CHANGE MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS 2

Change Management Analysis

Describe the use of evidence-based (data-based) analytics in Mr. De Smet’s approach to
decision making regarding the future of the plant.
Mr. De Smet used evidence-based approach in deciding to be honest about the
impending plant closure, Mr. De Smet used evidence from the manner in which
communication about plant closures were being done by other organizations. Evidence-based
practice requires that one gather evidence about practices that work and those that do not
work and then making decisions based on best practices (Barends & Rousseau, 2018). Mr. De
Smet used evidence from other organizations to determine the best approach of handling the
twin crises of keeping employees at the organization while at the same time letting them
know that they were going to lose their jobs because of a difficult economic environment.
The evidence gathered from other organizations revealed that informing employees
about their impending job losses at the last minute often resulted in violent protests from the
employees. Thus, based on available evidence, Mr. De Smet consciously avoided that course
of action. Instead, he chose to inform the employees about coming job losses early and why
the plant was making the decision. He also offered to help the plant’s employees to transition
to new jobs by helping them acquire new job skills. The approach of honesty and empathy
that he took based on evidence from the impact of actions that other organizations had taken
was instrumental in helping the plant avoid the violent protests from workers that had
characterized other plants.
Mr. De Smet also used evidence-based/data-based analytics in making decisions
regarding the plant’s future. This approach can be observed in Mr. De Smet demand
forecasting. Due to falling demand resulting from the global financial crisis, Mr. De Smet
used data analytics to determine that the plant could not continue being operational in a

CHANGE MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS 3
profitable manner for long. It, therefore, had to be closed. He also used data analytics to
determine the number of employees that it needed to have in order to deliver the €20 million
worth of orders from customers that it needed to fulfill before closing down. From this data
analysis, Mr. De Smet concluded that he had to ensure that the employees remained
productive even as he had to make the difficult decision of letting the employees know that
the plant was facing difficulties and was going to close within months.
Distinguish between managing change as discussed in Week 2 versus leading sustainable
change as illustrated in this case study.
In week 2, change management was discussed in the context of creating short term
gain for the organization making the change. This type of change management is different
from leading sustainable change that has been discussed in this case study. In the latter type
of change management, the goal is transitioning from current to future state in a manner that
ensures that the improvement that is achieved is sustained over a long time. The proactive
steps that Mr. De Smet took ensured that even as the plant was facing closure and relocation
to another country, current employees stayed around to transfer their technical skills in setting
up new production facilities. In this manner, even as the plant achieved cuts in their
production costs due to relocation to another country, the plant managed to ensure that there
was not going to be a compromise on the quality of its products because of lack of know-how
of its employees.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS 4

References

Barends, E., & Rousseau, D. M. (2018). Evidence-based management: How to use evidence
to make better organizational decisions. Kogan Page Publishers.