case study-leading and managing change

This is the Master degree subject: managing organizational change/ leading and managing change.

It requires use culture web tool to analyse the case study.

The main points that you need to cover includes:

• The culture web tool
• Answer the 4 questions
• staff morale
• job satisfaction
• HR AND corporate culture
• redundancy AND organisational restructure
• workplace attitudes AND cultural change
• impact of employee motivation
• employee motivation OR engagement
• remuneration in the workplace
• reward systems
• workplace diversity
• Challenges in managing organisations.

It means you have to write your report (2500 words +or-10% – title page and reference list excluded in word count) using information from various journal articles and textbooks written by academics and experts on the topic of change in organisational culture, cultural web, cultural web analysis, managing dynamic organisations, change management theories, models, and frameworks which you evaluate best reflect the issues outlined in the case study.

In your report you should have citations from at least twelve (12) scholarly/peer-reviewed journal articles, & academic textbooks.   Do not reference sources such as Wikipedia.org, or other non-academic sources (.com, .net).  P.S I WANT TO ABLE TO ACCESS AND FIND THIS REFERENCES PLEASE. THANK U SO MUCH.

 

 

Case study

Assessment task 1 requires the writing of an academic report. The report should be designed as a management document that can be used to implement recommended changes. It should include a comprehensive analysis of the current situation using change management theories, models and frameworks. The report should clearly explain the various options available and analyse the consequences of these. The assignment is based on a case study that describes the impact of cultural change on business activities. The purpose of the report is to identify the roles of change in organisational culture and other challenges in managing dynamic organisations. Students are expected to engage in extensive research within the academic literature relating to organisational culture, cultural web and cultural web analysis.

Details The assessment item is based on the case study titled Transforming the Corporate Culture at Heinz Australia (pg. 61-62 of textbook). The case itself, and assignment requirements are presented in the document and can also be accessed through the course website. You should read, and carefully analyse, the case and respond to the issues presented at the end of the case study within the context of an academic report. You are required to support your argument with appropriate theoretical discussion and references.

The assignment should be a properly constructed academic report. It should contain headings and sub headings. The introduction should introduce the report, thesis statement (main

objective of the assignment) and include your argument. The main body of the assignment should present the evidence you have collected to support your arguments for the 4 questions (with headings and sub headings) and the conclusion should restate your arguments, summarise the evidence and make a conclusion regarding your arguments.

The assignment should contain a coherent, but necessarily restricted review of the academic literature on the organisational culture, change management topics in question. The literature review should be integrated into the assignment, not a separate section. A reference list formatted in the prescribed Harvard style is compulsory. Do not include a bibliography

This assessment item involves researching your assigned topic to enhance your understanding of organisational culture, change management concepts, strategies and utilisation of academic literature. Whilst you should avoid using only textbook, the prescribed textbook for the course should be cited in regard to broad change management strategies. You will be expected to present information and evidence from, and cite, at least twelve (12) relevant peer-reviewed journals or other academic references (books, book chapters etc.) (minimum requirement). Refer to your recommended readings for examples of academic journals. While you can cite these references, you must find twelve (12) peer reviewed journal articles and/ or other academic references not listed in the course materials. The quality and number of citations will demonstrate the breadth and depth of the literature used to answer the questions. Your marker is interested in the analysis that you have developed from your review of the literature and how well you use the literature to respond to the topic. Avoid presenting a descriptive account only of your readings. What is required in this assessment is a critical evaluation of the academic literature as it relates to the specific details of the case study. Your marker is interested in the conclusions that you arrive at from your evaluation of the literature and of the case study.

 

Case Study: Transforming the Corporate Culture at Heinz Australia 

The Heinz Company’s association with Australia began back in the 1880s when Heinz products were first imported from the USA to feed the American miners who came to work in the goldfields. Production first began in Australia in 1935 when Heinz (US) leased a factory in Richmond, Melbourne. During World War II, Heinz began operating a factory in Devonport and from 1943 to 1946; the company sold 86% of its production to the Commonwealth government for supply to all the armed services.

Post-war, Heinz Australia continued to expand, establishing new factories and acquiring numerous companies from the 1970s through to the 1990s. In 1998, Heinz Australia merged with Heinz-Watties, New Zealand. In 2003, the Heinz- Watties Australian business was restructured into three separate business units: HJ Heinz Australia, Tegal Foods New Zealand and Heinz-Watties New Zealand. It currently employs around 800 people in Australia and 1200 in New Zealand.

With the new restructure in 2003, Peter Widdows was appointed Managing Director of Heinz Australia and the company moved into its new head office at Southbank, Melbourne. In February 2009, Widdows was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Heinz Australia (Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Korea). The phenomenal success of Heinz in Australia and its influence on Heinz business in the Pacific region over the last six years are largely credited to the transformation of change Widdows instigated when he took over as Managing Director. As Widdows himself admits, the company was not simply at a standstill, it was going backwards. Given the US parent company’s low tolerance for unprofitable businesses, this was not a suitable position if the company was to continue operating in Australia.

When Widdows first arrived he encountered a very negative, low-risk, punitive culture. It was inward focus, where everything seems too difficult or too much effort. The emphasis seems to be on handing out punishment, rather than on rewarding success, which lead to resentment and defensiveness amongst staff. Consequently staff morale was low and turnover unacceptably high, costing around $2 million a year to replace departing staff. Based on his experiences of working in different company cultures, Widdows recognised immediately that something was deeply amiss at Heinz Australia. Key problem areas he identified by a lack of nurturing and supporting support of staff, little encouragement of new ideas, and a complex organisational structure that was causing conflict and confusion over functional and role responsibilities. Widdows moved swiftly and decisively to instigate change. Within the space of two months, he reduced salaried staff numbers by 25% and supervised the restructuring of the board; bring in new middle level board members.

Once these hard-nosed changes had been implemented, the focus moved to changing workplace attitudes and behaviours. Widdows and his senior management team sought to engage all staff, working with the mantra ‘a great place to work’. Everyone was asked for their input and ideas on what ‘a great place to work’ mean to them. Senior managers were expected to model the new behaviours to their staff and ‘walk the talk’. Widdows for his part clearly demonstrated to the senior management team how he would behave towards them and he expected them to show the same respect and willingness to listen to their own teams. After the headcount reduction of 25%, there was inevitably considerable cynicism among staff at the start of the cultural change process. However, Widdows’ commitment to building a positive, caring community in which employs ideas and contributions were taken seriously and acted upon, gradually won their trust and involvement in establishing ‘a great place to work’. Widdows directly credits the increase in the number and variety of different projects now being implemented to people’s new-found confidence and belief that they could succeed.

There were also a number of tangible results. There was an immediate increase in profits from September 2003, with Heinz recording 50% top line growth each year since the end of 2004. The success rate of new products increased significantly, with more than 200 products launched in one year. This is an outcome the company would never have considered possible before. Staff turnover has also fallen markedly from 33% in 2002 to between 7 and 10% at the time of writing, with which the company is satisfied.

The idea of ‘a great place to work’ is now an integral part of the company’s culture and influences all it undertakes. There are, for example, on-going initiatives concerned with staff health, well-being and work life balance. These include payment of gym memberships and annual medical check-ups. Another very successful initiative introduced in 2004 was the flexible working week, which includes a shorter working week during summer daylight saving hours as well as flexitime. During the months of daytime saving, staff may take Friday afternoon off once they have finished the work. There is no monitoring of staff against these, which highlights the culture of mutual trust and respect that has developed through the ‘a great place to work’ initiative.

At this stage the focus of the cultural change process at Heinz Australia is concerned with reinforcing and maintaining the new cultural mindset, making sure that the ‘great place to work’ initiative remains a potent driving force. This means constantly communicating that what the company values above all is an engaged and committed workforce, is ensuring the company is never standing still and the old complacency and negativity cannot return.

While the global financial crisis has brought many challenges, the company is in robust health and in a stronger position than most because it supplies staple foods. Widdows is well aware, however, of the challenges facing the food industry, such as the effect of large-scale commodity cost increases. For him, there is no turning back. The fact that is the ‘great place to work’ concept has now become a global Heinz initiative, together with Widdows’ promotion to CEO of Australasia confirmed he has the blessing and support of the US head office.

Task: The ‘cultural web’ is a valuable tool for assessing the cultural health of an organisation, helping to identify those aspects that are likely to support or block change. Based on the above case study write a report that answers all the four questions:

1. Draw on each of the elements of the cultural web to discuss how the culture at Heinz Australia has changed and is continuing to evolve under Widdows’ leadership.

You should discuss your arguments using ideas, theories of corporate culture and cultural web.

2. Based on your cultural web audit, identified the key forces for and against change.

Relate your answer to the ‘cultural web’ model.

3. What appeared to be the key strengths of the new culture?

You may think of developing your arguments in terms of contextual changes, culture and cultural fit; ethics and the organisational changes and setting in which managers

Generally try to ensure that cultural change fits in with their environment. Relate your answer to ‘The effect of culture on strategy development and learning’

4. What aspects of the organisation need to be monitored and sustained to ensure the organisation does not slide back into the old ways of thinking and working?

You should discuss your arguments using ideas, theories of corporate culture and significance of having engaged, committed employees with a great leader to manage the organisation.

All the answers must be written with supporting academic references

 

 

 

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