Problem Identification
In organizations, development of models and plans facilitates the achievement of objectives through scientific approaches. Stanislaus Military Academy seeks to roll out a plan that will oversee the training of Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (MCJROTC). Through the plan, the institution aspires to develop informed and outstanding citizens in cadets.
The program also seeks to develop the trainee’s leadership skills by strengthening their character and comprehending the fundamental aspects of the national security. Through the training, the military academy will help in the formation of self-disciplined individuals who will not only be in a position to develop respect for the authority in a liberal society but also understand the factors that underpin the constituted authority in the American society.
Stanislaus Military Academy faces challenges in implementing the program that will see the cadets receive the training in line with the articulations of the constitution. With its main objectives being to instill virtues of discipline, respect, courage, commitment and honor among the cadets, the organization has apparent challenges in the achievement of these ends.
The institution should be in a position to conduct impeccable training by identifying the challenges and implement the proposed changes in the organization (Michael, DiPaola & Wayne, 2008). Notwithstanding the problems that the organization is facing, it has been in a position to solve real problems affecting the youth by developing their skills and forming their character in line with the needs of the country and dynamic American society.
Nonetheless, identification process and lack of consent by parents has been in the forefront in impeding the organization’s ability to adopt necessary changes. Therefore, the main problem affecting the organization is the apparent lack of responsiveness to the needs of the young people and society. Addressing the needs will lead to improvement in the training process and achievement of desirable outcomes.
Research theories related to the problem
From the outset, Stanislaus Military Academy is categorical that it does not aim at training the young people as an entry point to a military career. It recruits young people in 9th grade through 12th grade. The young people stand a chance to learn in an environment that has high-level discipline and that which emphasizes on character modeling and high academic performance.
While we consider that that the institution is able to train cadets, it is a necessity that the academy be in a position to engage cadets in matters relating to training and have them understand the content and ways that the training can address their pertinent issues. To that end, it is imperative to consider the cadets as active learners and not just mere recipients of the training content (Michael et al., 2008).
Involvement of young people and cadets in the training activities facilitates the achievement of objectives since they comprehend the expectations of the society, institution and the community. According to cognitive and learning theorists, it is of fundamental importance to ensure that learners comprehend what the trainers expect from them (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2007).
This draws them closer to the main theme of the learning, which in turn arouses curiosity for them to perform to the expectations of the training. Therefore, the institute ought to equip the potential cadets with information on the content of the program instead of introducing new methodologies to them upon enrollment.
To equip the cadets with the information prior to the enrollment procedure, the organization ought to ensure it embraces changes to meet this demand. According to Buchanan & Huczynski (2007), there is the need to enhance institutional responsiveness to the process of change. The rationale is that numerous people rarely accept changes and is upon the change agents to convince the stakeholders on the necessity of changes.
In this respect, the staff at the military academy should be in a position to explain to all people that the changes that it is implementing are long overdue and are aimed at increasing the organization’s ability to achieve its goals (Michael et al., 2008). In addition, it is important for the change agents to expect resistance to change since many people have emotional attachment with the status quo.
During the recruitment process of the cadets, the institute ought to be aware that the youths require cognitive development. This will enable them to attain professional progression and self-development. Michael et al. (2008) say that cadets’ skills development is largely dependent on the amount of time that the trainers use to develop the cadets’ academic needs.
This allows them the ability to bring out innovation and creativity in dealing with life situations and particularly, in military academy. To achieve these ends, the academy should have measurable results and monitor the progress of the changes and objectives.
Hoy & Hoy (2009) argue that evaluation and monitoring approaches that assess the skills development among the cadets are appropriate in highlighting the ‘real’ achievement rather than theoretical comprehension of the skills. This will enhance the ability to make important real life decisions and attain problem-solving skills. Better still, the academy will be in a position to nurture a holistic individual who will not only suit the military but also in other careers.
It is essential to design a learning context that depicts the aspirations and expectations of the society. The society constitutes a high-level stakeholder of the military academy and as such, it should influence the learning environment of the cadets. To achieve this ends, the institute ought to ensure that the content and the environment it designs should be in a position to solve problems and address community needs.
Indeed, cognitive theorists argue that any learning experience ought to have the objective of solving problems and imparting suffice knowledge on the trainees (Hoy & Hoy, 2009). Stanislaus Military Academy will therefore be in a position to have many community members of the county seeking to get training from the institute owing to improved ability of graduate cadets to solve community, social and personal problems.
Stanislaus Military Academy should focus on challenges and embrace the appropriate corrections. This should start right from the recruitment and selection of potential cadets. Theorists assert that recruitment process is vital for identifying the right candidates for the position (Hoy & Hoy, 2009). It should transcend the few aspects that are mandatory for qualification and pay focus to social background of the cadets.
The rationale is that socialization process influence people differently and affects the patterns of interaction and knowledge acquisition. The Senior Military Instructor (SMI) ought to utilize the skills of recruitment in order to have a cohesive and an objective group of trainees who also share same goals and expectations.
This should begin by informing them on what the program entails and what it may be able to solve both in the short term and in the long term. This will be a good start that the cadets can evaluate the importance of the program and consequently be able to manage their expectations.
Measurable objectives related to the problem
For a development plan to be effective, it ought to have measurable goals that will act as indicators of the progress or failure that organization has made. To assess the problems, there is also the need to assume empirical approaches to have the information on the current problems that the institute faces.
First, the implementation of MCJROTC should be measurable through the responsiveness of the organization to the program. The instructors should be in a position to observe the differences that the students have made in terms of improving their leadership skills, respect, honor, courage, discipline and commitment.
Michael et al. (2008) point out that the comprehension of the content of the training is an indicator of the goals that the organization seeks to achieve. Hence, a needs analysis, implementation and evaluation of the program should be backed by sound research and problem identification process.
Second, the organization should have a consistent method of measuring the achievement of its goal of enhancing responsiveness to the community needs and expectations. Through the implementation of the changes, the military academy should be in a position to assess the expectations of the community and design its training in line with the community needs (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2007). This starts with assessing the community needs, which should reflect the training objectives.
The rationale is that Stanislaus County has expectations of the academy to form characters within the society who will be able to steer development within the context of the community. It is imperative to ensure that the organization has a scientific method of measuring the levels to which the program has met the needs of the community and their expectations.
Third, the organization ought to enhance its measurable objectives of ensuring that the organization is in line with its aspirations of recruiting young, motivated and informed cadets. The recruited cadets should meet the set criterion and ensure that the organization is able to achieve its goals of equipping them with the requisite leadership skills to mention but one aspect.
ability to recruit cadets from secondary schools having the right attitude and basic requirement procedure should be a measurable indicator of the progress that the organization has made (Hoy & Hoy, 2009). Besides, the level of suspensions of cadets also serves as an indicator of the underlying problem of recruitment. This is imperative in ensuring that the changes that the organization will be implementing will be evaluated in comparison with the goal.
Participants and change agents
Any success in the process of change comes about owing to the ability of involving all stakeholders of the military academy. Buchanan & Huczynski (2007) pinpoint that the most important participant in the process of organizational change will be the community. The community ought to provide the institute with a framework of the training program shaped by their expectations. This is in lieu of the fact the society will be in a position to evaluate the cadets after their graduation.
The individual they see from the institute ought to be able to solve community problems and address the apparent needs in the community. The graduates should add value to the lives of other societal members after the training. They should also be in a position to take up leadership roles available in the community and exercise their skills to inspire change and development within the community.
Second, the military academy should be able to involve all the internal stakeholders of the organization in rallying them to embrace change. Organizations are able to achieve success by ensuring that the employees, instructors and the heads of the academy comprehend the need for organizational development that is only achievable through the change process. According to Hoy & Hoy (2009), the internal stakeholders of an organization make up a group that has high influence on the implementation of changes.
The ability to reduce the ever-present resistance to change reflects high skills of the change agents to institute new ways of operating. Further, it is important to involve all the cadets who are the primary beneficiaries of the military training. The organization should adopt alternative methods of imparting leadership skills on an individual and involve the trainees in the development of the content with an aim of achieving even more improved outcomes (Michael et al., 2008).
The cadets ought to have full information regarding the objectives of the training and expectations of the instructors and the community. Lack of involvement of the cadets could result to impaired skills development and shift in the organization’s goals.
Other stakeholders include both the federal and state governments whose influence is apparent. The military academy operates with the laws entrenched in the constitution and adopted by state authorities. Implementing far-reaching changes will therefore imply that the organization ought to be in line with the laws that govern the military training.
Besides, the state and federal government remain the major oversight bodies mandated to ensure that the process of MCJROTC achieves the national goals and is in line with the government’s expectations. In addition, it is important to notice that the government formulates policies and rules that provides the schools with a framework to offer military training. Hoy & Hoy (2009) say that the change agents should be wary of a plan that distances the academy from the goals of the federal and state governments.
Finally, the change agents will include the instructors and heads of departments who have the mandate to inspire the process of change and improvement. Chester & Thomson (2003) explain that the change agents should motivate others to work together to improve the outcomes of the academy. They should also be in a position to employ their leadership skills and styles to achieve the objective with success.
Problem Diagnosis
The current problem within the academy should draw inspiration from continuous process of evaluation and assessment. This implies that the organization should evaluate the achievement regularly and possibly after very semester.
This is important since it provides a platform through which the change agents are able to make necessary changes and draw the academy closer to achievement of the goals. This is in terms of the implementation of training problem that helps the cadets to solve real life problems and improve the community welfare.
The assessment process for the entire four years since the recruitment of the cadets should draw comparison from the current situation. The disparity that exists between the aspired position and the current situation ought to reduce as the implementation of the changes gains momentum. This is in terms of recruitment procedures, content development and adherence to regulatory bodies and frameworks (Chester & Thomson, 2003). This will lead to amicable solutions to the apparent organizational needs and enhance improved outcomes.
Another aspect of the problem deals with designing the objectives of the military academy to match the expectations of the community. The expectations of the community are that the military will be in a position to train young people and equip them with the necessary skills to become responsible, respectful and knowledgeable citizens.
Deviation from these objectives should be a cause of alarm and should call for review of the outcomes envisaged by the academy. There should be a distinction in character and behavior of the graduates of the military academy and conventional graduates. The graduates of the school ought to exercise their acquired skills for personal and community development (Michael et al., 2008).
This should be the yardstick of evaluating other underlying problems exhibited in the organization. To that end, Stanislaus military academy ought to ensure that it strives to achieve this end to not only increase its reputation but also to provide the correct learning context that produces the desired behavior and character of the cadets.
Procedure of solving problem
At the outset, the organization should have a systematic way of resolving its outstanding issues. It ought to begin by getting a basic framework of understanding the expectations of the cadets and the community.
Chester & Thomson (2003) articulate that this is important since it helps the organization to design a change management process that addresses the issues raised by the stakeholders. If the stakeholders accent to the proposed move, Stanislaus should assume a strategy that coincides with the opinions, expectations and the desires of all stakeholders.
Secondly, the explication of the ways in which the proposed changes will affect the employees should be a mandatory process for the plan to achieve its goals. This helps the change agents to explain the idea behind any change process and ways that the organization stands to benefit from it.
This also reduces the risk of resistance to change which could challenge the implementation of the program. This is in light of the view that organization’s internal stakeholders such as the employees and instructors have familiarized themselves with the routine of operating and it may take time for them to internalize the proposed changes (Chester & Thomson, 2003). Throughout this process, the change agents and leader should adopt appropriate leadership style typical of support and honesty. This is in addition to keeping all the stakeholders informed on progress that the organization has made regarding the changes.
Third, the organization should begin the implementation process where the review of the training content and manuals ought to begin. The academy should also upgrade the skills of the existing employees and instructors to suit the current training needs exhibited by the cadets.
The implementation phase may seem to be the most difficult stage of initiating change since practical changes begins to appear within the processes of the academy (Hoy & Hoy, 2009). Besides, it may lead to changes in skills development and other aspects of the employees who had familiarized themselves with the conventional routines, roles and duties.
Monitoring and evaluation is important to enhance the measurement of the objectives and the outcomes of the process of change (Michael et al., 2008). This continuous process utilizes scientific models and approach to analyze and interpret the change outcomes. Evaluating the gains and losses that the organization may have made is critical to appraise the change. This way, the organization is able to understand the effect of the changes and make possible changes where necessary.
References
Buchanan, D. & Huczynski, A. (2007). Organizational Behavior. London: Prentice Hall.
Chester, B. & Thomson, K. (2003). Organization and Management. New York: McGraw Hill Publishers.
Hoy, A., & Hoy, W. (2009). Instructional Leadership: A Research-Based Guide to Learning in Schools. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Michael, F., DiPaola, M. & Wayne K. (2008). Principals improving instruction: supervision, evaluation, and professional development. Mason OH: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.