Essay Example on The CEO of Blue Cloud Development

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The CEO of Blue Cloud Development a small software development company located in Mountain View California Shel Skinner attended a conference on a new methodology for software development called Agile Agile is a software that aimed at multiple interactions and short time frames Shel Skinner was so impressed that he immediately hired consultants to introduce Agile to his Blue Cloud Development Company Blue Cloud Development traditionally had a development cycle whose review and verification would be done after one year According to Shel Skinner there was no need to wait for a whole year to find out whether a product works whereas Agile is offering a software whose emphasis is teamwork collaboration and monthly releases True to Shel Skinner s observations Agile had very good attributes such as the emphasis on teamwork collaboration and monthly releases cross functional consultations to carry everybody along and sort out issues as they arise Agile as a software is aimed at softening methodologies previously in use punctuated by heavy processes After implementation and evaluation it was clear that Agile software did not achieve the intended objectives Therefore where did Shel Skinner go wrong 



This case study will interrogate what Shel Skinner failed to do and based on his failures it will attempt to determine the cause of action he ought to have pursued In implementing the organizational change it is clear that Shel Skinner did not follow the necessary steps of organizational change Organizations must keep on changing to keep up with the perpetual changes in the way we do things But changes must only be based on a need basis but not on the whims of an individual In this case study it is clear CEO Shel Skinner erred by not following the due process and hence the failure of the change project The CEO Shel Skinner was supposed to commission a research team to collect data analyze and identify the areas requiring change He should have reviewed the organization s objectives and set goals and based on this come up with the needs In this case it is clear that CEO Shel Skinner did not carry out this There is no evidence that a need analysis was done but the change was purely based on the desires of the CEO As the change agent he was expected to announce the need for change highlighting the shortcomings of the present software his dissatisfaction and the need for improved performance and the benefits to the organization and the employees in general Once done this would have the effect of stirring the employees emotions thus awakening them from their business as usual attitude and therefore motivate their behavioral change

This is what Lewin calls unfreezing At the preparation stage the CEO was expected to determine the impact of the changes at various levels of the organization and its effect on individual employees like a change in attitudes values and behaviors This information would have highlighted the expected handles and bottlenecks and help to put in place mitigating measures It would also have formed the basis of a training program for employees In this case the CEO just thrust the new software to the employees and then assessed the impact later after the damage had already been done thus setting good grounds for rejection The ideal situation is that this phase should have been a continuous process during the process of the change program That is before the change during and after the change The fact that Shel Skinner did not prepare the employees for the change Unfreeze he could not then prepare them to internalize the process and own it During the implementation stage and after the employees have understood and owned the process it is important to lock it up as the way to do things

This is to prevent the employees from going back to the old ways of doing things It is also the period of assessing the employees on their adaptability so that where changes must be done they should be done at this stage and where additional training is needed be sourced then Instead Skinner implements the change hastily without giving room for assessment to employees adaptability to the new changes In conclusion change management s main challenge is always how to navigate through the process with minimal resistance Therefore proper preparation and involvement of all stakeholders at every stage for ownership purposes is vital Provision of the support structure and embedding the process with the organization s goals and objectives is also vital In our case study we see the main undoing of the change leader is his failure to communicate effectively to the employees and also a failure to create channels for employees input Without effective two way communication no matter how noble Mr Skinner s intentions were he was bound to fail


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