You are in charge of implementing a large change initiative for your mid-size company. A major customer, accounting for 20% of your sales, is pushing you to lower prices by 15% within six months and threatening to buy elsewhere if you don't comply. The president, who supports the initiative, has asked you to develop and implement the plan to satisfy the customer. You are facing significant pressure to resist the change from many members of the workforce, including several production managers, who don't believe it's possible. The VP of marketing feels that no single customer should represent 20% of company sales.
Using and identifying the materials that you have read, develop a comprehensive change management plan including contingencies to deal with resistance. Include time frames for each step so that you can give the president an estimate on how long the process will take, what types of resistance you will face, how you will deal with it, and the degree of success that can be expected.
What organizational factors are working against you? What organizational factors will make your change process easier?