Details: Last year, LRH Manufacturing had to implement a number of very formal processes and procedures to comply with the new Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. Sales people were mandated to closely track their expenses and book their revenues differently, and the commission program changed significantly. As a result, several sales people experienced some short-term personal cash flow problems as they adjusted to these new compensation models. The sales organization was informed about these changes in a three-page e-mail that came from the newly appointed "Compliance Officer." The e-mail was heavily legal and was written in a very condescending tone. As a result of this experience, the entire organization is leery of any processes, particularly those having many legal requirements.
To begin to prepare the organization for the change that will be brought on by this project, write a two-paragraph article for the upcoming company newsletter. In this article, you should introduce the project and explain the impact and benefits of this new system on the organization. Although you will be responsible for writing the article, include a paragraph explaining who you think should sponsor the article and why.
Objective: Examine various models of organization change.
Explore emotional and organizational issues related to the implementation of change.
Scenario:
Your employer, LRH Manufacturing, creates a device used in various medical products. All work done on the device must meet government regulations and guidelines. One of the regulations focuses on these points:
• Staff training
• Maintenance of accurate training records
• Mandated company training
• Records of training attendance
Executive management has decided the current training management system is unacceptable because all training documentation is captured manually and stored in a binder. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the accuracy of the information.
As a result, executive management has announced a company-wide initiative—the implementation of a new web-based training management system. All personnel will be responsible for using the system to sign up for training and to monitor their involvement in regulated product projects.
To oversee this responsibility, executive management has created a new position, Web-Based Training Project Manager. The responsibilities of this position will be to select and oversee the training and implementation of the new training management system, as well as monitor company-wide training attendance and identify people who are “out of compliance.”
Executive management anticipates some departments will show resistance. Departments, such as Manufacturing, will be required to use tools they have never used or refused to use before. Because instructional designers in the Training Department develop instructor-led training, they often have shunned implementation of any web-based system. Also, Department managers’ responsibilities will increase. They will be required to learn how to use the system to assign courses to their direct reports and monitor the timely completion of the courses.
Currently, you are the Manager of the Information Technology department. However, you are very interested in the Web-Based Training Project Manager position.