M2A1 Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence

In this single-player simulation, you will play one of two roles at a sunglass manufacturing firm and face the challenges associated with implementing an organization-wide environmental sustainability initiative. The initiative seeks to change raw material inputs in order to make the company’s products more “green,” and also to address environmental waste issues. The simulation includes up to four scenarios with different combinations of two important factors for creating change: the relative power of the change agent and the relative urgency associated with the change initiative. In each scenario, you will choose among different change levers in an attempt to persuade key members of the organization to adopt the change initiative. You will be assessed on your ability to achieve the greatest percentage of adopters within the company while simultaneously using the fewest resources.

You will analyze information on leadership and influence within the organization. Throughout the experience you will be assessing the impact of your decisions on the ability to influence key employees to work on the change initiative. Failure to accurately communicate and analyze information as a team has negative consequences on team performance.

The main goals of this activity include learning:

• how to build an effective strategy and influence key personnel into following your lead;
• how to develop flexibility and adaptation in management initiatives;
• how cognitive biases impair decision-making;
• how strategy can help one deal more effectively in situations where there is resistance to change and conflict in organizational members’ opposing interests;
• how different leadership approaches can be obstructed in situations with time and competitive pressures; and
• how leaders deal with the tradeoffs between short-term task orientations and longer-term effectiveness.

Future Considerations Pertaining to the Simulation Experience

You will be working on the simulation during Modules 2, 4, and 6. At the end of Module 8, you will submit your final simulation project. Take notes as you engage in the simulation and be sure to document your decision-making criteria and the impact of your decisions, and attend to the measurements of success. You will also need to consider how course materials impact your decisions. You should be blending together the conceptual components of the course to inform your decision making in the simulation.

There will be three parts to your simulation submission:

Part I: Setting the Strategy

In this section, you will discuss the strategy that you developed before executing your plans and steps. You should address the following:

• How and why did you choose the CEO or Product Innovation Role?
• What was your vision, mission, and core strategy for the Simulation?
• Provide a SWOT analysis of your expectations.

Part II: Executing your Strategy

In this section, you will discuss the decision-making strategy you used throughout the simulation. You will address the following:

• What occurrences and incidents impacted your decision?
• What adjustments did you have to make to your strategy?
• When did your strategy succeed and when did it fail?
• How did you adapt and what was the impact?
• What criteria did you use to make adjustments?

Part III: Analyzing Your Strategy

In this final section, you are to analyze what you have learned about strategy setting, change management, and their impact on success and failure. You will address the following:

• What have you learned about strategy, power, and leadership, and their impact on success?
• How does data impact decision making?
• How could you have improved your performance?
• What conclusions can you draw based upon this experience?

Your final paper submission should be 5 to 7 pages in length, not including the title and reference pages style, and double-spaced, in Times New Roman, 12-point font, with one inch margins. Include at least two resources, other than your course textbook, to support your findings.

Compose your work in a .doc or .docx file type using a word processor (such as Microsoft Word, etc.) and save it frequently to your computer. For those assignments that are not written essays and require uploading images or PowerPoint slides, please follow uploading guidelines provided by your instructor.

Check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. When you are ready to submit your work, click “Upload Submission.”  Enter the submission title and then click on “Select a file to upload.” Browse your computer, and select your file. Click “Open” and verify the correct file name has appeared next to Submission File. Click on “Continue.”  Confirm submission is correct and then click on “Accept Submission & Save.”