Planning and Implementing Change

Reply to Ms. Daniah
Planning and Implementing Change
An action plan is a document that lists what steps must be taken in order to achieve a specific goal. If any Saudi change leader’s has followed approach to planned change, then much planning will have already been done. In addition, Beer, Eisenstat, and Spector offer a prescriptive list of “steps to effective change.” Beer et al.’s steps are:

1. Mobilize commitment to change through joint diagnosis of business problems.
2. Develop a shared vision of how to organize and manage for competitiveness.
3. Foster consensus for the new vision, competence to enact it, and cohesion to move it along.
4. Spread revitalization to all departments without pushing it from the top.
5. Institutionalize revitalization through formal policies, systems, and structures.
6. Monitor and adjust strategies in response to problems in the revitalization process.

For many change situations, this checklist provides valuable guidance in the development of an action plan. However, assuming a “one-size-fits-all” approach to change is risky. For example, the above list assumes a fundamental cooperative orientation. That is, there is sufficient commonality of goals that a shared vision is possible. The list also suggests that change should evolve and not be pushed down by top management. However, change agents will need approaches that allow them to face situations in which cooperation and commonality of goals is weak or absent and where changes are being pushed from the top. The need for contingent thinking needs to be addressed. That is, an action plan depends significantly upon the action-planning context. In complex and ambiguous situations, plans and tactics must be able to adapt as events unfold. As such, it is useful to remember the old saying: “No plan survives first contact.”

In summary, while careful planning is critical, change leaders must also recognize that planning is a means not an end in itself. Don’t ignore vital emerging information just because it does not fit with carefully conceived plans. The abilities to think contingently, consider alternative paths forward, and adapt are important contributors to enhanced adaptive capacity.

References
Cawsey, T. F., Deszca, G., & Ingols, C. (2011). Organizational change: An action-oriented toolkit.
Rouse, M., & Rouse, M. (n.d.). What is action plan? - Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/action-plan.

Reply to Ms. Fatimah Shenawi
According to Cawsey et al. (2016), many things, including change initiative fail to materialize of there is a lack of "do it" orientation. The path towards action planning and implementation must be stepwise. Organizations in the kingdom must adhere to some of the basic steps outlined in the textbook. Most of the planning has been done in the previous preparation for a change initiative. For an effective change, Beer et al., as cited by Cawsey et al. (2016), states that there are six basic steps for effective change. The first thing is to mobilize the commitment to change. It is done via diagnosing the issues facing an organization. The step is followed by devising a shared vision. The firm must formulate a vision on how to establish and achieve a competitive edge after the change initiative. Moreover, there is a need to foster consensus for the crafted statement, cohesion and competence (Cawsey et al. 2016). The fourth step entails disseminating revitalization to the organizational department. The change initiative requires horizontal and vertical communications. The fifth step is the institutionalization of the recommendations. The institutionalization occurs through formal structures, systems, and policies (Conger, 2015).
Al Baik Restaurant in Saudi Arabia, for instance, slow customer service delivery prompted an action plan. The restaurant uses the previous data of the day to forecast, as well as, prepare accordingly. The second step entails pushing, appreciating and motivating employees. The motivated workers ensure the queue time for customers reduce drastically. Al Baik has devised a traditional and online menu. Both menus disseminate foods and drink details to customers. The opening hours, booking and Kiosk machines are operational. The human resource department of Al Baik has adopted a swift-service delivery program to ease congestion at the facility all the time. Queuing time has reduced, and the service is swift (Farida, 2017).
Contingency planning, as cited by Cawsey et al. (2016) is necessary if events fail to go planned. Contingency plans are beneficial for preparing an organization for unpredictable activities. The interim presidents, managers and data backup, for instance, serve as part of the contingency plans, which help overcome unexpected failure. The preparing for the worse ensures that the organization is flexible in identifying foreseeable issues. According to Runge-Ranzinger et al. (2016), contingency plans permit for swift reactions. Reacting to unplanned events, concerns and loophole is easier than done. The employees feel motivated if there are ways to end instances of unpreparedness occurrences. The panic levels decline. Even if there are no solutions, the staffs have a second plan to accomplish the change initiative. Panic, tension, and chaos are threats to action planning (Conger, 2015). On the same line, there is no last-minute understanding of the project. The manager has a good comprehension of the contingency plan and continues leading the employees despite the change plan collapse.
There are three components of a contingency plan, including incident response, disaster recovery, and business resumption. The incident response includes people's safety and prevention from emergencies (Conger, 2015). The module reacts to immediate dangers to the life of employees and the community. The business department meets life and personal safety needs. There are fire suppression and Medicare care cover. Disaster recovery involves recovering from the damages and losses incurred in the business. Natural and artificial threats facing organizations may lead to massive damages. If there is a successful recovery, the business resume to its normal operations. Business resumption is returning to the organization's initial ways of operation (Runge-Ranzinger et al. 2016).
References:
Cawsey, T. F., Deszca, G., & Ingols, C. (2016). Organizational change: an action-oriented toolkit. Sage Publishers
Conger, S. (2015). Six Sigma and business process management. In Handbook on Business Process Management 1 (pp. 127-146). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Runge-Ranzinger, S., Kroeger, A., Olliaro, P., McCall, P. J., Tejeda, G. S., Lloyd, L. S., … & Coelho, G. (2016). Dengue contingency planning: from research to policy and practice. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 10(9), e0004916.
Farida. (2017, October 25). “Al Baik” One of the most crowded restaurants in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/bit5414/2017/10/25/al-baik-one-of-the-most-crowded-restaurants-in-saudi-arabia/.

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