Change Management: Power And Influence

Change Management: Power and Influence (Part 3)

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Author Note

Change Management: Power and Influence (Part 3)

Introduction

Strategic management can be defined as the process of ongoing planning, monitoring analysis and assessment that enables organizations to meet their goals in an objective manner. It forces the business environment to adopt changes, which could help an organization change and constantly evolve its strategies for success. This process of strategic management, allows organizations to take stock of their present situation and figure out strategies that can help in their deployment and then later, enable the analysis and the effectiveness of the management strategies that have been implemented ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"76bFJRWw","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Gibbons, Scott, & Mac Fhionnlaoich, 2015)","plainCitation":"(Gibbons, Scott, & Mac Fhionnlaoich, 2015)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1114,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/T8UL23SM"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/T8UL23SM"],"itemData":{"id":1114,"type":"article-journal","title":"Strategic management: A perspective on the development of the field of strategic management and the contribution of the Irish Journal of Management","container-title":"The Irish Journal of Management","page":"22-41","volume":"34","issue":"1","author":[{"family":"Gibbons","given":"Patrick"},{"family":"Scott","given":"Sharkey"},{"family":"Mac Fhionnlaoich","given":"Cormac"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Gibbons, Scott, & Mac Fhionnlaoich, 2015).

Strategic management allows organizations to re-envision their mission and the purpose of doing what they are doing. It gives an organization the space it needs to be future-oriented, where it is guided by its actions and its vision for a better future. However, it requires organizations to be strategically committed to the plans of their business and how these plans enable the management to schedule both the long-term and the short-term goals of the company in a manner that the organization is able to allocate the right amount of resources necessary to make these strategic decisions a possibility ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"B0iujkOA","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Gagn\\uc0\\u233{}, 2018)","plainCitation":"(Gagné, 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1115,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/LQDNIBEM"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/LQDNIBEM"],"itemData":{"id":1115,"type":"article-journal","title":"From strategy to action: transforming organizational goals into organizational behavior","container-title":"International Journal of Management Reviews","page":"S83-S104","volume":"20","author":[{"family":"Gagné","given":"Marylène"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Gagné, 2018).

Discussion

As Director of Product Innovation, it was challenging to implement the sustainability project in the Spectrum Sunglass Company. In addition to not having a position of authority, the company had recently returned to their normal profitability, due to being impacted by a recess within the industry. Therefore, some employees who had been laid off just got their jobs back, and the culture within the company was that of accepting no risks. Despite these obstacles, because of the credibility gained from the CEO and expert advice from the consultant, one could successfully focus the company’s attention on the sustainability project and propel them to adopt it. Initially, it’s significant to gain insight in each employee’s perspective of the change, while simultaneously introducing the financial benefits of the concept in the long-run, creating the culture of being environmentally aware within the organizational structure, and forming support groups to demonstrate the diffusion and acceptance of the sustainability project.

When a new, untried idea takes a grip of a company, regardless of how much sense the idea makes, there will be those that will be against it, whether this is due to personal reasons, being uncomfortable with change, or simply not being fond of the idea. For instance, Luke Filer and Paul D’Arcy primarily perceived the sustainability project under a negative light, noting the possible risks and the financial costs associated with such an aggressive shift. Instead of confronting those who resist the change, it’s preferable to provide an environment where the person can see the change in a new perspective.

At the same time, certain individuals from the company were not opposed to the change being implemented. However, they were on the fence at best given that this would be a huge change, one that would not only redirect the efforts and the energies of the company into something different, but it also moves the focus of the company into something else altogether. For instance, Leslie Harris, the VP of Sales and Marketing is all for the idea. She argues that the idea does hold some promise, thus it would be foolish to reject it without thorough consideration. Furthermore, the CEO was all for the idea, even if Andrew Chen, the general counsel for Spectrum Sunglasses, mentions that by opening up the sustainability project, the company takes on a series of unnecessary risks, which can be avoided otherwise. Thus, he suggests that if the company goes ahead with the plan, they should not, at first, announce the plan to the public until the project has been put through the process of thorough analysis and assessment. On the other hand, the CFO suggested that the team should focus on reducing the costs of the raw material associated and try to improve the present workflow and sustainability of the business, as opposed to investing in a venture that has the possibility of increasing the present material costs, while disrupting the flow of production during peak season.

Critical Appraisal

Hearing what everyone had to say on the matter, one of the best solutions to the problem was to take everyone’s opinion on the subject into consideration, especially since everyone wanted the very best for the company. However, the CEO's final call on the matter was the right decision for the matter. Even though it is not viable for Spectrum Sunglasses to move into the production of sustainable products, it can certainly analyze and study the project in vivid detail before dipping its own in the new territories. Given how torn everyone was on the matter, it was proven in the end that the right leadership can put an end to any and all issues that may arise while working on a matter ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"FvAws3cc","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Slavik, Putnova, & Cebakova, 2015)","plainCitation":"(Slavik, Putnova, & Cebakova, 2015)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1116,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/XJ5GE8U8"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/0omESN17/items/XJ5GE8U8"],"itemData":{"id":1116,"type":"article-journal","title":"Leadership as a tool of strategic management","container-title":"Procedia economics and finance","page":"1159-1163","volume":"26","author":[{"family":"Slavik","given":"Jan"},{"family":"Putnova","given":"Anna"},{"family":"Cebakova","given":"Andrea"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Slavik, Putnova, & Cebakova, 2015). This sort of leadership can not only help the company perform in a better manner, but also allow for the improvement of the overall strategies of the company.

Conclusion

Conclusively, I agree with the decision made by the leadership of the company. Despite being against the decision, many units of the company were in agreement with the impact of proper strategy, power and leadership on the success of the company. Furthermore, asking the company to move into a huge venture without making a thorough analysis of the risks involved was a premature maneuver. The strategy was a good one, however, it wasn’t the right time to push in forward. Thus, the suggested alternative was a better solution to the stated problem.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Gagné, M. (2018). From strategy to action: Transforming organizational goals into organizational behavior. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20, S83–S104.

Gibbons, P., Scott, S., & Mac Fhionnlaoich, C. (2015). Strategic management: A perspective on the development of the field of strategic management and the contribution of the Irish Journal of Management. The Irish Journal of Management, 34(1), 22–41.

Slavik, J., Putnova, A., & Cebakova, A. (2015). Leadership as a tool of strategic management. Procedia Economics and Finance, 26, 1159–1163.