Question 1:
Read the following case and answer the questions that follow.
The management of Company ABC have just notified the employees that their jobs are going to change 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.
Questions
(a) Explain the main barriers to change at the individual level that the internal change agents are likely to encounter as they introduce the new system.
(b) Discuss some ways to overcome resistance to change in order to help the organisation move to its future desired state.
(c) With examples, explain how the management can refreeze the situation to support the change initiative once the change has been implemented.
Question 2:
Mr Letsomane is the supervisor in fast growing company that manufactures and assembles office furniture. Since the inception of the company, they have been using job specialisation to accomplish their tasks. However, of late there have been delays in finished goods, morale is low and returns have increased.
Explain to Mr Letsomane the advantages and disadvantages of job specialisation and further discuss with him the three methods of job design that can help reverse the problems caused by job specialisation.
Question 3:
Discuss the five conflict resolution styles. Your discussion should include the following areas: What it is, when to use, one advantage and one disadvantage.