6
her leadership style and find ways of supporting her through the transition. This process
improves coordination since members will understand the approach of the CEO and in case there
are any clarifications, then they can be sought outside the meeting (Kotter, 1995). Unlike in the
case where the CEO and the manager are exchanging in a meeting, such issues need to be ironed
out before the meeting.
Therefore, I believe that these recommendations can be helpful in addressing the
challenges and resistance to change from the manager and any other issue that may arise in
future. Resistance to change is normal and requires proper handling to make the team appreciate
the importance and the benefits that the change will bring to the organization.

MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE 7
References
Boonstra, J. J. (2004). Dynamics of organizational change and learning. Chichester: Wiley.
Burnes, B. (1996). No such thing as … a ‘one best way’ to manage organizational change.
Management Decision, 34(10), 11-18.
Choi, S., Holmberg, I., Lowstedt, J., & Brommels, M. (2011). Executive management in radical
change — the case of the Karolinska University Hospital merger. Scandinavian Journal
of Management,, 27, 11-23.
Dobosz-Bourne, D., & Jankowicz, A. D. (2006). Reframing resistance to change: Experience
from General Motors Poland. International Journal of Human Resource Management,
17, 2021—2034.
Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W., & D’Amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to change: The rest of the story.
Academy of Management Review, 33, 362-377.
Kotter, J. (1995). Leading change: Why transformational efforts fail. 73(2), 59–67.
Lawrence, P. R. (2009, May). How to deal with resistance to change . Havard Business Review.
McNulty, E. (2009). Welcome Aboard (But Don't Change a Thing. Havard Business Review, pp.
33-40.
Pettigrew, A. M., Woodman, R. W., & Cameron, K. S. (2001). Studying organizational change
and development: Challenges for future research. Academy of Management Journal,
44(4), 697–713.
Thomas, R., & Hardy, C. (2011). Reframing resistance to organizational change. Scandinavian
Journal of Management, 27, 322-331.
Watson, T. J. (2009). Narrative, life story and manager identity. Human Relations, 63(3), 425-
4532.