MGMT625 CHANGE MANAGEMENT Assignment No.2 Solution Fall Semester 2013

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MGMT625 CHANGE MANAGEMENT Assignment No.2 Solution Fall Semester 2013



STEP inn is a shoe manufacturing firm, specialized in sports footwear and has been operating in the business for the
last six years. It exports its quality sports footwear to the foreign retailers. The quality product is one of the major
competencies of STEP inn which is undoubtedly due to its skilled workforce. The labor is highly skilled in footwear
and accomplishes the foreign orders effectively and efficiently. Recently, STEP inn has received an order of formal
and party footwear to be fulfilled within 2 months span from one of its highly satisfied foreign customers. The owner of
STEP inn recognizes this order as an opportunity for their business expansion in the foreign markets. But the
available workforce is not equipped with the skills for this expansion. The owner did not want to lose this order
therefore, hired a temporary labor consisting of 8 cobblers, expert in formal and party footwear. This new hiring in the
organization has created an ambiguity in the minds of the existing labor of STEP inn, they perceive the new entrants
as layoff threat and are confused about the shift from sports footwear to formal/party wear. If the company will
entirely change its target market, the existence of labor skilled in sports footwear will be questionable in STEP inn.
You are required to read the article “What do managers do during major organisational Change” by Michael L. Jones
to solve the assignment questions.
Q1. List down the roles performed by the managers during change processes mentioned in this article. Which of
the roles has been given the most and the least preference according to the article? Also identify the role which was
previously ignored in the literature but highlighted by Michael L. Jones during his research. 1+2+2=5 marks
Q 2. Read “Change Model” proposed by Dunphy & Stace (1988), available in the article and identify the change
brought in STEP inn by the hiring of new cobblers as type1, type2, type3 or type4. 10 marks
Q 3. Different roles of change managers have been discussed in the article, suggest the role(s) to the owner of
STEP inn in order to remove the ambiguity and anxiety among the existing employees regarding the change
introduced in the manufacturing process. 10 marks