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Change Management at Strickland Corporation

Businesses need to continually make changes to better adapt to changing economic and
business environments. Without making changes, they risk losing out to their competitors. It is
this need for change with the goal of becoming more competitive that Jack White, the new
general manager of Strickland Corporation’s pet food division, has identified. However, making
the required changes may be difficult because of resistance from those under him.

Risk Factors to Change

While the need to make changes to the division is urgent and important, it comes with
risks. The most significant of these risks is resistance from key stakeholders, such as managers
any supervisors, disruption to normal working routines that these changes may bring, and poor
leadership that may lead to ineffective implementation of the change (Hayes, 2018). Resistance
to the changes is perhaps the greatest threat to any planned changes. Resistance to change results
in low buy-in from employees whose commitment to the changes is needed for their success.

Resistance Management Approaches

There are a number of approaches that Jack White may use to effect his desired changes
and manage resistance. One of them is to force the changes through using his powers as the
general manager of the company’s pet division. This approach will enable him to implement the
changes quickly and thwart any resistance through high handed measures. However, such an
approach risks denying him complete cooperation from managers and employees (Palmer et al.,
2017). Without cooperation from these important groups, the changes he desires may never be
implemented in an effective manner.
The second approach, which I believe is the most effective one, is to get champions for
his change plans among senior leaders of the division as well as managers and supervisors. These

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groups of people are effective in mitigating resistance to change because employees look up to
them to decide whether an initiative is important or not (Palmer et al., 2017). Their opinions,
actions, and attitudes towards the changes carry a lot of weight with employees. When senior and
middle-level leaders in the division show complete commitment to given changes, employees
will conclude that the changes are important and they too need to embrace and be committed to
them (Palmer et al., 2017). Likewise, non-commitment or outright hostility to given changes will
send a message to employees that the changes are unnecessary, unimportant, or
counterproductive and, therefore, they too need not bother about wholly implementing them.
Additionally, since senior, middle-level managers, and supervisors are ones who do the
actual implementation of change plans, when they do not believe on the need or effectiveness of
a given change plan, they are likely to sabotage its implementation or implement it in a
lukewarm manner (Palmer et al., 2017). Thus, getting buy-in from senior and middle-level
managers is critical for successful implementation of changes that Jack White has in mind.
To get this buy-in from senior and middle-level managers, Jack White needs to first
determine sections of his change plan that they have concerns with. In other words, he needs to
know the root causes of resistance to his changes. Once he understands what the managers and
supervisors are concerned about, he can involve them in making changes to the areas of
contention (Hayes, 2018). If his change plan can only be effective when implemented wholly
without making any changes, Jack then needs to come up with an effective communication plan
that will help him convince senior and middle-level management of the importance of having the
changes implemented.

Conclusion

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For organizations to be successful they need to embrace change because there are always
changes occurring in their external environment that have an effect on the performance of the
organization. In determining the best approach to introduce changes in an organization, the key
consideration should be getting the highest level possible of buy-in from senior and middle-level
managers as well as supervisors and employees themselves through addressing concerns and
winning support of individuals who may be resistant to changes.

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References

Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Palmer, I., Dunford, R. & Buchanan, D. A. (2017). Managing Organizational Change: A
Multiple Perspectives Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.