What is Boyer’s organizational objective for this change effort?
Philip Boyer is the president and CEO of Celeritas, Inc. The primary organizational objective of Boyer is to re-organize the teamwork in the company to enhance revenues and growth. Celeritas, once being a leading company in the enterprise network optimization industry, faces the problem of a rapid loss of income and lowered growth. The company seems to have insufficient capacity to remain its competitiveness among other companies.
It is also important to note that Celeritas, Inc. has entered a new sphere of cloud computing. Cloud computing is one of the most developing areas nowadays. It provides services for virtual storage of data that can be accessed by all members of the company easily and quickly. Celeritas, Inc. does not have good indices in this aspect too. Even more, it is the last among the six largest organizations that are engaged in the sphere. Consequently, Philip Boyer is not satisfied with such performance.
CEO believes a company is facing problems such as low morale among employees, improper cooperation, and high turnover of employees. According to Boyer, these are the most urgent issues that should be addressed as soon as possible. However, the central aim of Philip Boyer is to promote the successful impetus for the company’s further growth in the industry. That is why Boyer invites the organizational consultant Carla Reese to work with his team of Senior Vice Presidents. The primary objective of Reese is to evaluate the situation within the team and promote any necessary changes. These changes should become a starting point for the company’s improvement.
In contrast, what do you think should have been the organizational objective?
In my opinion, Boyer’s intentions are positive for the company. He believes that there is a need to promote the teamwork on various levels of the enterprise. He tells Reese that he is ready to implement all necessary changes to create a good working environment. Nevertheless, I consider that Boyer’s plans for change should be broader. The first thing to evaluate is that Celeritas, Inc. has entered a new highly competitive sphere of cloud computing.
It is stated that the company is the worst among other leaders in the area. Philip Boyer must conduct a profound analysis of the company’s potential competitiveness in the area. It is also necessary to find primary reasons for loss of growth. Boyer makes assumptions without any investigations of issues. Such an approach to defining objective is unacceptable for the successful development of the company. Thus, the initial organizational objectives should concern the examination of the current state of the business and the implementation of better strategic planning.
Also, I find that Boyer should have shifted the priorities. He is eager to change work in the company as soon as possible to increase growth. The priority should be to implement a successful change management strategy with an emphasis on teamwork.
Critique the performance of Boyer and Reese using the change management process model.
Boyer and Reese fail to use the first steps of the change management model. Reese, as a specialist in the sphere, should have given Boyer guidance concerning the proper management of changes within the company. According to the case study, Boyer has decided that the problem is in low morale and lack of cooperation. He also directs Reese’s works towards SVPs. Carla Reese commences the creation of the plan for intervention without doubting Boyer’s statements.
Their first step is planning the intervention. Thus, both Reese and Boyer fail to form a coalition and create dissatisfaction. It seems that Reese starts from the third stage. It includes the research of the organizational issues involved. However, this step is not conducted with maximum efficiency as well. The research includes interviews with each of five SVPs. Reese performs the fourth step by identifying the four most urgent issues that should be addressed at the executive offsite. The fifth step is rather broad and not clear. Reese and Boyer aim at improving teamwork, but there is no exact direction concerning redesign. The sixth step is to have an honest and frank discussion among all SVPs.
This step presupposes the planning of the changes that should be implemented. One discussion of all problems cannot be considered as a plan for organizational change. It should be regarded as the starting point for further changes. However, Reese and Boyer seem to believe that two-day “Executive Offsite” is a direct way to changes. “Executive Office” is a kind of intervention. Thus, SVPs are engaged in the discussion, and they express their opinions openly and freely. During the second day of offsite, Boyer finds the intervention plan to be successful. Finally, Reese and Boyer do not execute the eighth step of the plan. No evaluation and embedded learning follow the intervention. It seems the Vice Presidents conduct the last step of the change management process model although in rather a negative manner.
What organizational components were most relevant to diagnose in this change effort?
I consider that strategy, leadership, and management practices are the three most relevant organizational components to the case. A strategy is appropriate as far as it is directly connected with the implementation of changes. Even more, the change management process depends on the strategy of the company. It is necessary to evaluate the peculiarities of strategy and strategic planning, in particular, to assess current problems and further suggestions for changes.
Thus, it turns out that Boyer does not engage others in strategic planning. Leadership is a necessary component as well because it is crucial for organizational change. In the case under consideration, Boyer’s leadership approach is directive although participative leadership is advisable for change management. Boyer prefers making all decisions on his own, and it demotivates others to participate and produce valuable ideas. The evaluation of management practices is important for further changes. It describes future challenges as far as many SVPs do not have relevant experience in management.
Assess Reese’s performance in planning and conducting the “Executive Offsite”.
Reese’s planning commences with a discussion of problems with the CEO.
According to the case study, Reese follows Boyer’s guidance without gaining any additional information. Reese’s performance during the interview is efficient as far as she manages to identify the most significant concerns of all SVPs. In my opinion, the process of “Executive Offsite” could have been conducted better. She creates a feeling of hostility among SVPs. Although the next day seems to be productive, I believe that SVPs avoid speaking on the same issues again and prefer joking. Finally, Reese does not evaluate the results of the “Executive Offsite”. There is no professional feedback. In my opinion, this approach will not bring useful results.