Analyzing Forces for and Impediments to Change Objectives Your objective is to understand the…

Analyzing Forces for and Impediments to Change Objectives Your objective is to understand the complex problems surrounding organizational change. Procedure The class divides into groups of from three to five people. Each member of the group assumes the role of supervisor of a group of manufacturing employees who assemble mainframe computers. Here is the scenario. The employees’ jobs are changing because of the introduction of a new, computer-controlled manufacturing technology. Using the old technology, employees stationed along a moving conveyor belt performed a clearly defined set of operations to assemble the computers. The new, computerized technology makes it possible to produce many different models of computers simultaneously. To operate the technology effectively, employees have to learn new, more complex skills, and they also have to learn how to work in teams because the new technology is based on the use of flexible work teams. In the new work teams, the employees themselves, not a supervisor, will be responsible for product quality and for organizing work activities. The new role of the supervisor will be to facilitate, not direct, the work process. Indeed, a major part of the change to flexible work teams involves introducing a total quality management program to improve quality and reduce costs.

1. Chart the main impediments to change at the organization, group, and individual levels that you, as internal change agents, are likely to encounter as you assign employees to flexible work teams.

2. Discuss some ways to overcome resistance to change in order to help the organization move to its future desired state.

3. Discuss the pros and cons of top-down change and bottom-up change, and decide which of them should be used to implement the change in the work system.

4. Which specific organizational development techniques might be most useful in helping to implement the change smoothly?