Verified Document

Issues In Change Management Essay

HRM Change Management for WalMart

The commercial environment in which firms compete is forever changing. Internal and external forces stimulate a need for change; firms that fail to change and adapt are likely to stagnate and suffer as a result of their resistance to change. The aim of this paper is to look at an organization which needs to change, considering what change is needed, the lifecycle of change, including consideration of continuous and discontinuous change, and different types of change agents.

The Need for Change at WalMart

WalMart is the largest retailer in the U.S.; it is also the largest private employer with an estimated 1.3 million employees (Workplacefairness.org, 2014). The firm places a high level of reliance in the employees, but despite this the firm appears to have ongoing problems with its employee relations; the firm is regularly accused of discrimination, excessively low wages, and unfair practices (Halkias, 2014; RT.com, 2014). The problems are not new; the problems have been ongoing for many years, indicating a need for change within the organization and the way they engage with employees. To consider now the change should be designed and implemented it is necessary to look at the cycle of change.

The Cycle of Change

There is a pattern to the way successful changes take place within organizations. Several models have been developed to describe the process or cycle of change. Looking at all the models below, it becomes apparent there is a general pattern of preparation, implementation and then monitoring...

This model has three stages, the preparation of the change during which the plans are made and employees support should be gained, the implementation of the change, and finally entrenching the change (Lewin, 1951).
Kotter (1996) developed an 8 stage model, the stages are self explanatory. The stages are, firstly, the creation of a sense of urgency, forming a powerful coalition, the creation of a vision and strategy, and the communication to share the vision (Kotter, 1996). This will be followed by the removal of obstacles, creating some sort term wins, building on the change and then anchoring the change in the organizational culture (Kotter, 1996). The first stages of preparation and communication relate to Lewin's preparation stage, the middle stages to the actual change and the last two are the equivalent of entrenching the change.

The next consideration is the way in which the change occurs, there are two main typos of change; continuous and discontinuous.

Continuous Change

Continuous change may also be called evolutionary change or incremental change (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010). These types of changes take place gradually, and may evolve naturally. Continuous change may take place in small steps, and face less resistance due to its gradual nature, it is also the type of change that may facilitate ongoing change, such as programs where there is the aim of constant improvements being sought (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010). This would involve making…

Sources used in this document:
References

Buchanan, D; Huczynski, A, (2010) Organizational Behavior, Harlow, FT/Prentice Hall

Caldwell Raymond, (2003), Models of Change Agency: a Fourfold Classification, British Journal of Management, 14 131-132

Halkias, M, (2014, April 1), Appeals court allows former Wal-Mart employee's gender bias lawsuit to proceed, Dallas News, accessed at http://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/20140401-appeals-court-allows-former-wal-mart-employees-gender-bias-lawsuit-to-proceed.ece on 20th June 2014

Kotter JP, (1996), Leading Change, Harvard Business Press
RT.com, (2014, Jan 16), Feds accuse Walmart of threatening, intimidating employees who protest company, RT, accessed http://rt.com/usa/walmart-charged-documents-labor-union-679 / on 20th June 2014
Workplacefairness.org, (2014), Wal-Mart, accessed at http://www.workplacefairness.org/reports/good-bad-wal-mart/wal-mart.php on 20th June 2014
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Change Management & Organizational Transformation
Words: 5634 Length: 20 Document Type: Thesis

(GAO, 2008) These criteria are stated to "inform many other elements of the positions, including roles and responsibilities, job qualifications, reporting relationships, and decision-making structure and processes." (Dejewski, 2007) Three types of COO/CMO positions were identified as follows: (1) the existing deputy position could carry out the integration and business transformation role. This type of COO/CMO might be appropriate in a relatively stable or small organization; (2) a senior-level executive who reports to

Change Management in Healthcare Organizations
Words: 16366 Length: 42 Document Type: Multiple Chapters

1.3. Summary of argument, Hypothesis The role of leadership styles and their applicability to the success or failure of mergers, acquisitions and alliances is the focus of this research. Any leadership study, to be relevant, must also focus on the needs of those served by the organizations studies. That is why in the proposed Change Management Equilibrium Model have customer-driven processes at their center or core. The focus of the research

Change Management Organizational Change Organizational Change Aims...
Words: 3237 Length: 11 Document Type: Essay

Change Management Organizational Change Organizational change aims at ensuring that the implementation of changes in an organization is smooth and successful. Moreover, it ensures that the benefits of these changes are achievable (Burke 2010). The introduction of social media and technology has recently had much effect on business in the recent past. Accessing information by the organization is easier nowadays thus; the need for introducing changes to business to cope with the

Managing Changing Managing Change Reflect Critically Personal
Words: 2703 Length: 8 Document Type: Case Study

Managing Changing Managing Change reflect critically personal perspective philosophy managing change changed ( ) semester Drawing learning experiences semester (group case study, relevant change management theory, reflections relevant personal experiences organisational change), reflect critically personal perspective philosophy managing change changed ( ) semester. Managing change The world we are living in is always changing. The nature of the business world today is very different than the way it was decades ago. Change is inevitable.

Change Management Theory Change Management Is a
Words: 2715 Length: 9 Document Type: Case Study

Change Management Theory Change management is a discipline studied and implemented in various organizations. The existence of this discipline spans for over half a century currently. Thus, it is a discipline of old time, with quite a number of years in existence. However, it is surprising to note that despite the huge investments that various organizations and companies employ to facilitate organizational change studies still indicate that between 60% - 70%

Change Management in Public Organizations Change Management
Words: 6173 Length: 20 Document Type: Essay

Change Management in Public Organizations Change management involves an organization moving through adjustments to bring it into a different point in its development (Anderson & Anderson, 2001). Companies are almost always changing and growing, but when change management is involved these changes are calculated and they take place in a planned way. The goal is to move the company forward so that it can continue to grow and develop with the

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now