ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT AND DYNAMICS ASSIGNMENT Submitted by GROUP-4 Samir Dhamecha Kavita Aiyer (10027) (10005)

Bhavesh Khodiyar (10052) Lenin Abraham Amita Soni (10058) (10006)

Chandan Kathuria (10049)

2010-2012 To Prof.Miral Pandya (Faculty Organization Development and Dynamics)

Tolani Institute of Management Studies MARCH 2011

CASE Initiating Change in the Manufacturing and Distribution Division of PolyProd

GIST OF THE CASE Manufacturing and distribution division of PolyProd manufactures a variety of high technology products for industry and home use. The Headquarters of the organization is located in United States and is centrally manages other sites in Canada, Asia, Africa, and Europe. The company is growing rapidly but there are several problems came in the way which may hamper the market share of company. Currently company is facing problems regarding documentation processes. A number of interrelated causes produced M&D Divs documentation problems like, lack of overriding vision, lack of co-ordination, lack of training & experience etc. So for this purpose it is proposed that the current documentation procedure should be changed. The change is facilitated by conducting informal analysis. Change in the documentation is also requires to understand cultural change and process improvement.

Question 1: What is your (Robertas) effort to date? Through an informal analysis, Roberta Jackson has begun to clarify the organizational issues facing M&D Division manufacturing division. From this analysis she has clarified key organizational issues that need to be addressed in order to fix the documentation problem. It is evident that the documentation problem is actually a symptom of the following underlying organizational issues: 1. The organization lacks a clear vision or strategy. 2. The organizational culture is rigid and reluctant to change. Earlier attempts at improving the documentation system saw some initial changes but change soon halted and the company slipped back into old habits. 3. The company is experiencing inconsistencies in workflow due to rapid hiring, regular turnover, cross divisional promotions, and lack of mentoring. Much of the staff has little to no training or experience in documentation. 4. There is a lack of coordination between locations, as well as within locations. 5. The Rapid growth of the company has not been a smooth process. The resulting documentation issues are the following: 1. There is widespread employee and manager dissatisfaction with the current documentation process. 2. Delays and usability issues discourage workers. 3. Headquarter personnel have unmanageable workloads. 4. Constant change in temporary workers. 5. Many workers lack experience or training. 6. Production sites have difficulties using documents transferred from headquarters.

Through the collection of preliminary data Jackson was able ascertain a clear sense of the organizational culture and the issues facing the organization. Interviewing a few relevant clients Jackson is able to learn that the organization is quite segmented and departments/locations feel their issues are isolated from the rest of the organization. Jackson Identified Stewart Jones as the most likely project sponsor with the power to approve or reject the project.

Question 2: How will you convince Stewart Jones to allow you to proceed with the project? What arguments might you use? Following arguments will be put up to convince Steward Jones:Dealing with information at organizational level means abilities to keep up with increasing data complexity. That is why the information management or the ability of keep up with a burgeoning quantity of data has become a critical factor for high technology companies. The way that senior management, the employees deal with this structure at interconnectivity within the organization and its environment is essential in gaining competitive advantage in the market. The organizational culture and climate should allow appropriate operating procedures. Otherwise, a serious gap between what actually the organization should do and what, in reality, does could induce higher cost and decreased market share. PolyProd is relevant example of failing to improve current information management practices. There is a need for initiating the change in the manufacturing and distribution division of PolyProd (M&D div) due to the risk of occurring the gap above mentioned. This initiative will involve change and project management techniques. A planned change should be emphasized within the obtaining the authority, resource allocation and monitoring the progress.

Question 3: Describe how you will develop a change process and the critical issues you will face in managing the change. Implementing change at PolyProds M&Ddiv: Several stages should be followed in implementing the change as follows: 1. Choosing the approach to change 2. Favoring a climate and culture for sustainable change 3. Planning change Choosing an approach to change Leavitts four Interacting Organizational variables Dealing with change in an appropriate manner should address at least four interacting variables as following: a. Task b. Technology c. People d. Structure PolyProd could be viewed as a multivariate system with all these four interacting variables as potential entry points for any change action. a. Task : The companys business strategy is focusing on those processes performed by headquarters site like: Designing products and Manufacturing methodologies with transferring the maturing

manufacturing processes offshore. b. Technology: It is mainly the documentation system that consists of a number of components. An electronic vault The computer system and networks that allow access to the vault The documents themselves The protocols for routing and approving revisions

c. People: They are an important component of technology. Changing technology could not be accomplished when the people who interact with technological components are resisting changing. d. Structure : Communication: That is shaped by the nature of technology and the organizational structure. System of authority: it is based on the organizational relationship between headquarters and local sites. When the authority is rather perceived as obstructionist for some of the tasks performed by lower organizational levels, then the system itself is damaging the organizational in relation with external environment. The way the managing change is implemented at each entry points is a critical issue that should be properly addressed. Creating a better cross functional communication through simulation Running a simulation of an improved documentation system could really help the process of implementing change at PolyProd same is to show participants how effective the decisions really are. One important prerequisite is to relate the simulation content to the real business process. Using a simulation for real situation could help participants in having better understanding of their status in organization, improving cross functional communication between headquarter and local sites at PolyProd. The status is not relating only to the participants job requirements but to their specific role or place in the business situation especially when the processes a business oriented Favoring a climate and culture for sustainable change PolyProd feels unproductive with friction between headquarters and other locations. The management and employees at the site are dissatisfied what they feel as a patronizing and demanding attitude. The organization policies are regarded as being unilaterally went out by the headquarters. Headquarters staff, in turn resent the fierce and individualism of the other locations.

This friction is inducing tensions at the organizational level and is, actually, helping the climate of PolyProd. To change this tensionate climate into a productive and innovative one should require new practices like changing the functional hierarchy with an operational one, emphasizing the importance of delivering better added value to customer. The sustainable organizational change is assured when both the climate-what the organizations members experience and the culture what members believe the organizational values change. Planned change: It is obvious that a potential organizational will improve performance if technological and social changes are integrated. Anyway, the problem emphasized earlier is a complex one, with needs of change both at technical and organizational level. Firstly, the process of managing change should be regarded as problem solving once the problem finding issue has been discussed earlier. Secondly, using the word problem could have implications that people would try to avoid it. The change should be carried out at all functional levels of organization, from senior management to the lowest functional level with a focus on business processes in relation with the external environment. Stages in change implementation: Committing an active participation of leadership, pursuing a training program at the upper management level The change needs a champion. The more powerful the champion is the more likely the change would succeed. Stewart Jones is the M&D Div executive that is most likely to be the potential sponsor of the project. He should plan and manage the change with departments directors. The new team should follow a training period in order to understand and improve their culture. The training program should be focused on the importance of re-designing the business processes. The training period should not stop at the upper management level. Assuming that a new outcome-oriented culture will be successfully implemented at this level, the team should be responsible with communicating the new culture pattern to the lower organizational levels. Culture change through simulation process. It is the time for signaling down throughout the organization. The change implementers should spread the change signals by using the simulation

as a way of preparing the way in which every individual within the organization is prepared for change. It is a process fundamentally based on a continuous feedback received from participants. Both of the change implementers and recipients would take the role of planner, operational manager and engineer manager deciding how to allocate resources and what kind and quality of maintenance activities should be performed. Therefore both of the upper management and lower management staff levels would be involved in a cooperative process of taking and sharing the right decisions for improving the business processes. The technological design of the simulation program should include and communicate all those aspects considered to be essential in the change process as following: Cross functional communication Customer oriented function Improved technological parameters for a better documentation system, A certain degree of autonomy in decision making strictly related to the business process orientation. Running the simulation could overcome those barriers to learning and inter-departmental communication. The participants are expected to make decisions according to the technical parameters and quality requirements. The simulation process combined with a better appraisal and rewarding system assure the four pillars of a successful change process as following: Formal education and training Formal and informal communication Changes the corporate structure Financial incentives Monitoring the change process

Assuming that the planned change would be successfully, the change process should not be stopped. This process is a dynamic one with risks that could affect the outcomes. Potential risks are higher in larger and more complex organizational architecture. PolyProd is an organization with a worldwide architecture. It is difficult to manage such a wide and diversified structure,

especially when a planned organizational change is in place. There are many branches spread over different geographical markets with various impacts from different and sometimes unfriendly national regulations. The change process would take a longer time and higher cost .a judicious plan with stages, specific periods and costs should be put in place.