Reflective Review Individual Report BU5559

ID: 51554643

Prasanth Venugopal

Word count: 1200

1. My starting point
I was entitled to the post of a Business development officer for Shapes &
innovative pt. Ltd. The company rigorously focused on b2c services across
Qatar, focusing on the sales of top-quality products like AutoCAD, Nano CAD
etc. Shapes tasted an enormous rate of success by surpassing the projected
sales that the company thought it could generate. Over the past few years,
things were a little shaky, due to a false rumour being spread like wildfire that
created havoc and ruined the reputation of the company. As a dedicated
member of the firm, few of my other colleagues and I had to step-up to make
a game-changing plan that could bring the image of the firm back to its
normal phase.
Though the change process which was applied was more of a practical
approach, I was absolutely astonished by the fact that Kotter and Lewin
portrayed similar type of change but infused in a more theoretical approach.
The rumour that exaggerated the cause to the firm on a high rate, it was
found that more that 62% of the staffs decided to leave the company. Few of
our colleagues and myself had a brainstorming session and discussed about
the companys future.
Since the company was lacking behind on meeting deadlines, the next step
we needed to implement is to sustain the remaining staffs and issue them
with late night shifts. Though few staffs rejected this offer and was bound to
leave, we realized that with adequate communication skills we could make
things work, just like how John Kotter explained in his theoretical framework.
Few questions that were in my mind before the start of the course is that, do
we really need a Change in a form of theoretical approach? What if the
change implemented according to certain change analyst backfires and
triggers dissatisfaction among the staffs? When is the right time to change ?
2. What I have learned about the management of change Key Learning
points.
Managing change is compulsory in globalized economies. The benefits of
larger markets and a cosmopolitan attitude amongst customers has led to
positive aspects as well as obstacles that arise on a day to day basis. Factors
such as new technology, Performance gaps, identification of opportunities,
mergers & acquisitions and internal and external pressures has led to change
being inevitable.

The main source of learning that I had undergone during the course was the
reading materials and the enormous reading materials processed into
practical theories that were presented to me by my professors. I remarkably
found interesting articles on the book, the 10 Must Reads On Change
Management. The things to do for all those leaders of change summarized
by John Kotter made me understand from a different perspective all that
went wrong in Shapes & innovating pt. Ltd. While doing my undergraduate
in Singapore, a wise study was conducted by me and my fellow mates,
looking into Kurt Lewins change theory. Interestingly there are many factors
that are co-related with Kotters & Lewins theoretical approach. The
analyses allowed me to understand the risks associated with any initiative
for change implementation.
During the simulation, I think the frameworks presented in the game plan
for Change tends to be more helpful due to the fact that they provide a
comprehensive list of things to consider that are affected or that are
relevant in the process of transformation. While involving with the earths
best friend.org, the entire team was on board and the opinions were shared
among each other and the decisions were taken wisely. Hence the phrase,
Team change is the best change.
However, the framework provided by Kotter is valuable although very much
detailed. I am very sceptical that these frameworks as presented in the
Game Plan for Change could implemented in the real world or at least
implemented as suggested. Despite all the planning, I see change mainly as
chaotic and many of the actions undertaken when changing are a product of
necessity.
In the juggling exercise, I reflected about the openness of each individual
for learning new things The success in the juggling games lead to excited
jubilation. The successful group traipse over to the still struggling ones in
providing tips. This training game made me realize about team work and
consistency.
3. How my personal experiences link to the ideas contained in the
literature.
First of all I clearly agree with all the theories on change that I had
encountered during the course and couldnt more agree with any of them. I
see them as recommendations for driving change rather as being absolute
theories of change that exclude other notions. I dont see any contradiction,
for instance, between Kotter and the Quiet Way, in my view one set of
experiences supplement another set of experiences and there is no
contradiction. Reading about the articles enriches my knowledge as well as
the different ideas put forward throughout the course could be applied with
the right judgment in different specific situations. Change is considered to be
an improvisation and the leaders of change are masters of improvising
whereas the Game Plan for Change appears as a very strict recipe.
In regards to the question of the relationship between the theories and the

simulation, I do see a strong connection between them. It was due to

Kotters framework that helped us progress towards each stage in the game
plan. Though the thought where each of us based our answers depending
from our personal experiences and perspectives took place, it really has to
do more with our personalities than with any specific theory.
4. A review of what I found challenging
The aspects of management of change which I found challenging were the
few differences of opinion in the team (maybe 1 or 2 differences) but it was
not too challenging to find a solid ground in our views, that were not radically
different. Perhaps myself, I very often displayed views that anticipated change
and being positive in the change management journey. Overall we had a very
positive discussion and each of us had a chance to present their own
perspective and agreement in each case was reached without too much
difficulty. In the real world, the team that I was put in place with the change
management can efficiently create the necessary changes required in a real
firm. It is to be also noted that if any of the team members were not on board
with the change implementation, the firm would find it difficult the operate
under certain circumstances. If other members were pushing for change and
threatening an individuals interests or vice versa, things certainly would
have been more complicated. The art of juggling was somehow familiarised
and it can be carefully said that I had lived up to the expectation of juggling
due to the impact of tips and training provided by my team members.
5. What I will prioritise in my personal development
The course has enriched my views in more than one way on the process of
change and going forward, when attempting change in an organization, in the
midst of change or even changing myself, I would avoid to make the same
mistake that I committed at Shapes & innovative pt. Ltd. I would definitely try
to change without disintegrating and for so achieving I will keep in mind
some of the ideas that we studied during the course. I would indeed keep in
mind the lessons taught by Kotter & Lewin by adhering to the discipline for
change. The notion of discipline is implicit, though not explicitly mentioned,
I think it is such an essential component of change. Human mentality tends
to be lazy and we tend to think and act following easy, proved theories and
there is no transformation without changing our mental habits and that
requires a great deal of discipline. Same as the juggling experience, where
the change requires discipline. Discipline for challenging ourselves.