Case Study Anal ysis: THE PERILS AND PITFALLS OF LE ADING

CHANGE

Q1. What is the justification for the change? What is Oliveira's

approach to leading the change process?

Oliveira suggested a change including an ‘urgency code’. This meant everyone, would stop what
they are doing, support cashiers and fitting room staff if the lines have more than three
customers, re-allocate personnel to enhance the visual merchandise appearance and
improvement in presentation of mannequins and showcase and changing roles to where
employed are assigned to hourly-based activities rather than being appointed to one
department. This sounds like a good idea at first, but it means that everyone needs to be
trained to run the cash registers. This also means other departments would go unattended,
which could result in production losses. The reason he offered that few people always found
standing in cashier lines or fitting room and showcase was not clear. He also reasoned that
indoor mannequins were not dressed properly. Thus, he made these changes in the store.

The rationale offered for the change reflects that Oliveira believed that his proposed changes
would offer the company better results. He found that an urgency code should be created to
provide better customer service. When Oliveira decided on the changes, he did not consulted
with the employees who had been working there for years. He had no meetings with the
employees once the change was implemented to miss their suggestions or concerns. He only
met with the managers. Each time Oliveira was not around, the workers reverted to the old
ways and he did not understand why. He is a young man, coming into a business with
employees who have so much more experience than he does, and he did not reach out to
them. This culminated in the resistance to change.

Oliveira has not followed all of the 8 steps of the Kotter. The ones he tried to follow were to
build a vision and strategy and communicating the change vision. The employees were not part
of this coalition and/or army because they did not respect him. With the changes not taking
place or happening only part-time, the store’s performance continued to decline. There have
been no short-term wins. Oliveira could not consolidate gain and produce more change
because the initial change was not accepted. He did not anchor new approaches in the culture.
Q2. As a manager, w ould you have handled the change process any
differentl y? If so, how ?

I believe the most important thing in one of the 8 steps to transform your organization is to
form a strong powerful guiding coalition. This can be done by bringing in some of the
employees into creating the change. Such employees are not only willing to provide feedback
but the relationship/trust they have with other employees can decrease resistance to change.
Oliveira is not only young; he has been with the company for only one year. Some of the
employees have been there for over 10 years. He met with the employees, but he did not talk
to them about what they like about the company and what they feel needs to be changed. He
did not take this step.

I definitely believe following Kotter’s 8 steps model to leading change would have made the
changes successful. Daniel missed the mark by not building his army and creating a sense of
urgency by letting the employees know why the changes were needed. The study indicates that
while Oliveira interacted with staff, they were not well acquainted with the goals of introducing
reform. A major flaw not considered by him was employees thought that he was young and
inexperienced and this problem should have been addressed by speaking to the store’s senior
employee. Oliveira also did understand the role of empathy in gaining the store’s employee’s
trust. He also failed to recognize the importance of leadership development tools.

He should therefore have set up a team to win the trust of the employees. To get feedback
from the employees, he should have introduced 360-degree appraisal. Implementation of
assessment centers should have been considered to enhance the behavioral tendencies of the
store's employees. He should have considered a participative approach and empathy building.

I would have considered all these tactics in his place to initiate change in the organization.