Barriers to Change

As the change leader for Delta Pacific Company (DPC), you know you need to determine potential organizational barriers to change for the company’s goal of changing the culture from the more traditional manufacturing environment to one of a contemporary consulting environment.

Now it’s time to create your strategy to combat barriers to change:

• Assess the potential barriers to changing an organizational culture
• Analyze change strategies appropriate for this type of change
• Determine potential employee resistance behaviors
• Determine the best way to influence employees in the right direction

Since you are the change leader, it is your responsibility to consider that there will be organizational and human barriers to change. As part of your role, you should take proactive measures and design a change strategy to address potential barriers and resistance.

Conduct academic research and create a plan to present to the CEO and board in which you complete the following change strategy for barriers and resistance:

• Explanation of potential organizational barriers that are most likely to occur for this type of change.
• Description of the employee resistance behaviors.
• Explanation of your strategy to overcome the barriers and resistance.
• Discussion of your strategy recommendations to overcome barriers and influence employees in the right direction.
• Remember that this is a proposal. Make sure to format your paper properly for your proposal. A proposal is a persuasive document, so make sure to use proper language and tone. Remember, you are the change leader, and you are writing to the CEO. So use a tone in your proposal that is specific to your audience (the CEO).

Include your APA-formatted reference page with at least two credible sources.

Project Case Study: A New Direction for Delta Pacific
Introduction
In a global business environment where organizations can no longer rely on traditional factors that
historically lead to a competitive advantage such as access to proprietary technology, exclusive rights to
raw materials, or proximity to customers and markets, many organizations have re-structured to
capitalize on new success factors. In the United States that has resulted in a shift in many cases from
product or service-based businesses to knowledge-based businesses (OECD, 1996; Powell & Snellman,
2004). Powell & Snellman (2004) define the key components of a knowledge economy as. .a greater
reliance on intellectual capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources.” (p. 201). This case
presents the challenges facing an organization as it transitions from its traditional business model to one
that incorporates greater reliance on the knowledge of its workforce. The focus of this case is on the role
of the organizational behavioral system in facilitating a successful transition to the new corporate
strategy.
The Case Scenario
The Delta Pacific Company (DPC) has a long history of success. The company has been at the fore front
in the development of information technology since the 1970s and led the market in technology
development, manufacturing and sales throughout the 1980s to the mid-1990s. DPC was a success story.
They consistently met or exceeded their profit targets, successfully integrated new technology into their
products, and they were considered one of the best employers in the country. With generous benefit
packages, a high quality of work life, industry leading salaries, and a corporate culture that considered its
employees to be part of a family, potential employees were lined up for opportunities to join DPC.
However, with the advent of globalization, freer trade, and low cost overseas labor, DPC found itself
slowly losing market share for its primary product: computer hardware. DPC had prided itself on
producing and selling the best products and training its sales force to develop long term relationships
with clients that brought them back year in and year out for DPC’s technology. Along with hardware, DPC
also sold service contracts and training classes for the end users of their products. By the late 1990s it
became clear to the leadership at DPC that they could no longer compete with less expensive products
being produced overseas. At one time they could sell their higher priced goods on the premise that they
were of higher quality, but that was no longer the case. Foreign-made products were now being
produced to match or even surpass the quality standards set by DPC. However, conversations between
sales representatives and their clients did indicate one thing: the clients valued the personal interaction
they had with the sales reps and the personalized advice that they could provide to their clients to help
them to reach their goals. DPC recognized that they needed to make a change and they believed they
had a new vision for their company.
As they entered the 21st century DPC moved away from hardware solutions to business challenges and
shifted instead towards knowledge-based solutions. Rather than selling equipment, DPC began to market
the extensive knowledge of their workforce. DPC would no longer sell the equipment; they would instead
provide integrated knowledge-based solutions to information management problems. Essentially they
would become a consulting firm that would assist their clients to set up systems that would facilitate
information management. But now their solutions would go beyond hardware and encompass software,
organizational design, data collection management, work flow and overall information management reengineering. Sales reps underwent significant training to prepare them for their new roles. However, the
redesigned jobs were not a good fit for all of the sales reps. some moved on to other types of positions
within the company, but others left to pursue opportunities elsewhere.
As expected, profitability declined during the initial introduction of this new organization mission as
employees became accustomed to their new roles. Due to the time taken to train employees, they were
spending less time in the field with their clients generating revenue and more time in the classroom being
oriented to their new roles. However, the decline persisted much longer than anticipated and the
company’s leadership team, board of directors and the shareholders were growing impatient with the
slow returns. It became increasingly apparent that while the training, resources, and equipment were in
place, significant changes in the organizational behavior system at DPC were necessary to ensure long
term success.