Investment Analysis Method - Case Study Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Organization Management PART A – Cost Benefit Analysis Years Benefits Costs     0 0 $70,000      1 $96,000 $25,000      2 $192,000 $25,000      3 $288,000 $25,000           Total Benefits $288,000       Total Costs $145,000 The ROI is given by Total benefit- Total Costs Total Cost 145,000) 98.6 % The payback period is 2 years This project is a good invest since it has a high return on investment. ROI is an investment analysis method that measures profitability to understand whether the company is using the resources in a proper way. In each of the three years after investment, the has positive cash flow that can be used to cater for the initial cost of the investment of the following year and generate profits. PART B- Risk Analysis How to Introduce Culture Change in the Entire Organization Organization culture is as a result of lasting processes, in which people's behavior, attitude, and beliefs are shaped. This is why it is not easy to change an organization culture. There changing the culture of the Australian Bank will involve all the organizational tools to change the mind of the people. The following are the steps to change the culture of Australian Bank to enable it to expand their operations to Asia. Evaluate the current culture The manager should identify what aspect of culture that should persevere and its strengths. Then identify the aspects of culture that are holding the organization from achieving its full potential, for example, leadership style, and unionized workforce. Analyzing the strength and weakness of the current culture, it is clear that bureaucratic authoritarian culture discourages innovation and highly unionized workforce that may lead to low work quality. Envision a new culture The manager should engage a team to fine tune the values and expected values and behaviors. For instance, one of the priorities is an open culture to allow people to give their views and opinions. The employees should be involved in designing them to understand the big picture. Clarify the cultural change vision The next step is to define a vision for improving results and how the manager will build a culture advantage by improving strengths and weaknesses. The manager should give a clear explanation of what cultural change is seeking to achieve so that they can understand it. The management should regularly explain the organization's new and encourage the employees to contribute to its implementation. The manager should also communicate clearly how they will work together to improve the weaknesses. Get alignment from the leadership team Engage all members of the organization in defining new culture goals, and should be defined in a way to support the expected behaviors. The culture objectives should also be translated into all levels of the organization so that people can understand how to work on their goals. Model the culture you want to create The culture of the company is the behaviors of the leaders; they change their attitude, values, and behaviors the culture will also change. Australian Bank has an authoritarian culture; the leader should be open and encourage others to speak their mind. That is why culture goals should be aligned with the leadership team. Risks and Barriers to Cultural Change There are several risks that exist in introducing a culture change in a bureaucratic authoritarian culture and highly unionized workforce. First, in a control structure typical of hierarchical organization, communicating change without any discussion and no ownership among the employees makes them uncommitted and irresponsible because they were not involved in designing the goals. In such a culture, the manager runs the risk of losing touch with what is happening at the low level of the organization due to lack of communication. Secondly, the employees may also develop a passive behavior because they are not committed. There are also several barriers that exist in changing the culture, such lack of communication and resistance to change. In a bureaucratic culture, the leaders have a tendency to mandate culture and employees are required to take orders without questionings. Decisions are made at the top without input from other levels of the organization. Lack of proper communication between top-level and low-level management causes fear of venturing into unknown territory. Another barrier is resistance to change due to uncertainties and potential outcomes that cultural change may cause such as retrenchment. People may be afraid be afraid that they may not be able to cope in the new environment because they may be non-unionized. Risk Identification Form Source (Australian Pacific College 38) PART C – Case Study Change Requirements at APM There are several changes need to be made in APM to improve its competitive position. APM has several change opportunities and opportunities such as changing human resources. The current human resource strategies have led to low productivity and high production costs. APM may consider implementing strategies that can help to improve workforce performance such as job flexibility to ensure that the workers are motivated. APM should also give the workers incentives and rewards to ensure they are motivated; motivated workers are more productive. The company should also improve their working conditions to make them more productive. The firm needs to change its competitiveness and human resources. APM should also change the way it manages unionized workforce. There have been frequent with the unions because they dictate employees reward policy. APM can approach the unions to become partners where they can work and turn around the employee's behaviors and provide assistance. Strategic Objectives The strategic objectives in the area of recruitment and selection are to recruit, retain, develop and reward performing staffs to enable APM to fulfill its goal. Another objective is to develop an organization that is recognized as a good employer regarding working condition, pay and creativity thus attracting high-quality staffs. The strategic objectives in the area of training and development are to collaborate with training institutions to improve knowledge and skills necessary to achieve organizational goals and also to create competitive advantage. The strategic objectives in the areas of remuneration and benefits are to provide competitive pay, rewards, and benefits such as healthcare services and overtime pay to attract and retain the most qualified staffs. Remuneration and benefits should be structured in such a way to reward them for their contribution to the company. Stakeholders concern and potential problem and solutions The major stakeholder concerns at APM are low levels of productivity caused by lack of labor flexibility resulting in low performance. Also, the cost of production has increased; the cost of operation in Australia is the highest in the world. The company is longer competitive and it is at risk of being sold off to the competitors. The share price of the company has continuously dropped for the last six months. To implement new change strategies at APM, there are several barriers that hinder the implementation of change. Lack of cooperation between the management and the workers due to high unionization such that employees are more loyal to unions that the organization. Also, lack of employee motivation due to poor working conditions thus they are unlikely to be involved in the change. Also, lack of communication because the employees tend to favor unions and change may not be effectively communicated. However, these problems may be overcome by motivating the workers and including them in the development of the change plan so that they can be able to raise their views and feel valued. Also, APM should establish communication platform that enables good communication between top-level and lower-level of the organization. Change Management Project Plan Budget Resources Methodology Objectives Timetable $5,000-$7,500 Financial resources Assess change needs Change APM culture Action plan will be rolled out in the beginning of October   human resources Design a change program change workers attitude The change process will take 3 months     Implement the program Increase employee motivation Change will be reviewed on monthly basis     Evaluate effectiveness     The communication plan Objectives Ways Target Audience Tools Timing and Frequency Responsibilities To change employees attitude To discuss how they can improve workers conditions The staffs Face to face meetings 1st October 2016 The manager PART D – Written or Oral Questions Importance of Change to Every Organization Change is considered crucial for any organization if they are to survive and thrive in a dynamic business environment where they operate because without it businesses are likely to lose their competitive edge and also fail to meet the needs of their customers. However, to successfully introduce and manage change, a firm must have an effective change management strategy. Change Management Change management refers to the systematic activity to prepare an organization for and implements business environmental changes in the business operation through the transition of one situation to another (Australian Pacific College 3). Change management is about having strategies and activities that can help a firm to deal with sudden changes. Generally, change management addresses a large part of the business operations improving the governance structure as well as increasing productivity by modifying the current organization system. Management of change in an organization hence requires and coordinated approach and structured methodology that can serve as a guide to implementing the necessary change. Steps of Change Management Process Stone (2008) outlined five steps of change Determining need for Change The first step is the recognition of the need of change may occur at the top management or another level within the organization. The change may be caused by either internal or external forces. Therefore, a firm begins with the diagnosis of the environment which requires knowledge of the changes and their impacts on the organization. This allows accurate identification of organizations needs in confronting changes. Determining the obstacles to change The next step requires the identification of the internal adjustments that should be done to exploit the opportunities brought by the external changes. It also helps to take the steps needed to minimize risks associated with the change. The most important part is the development of a shared direction and goal for organizational change needs by the management and ensure that it is successfully communicated to the entire organization. Planning to assure consistency and frequency of communication is viewed as key to the preparation stage. Introducing Change This step requires the top management to decide on the best way they can bring about change. An optimal change program should have a message that is inspirational as well as applicable on a regular basis. Moreover, the communication channels use to communicate change with the organization should be open from the low level to the top level management to ensure the free flow of information and feedback. The managers can seek advice on how to handle change fro people and organizations with a different perspective and ideas. A plan should be developed that shows specific activities and events that should be integrated to produce the change. The plan should also indicate goals and objectives of the activities and events. Implementing Change After all, issues have been solved, the next step is to apply the change in the business operation. At this stage, unity among the members is strongly recommended because the effectiveness of implementation is determined by the congruence of the components parts of the organization system. Once the change has begun, the initial benefits can be dissolved by the problems the members face during change adoption. The management can maintain change momentum by providing appropriate resources, skills, reinforcing new behaviors and building a support system for the members initiating change. However, if the desired outcome is not achieved, it is recommended to back out the changes. Evaluating Change During the last stage, the manager compares the change results to the established goals to know whether they were successful or not. It is crucial to determine whether goals were met, and make a complete evaluation of the results. Change is aimed to produce positive results, and once this is achieved it is necessary that corresponding system is updated to reflect this change. Why Review Policies and Practices Company policies are designed to influence business decision-making and outline the required procedures within the business. A good policy is a sign that the business is operated inefficient manner and informs the members on the approach to take when handling business issues to ensure that there is consistency on how business operates (Australia Pacific College 11). Company policies are established to achieve objectives that reflect on a particular set of values and beliefs on issues, and thus current policies may provide insights on necessary changes that should be implemented to achieve strategic business objectives. Gap Analysis Gap analysis is a technique used for determining the steps that should be taken to move from the current to the desired state. The manager can use this technique to determine the differences that exist between the two states. As a result, it helps them improve those areas that are performing badly hence improving overall firms’ competitiveness. SWOT SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the company operations. SWOT analysis tool can be used by the manager to identify both internal and external factors that may have short-term and long-term impacts. This provides change opportunities that should be implemented to improve business operations. Risk Documentation Risk documentation refers to the recording, maintaining and reporting of identifications, analysis, mitigation planning and implementation, and tracking results. They include risk register, risk treatment schedule, and risk management plans. Components of Communication Plan for Change Management A communication plan describes objectives, goals, and tools for all the communication and can be used to promote change in the organization. The main components include: Communication objectives- what and why the firm is communicating How the objectives will be accomplished- events and activities to be carried out Target audience- which the firm intends to communicate to Communication tools- the method of communication that is most suitable for the target audience. Timing and Frequency- when and how often to communicate Responsibilities- who is going to communicate Examples of Workplace Learning Activities Learning activities that can be conducted in the workplace include In-house training- some organization set aside resources to develop and implement training activities internally. Large firms, for example, departmental stores can develop a training program to run in all stores. Outsourced training- some firms send their staffs to a training provider to meet their training needs. Workshops Coaching and mentoring- this is where the staff is directed and instructed to develop skills, however, to ensure these methods are effective they should be incorporated into the organization's culture. E-learning- these are online training solutions designed to meet the training needs of a particular group. Methods to reduce resistance to change Stone (2008) noted ways which a firm can reduce resistance to change Communication- The management should always provide information regarding the reason for the change to all members. Participation- all members should be involved in the development of change plan to give the sense of ownership and commitment. Guarantees- The manager should guarantee the staffs that they will not be negatively affected by the change regarding pay and benefits. Certainly- The manager should also be honest regarding the effect of change. Negotiation- the management should negotiate cost with employees who are likely to lose due to change effect. Works Cited Australian Pacific College. BSB61015 Advanced Diploma in Leadership and Management Workbook (1st ed.). Young Rabbit Pty Ltd: Australia. 2016. Print Read More