CHANGE MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY

NAME: CHIMWEMWE KHUMBO NDOVI

POSITION: PROPERTY VALUATION OFFICER

ORGANIZATION: ERIS PROPERTIES MW LIMITED

DUE DATE: 01ST OCTOBER, 2020 (05:00 PM)

 QUESTION 1

Cultural assumptions that fuel Victor’s perspective to change management as a team leader of
a section;

i. Superiority Complex:
 He is the head of the section and feels more superior and wiser than all his subordinates
 His longevity of service makes him feel more superior than anyone as he has served for
25 years and has seen people join and leave department all under his watch.

ii. Monotonous Work Processes

 He likes to work with familiar rules and procedures
 He enjoys working with familiar faces

iii. Terminal Stage of career

 He is looking forward to his retirement and it is not coming soon enough

iv. Presumptuous
 He believes that you need to have experience to know what you are doing in a job
 He believes that following a pre-defined set of rules and procedures will get you results
no matter what the conditions (Even though we live in a dynamic environment

v. Emotionally Driven
 He believes that constructive criticism is based on a personal attack against him.
 He views suggestions as a threat rather than opportunity for him to grow and develop
within his last years in the parastatal.
QUESTION 2

Where would Victor’s motivation to lead the team and come from amidst his team members’
resistance to change?

Being the Head of Section

 He will still be the Head of section. He will be champion the change and still maintain
his capacity as the head of section

Enjoyment of Public Service

 He is proud of his service and enjoys working for the parastatal

Problem Solving Personality

 He suits the work environment and he proudly added his many years of experience to
his problem-solving skills

Pursuit of Legacy

 He attempts to make his mark on the department

Working on familiar set of rules and procedures

 If new rules and procedures are made familiar to him, he will be happy to adopt them
as he likes them.
QUESTION 3

An advice to Victor on how he can effectively manage future change using the Kotter’s 8 steps
to enhance change acceptance by his subordinates

Step 1: Establish a sense of urgency

He needs to establish a sense of urgency; For instance, the need to;

 Empower his subordinates to act

 Create openness in communication
 Facilitate ownership of the change process and its outcomes
 Promote a culture of collaboration
 Promote continuous learning

Step 2: Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition

He needs to convince people that change is necessary. Managing change is not enough – He
has to lead it. He has to drive the change, he has to bring together a coalition, or team which will
bring the best synergy effect

He can also apply the following;

 Identify the true leaders in the department

 Ask for an emotional commitment from these key people.
 Work on team building within his change coalition.
 Check the team for weak areas, and ensure that he has have a good mix of people from
different levels of the department

Step 3: Create a Vision

He needs to create a vision which is understandable to anyone in the department. When people
see for themselves what you're trying to achieve, then the directives they're given tend to make
more sense. He can do this by;

 Determining the values that are central to the change.

 Developing a short summary (one or two sentences) that captures what he "sees" as the
future of the department
 Creating a strategy to execute that vision.
Step 4: Communicate the vision

He needs to objectively communicate his vision to his subordinates every chance possible. He
also has to improve his communication skills especially the way he addresses affairs of the
department. He needs to adopt an objective approach and lose the mind of taking constructive
criticism as personal attacks.

Step 5: Empower others to Act on the vision

He needs to accommodate inputs from his subordinates and the management to drive the
vision. He must trust his subordinates on carrying out important tasks beneficial to the
department.

Step 6: Plan for and create short term wins

He needs to create milestones in the change process so that the team have a feel of success.
He can do so by employing the following;

 Looking for sure-fire projects that he can implement without help from any strong critics
of the change.
 Reward people who are driving the change

Step 7: Consolidate improvements and produce more change

Kotter argues that many change projects fail because victory is declared too early. Real change
runs deep. Quick wins are only the beginning of what needs to be done to achieve long-term
change.

Each success provides an opportunity to build on what went right and identify what you can
improve. As such he needs to follow the following procedures;

 After every win, he must analyze what went right, and what needs improving.
 Set goals to continue building on the momentum he has achieved.
 Learn about the idea of continuous improvement.
 Keep ideas fresh by bringing in new change agents and leaders for his change coalition.

Step 8: Institutionalize new approaches

Finally, to make the change stick, he must ensure it becomes part of the core of the parastatal.
The corporate culture often determines what gets done, so the values behind his vision must
show in day-to-day work.
Furthermore, he must make continuous efforts to ensure that the change is seen every aspect
of the parastatal. This will help give that change a solid place in the parastatal’s culture.

REFERENCE

Kotter, J.P.Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.

Kotter, J.P. and Schlesinger, L.A. Choosing strategies for change.Harvard Business Review,
1979, 57 (2): 106–114

Randall, J., Managing Change Changing Managers, London, Routledge, 2004. P24-52: P79-
104.