Overview
Sea Treasures has been operational for approximately 50 years now. Despite the success that the company has been enjoying over time, the changing operating environment has negatively affected its performance by reducing its sales and market share to a point where the firm wants to close down. However, as the sales and marketing director, I have come up with an innovative and creative idea of rejuvenating the sales of the company in the short term and in the long term. I will utilize Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model to achieve the short-term goals and Lewin’s change management model to realize the long-term goals.
Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model
The main challenge that Sea Treasures is facing is marketing its products to the right target market and using the right approach. To overcome this obstacle, I will develop an online website that will showcase Sea Treasures products. To ensure that this website has a maximum reach of the targeted audience, I will partner up with already established online companies that deal with aquatic products and already have developed a strong brand name in the online community. During the first six months of this operation, I plan to advertise and sell a large inventory of aquarium decorating items that the firm currently has in stock.
With this background, it is evident that Kotter’s 8-Step Change model will be the most effective tool to use to realize the short-term goals of the firm and also to overcome issues such as strong employee resistance, application of new technology, and selection of shipping methods. The first step involves the creation of urgency to the change process (Kotter 3). This is achieved by explaining to the company’s stakeholders the threats and opportunities the company is currently facing. As a result, they will embrace the need of change hence increasing the overall chances of success through the formation of a powerful coalition (step 2) and development of a strong vision and mission (step 3) that should be frequently communicated to all stakeholders (step 4).
At this point, it is critical to identify and eliminate any obstacles that might be present within the organization (step 5) (Gupta 146). An analysis of the organizational structure and operating environment will be critical. This should be followed by the development of short-term goals (step 6) that will direct the anticipated performance and outcomes. Finally, the firm should build on the change (step 7) that is already in process by working on improving its operations and embracing new ideas. The final step of this model involves the development of a corporate culture from the change outcomes to determine the values of the firm (Schermerhorn 18).
Lewin’s Change Management Model
Once the short-term changes have been put in place and the set goals achieved, it is necessary to implement long-term changes to ensure sustainability of operations (Campbell 26; Henderson 188). In this respect, Sea Treasures will increase its product portfolio on its online website to include products such as tropical fish and sea turtles (live sea creatures). Thus, the firm will want to achieve cultural changes, organizational changes, and individual changes with the help of Lewin’s Change Model. The unfreeze stage is the first step that prepares the organization that change is necessary for the operation of the firm (Schein 34).
In this respect, any status quo should be broken and the firm should develop new operational approaches that are consistent to the firm’s new way of operation. The change stage entails the implementation of the new operational approaches. In this case, the firm will embark on the sale of sea decorations and sea creatures using its new online platform. Refreeze is the final stage of this model and is usually used to describe that moment where the firms operations, job description, and product sales have stabilized. Thus, with these two sets of change management models, Sea Treasures will stand a high change of being profitable and sustainable in the short run and in the long run.
Works Cited
Campbell, Richard. “Change management in health care.” Health Care Management 27.1 (2008): 23-39. Print.
Gupta, Singh. “Leading innovation change-the Kotter way.” International Journal of Innovation Science 3.1 (2001): 141-149. Print.
Henderson, George. “Transformative learning as a condition for transformational change in organizations.” Human Resource Development Review 1.4 (2001): 186-214. Print.
Kotter, John. “Leading change: why transformation efforts fail.” Harvard Business Review Best of HBR 35.1 (2007): 1-10. Print.
Schein, Edgar. “Kurt Lewin’s change theory in the field and in the classroom: notes towards a model of management learning.” Systems Practice 9.1 (1996): 27-47. Print
Schermerhorn, John. Organizational Behavior, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 2011, Print.