Unit VIII Res Org Thry

Action Plan to Promote Change

Robert Benders

Organizational Theory

PUA 5303-19

Dr. Jovita Esechie

Columbia Southern University

8/31/2022

The Apple Inc. engineering department is unique as it frequently requires changes to have a unique design. Frequent changes must be made to ensure the company keeps improving the devices; however, the proposed changes and improvements must be made within the models to ensure the structures of the departments are not negatively affected. This assessment will focus on the action plan for organizational change and strategies for managing the conflicts related to changes. Further, the analysis will look at the priorities managers should focus on when making changes and analyze proven theories to mitigate changes.

The Action plans

Conflict within a team sabotages effective organizational changes and limits success chances (Ivanov, 2019). The Apple Inc. engineering department can apply this 3-step-action-plan to navigate changes without creating conflicts.

Defining the changes

The primary step to facilitate changes is to define them and align them with the business goal. Effective communication ensures that the plan takes the correct path strategically, financially, and ethically; this requires more than just articulating the need for change. Effective communication necessitates a critical examination of organizational objectives and performance targets.

Communicating changes

The communication stage comprises various actions that facilitate changes; the stage is the most critical as it defines how the project will be conducted. In this stage, the primary action is to create a communication strategy; determine the best way to communicate with the group or individual. The second action in this stage is allowing stakeholders to give their opinions on key issues; this includes the proposed changes, the strategy to achieve the goal, and the timing of the project. The stakeholders communicate the feedback to the project managers to take needed action based on the findings; this includes training, improving project schedules, and aligning the team.

Implement a support structure

A well-defined support structure is a key step in implementing organizational changes. The support structure should capture all stakeholder’s opinions and abilities; this promotes working morale, reducing the chance of conflict. Throughout the change management process, a structure should be in place to monitor the business impact of changes and assure continual reinforcement to create proficiencies (Coccia, 2018). Evaluate your change management plan and write lessons learned.

Strategies For Managing Conflict

Apple Inc.'s engineering department works as a team; however, since the department is prone to frequent changes, the department is likely to have conflicting ideas and diverse opinions. The department will need to address these conflicts; I have proposed some strategies that can remedy differences.

i) The primary step is to ensure teams and stakeholders are not at the extreme ends of disagreement (Opeyemi & Ajeh, 2020). when dealing with conflicting ideas and teams, it is important to identify the origin of conflict and work toward creating the solution.

ii) I would create a culture of appreciating diverging ideas to ensure continuance works and a conflict-free environment. The team members will need to understand that each member has a different background, and thus, it is obvious for opinions and ideas to differing. Further, this will help to reduce prejudices.

iii) In pursuing conflict resolution within the team, I will create a culture of collective responsibility; this reduces the chance of blame games that hurt the spirit of working together.

Priorities in the change processes

An organization relies on changes to grow; if changes are not effectively implemented, the results can damage the organization's operations (Zhang, 2022). In implementing changes, some of these priorities help to achieve suceess. The key priority in implementing changes is understanding what that change calls for. The public managers and employees must understand the change they are proposing; this helps to communicate it to stakeholders simply. Creating a roadmap of the changes is another key priority to enhance changes. Roadmap show staff how it fits with or evolves from their company model. Finally, the public managers consolidate all ideas and efforts to ensure the active participation of all members throughout the project implementation.

Change theories

Proven theories are applied in various areas to offer guidance; the change management theories offer guidance on how to approach changes. Lewin’s Change Management Model allows one to focus on the existing project and see it taking a different shape; the theory changes in three steps - unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. The new model is subjected to change in the three stages to ensure that normal operations are not affected (Pan, Seow, & Koh, 2019). Apple Inc.'s engineering department must adopt Kotter’s 8-Step Model for Change to focus on its frequent system update. The theory includes a step-by-step success checklist. Creating urgency early in the transition addresses the need for change.

Efforts and tactics for implementing change

The smooth and productive transition depends on how the stakeholders approach the change processes. The stakeholders implementing these changes must be strategic enough. Implementing a change management model is a key strategy to ensure smooth and productive transition; Change management models assist executives link strategy to action, increasing success (Kellogg, 2019). Successive changes need a leader to activate leadership; Leaders must assist their people and organization in understanding and interpreting change. There is tremendous potential in moving from mindless conformity to enthusiastic participation and conviction. When there is widespread enthusiasm for the new direction taken by the company, employees are less likely to fight it.

References

Ivanov, I. (2019). "Adapted conflict resolution model in business organizations ."Trakia Journal of Sciences,  17(1), 548-554.

Kellogg, K. C. (2019). Subordinate activation tactics: Semi-professionals and micro-level institutional change in professional organizations.  Administrative Science Quarterly,  64(4), 928-975.

Opeyemi, I. S., & Ajeh, D. O. (2020). The Entrepreneur and Effective Conflict Management in a Business Environment. KIU Journal of Humanities,  5(3), 83-90.

Pan, G., Seow, P. S., & Koh, G. (2019). Examining learning transformation in the project-based learning process. Journal of International Education in Business.

Zhang, X. (2022, July). Analysis of Business Model and Financial Operation: Evidence from Apple. In 2022 2nd International Conference on Enterprise Management and Economic Development (ICEMED 2022) (pp. 455-459). Atlantis Press.