Week 19

WEEK 19 – LEARNING JOURNAL

How can using the Change Kaleidoscope and Force-field analysis help an organization to deliver its intended strategy?

Change Kaleidoscope Model

Change Kaleidoscope is a model used to deal with projected changes and strategy which was developed by Hope Hailey and Balogan. Its main feature is that it deals with current situations and competencies which have to be considered by every organization in order to implement any kind of strategy. The model gets the detail regarding factors involving the change with the help of set of inter-related questions. The contextual features of kaleidoscope can be used to answer following questions in an organization concerning the available internal resources, corporate culture, values, norms and much more. Only after analyzing the answers and making any changes related to the factors if needed, the intended strategy can be delivered. (Balogun and Hailey).

Force-Field Analysis

Force-field analysis is a tool which is used to indentify and evaluate forces and factors that are for and against an intended change or strategy. Most of the corporations use this change management tool. Some forces of change like employee’s attitude, relationships, available resources, costs, desires, regulations, etc are to be considered within an organization. This can be used for two purposes. They are: first, it helps to decide whether or not to implement the intended strategy and second, successfully implement the strategy by strengthening the forces that are for the strategy and weakening the forces those are against. For this, forces of change must be identified and analyzed without any mistake so that desired change is achieved and strategy is implemented successfully. (Sarah Pavay, 2011)

Use the Change Kaleidoscope to describe and analyse the change context at Hewlett-Packard at the time of Meg Whitman’s arrival in September 2011.

Use of Change Kaleidoscope to describe and analyze the change context at Hewlett-Packard at the time of Meg Whitman’s arrival in September 2011.

Times: HP used to be one of the innovative and renowned information technology corporation years back. But the company is in some sort of devastation in recent years due to lack of unity, ownership feelings among the employees and a planned direction to success. This as a result has led the company to some sort of failure. For instance, the sales of the company have decreased by 19% in 2011 in comparison to the previous year. Also the market share of the company has reduced. Thus due to these reasons the change basically in the internal structure and culture of the company is very urgent in order to get the company back in track and make it functional and productive. The longer it takes to undertake the change, the harder it will be for the company to get back its lost image.

Scope: The changes to be implemented as per the current situation are not very big and hard to achieve, however, it is very necessary. The company needs to focus on changing the current culture, values, norms and coordination problems between the employees and the leaders as well as some re-construction and renovation of the buildings and facilities of the company. It is must and wise to achieve these changes before working on the the long term plans, policies and strategies.

Preservation:  Employee autonomy is what needs to be protected at this time. Else this everything internal from working environment to employees’ attitude needs to be changed along with the change.

Diversity: The staffs and professional groups at HP are to some extend diversified in terms of values, norms and attitude. The employee-leader relationships are not very good as well as the leaders at the top position are do not feel comfortable working together. For instance, the directors lay blame on each other for dishonesty and lying.

Capability: The 75 years old company has a very good IT, communication and data base management. Also the engineers and other employees are highly qualified. However, the overall management should be made better so that the employees can give their 100% and work creatively. There is also a need of good and effective leadership so that the organization as a whole can be directed to the desired change.

Capacity: The Company has no much time but they have plenty of cash from the revenues earned as well as people who are highly qualified. The combined effort of everyone from all levels will be required and if they are committed to work on the change, the outcomes are definitely going to be as expected.

Readiness for change: The employees do not seem very motivated and ready to accept and implement the change though they are aware of the change. They need to be self-motivated because it is for their betterment and the company as a whole.

Power: The power is vested with the top management and the heads of the company. However, the latitude of discretion is very high among the employees who needing to change but comparatively low among the heads specifically the directors of the company.

References:

1.  Change Kaleidoscope  Available at<http://www.proworkproject.com/prowork/change-kaleidoscope.html> [ Accessed on 30/11/2013]

2. Force field analysis-Analyzing the pressure for and against the change  available at <http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htm> [Accessed on 30/11/2013]

3. Force field analysis and diagram- Kurt Lewin Available at: < http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_lewin_force_field_analysis.html > [Accessed on 30/11/2013]

4. Hewlett-Packard company  Available at< http://www.answers.com/topic/hewlett-packard-company> [Accessed on 30/11/2013]

5. How Hewlett-Packard lost its way  Available at< http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/08/500-hp-apotheker/> [Accessed on 30/11/2013]

6. Expect HP revenue growth in 2014  Available at: <http://www.cnbc.com/id/100484758 > [Accessed on 30/11/ 2013]