Implications of the Statement of the Problem on Walmart Stores - Case Study Example

Statement of the problem

Following reports from the Walmart stores, there are poor contracting processes which are noted from the procurement department of the organization. Rates of purchase are exaggerated and the products purchased are similarly substandard.

Implications of the statement of the problem on Walmart stores

Poor contracting process has adverse effects on an organization (Persse, 2015). In contracting process, there are stipulated rules which all the parties must abide with to create a good relationship between them. Poor contracting process whereby an organization violates the terms of the contract can lead to fines and penalties as well as a lawsuit (Persse, 2015). In addition, poor contracting process can make the parties in the contract to forget the terms of the contract as well the date that the contract should be renewed.

Poor contracting process does not sensitize the procurement employees on effective purchasing strategies (Persse, 2015). Usually, purchasing should be done at the contracted rates and therefore employees should be trained on these. Failure to train them will lead to purchase of commodities at full prices. Training employees on contracting process helps in creating awareness to the employees on significance of adhering to the contract terms (Persse, 2015). Additionally, poor contracting process has less reporting and this makes it quite elusive to assess the benefits of the contract by both parties (Persse, 2015). Likewise, there can be poor purchased commodities which are not meeting the standards of the organization.

Methodology

In the change intervention for Walmart stores, the process model is the approach chosen in bringing the change. In this approach, all the processes used during the contracting process will be assessed and ho the employees in the procurement department use them. Thereafter, the areas which need to be improved in the processes will be determined and the staffs will be made to understand and these changes will be incorporated and they are assessed on how they adapt.

Data gathering proposal

The data will be gathered from the employees working in the procurement department of Walmart stores. The data that will be collected are on the strategies used in contracting, the ethics during contract process and the impact of the contract process o the organization.

Tools and techniques proposed

To get the right information, there are three instrumental tools and techniques that are used. Questionnaires were very fundamental in getting the information from the staff as a way of keeping the respondents secretive and confidential. As signed in the confidentiality agreement, even the confidentiality of the staffs were s well-kept secret. Benchmarking will be the second technique which will be during the second meeting to ensure that the staffs compare their ways of operation to the ways the top organizations are doing contracting process. The staffs will be required to write a report which will be deliberated on in the organization.

Interviews will similarly be conducted to ensure that the information received is more of a confirmation to what had been earlier received from the questionnaires. Interviews will be conducted after benchmarking exercise to help in getting to know the lessons that the employees have gotten from benchmarking. This is essential because benchmarking makes staffs to see the points of difference in organizational activities and process. Getting their views on the variation learnt is important because they get to understand the concepts and processes that the change agent ant to initiate in the organization.

Outcomes Walmart stores should anticipate

A change process transforms an organization and therefore there are anticipated changes. The first is that the procurement section will adhere to the contracting process terms. The process aims at training the procurement section to be very compliant to make the contract process more binding. The second anticipation is purchase of commodities at the contracted price by abiding to the terms of the contracting process. Additionally, Walmart stores management should expect quality purchase of commodities from the procurement department.

Timetable or the overall engagement needs

Period

Activity

Description

December to 3rd to 10th January 2018

Problem determination through data gathering

During this period, there will be a survey carried out in Walmart stores reports and interacting with the procurement section of the organization. This will help in determining the actual contracting process problems which face the organization.

12th January 2018

Meeting with the management of Walmart stores

There will be meeting with the management to discuss on the challenge that the poor contracting process has had to Walmart stores. The management has all the reports on the conduct of the staffs and therefore meeting them will be a way of getting information on the staffs in the procurement section. Additionally, the management will give their anticipation by the end of the change process.

14th January

to 6th February 2018

Implementation of individual and group intervention

During the intervention, there will be three meetings with each member of the procurement department. Each meeting will take 30 to 45 minutes. For the group intervention of the entire team, there will be two meetings which will take 1-2 hours. The intervention on the other hand will be carried jointly for the team and it will take 5 hours.

13th February

Completion of intervention

The intervention will be completed after 2 months

15th February 2018

Wrap up meeting with the management

The meeting will be held to discuss the ways that the management can improve on to help in making the contracting process very effective.

Roles as change agent

There are various roles that a change agent does. The first role is investigating the behavior of the employees and determining the root cause of the problem (Erskine, 2013). Additionally, investigation assists in knowing the dynamics and all the challenges in an organization. As a change agent, it is very instrumental to determine the barriers that hinder change from occurring in Walmart stores. This helps in finding the ideal steps and actions that can be implemented to enhance change thereby leading to success.

In an organization it is important to have someone who can raise issues that affect the organization. Change agents exercise advocacy role and act as whistleblowers by speaking up when the other members of the organization are focused on executing other duties to achieve the objectives of the organization (Erskine, 2013). Moreover, encouragement which is anther role complements advocacy. The change agent encourages the others in the team to have a different view and see the need for change.

As a change agent, facilitation is a very important role which helps in implementing the change (Erskine, 2013). In regards to this, the change agent explains to the other members to understand the change and this makes it very simple to carry out. As the facilitator, the change agent develops systems, tools and processes to make the team successful while implementing the change. Moreover, change agents are very innovative and resourceful.

When seeking change in an organization, differences ad conflicts do arise from diverse parties. There are those who believe in the change process while others oppose it. As a result, there is need to harmonize these differences. A change agent mediates to make both parties have a common view of the change process thereby making change process successfully implemented (Erskine, 2013). Change agents thus mediate towards limiting discourse and boosting the understanding the team so that they can cooperate and unanimously work towards bringing the change.

As a change agent, another vital role is advising the management of the organization on assessing their employees to enhance good performance. This is through recruiting and placing the right staff in the required job positions.

In change process, management is a great role performed by change agents which determine the success of the entire process (Erskine, 2013). As a change agent, there must be planning by setting targets, objectives and dates to accomplish the change project. Moreover, change agents grip the entire team of the organization together, responsible and this makes the staffs more committed to bring the change.

Confidentiality agreement

There are stipulated terms and conditions regarding the confidentiality. In the agreement, it is record and signed that there will be no disclosure of information pertaining to the organization to any other party. Additionally, all the organizational secretes and challenges are to be kept confidential and only disclosed to the right management of Walmart stores when need be. Disclosure of any information without the consent of management of Walmart stores can attract legal action against the change agent a refund of all the change process fees paid to the change agent consultant.

Fees

Being a consultant, the fees that will be paid is $8500 for the 2 months. Additionally, there will be allowances per day of $25.