The Change Management Process - Case Study Example

Assessment Item 3 Change Management Report Subject Number: ISIT946 Subject Name: Project and Change Management Student Number: Student Name: Tutorial Day: Tutorial Time: Tutor: Due Date: Date Submitted: Introduction Change is inevitable in any organization. From time to time, there will be internal and external factors that forces organizations to implement changes in their operation in order to align with the changing environment. One of the most recent changes that have taken place in many organizations has been implementation of new IT project. IT changes comes with a large potential to benefit an organization technologically but most organization have failed since IT is all about solving people issues (Chaffey 2004, p. 331). It is only when people related issues are well addressed that IT-enabled changes can succeed since these changes are implemented by people. People need to be involved in each and every step in planning and implementing the change but it should not be imposed unto them. Change management is very important if any change is to succeed in the organization. Managing change is all about being proactive to identify and plan for impending changes and making sure that everyone in the organization is involved in planning and implementing the change (Chaffey 2004, p. 331). Change management ensures that everyone in the organization is made a part and parcel of change planning and implementation and hence it helps to reduce post-implementation problems. In order to understand change management process, this paper will review a case study on Camel Air and the hurdles that are on the way in implementation of a new IT strategy. Business context Most organizations implement change in IT for business reasons. IT is mainly meant to improve the business process especially in areas of business operation. Basically, there are four main reasons why organization implement IT programs: The first reason is for business survival. IT is identified as key to success. IT is revolutionizing business and most organizations are willing to implement IT programs not to be left out of business. Most organizations have been more successful after automation of their production systems and workflow systems (Chaffey 2004, p. 333). The second reason is for improved efficiency. IT ensures that there is decreased processing time, improving management ability to make decisions from information provided, and in many other ways. The third reasons why business implement IT change is to have competitive advantage. The main principle here is to encourage innovation and new ideas during the implementation of the projects. The fourth reason has been due to external factors. There can be external forces which can force the business to implement change in IT in order to be at par with the changes taking place in the environment (Chaffey 2004, p. 333). A review of the planned change in Camel Air shows that the company has business mind in planning the change. The change has been meant to improve the efficiency of running the company and the above factors also greatly contributed to the change (Chaffey 2004, p. 333). As Smith argues, the vision of the company in implementing the change was based on future expansion of the business where it planned to hire more people to help in success of the change. Like other changes in an organization, implementation of IT project in Camel Air has been planned under business context. The change is to be implemented for the benefit of the business. However, like many other changes, not everyone in the organization can understand the business context of this change. Pace and scale of change The pace and scale of change can be described as the speed and magnitude to which the change is implemented. There are changes which are implemented very fast when everyone on board agrees with the change while there are other changes which will take years to implement especially when there is disagreement from some stakeholders (Beitler 2006, p. 87). The pace and scale of change may be pre-planned but they largely depend on different factors during the implementation phase or post-implementation phase. According to the case study, this project was likely to be implemented faster in order for the organization to reap the benefits of IT projects. However, due to the prevailing circumstances, there is a higher likelihood that the change process may take time to be implanted since every individual has to be brought on board. Even before the implementation, there has been some resistance from different people who are not comfortable with the impending change. It may take time before planners bring all people on board in order to solve people issues. This will therefore slow down the pace of change. It is also evident that the change process was meant to be implemented in the whole organization. There is not department in the Camel Air that has been identified as exceptional to the change. This means that the organization had aimed at carrying out a large scale IT project. Even with resistance from different individuals including the most influential and popular employee in the company, there is not sign that the company may scale down the reach of the project. This is because if some departments are equipped with IT systems while others are left out, the organization will not benefit as expected (Beitler 2006, p. 46). This means that the organization will go to fully implement IT project in the whole organization. The organization is therefore likely to slow down the pace of implementation of the project but it will not scale it down. It will take time to convince everyone in the organization that the project will be beneficial but there is no way the company can scale down the implement of the project just because some employees are not comfortable with it. People management In view of the above change and the challenges it is facing, there is need to resolve people issues if the change has to succeed. The first phase of change management cycle is identifying the change and this has been already accomplished in the organization (Beitler 2006, p. 46). Although the change has been identified, the organization has failed in getting everyone on board in the implementation of the change. In order to understand the most appropriate people management techniques, it is important to understand the main factors pertaining to people issues and from these, work on the most effective strategies to address them (Chaffey 2004, p. 336). Once these issues have been identified it becomes simpler to align them to the overall change strategy. Factors pertaining to people issues are mainly enshrined in what people don’t feel okay or the disturbances they find in the change process. This can also be generated through a field force analysis which gives the distracting factors (Chaffey 2004, p. 346). For Camel to implement their change effectively, they must ensure that people comes first. This means that the planners must use involve everyone in the change process. This involves talking to people on the advantages of the project and how it will positively impact on their life. There should also be efforts to manage people issues and concerns which are likely to limit their acceptance of the change. Change management contents page The following is the plan that will be followed in managing the change: a) Introduction The change being implemented in Camel Air mainly entails putting in place a new IT system. Like other companies, Camel Air prefers automating its operation using IT systems to increase its efficiency in delivery of services. This change is justifiable in the sense that IT systems are become dominant feature of service delivery in any organization. b) Objectives The main objective of this change was to put in place an IT system in Camel Air. This objective was in line with the increasing need for improving efficiency of the organization in delivery of services. c) Scope For an organization to realize the benefits of an IT system, the system must be implemented in all departments. IT system is meant to link operations between different departments (Chaffey 2004, p. 331). This ensures that information is shared between all departments enabling faster communication. In the same way, Camel Air expected to benefit from this change through linking its entire department to enable faster sharing of information. d) Resources There are different resources that will be needed to implement the change. These include computer hardware, software, office spaces, and most important qualified personnel. e) Outstanding issues There are outstanding issues that are great impediments to effective implementation of change Camel Air. The greatest outstanding issue is resistance from the employees. Even before the change has been implemented, there are employees who are already raising their resistance to the impending change. This means that before the change is implemented, employees must be made to understand the importance of the change and how it will impact on the organizations. Most important they must be made to understand how the change will affect them. f) Approvals The change must get approval from the General Manager of Camel Air, Len Schully and other senior officials like Smith. g) Change management tasks The main change management task will involve getting everyone on board in planning and implementing the change. Any successful change must be able to tackle people issues and involve everyone. Change management tasks will also involve efficient communication within the organization to make everyone understand the change process. h) Conclusion Camel Air is in the process of implementing a change that will see new IT systems used in the whole organization. This is in line with current changes in the business world where IT has become dominant feature of many organizations. This change will require different resources including hardware, software, and qualified personnel. However it must get approval from General Manager and get everyone on board to be successful Conclusion Change is inevitable in any organization. Camel Air is implementing a change which will see the company put in place IT systems in its entire departments. However, the change process is faced with many challenges including resistance from employees. Even before the change is implemented, there are employees who have shown resistance. Due to resistance from employees, the pace of change process will slow down but the scope will not be changed since it has to be implemented in the whole organization. For the change to be successful the company must use people management strategies that will ensure that everyone understands the change and its impact on the organization so that they will become a part of the change. Bibliography Beitler, M 2006, Strategic Organizational Change, Practitioner Press International Chaffey, D 2004, E-Business and E-commerce management, Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh Read More