My OD Intervention Project—Task 5

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Week 4 Project

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The chief executive officer (CEO) of the organization you have been working with over the past few weeks just called. She informed you that her organization will introduce a Total Quality Management (TQM) approach. She has asked for a report on the following:

Week 4 Project

Amazon, a global leader in e-commerce and technology, is poised to implement Total Quality Management (TQM) across the organization. Since it is my role as an external organizational development consultant to come up with an action plan for change leadership considerations, tools for managing employee stress and communication, and the evaluation process for this significant change in the organizational structure, it will dictate changes warranted by Amazon’s culture and difficulties by relying on the principles and practices of organizational development.

Overview

To support the implementation of TQM at Amazon, the CEO thus needs to utilize the comprehensive model of change leadership. This should center on preparing the organization’s stakeholders for change and managing resistance to change where necessary. Leadership commitment is required; the CEO and the top management champion the TQM vision and the value proposition to all the employees, connecting them with Amazon’s customer obsession and strategic plan. It is about explaining to everyone how TQM will improve the company’s competitive position and customer satisfaction (Anderson, 2019; Deszca et al., 2019; Stone, 2022).

A greater focus on involving the employees can increase the readiness for change in the organization. Increasing the TQM participation by decentralizing the power and using the continuous improvement policy will perfectly match Amazon’s current democratic culture of innovation. The following approach may support eliminating such resistance by bringing employees into ownership of the change efforts (Boewe & Schulten, 2019). Also, dissemination of training and information concerning the details of the TQM should be offered to all the employees to facilitate acknowledgment of the need for change and the ways of affecting it.

However, forming a guiding coalition is helpful in intensifying the change process and dealing with resistance. This coalition can support the TQM initiative and direct its application in the organization (Anderson, 2019; Nguyen, 2019; Stone, 2022). Amazon can go a long way to ensure that the change is supported by addressing people's concerns and highlighting the early gains that resulted from adopting TQM.

Tools

Several methods are suggested to effectively manage employee stress that may arise from implementing TQM. Stress management seminars can be held regularly, including techniques like dealing with stress through mindfulness, time schedules, and work-life balance techniques. By so doing, these workshops can assist the employees in building resilience to handle change-related stress (Anderson, 2019). Other measures to ensure a smooth transition include considering work arrangements such as flexible working hours and teleworking since this will enhance work-life balance among the workers (Boewe & Schulten, 2019; Nguyen, 2019; Stone, 2022).

Improving the current EAPs to offer counseling and support services triangulated to change stress can extend critical assistance to the workers during the implementation of TQM (Anderson, 2019; Deszca et al., 2019; Yohn, 2022). These improved EAPs may offer a company’s workers an option for voicing their issues and obtaining expert advice.

When it comes to disseminating the details of the change, the communication of the change is advisable to engage in the use of multiple modes of communication. This should involve e-mail alerts, posts on the firm’s intranet site, team briefings, and town hall meetings to achieve TQM implementation coverage comprehensiveness (Anderson, 2019; Luthans et al., 2021; Stone, 2022). Since TQM is a change process, it is essential to make TQM and its results visible, which can be done by installing the visual management boards on the physical spaces and online platforms available in the facilities of Amazon (Boewe & Schulten, 2019; Nguyen, 2019; Yohn, 2022).

Fredrickson (2019) suggested having an open forum in which employees can submit questions about TQM on a website that will be responded to by management promptly; this will assist in clearing multiple misunderstandings in real time. This platform is an excellent way of disseminating information on implementing TQM, as it will be a one-stop-point for all employees.

Process

A standardized procedure should be implemented quarterly to assess the success of the TQM implementation. Compared to the baseline and the TQM implementation targets, the current scenario can be checked (Anderson, 2019; Nguyen, 2019; Stone, 2022). These assessments will help identify areas of strength and weakness of the TQM implementation and areas that may need more effort or resource commitment in an organization. Feedback loops should be set up to collect information on the change’s effectiveness, employing employee engagement/attitude surveys, customers’ feedback forms, and process check-ins (Boewe & Schulten, 2019; Luthans et al., 2021; Yohn, 2022). These feedback loops guarantee that all stakeholders’ opinions will be heard and incorporated in the implementation stages.

From the evaluation results, it will be necessary to make corrections to TQM implementation strategy Er; if there are deficiencies, these should be corrected, or if strengths amount to success factors identified in the strategy implementation process, then these should be built on further (Anderson, 2019; Deszca et al., 2019; Stone, 2022). This means that Amazon can improve the TQM application systematically to be more suitable for the organization’s context and needs.

Consequently, the evaluation of the Amazon TQM program’s effect on its performance in terms of financial and business results, market standing, and organizational culture following an annual overall assessment of its validity will facilitate the long-term assessment of the change’s effectiveness (Boewe & Schulten, 2019; Nguyen, 2019; Yohn, 2022). This annual review will assist Amazon to determine the TQM implementation success and the direction to use in its strategic plans References

Anderson, D. (2019). Organization development: The process of leading organizational change (5th ed.). Sage. ISBN: 9781544333021

Boewe, J., & Schulten, J. (2019). The long struggle of the Amazon employees.  Rosa Luxemburg-Stiftung, Brussels. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361408187_The_long_struggle_of_the_Amazon_employees

Deszca, G., Ingols, C., & Cawsey, T. F. (2019).  Organizational change: An action-oriented toolkit. Sage Publications.

Luthans, F., Luthans, B. C., & Luthans, K. W. (2021).  Organizational behaviour: An evidence-based approach fourteenth edition. IAP.

Nguyen, V. (2019, July 18). Operational challenges of expanding to Amazon, explained. Digital Commerce 360. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2019/07/10/operational-challenges-of-expanding-to-amazon explained/#:~:text=Key%20challenges%20include%20managing%20inventory,returns %20to%20Amazon’s%20high%20standards.

Stone, B. (2022). Amazon unbound: Jeff Bezos and the invention of a global empire. Simon and Schuster.

Yohn, D. L. (2022, October 12). Amazon faces a crucible moment with employees. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/deniselyohn/2020/06/02/amazon-faces-a-crucible-