Mid Term Paper on Peter Browning and Continental White Cap (A) - Article Example

As such, the case delineates the issues and hardships that Browning has with meeting each of these requirements and seeking to ensure that he does not take away from the magic that has allowed for this particular branch to experience a degree of success in the path; rather that he can try to maximize this. The reader is ultimately able to come away with an appreciation for how the best practices take shape with regards to the experience that Browning has and the way in which he seeks to elicit stakeholder support.

Position: With regards to being for or against the article, it must be stated that this particular student is patently for most of the changes and the particular approach that was delineated. This is due to the fact that the change agent, Browning first sought to engage all of the stakeholders in the process and forge a path forward. This is not always an easy step to make and many agents of change fall into the pit of seeking to instantly begin changes for the sake of change. However, the entire case cannot be considered as a best practice; partially due to the fact that the author references the inability and difficulty that Browning had with regards to managing the friendships that he had.

Naturally, it is not the expectation of this author that he should have necessarily been able to turn his back upon the personal friendships and co-operative levels of understanding that he had built so many of the 20 years of his career building. With all of that being said, no single case provides a running tally of best practices for each and every agent of change to follow; however, the case of Browning is at least a starting point by which the student can come to better understand the conflicts and difficulties that are likely to arise. 1. What was Browning's predicament at White Cap?

There are a number of predicaments that Browning faced at Whitecap. Arguably, the greatest predicament of all was with regards to the fact that he was tasked with the very difficult job of improving upon an already productive and profitable section. Whereas many change agents are asked to come in as a means of improving upon a dismal situation and/or turning a branch of a given firm around, Browning was tasked with the even more difficult job of using his skill and expertise as a means of evoking an even higher level of profitability and competitiveness out of the White Cap sector of Continental Group.

A secondary issue that he faced was with regards to the culture and the way in which many of the individuals with whom he would need to interact and engage were in fact old friends of his; as a function of the fact that he had working relationships with them at some point over the past 20 years that he had been with Continental Group. As such, seeking the best way forward without damaging an already successful business entity, burning bridges among former colleagues and seeking to maximize the utility of the branch are but a few indicators of the many tightropes that Browning had to walk. 2. What should his change objective and time frame be?

Many agents of change seek to delve right in to a situation without taking the requisite amount of tie in seeking to understand what is broken, what needs fixing, what can be scrapped, and what should be