a) Identify one (1) macro problem and two (2) micro problems in the case study. Justify your answers. [Hint: Macro problem is a broad problem and micro problems refer to specific problems.
b) Identify and explain three (3) main causes of the problems identified in Question (a) by referring to the four models of employee resistance. (Psychological Model / Systematic Model/ Institutionalized Model / Cultural Model)
c) Assuming that you are engaged as an OD consultant to solve the problems in this case. Explain with examples how would you approach your clients.
Answer (a):
One Macro Or The External Environment Challenge Which Can Be Observed In The Case Study Is Lack Of Proper Planning And Budgeting Regarding The Ongoing Projects At Just Travel. As previously under the leadership of Mr. Ahmad along with inclusive tour, business tours and escorted tour projects had also been initiated under his supervision. However he stepped down as the CEO and Mrs. Kay his daughter took over the position, she regarding the escorted tour and the business tour projects to be complete waste of money (Stieglitz et al. 2018). This definitely projects that there is no such proper planning communication between the business heads which is leader to larger amount of confusion and wastage of resources. This is no doubt affecting the image of the organisation in the industry it operates.
At micro or internal level the challenges which are existing is first and foremost a change in the internal work culture with the change in leadership. Mr. Ahmad has been an extremely supportive leader and has always prioritised on the well being of the employees and encouraged them to initiate new projects. On the other hand Mrs. Kay is extremely authoritarian in her approach and has no flexibility in her work style (Anitha, 2016). Another micro level challenge is existing communication barrier between the present CEO and the staffs and manager as her authoritarian style does not encourage discussion and she prefers to just give orders.
Answer (b):
The first cause behind these increasing challenges in Just Travels is definitely due to the psychological model of change resistance. The existing staffs and managers do not feel the same trust or bonding with the new CEO as they used to feel with Mr. Ahmad. On the other hand Mrs. Kay the new CEO has also not been effective to build that psychological or emotional connection with the staffs and managers yet which is definitely leading to miscommunication. Apart from this another aspect is the cultural model which states how the organisation culture impacts on the overall attitude of the staffs and on their behaviour. For instance Mr. Ahmad had always preferred the staffs to work with creative freedom and have a democratic approach to his leadership (Stanley and Lincoln, 2016). He always allowed the project managers to make decisions regarding individual projects and did not interfere in their decision-making. However as Mrs. Kay has joined as the new CEO she has a an extremely authoritarian style of leadership and feel that the managers have been extravagant in their business operation. There is a high difference between the leadership approaches of both the CEO as Mr. Ahmad had established quite an employee-centric work culture while Mrs. Kay is only focused on productivity even at the cost of employee satisfaction (Napier, Amborski and Pesek, 2017). The third aspect is institutional resistance to change which is observed in the managers and staffs of Just Travel. For instance Kamal as the Head of Marketing in the organisation is not ready to take less people on booth, Mrs. Kay is resistant to learn the necessary IT skill or understand how promotion is important for the business. These changes in the set process are not welcomed by the organisation heads and staffs which is further widening the macro and micro environment challenges in Just Travels.
Answer (c):
The first and most important aspect which needs to be prioritised on is building a proper communication between the newly appointed CEO Mrs. Kay and manager and staffs. This communication is extremely essential for Mrs. Kay to understand how the organisations and staffs have been performing previously under the guidance of her father while as the CEO she should also give equal focus on what these staffs and managers have to say about their style of functioning, the projects they have been working on or the future plans which they have for the organisation (James, 2017). It has to be an open discussion session where challenges and solutions can be addressed. Along with this it is also advisable for Mrs. Kay to bring certain behavioural change as her approach to address problems or cutting down on cost is leaving the staffs unsatisfied. A cooperative approach is expected where the staffs do not lose their motivation to work. Along with this Mrs. Kay as the CEO should build her social media and IT skills like her father as it has an important role in the promotion of the business (Wood et al. 2019). Along with the HR manager and all the staffs should come together with the CEO to decide how many staffs should be allocated in which project and short-term goals should be set to understand the effectiveness of the changed strategies in the business.
Answer (d):
The three intervention strategies that can be implemented currently in Just Travels is: Human process intervention, technostructural intervention and human recourse management intervention. The first one is human process intervention and here the focus would be on developing the existing relations between the team members and the management. The focus should be on improving the existing work skills of employees so the organisation can improve its overall productivity (Waddell et al. 2019). For instance for the marketing team two efficiently trained members can easily manage the promotion using different digital tools and techniques along with better work efficiency. Next is technostructutal intervention which will basically focus on strengthening the online or website promotions of Just Travel and enhance the skills of the existing staffs who can improve on the existing website design and content as well as incorporate remote working when possible to reduce expense to improve the overall organisational design (Such and Mutrie, 2017). Third is HRM intervention which is prioritise on developing talent that can suit the existing needs and demands of the organisation, building wellness intervention which will help the CEO combine strategies that will improve employee wellbeing as well as ensure better performance without compromising on employee satisfaction.
Answer (e):
The change metrics that can be efficiently used in Just Travels to assess the impact of the intervention strategies are: user adoption rate, user competency and behaviour metrics. The overall process of measuring change effectiveness and using of change metrics can be divided into two segments one is measuring tactical effectiveness and the other is adoption effectiveness. In case of tactical effectiveness the focus in given on assessing the impact of these changes across various points in the project lifecycle (Bura and Choudhary, 2020). For instance it can be accessed through training delivery in an on-going project and getting real time feedback. This is effective in assessing the human resource interventions which have been planed and needs to be incorporated in the existing human resource management function. Expanding the existing skill set of the employees, building their understanding are certain essential human process interventions along with human resource management interventions that can be measured through this metrics. The other is adoption effectiveness where the assessment of the change is done at the end of the project. This would be effective in understanding the technostructural interventions or the implementation of new technology and innovation in the existing process and how well it has been understood by the staffs. It will also help the board members to understand the rate of acceptability of these technostructural interventions. Such as assessing the perception of the staffs through employment surveys to understand the impact of change on their specific attitude of behaviour and according corrective actions can be planned.
References:
Anitha, J., 2016. Role of organisational culture and employee commitment in employee retention. ASBM Journal of Management, 9(1).
Bura, D. and Choudhary, A., 2020. A novel change impact model for enhancing project management. International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 12(2), pp.119-132.
James, P.S., 2017. Organisational Behaviour, 1e. Pearson Education India.
Napier, G.S., Amborski, D.J. and Pesek, V., 2017. Preparing for transformational change: a framework for assessing organisational change readiness. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 17(1-2), pp.129-142.
Stanley, T. and Lincoln, H., 2016. Improving organisational culture–the practice gains. Practice, 28(3), pp.199-212.
Stieglitz, S., Mirbabaie, M., Fromm, J. and Melzer, S., 2018. The Adoption of social media analytics for crisis management–Challenges and Opportunities.
Such, E. and Mutrie, N., 2017. Using organisational cultural theory to understand workplace interventions to reduce sedentary time. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, 55(1), pp.18-29.
Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2019. Organisational change: Development and transformation. Cengage AU.
Wood, J., Zeffane, R., Fromholtz, M., Wiesner, R., Morrison, R.R., Factor, A. and McKeown, T., 2019. Organisational behaviour: Core concepts and applications. John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd..
