Final Project: Innovation and org. transformation

Background: Many organizations are facing the
painful reality that they are not keeping up with the demands of the
national, let alone global marketplace. The most blatant examples of
forced transformations have come from technology companies – many of
whom have been finding it difficult to keep up with continuous changes
in their industry. Other companies, however, that deal with more
traditional products, like clothing, cosmetics, and various health care
products, have also been challenged by the changing times. Today,
companies like Macy’s, K-Mart, Sears, Hewlett Packard, Zales, and Barnes
& Noble are just a few that either need or face transformation.

Need Help Writing an Essay?

Tell us about your assignment and we will find the best writer for your paper.

Write My Essay For Me

Project Objectives:
To integrate the topics of the entire course by putting yourself in the
shoes of a practicing leader from a real-life organization, reveal
her/his dilemma, define goals for change & transformation, and
prepare a working plan for change. The recommended length of the paper
is10 pages in APA format, but no more than 15 (not including references,
abstract, and cover page). You are encouraged and expected to use new
and primary sources for your research. This will make sure your projects
include up-to-date information.

Project Requirements – Organizational Case Study Analysis:

This
project will be a team effort. Each student will propose an
organization to analyze; preferably a company that would benefit from
transformation – one that you are either professionally familiar with or
that you have heard about in the news. At the end of the first week of
class you will post your information about this company on the
Discussion Board (a template for your submission is provided below).
Here, you will share ideas about how the organization you have
identified is adapting to external influences (such as competitive
forces, global economics, etc.) and internal influences (such as
communication dynamics, power struggles, or cultural misalignment).
During the first couple days of the second week, the professor will
select several organizations from the submitted proposals. These
selections will then determine the project teams.

Students will
select an organization to study, from those identified by the professor,
thereby aligning themselves with a specific team. This will happen on a
first-come, first served basis, after the selected companies have been
identified on Blackboard – and the teams will include no more than six,
and preferably five students. Note: Instructors reserve
the right to make any changes to the teams’ composition to ensure that
every student is properly assigned to a team. The respective team
members will then share responsibility for conducting the analysis,
examining the organization’s activities through various frames —
structural, human resources, political and symbolic. They will prepare a
report of their findings, outlining relevant claims and conclusions,
demonstrating their understanding of organizational frameworks, and
supporting their work with evidence and examples.

Each team will
have a site within Blackboard for collaboration, with tools for a Group
Discussion Board, File Exchange, email, and any other needed functions.
You are welcome to use whatever other means of communication your team
desires. The professor will have access to your Learning Group site and
will examine it on occasion. Unless the team is experiencing problems,
the professor will not participate directly.

The following structure will be used to help organize your thoughts and findings:

Group Charter and Case Description

Your
team will create a charter that will support your project tasks and
intergroup relations and reflect that you are members of a team that
will be successful. A template for the charter is provided on
Blackboard.

PART 1: Case description (Investigation stage):

• Organize
  and conduct the discovery stage – identify the significant issue(s)
  that requires the organizational leader’s attention. This is where you
  answer questions that relate to who, what, where, when, and why.
• Research and explain the context for the case, focusing on the organizational frames and necessary background information.

• The
  background information about the organization or event puts the reader
  into the middle of the situation and helps them see the complexity of
  the situation and available options.
• Background information on
  the company, industry, region, or country (if relevant), may be
  necessary to provide the context for understanding the case situation,
  and its political, economic and/or cultural constraints.

PART 2: Analysis and Solution (Consulting stage):

• This
  is the “consulting” part of your project. Here you are expected to
  share with the reader: (a) the main issue(s) and underlying elements of
  the case; (b) the procedure(s) used for obtaining adequate and
  appropriate information for the case; (c) a detailed analysis of the
  situation described in the case through the prism of material from
  relevant coursework or discipline based literature; and (d)
  recommendations for how the case can be resolved. The following
  structure would help you present your ideas:

• Case Synopsis/ Key Issues:

• A
  brief synopsis of the case from the “consulting” point of view.
  Refocuses the reader’s attention on the key issues of the case and
  clearly specifies the objectives of the case. This is basically an
  “executive summary” of your findings done in a professional
  language.Interviews, secondary sources, observations, company website,
  etc., including questions for the interviews and respondents
  • Methods used to obtain information
• Analysis of the Situation – Use the available frames, and any information from previous courses, to analyze the situation:

• The
  structural & human resource frames (which structure would best
  support the transformation effort and what should its human resource
  efforts focus on?)
• The symbolic frame (how should the
  organization position itself for a change in culture? How will the
  current culture respond to transformational efforts?)
• The
  political frame (who are the various stakeholders and how do they relate
  to each other? How will the organization navigate the dynamics
  associated with interpersonal relationships, power, conflict,
  competition, coalitions, formal/informal communication systems, and the
  multitude issues associated with the human experience?).
  • Recommendations & Solutions
  • Identify possible solutions, possible outcomes, and forces that promote and resist change, to include supporting rationale.
  • A set of alternative courses of action (if you see several of them) that would resolve the problem.
  • Plan
    of action: a clear recommendation supported by theory, the frames
    identified in this course, and logic that can reasonably be implemented.
  • Recommendations must be reasonable, interesting and
    specific. Don’t forget to strengthen your recommendations with
    appropriate articles/books/websites relevant to the topics of the course.
  • Conclusion:
  • Conclude
    the paper with your final thoughts and implication of the potential
    usefulness of the results to the “client” and to you as future
    organizational leaders.
  • Appendices and References:
    • The
      analysis must include a bibliography (in APA format) of at least six
      sources (publications and documents that you used to compile your
      information and to analyze and prepare the case).

Each
team member will complete a learning team member assessment at the end
of Week 5. This will help the professor determine everyone’s level of
contribution to the final product, to include time, effort quality and
general leadership competency.

Template for Discussion Board Posting of your recommended organization

(Due by midnight Sunday of Week 1)

Organization: name, what does it do?

Access:
what relationship do you have with the organization; how will you
obtain information? What people and information can probably be used to
research the organization, its issues, and its potential strategies for
successful outcomes?

Where: where is the organization located? (it can be located anywhere in the world)

What:
what is the current understanding about the nature of the problem, or
issue, or decisions to be made? Why is some kind of transformation
(probably) called for?

Who: who are key decision maker(s) or the strategic leadership team involved here?

When: what are the timing parameters – is this situation current, or sometime in the past or future?

Why: why is this issue important (or why should it be important) for the organization and its leaders?

Suggested length about 500 words.

If
you need answers to this question, WhatsApp/Call +1 646 978 1313

The post Final Project: Innovation and org. transformation appeared first on Shrewd Writers.