JWI555 Discussions Latest 2022 August (Full)

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 1 Discussion

Organizational Change

Introduce yourself to your classmates and professor and answer the following questions:

The impact of recent events has forced change on organizations around the world. What have these events taught you about the importance of resilience and agility in creating a sustainable competitive advantage?

What roles have you played in change initiatives at work, either as a leader or as a team member, during the last 18 months?

What's your perception of how you deal with change, either personally or professionally? Explain.

Include examples from this week's materials, as well as your own personal experiences, to support your responses.

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 2 Discussion

Building Urgency

Discuss a situation you experienced at work where you were complacent about a change. Use the questions below to guide you:

Briefly summarize the nature of the change initiative, including what problems or opportunities it was designed to address and who initiated the change.

Based on your CSI results, what did you learn about your own reaction to this change?

What steps could have been taken, by you and by leadership, to create a greater sense of urgency around the change initiative?

Include examples from this week's materials, as well as your own experiences, to support your responses.

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 3 Discussion

Guiding Coalitions

In this discussion, we explore the benefits and challenges of a guiding coalition in supporting organizational change.

Using the prompts below, discuss your experience with participating in, or observing, a guiding coalition:

Who was included in the guiding coalition?

Based on Kotter's list of four key characteristics, were they the right people?

What did the change initiative set out to accomplish?

How successful was it? What were the reasons for the successes or failures?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 4 Discussion

Change Vision

As we noted in Week 1, organizations need to change to remain competitive. Considering your organization, identify a change you would like to implement, and respond to the following:

Briefly describe the change that is needed and why it is important.

Using the Expanded Vision Matrix tool, draft your vision statement for this initiative.

How do you predict stakeholders will react to this change vision?

Include examples from this week's materials, as well as your own experiences, to support your responses.

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 5 Discussion

What's in It for Me?

Now that you have created a vision for your change initiative, it's time to communicate it.

Identify two different stakeholders from different departments who may have competing interests in the change initiative. As you think about possible conflicts, consider the give and take that sometimes occurs among product design, customer service, sales, finance, etc.

Drawing on the "Key Elements in Effective Communication of a Vision" presented by Kotter in Chapter 6, develop a communication plan to support the vision for your change initiative that is appropriate for both stakeholders.

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 6 Discussion

Empowering Your Employees

Empowerment is an aspiration of many well-meaning leaders and managers, but debates persist on how best to create a work environment in which employee empowerment has a measurable impact on performance.

Drawing on this week's materials and referencing at least one resource from outside the course that provides additional insights on empowerment, respond to the following:

What are the most important steps change leaders take to empower people during a change initiative? Explain why you have prioritized these.

What are the most significant barriers and misunderstandings leaders have to overcome to realize this empowerment? Explain why you have prioritized these.

Share one example from your own professional experience where your organization has gotten it right or gotten it wrong when it comes to employee empowerment.

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 7 Discussion

Celebrating Victories Along the Way

Change initiatives can be long journeys. As you finalize Assignment #2, respond to the following:

Identify short-term wins and milestones that are key for your change initiative.

How often and when should these milestones occur so that momentum is maintained and stakeholders remain engaged?

What types of celebrations are appropriate to recognize these milestones? Why?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 8 Discussion

Sustaining the Change

Share an example from your own experience, or from an article published within the last year in The Wall Street Journal or other reputable source, about a change initiative that started off with great promise and then failed to achieve long-term adoption.

Drawing on Chapter 9 from Kotter, this week’s lecture notes, and other resources from the course, answer the following:

What caused things to slip back to the old ways after the initial change was implemented?  Was it unaddressed interdependencies, lack of training and support, lack of accountability, or something else?

What could have been done better to consolidate gains and produce even more change? Think about both "carrots" - rewards for continuing to implement the change and "sticks" - deterrents that make using the old ways unpleasant or even impossible.

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 9 Discussion