Managing behavior in organizations, 6th edition, by, Jerald Greenberg Chapter 14, page 464 Self-Assessment Exercise Developing a Strategic Plan Developing a strategic plan is not an easy matter. In fact, doing it right requires a great deal of information and lots of practice. This exercise will give you a feel for some of the challenges involved in developing such a plan. Directions 1. Suppose that you are the president of a small software development firm that has for years sold a utility that adds functionality to the operating system used in most computers. Now, you suddenly face a serious problem: Microsoft has changed its operating system such that your product no longer serves any purpose. 2. Using the ten steps outlined in Figure 14.9 (on p. 448), develop a strategic plan to keep your company alive. Make any assumptions you need to develop your plan and state them in the process of describing it. Discussion Questions 1. How easy or difficult was it for you to develop this strategic plan? What would have made the process easier or more effective? 2. Which of the ten steps do you imagine would be easiest to implement? Which do you think would be most challenging? Explain your answers. 3. What special challenges, if any, would the employees of your company face as they attempted to implement this plan? How would you attempt to overcome these challenges? Group Exercise Recognizing Impediments to Change—and How to Overcome Them To confront the reality of organizational change, one of the most fundamental steps involves recognizing the barriers to change. Then, once these impediments have been identified, consideration can be given to ways of overcoming them. This exercise is designed to help you practice thinking along these lines while working in groups. Directions 1. Divide the class into groups of approximately six and gather each group in a circle. 2. All groups should consider each of the following situations. o Situation A. A large hospital is doing away with keeping patients’ records on charts, or even on computers rolled around on carts. Now, doctors and nurses are being issued handheld, tablet computers on which they access the information they need, record new information, and even attach devices that allow them to record patients’ vital signs. o Situation B. A very popular employee who’s been with the company for many years is retiring. He will be replaced by a completely new employee from the outside, whom no one has met before. 3. For each situation, discuss three major impediments to change. 4. Identify a way of overcoming each of these impediments. 5. Have someone from the group record the answers and present them to the class for a discussion session. Discussion Questions 1. For each of the situations, were the impediments to change similar or different? 2. Were the ways of overcoming the impediments similar or different? 3. How might the nature of the situation confronted dictate the types of change barriers confronted and the ease with which these may be overcome? Notes Making the Case Notes Campbell Soup Company. (2012) About us: The world’s leading maker of soup. http://www.campbellsoup.com/Resources/AboutUs. When Campbell was in the soup. (2010, March 4). Gallup Management Journal. http://gmj.gallup.com/content/126278/Campbell-Soup.aspx. Saving Campbell Soup Company. (2010, February 11). Gallup Management Journal. http://gmj.gallup.com/content/125687/Saving-Campbell-Soup-Company.aspx. Campbell’s Soup Company. (2010). Our company: Executive team. http://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/bio_conant.asp. Chapter Notes 1 Burke, W. W. (2011). Organizational change: Theory and practice (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Dawson, P. (2004). Understanding organizational change: The contemporary experience of people at work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Sherman, S. (1993, December 13). How will we live with the tumult? Fortune, pp. 123–125. 2 McKinsey & Company. (2006, April). An executive take on the top business trends: A McKinsey Global Survey. McKinsey Quarterly. https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/An_executive_take_on_the_top_business_trends__A_McKinsey_Global_Survey_1754 3Haveman, H. A. (1992). Between a rock and a hard place: Organizational change and performance under conditions of fundamental environmental transformation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 48–75. 4 Smith, D. (1998, May). Invigorating change initiatives. Management Review, pp. 45–48. 5 Senior, B., &Swailes, S. (2011). Organizational change (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Nystrom, P. C., & Starbuck, W. H. (1984, Spring). To avoid organizational crises, unlearn. Organizational Dynamics, 44–60. 6Kanter, R. M. (1991, May–June). Transcending business boundaries: 12,000 world managers view change. Harvard Business Review, pp. 151–164. (Greenberg 464-465) Greenberg, Jerald. Managing Behavior in Organizations, 6th Edition. Pearson, 20130712. VitalBook file. The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy before use.