BSBINN601 Lead and manage organisational change

{`Course name:ICT60115 Advanced Diploma of Information Technology
Unit:BSBINN601 Lead and manage organisational change
Australasian International Academy (AIA)
`}

Assessment Summary

Tasks

Task 1

This is an open book test.

Questions must be completed within 1.5 hours.

Students need to answer all of the written questions correctly.

Answers must be word processed and sent to your assessor as a draft email.

Task 2

This assessment task requires you in the role of Operations Manager of Samson Media to prepare briefing report to assist in guiding change at Samson Media. This will require you to review and analyse the scenario information, as well as research and use expert sources of advice to assist in the change management process. You will also be required to participate in a role-play meeting with the CEO of Samson Media to discuss your findings and to seek input to assist in the identification of major change requirements and opportunities. This assessment will be completed in the simulated environment in your RTO.

Task 3

This assessment task requires you in the role of General Manager to develop a Change Management Plan, as well as a Communication and Education Plan. You will use the research and analysis you conducted in Assessment Task 2 as documented in your briefing paper, as well as the meeting input to develop these plans, as well as the input provided by the CEO during the meeting you participated in. This assessment will be completed in the simulated environment in your RTO.

Task 4

For this assessment you will be required, as part of the communication and education strategy, to prepare and deliver a presentation to staff to inform them about the changes that will be implemented for Samson Media and their impact on staff. You are also required to develop a PowerPoint presentation to assist you in explaining the changes. The purpose of the presentation is to provide information to staff, as well as give them the opportunity for input to assist in the process of staff embracing changes. The staff will be role-played by your assessor, as well as students identified by the assessor who are studying another qualification and are willing to role-play the staff. This assessment will be completed in the simulated environment in your RTO.

Task 5

For this assessment task, you are required you to implement the change management plan. You will send a brief to the human resources department, and develop a staff communication to promote the benefits of the upcoming training, to assist in to overcoming resistance to change. You will also be expected to evaluate and review your change management project planThis assessment will be completed in the simulated environment in your RTO.

Task 6

In this assessment task you are required to review information provided to you by your assessor about changes implemented and to evaluate the change management process, as well as update the change management project plan as required. This assessment will be completed in the simulated environment in your RTO.

Assessment Task 1:

Written QuestionsProvide answers to all of the questions below:

Explain the key phases of a change management process.
Explain three reasons why an organisation might initiate change.
Explain force-field analysis as a model for understanding the change process
Explain the key premises of the Burke & Litwin organisational change model and its application to the change process.
Discuss the purpose of Kotter’s 8-step change model and the steps involved. Explain each of the steps involved.
Explain three strategies that can be used to effectively communicate and embed change during an organisational change process.
Explain how external environment can impact on change strategies.
Explain the importance of a participative management style when implementing organisation change.
Explain two aspects of organisational behaviours that can impact on organisational change.
Describe five components that may be included as part of a change management plan.
Explain three reasons why individuals or groups within an organisation may resist change. Include at least one suggestion for each of the areas you identify to how resistance can be overcome.
Discuss at least three barriers to organisational change.
Discuss at least three strategies to address barriers to organizational change.

Assessment Task 2: Change management briefing report

Samson Media is a publisher of several upmarket fashion magazines. It has strong links with a number of high profile fashion houses whose products are featured in the magazines and also provide a significant source of advertising revenue. Readers of the magazines are predominantly 35 to 54-year-old women. Readership has fallen over the last two years. This is due in the most part to due to competition from a range of other fashion magazines and consumers switching to digital media. Due to the decline in readership, profits have also fallen by 20% and there has also been a decrease in the share price. As a consequence, a new CEO, Amir Johnson, has been appointed. Amir was the former Marketing Director for a well-known successful media business that included a national newspaper, magazines and a subscription television channel. Publications are focused mainly on sport and celebrity gossip. The businessis able to undercut its competitors with low prices, enabled by a ruthless approach to achieving high levels of efficiency.Amir and his team of Managers have developed a Strategic Plan that includes the following objectives.

Increase return on capital employed to 8% within 2 years
Enact a transformational change of the company that will convert all magazines to a digital format only.
Close the printing and distribution site.Achieve cost efficiencies through relocating the head office to a smaller office.
Restructure head office staff through moving to a smaller core of permanent staff and more contract staff.

It is intended that the new digital magazines will have the following features:

Focus on health and beauty, fashion and celebrity gossip.
Some free content but full access available only on a subscription basis.
Additional features available to subscribers such as video clips, podcasts and discussion

All staff are full-time permanent staff and their total salary costs per annum to Samson Media are as follows

General Manager: $200,000
Finance Manager: $150,000
Marketing Manager: $150,000
Customer service manager: $100,000
Customer service assistants (4): $240,000 (total salary costs for each assistant is $60,000)
Online Marketing Coordinator: $120,000
Human Resources Manager: $110,000
Editor: $85,000
Art Editor: $80,000
Journalists (3): $270,000 (total salary costs for each journalist is $90,000)
Graphic designers (3): $240,000 (total salary costs for each designer is $80,000)
Editing Assistant (2): $120,000 (total salary costs for each assistance is $60,000)
Photographer (2): $150,000 (total salary costs for each assistance is $75,000)
Senior Designer (2): $240,000 (total salary costs for each journalist is $120,000)
Senior Production Controller: $95,000
Printing and distribution (20 staff): Total $1,000, 000

The cost of running the printing and the distribution site, plus staff costs is currently approximately $1,500,000 per annum. It has been identified that given the change to the new medium of publication it will be an immediate priority to shut down the site and make all of the staff redundant. The current office rent is $500,000 per annum.Employment contracts are in place for all staff members employed in Head Office. Printing and distribution workers are employed under an award. The CEO has indicated that he is interested in moving towards an enterprise agreement arrangement for all remaining staff and would like to have this reviewed as part of the change management process. Current human resources policies and procedures include a recruitment, selection and induction policy and procedures and a termination policy and procedures. There is an ad-hoc performance review process in place which occurs as issues arise. There are no formal processes for training needs analysis or professional development. As the General Manager, you have been asked to lead the development and implementation of the change management plan with the first step being to consult with an organisational change expert to discuss issues and strategies for change management for the company. It is anticipated that while there will be some cost savings in making the change, there will also be costs involved including:

Redundancies: anticipated cost is $300,000
Upskilling staff: $100,000
Consulting with experts: $100,000
Communication throughout change with key stakeholders: $100,000

Complete the following activities:

1. Review scenario and conduct research on best practice change management strategies.

Analyse the company’s organisational objectives as outlined in the scenario information and consider the strategic changes needs that will need to occur based on strategic objectives. Make notes on your analysis for use in your briefing report as outlined below. Review the current human resources policy and procedures used within Samson Media against strategic objectives and the need for change. In the light of the changes required to the organisation, consider changes that may need to be made to the human resources policies and procedures and any gaps. Make notes for use in your briefing report. Using the Internet, research change management, issues and practices including barriers that can impact on change and best practice change management strategies. Make notes for inclusion in your briefing report and to assist you in identifying best practice change manage strategies for Samson Media. You will also need to identify at least three sources of information in your briefing report to show that you have identified expert guidance on change management so make notes on all the sources of information you identify and use.

Monitor the external environment by researching and analysing trends in magazine publishing/on-lin e magazine readership and their impact on Samson Media’s organisational objectives as per the scenario information. This should also include a PESTLE analysis, reviewing political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental factors. Make notes on sources of information, as well as general findings for inclusion in your briefing report. Consider major operational change requirements and recommended order of priority based on your review of the scenario information and human resources policy and procedure. Make notes for use in your report.

2. Develop change management briefing report

Using your research and analysis as above, develop a briefing report for the CEO using the template provided to you by your assessor. The purpose of the change management report is to identify change requirements and opportunities and to inform the development of the change management plan.

Your briefing report must address:oAn overview of the current situation facing Samson Industries including: oAnalysis of the company’s organizational objectives and identification of strategic changes needs.
A review of the current human resources policies and procedures and practices at Samson Media against strategic objectives and report on required changes.
An analysis of the external environment relevant to Samson Media and its objectives, including events/trends that impact on strategic objectives, including trends in magazine publishing, as well as trends in on-line magazine readership. Your analysis should reflect a PESTLE analysis approach, reviewing political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental factors.
An outline of the major operational change requirements for Samson Media based on your analysis and review, as well as recommended priorities for change.
Sources of information you identified about best practice change management strategies, as well as an overview of best practice change management strategies. Summarise each source of information and briefly outline how it has assisted in identifying major change requirements and opportunities.
An analysis of the potential risks/barriers to change for Samson Media and strategies to overcome risks and barriers to change. In identifying risks and barriers to change and solutions to address these, you must demonstrate high level problem solving skills to identify all possible risks, as well as innovative approaches to risk mitigation. Use the risk assessment template provided to you.
A cost-benefit analysis of the high priority change requirements and opportunities. Research and document any costs for the change requirements you are recommending.
Recommended communication and education strategies to inform all stakeholders of the change, as well as promote the benefits of the change.

3. Submit change management briefing report Submit the following along with draft an email to your assessor as though they are the CEO, as well as the other Senior Managers. You should attach your briefing paper and risk assessment to the email. The text of your email must include a brief overview of the purpose of the briefing paper and risk assessment. Your assessor will review your report and email you regarding the date and time of the meeting to discuss your report and risk assessment, and to provide input into the change management process.

4. Participate in change management plan meeting In this final part of the assessment, you are required to participate in a role-play meeting to discuss your briefing report and risk assessment prior to developing a change management project plan and communication and education plan. At the meeting, carefully explain each part of your briefing report and risk assessment, including best practice change management strategies and the expert sources of advice you identified to establish the best practice change management strategies. Seek input on the change requirements/opportunities you have identified, including your recommended priority for the changes.

During the meeting, you will need to demonstrate effective communication skills including:

Discussing information
Asking questions to identify required information
Responding to questions as required
Using active listening techniques to confirm information

Assessment Task 3: Develop a change management plan and communication and education plan

Complete the following activities:

1. Using your research and analysis, as well as the meeting input from Assessment Task 2, develop a Change Management Plan for Samson Media using the template provided to you by your assessor. It sets out all aspects of the recommended changes, including objectives and specific actions, as well as required resources.

2. Develop a Communication and Education Plan to use in conjunction with the change management project plan. Use the template provided to you by your assessor to show how the change will be managed, including provision of information to staff about the proposed changes and benefits. Ensure that the strategies you develop are designed to promote the benefits of change to staff and to reduce the likelihood of negative responses or adverse outcomes. Your communication and education plan should also show the reporting process to senior management, which will be required on a regular basis.

3. When you have completed each of the above plans, you send them as draft of an email attachments to your assessor as though they are the CEO and other senior management staff. The text of your email should indicate that you are seeking input and final approval for the change management plan, as well as the communication and education strategies. You should also identify appropriate reporting arrangements during the change management process as documented in the communication and education plan.

4. Your assessor, in the role of the CEO and Senior Management will draft of an email you with some input into each of the plans you have submitted. You will need to update the plans accordingly and send the final version to your assessor. You should confirm, in the text of the email, that you have made the changes and are now able to proceed with the plan now that the required changes have been made.

Assessment Task 4: Change management presentation project

Complete the following activities:

1. Develop presentationFor this part of the assessment task you are required to develop a PowerPoint presentation to assist in informing employees about the change management plan you developed in Assessment Task 3, as well as the communication and education plan to be adopted during the change management process. The purpose of the presentation is to ensure that employees are fully informed and also have the opportunity to contribute to the change management process. You may also wish to review Kotter’s 8-Step change model to assist you in developing a presentation that will appeal to staff and will promote acceptance of the change. Ensure that you are providing comprehensive information to staff to assist staff to accept the changes. Make time in the presentation for staff to give input to facilitate their acceptance of the changes to come. This will relate to the risk control treatments you identified in Assessment Task 2. Your presentation should include graphics such as images, charts and tables. You must develop the required number of slides to support a presentation of about 30 minutes.The presentation you develop must clearly outline:

the rationale and vision for the change
the benefits of the change
Impacts of the change on operations
Strategies to be adopted to minimise the negative effects on staff. This should also include an outline of the proposed arrangements for redundancies and the restructuring of current jobs in head office.
Prior to the presentation, send your power points to your assessor via draft of an email

2. Conduct the presentation

Prior to the meeting you will be required to set up the space as you would in the workplace, including the projector for your power points and chairs for participants. Go through each of the presentation slides, explaining the changes and the change management process, as well as communication and education. You must provide comprehensive information to staff to outline the changes to assist staff to accept the changes. You must also provide the opportunity for input again to facilitate acceptance of the change. During and after the presentation, you will be required to demonstrate effective communication skills including questioning and active listening to clarify or confirm understanding of issues/questions raised by employees.At the presentation you will need to seek employees’ ideas or suggestions about the changes.Bear in mind that there will be some sensitivities, as the changes will require job losses. Your assessor will role-play a staff member and you will be expected to respond to that staff member using effective communication skills, as well as problem solving skills. One of the staff members (role-played by your assessor) will be upset and you will need to handle this. You will need to do this through using your problem-solving skills to work out how to handle this situation, as well as speaking clearly and calmly and acknowledging the staff members’ feelings, as well as

Assessment Task 5: Implement change management plan project

The change management plan includes training and development for staff in a number of areas, including change management team building, which is considered to be especially important during the change management process. You have identified that the requirement for the training is to be delivered over an eight-week period with a time component to be allocated of approximately 2 hours. You have also identified that the use of experts such as motivational speakers could also be beneficial. Your role will be to send a brief to the human resources department to guide human resources personnel in regard to organising change management team building training and to give your ideas about the content that should be included in the team building training.Assume that, as you also believe there may be resistance to the training due to a general resistance to the changes, that you develop a staff communication to promote the benefits of the upcoming training and assessment to assist in to overcoming resistance to change. You will also be required to evaluate and review your change management project plan to accommodate the above changes.

Complete the following activities:

1. Develop a brief for human resources about the proposed training.Conduct research about the benefits of change management team building, as well as ideas for the content of the training and experts who could assist in providing the training. You should come up with at least four ideas for team building exercises. Using your research, develop a short one-page brief to send to the human resources department outlining the requirement to conduct the training as part of the change management process and the timing of the training. Outline the benefits of the training, as well as the ideas you have researched for the content of the training, as well as possible experts who could conduct the training.

2. Develop staff communicationUsing your research, develop an draft of an email to send to staff outlining the rationale for the training, as well as the benefits of the training. Use the ideas that you have researched to overcome resistance to change. As a guide, your email should be between 3 to 4 paragraphs. Briefly outline some of your ideas for the training.To inform your staff communication, consider how you could best promote the training to staff to overcome resistance to change. Review change management literature to inform your response. This may be the same literature you identified in Assessment Task 2.

3. Evaluate and review change management project plan The final part of this assessment task requires you to evaluate your change management project plan and determine changes that need to be made, based on the new activities identified. Make the required changes and send your updated change management plan to the CEO (your assessor) and include a summary of the changes made in your plan.

4. Send your staff communication draft of an email to your assessor with your brief to the human resources manager and your updated change management plan attached to it.

Assessment Task 6: Evaluate and review change management plan project

Assume that the following change management objectives are included as part of the change management process for Samson Media: objectives:

Employees are satisfied with information provided as part of change management process.
Communication occurs through multiple channels.

The following communication activities were implemented:

Weekly staff meeting
Newsletter updates through staff email

It is 1 month into the change process, and a staff survey of the remaining staff has been conducted.

Complete the following activities:

1. Based on your review of the change management objectives, communication activities implemented, and the staff survey comments, evaluate the effectiveness of the change management process and provide recommendations for improving communication activities.

2. Develop a short brief for the CEO of the organisation about your review and recommending updates to the change management plan through relevant communication activities. Provide a summary of themes from the staff survey, as well as your rationale for further communication activities.

3. Submit the brief to the CEO (your assessor) as an draft an email attachment.