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The Optimization of the Operations of a Simulated Business

By

(Student Name)

Institution

Date
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Introduction

Northwell Inc. was founded 25 years ago when a merger between Canadian and US

firms. Since both firms had distributed their products in Canada and the US, the merger

allowed them to share marketing and distribution services for five years. Despite the

challenges, after three years, insiders and outsiders viewed the merger as a success. However,

growth and profitability slowed down nine years ago and flattened afterwards. A year ago,

sales growth was just 4%, and profitability had reduced to 6% of sales and the return on

equity 6.5%, marking a doom for Northwell Inc.'s glorious days. Research done three years

ago showed that the company’s clients could receive orders and information over the Internet.

For those who were not currently able to do the same, they would soon be enabled. The

business had challenges communicating with customers online, lagging behind competitors.

Because of the inability to be competitive, Northwell Inc. engaged the services of

Medichek, which primarily provided the design and implementation of websites for leading

healthcare organizations. Claudia proposed the development of a virtual medical product and

service mall with Medichek. The businesses expected that the change would enable

Northwell Inc. to enhance its competitiveness in the online space. However, the project ran

into problems. The project was four to five months behind schedule. This frustrated the Board

and Senior Management at Northwell Inc., who wanted Claudia to move things. In response

to their frustration, the executives at Medicheck were pushing back, considering Claudia’s

interventions as hindering progress. The sales and marketing team members were unhappy

with the changes, with three resignations recently and the loss of a good distributor from the

Mid-west US. With these problems, it is critical to make an appropriate recommendation to

address the organization’s challenges and allow it to become a leader in the market once

more.
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The Education Plan

Education plans are instrumental in providing a structured approach to learning. Such

an approach breaks down complex information and structures it in simple chunks that

students can understand. Various models and approaches are used in educational planning,

like learning contracts, the loop model and organizational learning. Learning contracts entail

a collaborative agreement between the tutors and learners (Ismail and Yusof, 2008). The

contract has the resources, objectives and other things the learners need to achieve the

intended purpose. In the case of Northwell Inc., a learning contract will allow the

stakeholders to be involved in the design of the educational process. It will recognize the

learning needs of the different participants and allow the teacher to make personalized

approaches to meeting those needs. The approach will ensure that the stakeholders have a

sense of ownership and will improve their participation.

The loop model is based on the idea of making continuous improvements. It provides

a cyclical process of planning, implanting and evaluating the plan to ensure it achieves the

required outcome. The approach sees learning as a dynamic process that needs regular

adjustment (Sundqvist & Backlund, 2014). In the model, feedback is instrumental in

identifying areas that need change. Using the loop model in the educational plans of

Northwell Inc. will ensure changes are made continuously to allow the educational plans to

achieve the intended goals.

Moreover, organizational learning would involve acquiring knowledge to improve the

performance of the business. Northwell Inc. needs to create a learning culture where the

management encourages employees to acquire new skills and knowledge. Organizing training

sessions would persuade the stakeholders, especially employees, to implement the changes.

Knowledgeable employees are more flexible and can embrace the change needed to change
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the business in the right direction. The business needs to create an environment that

encourages the learning and acquisition of new skills.

The Stakeholder Communication Plan

Organizational stakeholders are instrumental and should be involved in decision-

making. A stakeholder communication plan is needed to ensure that the stakeholders in

Northwell Inc. are informed about the progress of the business. Communicating with

stakeholders builds their confidence in the organization and works towards getting their

support (Elwy et al. 2022). A stakeholder communication plan commences by understanding

the needs of the stakeholders and developing a communication strategy that addresses those

needs. A stakeholder communication plan is needed to promote the engagement of

stakeholders and get their support on the proposed changes. It will prevent misunderstandings

and conflicts and facilitate collaboration among the stakeholders.

Reflection on Overcoming Cultural Resistance

Change is difficult and often attracts resistance. Overcoming cultural resistance can be

challenging, mainly where the norms are deeply rooted in the collective psyche of an entity.

Change is necessary for societies and organizations that want to remain relevant. For

businesses, change is needed to ensure the entity remains competitive. When management

wants to make changes, it is met with resistance because of its potential to disrupt the status

quo. In the case of Northwell Inc, there is a lack of buy-in from the relevant stakeholders. For

instance, employees have not embraced the changes, leading some to resign recently. Because

the employees have not bought into the strategy, they perceive the change as a threat. They

feel that the move to embrace technology was not well thought out and do not agree with the

defection the business is taking. In essence, the resistance from the employees has made it

challenging for Claudia to implement the necessary changes.

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The business also faces emotional resistance to overcoming the business culture.

Northwell Inc. has an already established culture which stakeholders have embraced. Having

thrived on the particular culture for some time, the stakeholders have become emotionally

attached to the culture. Besides, Northwell Inc. has done well with the current culture in the

past. Since Claudia wants a digital approach to business operations, stakeholders are still

emotionally connected to the old culture. Such an emotional attachment is challenging and

requires change agents to be patient and empathetic with stakeholders. The inability to

understand the attachment can make change agents insensitive to the needs of the

stakeholders and attract unnecessary resistance and resentment.

Moreover, people in Northwell Inc. are afraid of the unknown. While the business is

currently performing poorly, and an intervention is required, they do not know what to

expect. The stakeholders in the business are more comfortable with what they know and do

not want to engage in new things. The employees, in particular, are unhappy with the change,

perceiving it as threatening their well-being. They are unsure of what to expect and are afraid

that the consequences of the change may be adverse to their survival in the organization.

Overcoming cultural resistance requires change agents to employ excellent

communication skills. Before change agents proceed with their activities, they must

communicate the change well to the relevant stakeholders. Communication is needed to

articulate issues and explain why change is needed. In this case, Claudia must share that the

change is necessary to save the business from declining performance, which could jeopardize

the whole business. She needs to demonstrate that more clients are adopting technological

solutions. Suppose the business does not adjust to the tastes and preferences of the

consumers, it is likely to lose more business in the future Change agents like Claudia need to

take time and explain the consequences of the change and address any concerns.
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Communication skills would build a trusting relationship that will allow change agents to be

more acetated by the stakeholders.

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References

Elwy, A.R., Maguire, E.M., Kim, B. and West, G.S., 2022. Involving stakeholders as

communication partners in research dissemination efforts. Journal of General

Internal Medicine, 37(Suppl 1), pp.123-127.

Ismail, N. and Yusof, M.A.M., 2008. Exploring the use of learning contracts for language

learning. In Seminar Penyelidikan Pendidikan Pasca Ijazah (pp. 52-64).

Sundqvist, E. and Backlund, F., 2014. Continuous improvement in project-based

organizations?: A management perspective. In QMOD conference on Quality and

Service Sciences: 03/09/2014-05/09/2014.