Problem Solution: Building A Culture For Sustaining Change

Introduction

Telecommunication companies have been under tremendous pressure to keep up with the rapid and frequent advances in the telecommunications industry. There is an abundance of competition amongst local, long-distance, and international markets. Cable companies, as well as other telecommunication companies, have saturated the market by offering complete solutions that encompass computers, televisions, internet, and plain old telephone service (Gibbs, S., 2006). Telecommunication firms are finding themselves in constant turmoil trying to stay competitive in such an unpredictable environment. Such is the case for CrysTel, a telecommunication company in Illinois.

CrysTel has an employee base of 2,500 with a annual revenue of $200 million. The company is comprised of five departments:

1. Technology Development-develops the technology required for CryTel's products. The two major development areas include Business Systems that provide back-office support and Network Systems that deal with the network.

2. Technology Operations-delivers, maintains, and manages the network, coordinate with teams from across the business to deliver on time service. Work is shared between a diversity of talent: help desk, technicians, project managers, engineers, field operations, site-build teams, and process improvement teams.

3. Human Resources-focuses on identifying skill gap and creating proactive learning initiatives to close them, generating future business leaders through successive planning and developing performance management systems to harness the true potential of workforce.

4. Marketing-communicates new technology to the customers. Works with the technology development, technology operations and sales departments from concept to delivery. Also involved in styling technology to consumer needs, implementing public relation activities, and promoting advertising campaigns.

5. Sales and Delivery- looks after sales tracking of CrysTel's products, distribution channels for wholesale and retail selling, and products inventory. Also manages route tracking, logistics, product packaging, and on-time delivery.

To stay competitive, CrysTel is anticipating a rapid and continuous culture change throughout the organization (Building a Culture, 2007).

Implication of Change

CrysTel's product line includes data cables, wireless solutions, and network development. CrysTel has had a successful history thus far; however, top management realizes that the company must change in order to keep up with volatile demands of the market. In order remain a competitive agile organization; CrysTel is planning to implement a range of new and emerging telecommunication technologies in a bid to increase its products offerings in the market. These new and emerging technologies include diversifying the company's business to include unconventional services such as Copper Interconnectivity, besides Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), and other real time solutions on a regular basis (Building a Culture, 2007). Such changes, be it adaptive or radical, will certainly influence the entire CrysTel organization.

The results of the satisfaction survey and the climate survey revealed a need for change within the CrysTel's organization. CrysTel must fix its in-house problems before venturing into new territory. The results of the employment and climate survey revealed that the marketing & sales and delivery departments are the company's weakest link. The survey revealed that the marketing department and the sales and delivery department are weak in the areas of employee and senior communication, empowering teams, and mentorship. The survey also revealed that the teams were also weak in leading by example, risk taking, and resolving conflict (Building a Culture, 2007). The human factor plays an important role in change. If employees are not happy, they can be very contagious to the goals of the organization. Of the five department at CrysTel, the marketing and sales and delivery department are bound to be the biggest resisters to change, if there problems are not resolved.

In order to implement these changes, CrysTel must develop a strategy that will include both internal (social and political issues) and external (leadership styles, employee job satisfaction, and work environment) factors. The strategy must be diverse enough to optimize flexibility, promote innovation, and sustain change within its various departments. In addition, the strategy must address and accommodate the demands of all stakeholders.

In his textbook Management 6th edition, Richard L. Draft defines organizational change as "the adoption of a new idea or behavior by an organization." Organizations today must continuously adapt to new situation if they are to survive and prosper. Many of today's changes are being driven by external forces such as advances in information technology, internet, e-business, enterprise resource planning, and knowledge management, which require profound changes in organizations (Draft, 2003). In order to be successful, organizations like CrysTel must be able to manage change effectively. This process starts with determining what knowledge, skills, and attitudes are needed to achieve the desired results (behavior or process). Leaders must be diverse enough to handle a vast amount of issues and concepts. In order to manage change, they must know all the details involved in the change: concepts, principles, and techniques required to manage the change. According to Donald Kilpatrick in his article "Managing Change", managing change has a two-fold meaning: 1) to decide on the change and 2) to get the acceptance of those involved in the change. Of the two, the latter is the most important and difficult. Changing people's behavior and attitude toward change involves constant communication from top management down to the lowest level of work effort.

Change Model

CrysTel's main objective is to become and remain competitive in the ever changing telecommunication market. The plan is to do this by increasing the current product line and implementing a range of emerging telecommunication technologies. In order to facilitate these and any future changes, CrysTel must have an effective change model that will not only assist in the initial change but also in any future changes. The John Kotter's Eight Steps to Leading Organizational Change would be the appropriate model for CrysTel to use. The Kotter's Eight Steps Model is based on the premises that effective transformation/change