All employees are assembled in the cafeteria where the CEO, flanked by the head of human resources and a consultant in a thousand-dollar suit, delivers a speech on yet another plan to make your company more productive and profitable (sound familiar?). In years past, plans for quality circles, service excellence, a pay-for-performance system, and process reengineering were tried. Today it's The New Thing. The consultant then touts the virtues of this panacea, points to a handful of companies that have used it to revitalize their performance, and describes what it can do here. Eventually pizza is served and everyone goes back to work, muttering, "Here we go again."
Clearly organizations can do better in managing change. Using your knowledge of change management gained in this class, discuss the following points.
1. Begin by explaining Lewin's phases of change model. Then discuss why this is a useful tool for managing change?
2. Discuss what the company in this scenario may be doing wrong in the context of change management theory.