Differences between Change Leader and Change Agent - Assignment Example

Details of Assessment Term and Year 4, 2015 Time allowed 2 Hours Assessment No 1 Assessment Weighting 50% Assessment Type Written Response Due Date Week No. 5 Room 608 Details of Subject Qualification BSB60407 Advanced Diploma of Management Subject Name Innovation and Change II Details of Unit(s) of competency Unit Code (s) and Names BSBINN601B Manage Organisational Change Details of Student Student Name College Student ID Student Declaration: I declare that the work submitted is my own, and has not been copied or plagiarised from any person or source. Signature: ___________________________ Date: _______/________/_______________ Details of Assessor Assessor’s Name Robert Cutuli Assessment Outcome Results  Satisfactory  Not Satisfactory Marks / 50 FEEDBACK TO STUDENT Progressive feedback to students, identifying gaps in competency and comments on positive improvements: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Student Declaration: I declare that I have been assessed in this unit, and I have been advised of my result. I also am aware of my appeal rights and reassessment procedure. Signature: ____________________________ Date: ____/_____/_____ Assessor Declaration: I declare that I have conducted a fair, valid, reliable and flexible assessment with this student, and I have provided appropriate feedback  Student did not attend the feedback session. Feedback provided on assessment. Signature: ____________________________ Date: ____/_____/_____ Purpose of the Assessment The purpose of this assessment is to assess the student in the following learning outcomes: Satisfactory (S) Not yet Satisfactory (NS) Development of a change process that details rationale for the change and its objectives Implementation of a change process Critical evaluation of how the change process was managed Demonstration of techniques for responding to resistance to change Assessment/evidence gathering conditions Each assessment component is recorded as either Satisfactory (S) or Not Satisfactory (NS). A student can only achieve competence when all assessment components listed under Purpose of the assessment section are Satisfactory. Your trainer will give you feedback after the completion of each assessment. A student who is assessed as NS (Not Satisfactory) is eligible for re-assessment. Resources required for this Assessment Upon completion, submit the assessment to your trainer along with assessment coversheet Refer to the subject notes on E-Learning prior to responding to the tasks/questions Any additional material will be provided by Trainer Instructions for Students Please read the following instructions carefully This assessment has to be completed  In class  Online The assessment is to be completed according to the instructions given by your assessor. Feedback on each task will be provided to enable you to determine how your work could be improved. You will be provided with feedback on your work within 2 weeks of the assessment due date. All other feedbacks will be provided by the end of the term. Should you not answer the questions correctly, you will be given feedback on the results and your gaps in knowledge. You will be given another opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and skills to be deemed competent for this unit of competency. If you are not sure about any aspects of this assessment, please ask for clarification from your assessor. Please refer to the College re-assessment and re-sit policy for more information. 1. Identify 3 major changes that international students’ face in last 6 months? In relation to these 3 changes. What actions may arise in strategic planning activities to bring about major change in the organisation (College)? (They may relate to people, processes, technology or structure). Cultural changes: These are changes relating to symbols, learning habits, norms, expectations and principles of the learning institution New Policy and Rules: These are changes relating to the school regulations and standards New learning and social environment: These are changes relating to the college environment, faculty and new friends. Change is rife in learning institutions, particularly for international students. These students face challenges in their new learning institutions where they have to deal with people, processes and cultural changes. In strategic planning, the organisation must implement change management strategies to address changes faced by the students. Diversity management, universal policies, regulations, and a universal learning environment should be implemented. The college should encourage a collaborative social and learning environment where the diverse needs of the diverse students should be met. The college should implement policies and regulations that align with different cultures. These policies and rules should be integrated with the cultural diversity in the college. The learning and social environment should accommodate all the different cultures in the organisation. 2. Explain what is meant by change agent A change agent is an individual outside and inside an organisation who assist a firm in changing itself by centring on matters as organisational development, improvement and effectiveness. Monge, Hartwich, Malgin define a change agent as an individual who influences client’s innovation decision in a direction viewed as desirable by a change agency (13). In this view, change agents are external factors of an organisational origin. A change agent does not have to be an individual in power, but they are people who have to hold an apparent vision and be in a position to communicate clearly with others. A change agent is anybody who holds the power and skill to facilitate, stimulate and manage the change effort. The success of any organisational change effort relies heavily and quality of the change agent. 3. Identify the external environment factors that are related to major operational change? Resources: Organisation relies upon accessibility of external resources for its productivity and operations such as finance Technology: This entails the technology and science needed for the technical tools needed to run the organisation. In the college, these technical tools include the internet and other communication technologies. Laws and Regulations: All organisations including learning institutions must abide by the regulations, new laws and legal system constantly added because of social or political changes. Legal compliance can instigate additional costs, legal fees and taxes. Cultural diversity that include diverse staff and students 4. Write 5 differences between Change Leader and Change Agent? A change leader is an individual with creative solutions to an organisation’s most pressing organisational problems. Change agents, on the other hand, are catalysts for change A change leader is a person in authority while a change agent does not necessarily include a person in authority Change leaders want, believe, and try to obtain resources and commitment for change, but they lack sponsorship to propel the change. On the other hand, change agents trigger, drive and implement change Change leaders help firms to tackle positively the human side of change while change agents established the basis of change Change leaders provide the agents of change with explicit tasks in the shape of special assignments. Different persons can take the role of change agents at diverse times in the course of change process but change leaders roles do not change. The change leaders play a crucial role in assisting the change agents in the change process. A change leader can be from within the organisation while the change agent can be from within or outside the organisation 5. Why do employees resist change? Identify two ways how managers create resistance during implementation. Employees resist change because several factors that include” Fear of loss: Employees may fear losing their jobs Fear of failure: Workers may get anxiety as they expect augmented tasks or workloads or increase in expectations of performance Uncertainty: Apparently, all changes prompt uncertainty that leads to resistance because most changes prompts ambiguity Disruption or limits of interpersonal relationships Personality conflicts Politics in that some changes entails changing of power balance. In this view, threatened power loss can create powerful change resistance Cultural values and assumptions Managers create resistance during implementation of change through: Lack of effective communication about the change to all those affected by the change Failure to involve those affected by change in the change process 6. Explain the importance and challenge of having executives “walk the talk.” It is broadly acknowledged that workers respond to persons who value them. Executives who lead by example inspire and motivate their followers. Walking the talk helps in the creation of values and development of trust between leaders and their employees. Leading by example is what drives the quality of services and products offered by a given firm. Leading people by example allows leaders to inspire employees to push themselves and subsequently leading organisations to greatness. When leaders fail to walk the talk, it comes nearly impossible for employees to work successfully. Walking the talk pushes forward employees with inspiration, vision, excitement and trust. In addition, it makes employees become empowered, motivated and engaged. Employees become flexible and open to change, develop a focused attitude besides making them open and flexible to change. However, leading by example requires leaders to be clear on what they want to get from others. Leaders with poor leadership skills degenerates into conflict because employees view things differently and would therefore lean toward unlike solutions. 7. What is meant by employee participation and what are some of the key reasons that managers should invite employees to participate in decision making during a change process? Employee participation entails the procedure through which workers are engaged in an organisation’s decision-making procedures instead of imposing decisions or orders on employees. Employee’s participation is a portion of the procedure of empowerment in the organisations. Three fundamental forms of employee participation include worker participation in decision, profit sharing and ownership. Some of the major reasons why managers should invite workers to participate in decision-making during a change process include overcoming and prevention of resistance to change. Involvement of employees during the change process also promotes effective change implementation. It also makes easier the change process. Employee involvement helps in bringing in essential views and ideas and that make the change process effective. Involvement of employees in decision-making process also empowers employees. 8. Explain what is meant by the adaptiveness of an organisation’s culture and the key factors influencing culture adaptiveness. What are some examples of companies that have adaptive cultures? Adaptiveness of an organisation’s culture entails the capacity of a firm to implement change while upholding shared beliefs and values. Adaptive cultures are those, which assist a firm to anticipate and respond to forces of change. Adaptive cultures lower predictability and inspire innovation (Chatterjee 283). Key factors influencing adaptiveness include personal values and beliefs, organisational values and beliefs, and employee’s capacity to respond cultural changes. These cultural and social factors influence perception of risk and what adaptation options are considered useful. Nestle Company is a good example of a firm that has an adaptive culture. This type of culture allows Nestle to become more responsive and adaptive. The firm’s adaptive culture is known as ‘Nestle on the Move’ and has generated a sense of flexibility thereby allowing the firm to respond rapidly to shifting market conditions. Workers at Nestle feel empowered to make premeditated decisions directly thereby enhancing the firm’s performance. 9. A new CEO of a large manufacturing company has noticed that although he or she has emphasized the importance of organisational learning, little learning has occurred. What steps can be taken at the various levels in this company to foster learning? Organisational learning entails the procedure of developing, upholding and transferring skills within a firm. It is a constant procedure that promotes its collective capacity to accept and respond to external and internal changes. All implementation of organisational learning entails change resistance. However, there are several steps that can be taken to foster learning. These steps include: Preparing a change agenda towards learning Develop an awareness and vision that learning is essential at all organisational levels Communicate the need and importance of organisational learning Encourage learning to assist the employees and the firm Ensure that all the resources such as time, personnel and funds are availability Inspire participation at all levels through developing a learning culture Encourage employees to take part in decision-making and develop rewards and recognition 10. Top managers at an oil company observe a gap between actual performance and desired performance. In addition, stakeholders are pressuring the organisation to make changes, such as reducing costs. This organisation has not restructured much in the past and has a mechanistic structure. What obstacles to change will it have, and what approach to change should it use? Given that the actual performance does not correspond to the desired performance, reducing costs as requested by stakeholders will be impossible. The obstacles to change will include unproductive management conduct, resistance to change, negative workers’ attitude, organisational culture, complexity of change and competitive forces. To ensure effective implementation of change, the organisation should restructure and adopt a change management approach. Managers need to adopt participative approach to change where all involved parties are engaged in the change process. Notwithstanding that, senior managers propel the participative approach; the change process will be less dominated by the management and propelled by individuals or groups within the organisation. Changes made through the participative approach are more probably to be supported by all involved parties because of the commitment and involvement of those affected by the change. This approach experiences reduced change resistance. More so, the individuals and firm hold the prospect to learn from the change experience and understand the functioning of the firm thereby augmenting their effectiveness and knowledge to the firm. Work Cited Chatterjee, Bhaskar. Human resource management: A contemporary text: Economics, commerce & Management. UK: Sterling Publishers Pvt.Ltd, 2009. Monge, Mario, Hartwich, Frank and Halgin, Daniel. How Change Agents and Social Capital Influence the Adoption of Innovations among Small Farmers: Evidence from Social Networks in Rural Bolivia. USA: Intl Food Policy Res Inst, 2008. Read More