Assignment: Change Models Essay

In this paper the executive at a high-end retail chain selling luxury watches, jewelry, and hand bags is in charge of the company’s first expansion in the international pool, which is about a new store open in Shanghai, China. This is only a short term objective as the company expects to open several stores in the BRIC countries, such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China, which is the long-term plan. The executive explains the chain models used to follow the short-term and long-term goals and the effects these changes would have on executives, managers, and employees from the company. Organizational Change Change is not easy to implement and plan. It requires a lot of responsibility for the ones that are impacted by it and for the ones who enforce it. Weis (2012) reminds about three types of change that can be at an organizational level, such as: developmental, transitional and transformational. Developmental change refers to improvements of what already exists. A good example of developmental change is when a company improves a procedure or a process that exists within the organization like the leave time or the update of an HR policy. There is little stress involved in such change and it does not really need to be of a larger scale and scope. The second type of organizational change reminded by Weiss (2012) is transitional change and it refers to implementing a known desired state, different from a current one. It is a type of change of a larger scale and it deals with a certain amount of stress, unlike developmental change. A good example of transitional change is the merger or acquisition procedure of a company. Another example when it comes to processes and procedures is about replacing them with new ones, like when a new technology system is installed, replacing an older one. Transitional changes can unsettle jobs, can shake things in a company, and they can also create new jobs, requiring training and hiring. The third type of change is the transformational model which requires or involves the emergence of a new and unknown state for the company. When a company moves to a new and different target market it requires different strategies, as well as skills. Another good example of transformational change is when the CEO and executives of a company want to change the culture or/and the structure of a company. This type of change is the requiring intensive focus and involving a lot of stress. It may be the most complex among all three change types. The short-term objective that needs to be implemented by the executive is the open of a new store in Shanghai, China. Being a single event it may not require such intensive focus; however, there are aspects of the matter that need to be highly considered. The strategy proposed for the opening of a new store in Shanghai is to reach the objective through a transitional change model. A good way to implement this change model is with the 7-S model. Waterman, Peters, and Philips (1980) explain that the 7-S Model for Organizational change examines seven key areas of the company, as well as the relationship of each of the elements one another. The 7 elements are grouped into two major categories, such as: soft elements and hard elements. The elements are as follows: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff, and skills. Through strategy, the company plans to maintain competitive advantage, while the structure refers to the hierarchy of the company. In both situations, the short and long-term, the hierarchy of the company suffers modifications and the executive needs to make sure the employees and everyone affected by the change are ready to experience it. Systems refer to every-day processes through the company, while shared values refer to the core value of the company. The executive will follow and enforce the shared values of the company in both the short-term and long-term events. Planning for the short-term and opening a new store in China, may be slightly difficult since it is the first time the company deals with such an action. That is why every step needs to be well calculated. It is the first time when the executive needs to come up with a plan involving the inventory of the new store, how it will be maintained, and how supply of products is made. Laws and regulations of China when it comes to retailing need to be considered properly. The first experience will be useful into creating the long-term strategy because it provides the experience necessary to such change within the company. No longer will the other managers and executives need to think locally and nationally. They have to think globally and that is a change required to be addressed in the first place. Since it involves opening a new store, the employees would be hired locally. This is a change that affects the managers because they will have to learn how the hiring process takes place in the country where the new stores are opened. The long-term strategy may not be as complex as the short-term strategy for change because there will be a precedent and the company will cope with the change easily. Conclusion Dealing with change can be challenging when a company focuses on going globally. This paper exposes the strategies an executive at a jewelry store has to deal with opening new store in China (a short-term objective) and other stores in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Given the cultural diversity of these countries, hiring approaches, as well as the laws and regulations being different in these countries can make the achievement of the objectives more difficult. References Waterman, R. H., Peters, T. J., & Philips, J. R. (1980). Structure is not Organization. Retrieved from http://www.lmcuk.com/management-tool/the-7-s-model-for-organisational-change Weiss, J.W. (2012). Organizational Change. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.