INSTRUCTIONS: You should consider the discussion threads as being analogous to the kind of discussions you would have in a face-to-face class: our goals should be to say things that are interesting, provocative, and respectful. Since this is a classroom setting, you are encouraged to proofread, and to avoid the more slang- and emoticon-fueled discourse that appears on Twitter and Facebook. One of the goals here is professional preparation; if you would not say or do something in the workplace, then you should not post similar material in a discussion thread.

***Your responses should ask a pertinent question, contribute significantly to your classmate’s posting and foster further discussion in order to receive the full points per response. The posting should consist of no less than 250 words (excluding references) and should incorporate at least one outside, i.e., from a library database search, APA formatted reference at the end of the post. To make a knowledgeable posting, it would be a good idea to review the supplemental material before writing your response. I’ve also attached the chapter’s powerpoints to help.

QUESTION:

• Read Managing change in practice 14.1 – Steve Gorton: Soft skills for hard results (ATTACHED)
  • Managing change in practice 14.1 – Steve Gorton: Soft skills for hard results.
• Managing change in practice 15.1 John Oakland: Figure of eight framework to prepare and review plans for change. (ATTACHED) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtYtalC9COQ

PEER 1 STATES:

Steven Gorton’s approach to change management is based on taking a softer side to getting employees on board with the change. This means that instead of taking a strategic approach focused solely on how the change will benefit the organization, the leaderships should identify how employees will feel about the change. Leadership should understand how the employees will feel about the change and address their concerns to get their backing with that change. This approach to change management is often overlooked by leadership because the changes do not directly affect them as individuals, instead it affects the employees. However, leaders who understand this method of change management and implement it tend to have better results with less conflict during changes.

Using soft skills such as people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, and attitudes among several other qualities, leaders can gain the trust and influence of their employees. They will be able to identify how changes will affect the employees and develop ways to address any negative impacts for employees. Employees who trust their leadership tend to work harder. The company’s work environment and culture are healthier which leads to higher levels of production and profits for the company.

PEER 2 STATES:

The figure of eight framework, Professor John Oakland created, has helped businesses look at themselves in ways that have never been done before in regards to an organizational change. If a business is going through an organizational change and perhaps is unclear where to start or the change program is underway but stalling, the figure of eight can help with ultimately accelerating the change. Successful change is possible when all 7 key elements are addressed and readiness is achieved before you start changing processes and implementing other changes. The seven elements are need for change, leadership and direction, planning, processing, organization and resources, systems and control, and behaviors. In my opinion, peoples behaviors have a big impact on how change is implemented, processed, and/or followed through. Professor Oakland talked about how 90 percent of business that implement a change are not successful and one in every two projects fail because of people issues (Macmillan, 2014). It is important that management sits down and takes a look at the processes to do them better and cheaper, as well as understanding personal responsibilities and who is in charge. “If the need for change is not understood, there will be no urgency and no action; if leaders provide insufficient direction, the change will not get started; and if early planning is inadequate, there will be false starts and unanticipated consequences” (Hayes, 2014). A business can not be successful through a change process when things are not understood from management down to the lowest ranking, everyone needs to be on the same page and understanding of what is taking place and using a guide such as the “figure of eight” can lead an organization to success.


For the following peers, the response should be no less than
100-150 words (excluding references), these responses DO NOT need to include a question like the above two. Other than that, the same requirements apply.

QUESTION: After completing the text readings, find a stock owned organization whose web site mentions corporate governance (search “corporate governance at _XYZ_”). How does the organization appear to ensure that the organization’s goals are aligned with the those of the shareholders? Are stakeholders also addressed? Do you think the organization is doing a poor, fair or excellent job of balancing the interests of shareholders and stakeholders? Support your opinion with information from the organization’s web site or articles about their structure and governance.

PEER 1 STATES:

Walmart is the largest corporation in the world and they have a very informative page on corporate governance. “Walmart continually benchmarks ourselves against other companies and across industries, consults with corporate governance experts and engages with key stakeholders to strengthen our processes at Walmart. We’re proud of our corporate governance policies and continue to strengthen our practices to meet changes in the landscape. To assist our Board of Directors, the Compensation, Nominating and Governance Committee (CNGC) oversees an annual evaluation process that is used as a tool for promoting the effectiveness of the Board and Board committees” (Walmart, 2017 para. 1). On their governance site they list their bylaws, corporate goernance guidelines, senior finanancial officer code of ethics, statement of ethics, accointing and audit related complaints, investent community communicaion policy, fair disclosure procedures, government relations policy, global anti-descrimination policy, and privacy policy. I think that Walmart is doing an excellent job with coporate governance. They are open and honest about their policies and procedures. They do consider not only their stockholders, but their stakeholders as well. Walmart has had a negative reputation in the past when it comes to ethics and the fair treatment of their workforce. Walmarts ethics have come into question on more than a few occasions. Their current openness about their ethics is not congruent with their past. In their ethics documents they discuss their employees, customers, and shareholders. They cover policy and procedure for many situations. Walmart has covered their bases when it comes to corporate governance.

PEER 2 STATES:

Like all publicly held corporations in the U.S., Alphabet is required to have a Board of Directors (Dyer, Godfrey, Jensen & Bryce, 2016). Alphabet’s corporate governance guidelines are established and overseen by this elected Board of Directors to ensure the executive team is acting in the best interests of the shareholders (Alphabet, 2016). In addition to shareholders, the Alphabet’s board provides oversight to make sure that Alphabet meets its strategic objectives while working to create value for the primary stakeholders as well (Alphabet, 2016). Alphabet has a history of doing a poor job of balancing the interests of shareholders and stakeholders since its IPO in 2004. Since 2004, power has been in the hands of Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who control approximately 51% of the company’s voting power (Marriage & Waters, 2017). As shareholders attempt to vote against strategic plans, there is no way for them to have enough power to do so. According to one shareholder, Alphabet is terrible at talking to its shareholders about issues that arise as the company ignores their requests (Marriage & Waters, 2017). Given Alphabet’s skewed voting structure, the organization is doing a very poor job in ensuring that its shareholders and stakeholders’ concerns can be heard.

PEER 3 STATES:

The stock owned organization, i choose for this discussion is the Nasdaq. Nasdaq is focused on significant corporate governance, as it advances the long‐term interests of investors, fortifies “Board and corporate governance” and assembles open trust in the organization. Nasdaq believes so emphatically that significant governance is a great business that in 2015 we made the “Nasdaq Governance Clearinghouse site.” “Governance Clearinghouse” is a discussion to advance discourse and trade thoughts over an assortment of governance points, patterns, and issues – running from corporate governance and market structure to meeting room decent variety and voluntary corporate sustainability activities (ballard, 2014). It will likely adjust the premiums of chiefs, investors, and governance and conform to or surpass the prerequisites of the Nasdaq Stock Market and the relevant law. The company is doing a good job to balance the interests of stakeholders and shareholders. The Board perceives that the long‐term interests of investors are progressed by capably tending to the worries of different stakeholders, including the workers, suppliers, customers, the legislature, people in general as well as groups in which Nasdaq works together. The Board focuses on maintaining the most noteworthy legitimate and moral lead in satisfying its duties (Nasdaq, 2017). The Board expects Nasdaq Board individuals, officers and workers to act morally consistently and to guarantee yearly their governance regarding the arrangements and methods put forward in “Board of Directors Code of Conduct Policy,” the “Nasdaq Employee Code of Ethics” as well as related approaches (Dyer, Godfrey, Jensen, & Bryce, 2015).
LASTLY, for the following peer, the response should be no less than
100-150 words (excluding references) this response DOES NOT need to include a question like the first two. Other than that, the same requirements apply.

QUESTION:

Select a company that you would like to work for and audit the company using the 7S model as a guide (Dyer et al, 2016, pp. 239-241 and pp. 299-300). Briefly describe each “S” for the company and determine how well you think the company is aligned between the S’s. Suggest an improvement the company might make for better alignment.

PEER 1 STATES:

PEER 1 STATES:

Strategy: Strategy refers to the direction that followed by the company to achieve the goals of the business (edisciplinas, n.d.).

Structure: The organization’s structure or how the lines of authority arrange within the enterprise, how decisions make and whether the communication channels between the top and bottom levels are long or short will affect the culture (Dyer, Godfrey, Jensen, & Bryce, 2015). Systems: Systems refers to a level of control which exists inside the company, for example, management accounting and budgeting controls.

Skills: The abilities of the people and whether every staff member has an “equal levels of skill” or some members have “high level of skill” on which the others depend, decides on the nature of culture (BHANDARI, 2013).

Style: Style of management by superiors have a direct impact on organizational culture.

Staff: The attitude nature of the staff members and their cultures have an impact on overall organization

Share Values: The organization should have a common set of values and beliefs, that followed by all employees as well as gives top priority whenever the company does their operations (Ara, 2014).