Assignment Details and Rubric
The Unit 9 Assignment involves a review of how resistance to change can be effectively managed within an organization.
A company’s competitive advantage relies on its ability to quickly adapt to changes in both the internal and external
environments. Managers that are adept at guiding the change process will have the ability to shape the organizational
strategy overall. However, change is often difficult for individuals, so a keen understanding of techniques available to
manage resistance is necessary for any manager.
Using the material from Chapter 15 of the text as well as your own independent research, you will develop a plan to
manage resistance to change based on the scenario below. Outcomes evaluated through this assignment include MT140-
03 and PC-2.1.
Scenario:
Your friends at PG Industries need your help again. In the Unit 6 Discussion, you made recommendations to them about
ways to introduce teams to help draft a new training program in the manufacturing department. The program has been
rolled out, but senior management is struggling to get buy-in from many long-term employees. This resistance to
acceptance and adoption of the new training program is causing division within the department.
Assignment Checklist:
- Review Exhibit 15.6 from your textbook.
- Based on the information provided in this scenario, draft an essay that addresses what you believe will be the four
most effective ways one might manage resistance to change in implementing the new training program.
- Justify your choice of tactics by explaining how it is most appropriate in this circumstance.
- Utilize at least two external sources as part of your research. Sources might include your textbook, the additional
video content, or another resource found in the university library.
- Your submission should include a title page, introduction, main body, conclusion (1-2 pages), and a reference list.
unit 6 discussion:
Teams are beneficial both to an individual and to a business as a whole. At the organizational level, teams help in complementing employee strengths. A team pools together individual talents creating a synergy that helps an organization propel forward. Employees are gifted differently and make things work when they share their abilities. Secondly, teams foster creativity in the workplace. When employees brainstorm ideas together, an organization benefits from accessing diverse perspectives. Through idea exchange, employees learn from each other, and such interactions not only enhance their knowledge base and skills but also enhances their capacity to collaborate on workplace projects. At the individual level, teams also help in compensating personal weaknesses. What appears to be challenging for an individual may be easier to do for another person. Secondly, teams also help individuals in developing a sense of ownership to the institution. Employees working as a team are more likely to feel proud of themselves and happy. Finnegan should seek to make the employees highly involved in designing the training program so that they can own it. As employees may have different levels of education, experience and duties, it would be important to design a training program that seeks to bridge such gaps. Finnegan can achieve this by undertaking various steps. First, Finnegan should start by discovering the needs of the employees. Surveys can be conducted to determine which employees need the training. The content of the training program should also be prepared in advance and in diverse forms such as visual aids, slides presentations, worksheets and manuals or a combination of any. The presenters or the facilitator of the training should be selected very carefully. Majority of the employees are more likely to welcome the training as a break away from work. It would be important for Finnegan to match the presenter with the audience, and select presenters who are knowledgeable and have a good sense of humour. The most appropriate types of teams for this training are multi-functional teams and special-purpose teams. The later are formed to fulfill a specific task. The teams are highly synergistic and multi-disciplinary. Multi-functional teams are based on the employee’s area of expertise. These two types of teams are considered appropriate as they are more likely to put employees who work in different sections together. Such an event would need to be different from normal work routines. Secondly, employees are likely to exchange diverse ideas and learn new things from their colleagues.