Running head: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTERVENTIONS

Executive Summary of Interventions

Dion Meneley
LEAD 570
Dr. Kristy Smith
March 19, 2016

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTERVENTIONS

Executive Summary of Interventions

The transition from a mail order catalog to web based business is a change that has to be
made in order for the organization to remain viable in the future. In order for this to happen
changes at all levels of the organization will have to be implemented to ensure that the transition
is as smooth as possible. Educating the individual employees, teams, and organization as a
whole that evolving from a mail order business to a web based company is the right move is
essential for the transition to be successful. Resistance to this change is unavoidable; however,
by intervening at the individual, team and organizational levels the amount of resistance from
employees about the resources that will be required and how much their work lives will changed
can be managed throughout the process. The purpose of this executive summary is to describe
and analyze how interventions at the individual, team, and organizational level need to be
executed in order to reduce resistance during the organizational change.
Individual Intervention
At the individual level it is important to gather feedback from employees by utilizing
diagnostic instruments and assessments in the areas such as conflict style, leadership style, work
preferences, learning style, work aptitudes, and more (Anderson, 2015, p. 211). Anderson also
recommends the use of common instruments such as: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, FIROB, Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument, and DISC (p. 212). The advantage of using
these instruments is that it allows the organization to introduce language and other concepts to
employees without presenting a very high level of threat to them, and assists in the identification
of resistance to the proposed change. To ensure that the best results are gathered, it will be
necessary to administer the instruments multiple times. A key concept for the leaders of the
change to understand is the distinction between the changes being managed in the external

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTERVENTIONS

world, and the concurrent psychological transitions that are experienced internally by people
(Cameron & Green, 2015, p. 13). Coaching employees at all levels, with the goal of helping
them improve in specific areas, will help them successfully navigate the change as their goals
begin to align with those of the organization. During this process it will be important to develop
mentoring programs to help shorten learning tracks, speed up managerial advancement, and
build the next generation of leaders (Stone, 2004, p. ix). Implementing peer reviews at this time
will ensure continuous feedback; and as a result, allow the organization to address resistance in a
more efficient and effective manner. Finally, to help members of the organization develop a
sense of trust and ownership in the organization, career planning classes can be offered to help
them adjust to a new working environment.
Team Intervention
The goal of the team intervention is to employ a problem-solving approach to team
building that helps established work groups identify and address obstacles and constraints to high
performance (Barner, 2006, p. 48). It is first important to communicate exactly how the change
from being a catalog based company to a web based business is going to affect them on a
personal level. Presenting quantitative data and statistics as to how other organizations with
similar business plans have navigated the same organizational change will help to lower some of
the initial resistance to the organizational change. The fear of jobs being lost is a common
concern when the idea of moving to a web based business is introduced; and therefore, it is
important to explain any changes in current job responsibilities, team restructuring, or work
assignments. Once these decisions have been made it is going to be necessary to negotiate with
individuals that are resistant to the changes in their organizational responsibilities. The team
intervention will require the investment of various resources to facilitate individual meetings

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTERVENTIONS

with managers, team leaders, and individuals. As a result of this process, organizational teams
can be created or re-aligned to maximize the different skill sets that employees bring to the
organization. Two data gathering methods that can be used to assess team effectiveness are the
team diagnostic survey and the team diagnostic meeting (Anderson, 2015, p. 243). Finally,
intergroup interventions should be facilitated to increase communications and interactions
between work related groups and help them gain an awareness of the necessity of performance
by each group (MBA Knowledge Base, n.d., p. 1). The change from being a catalog based
business to a web driven company will require teams to adjust their focus and be able to think in
the now and future instead of holding on to past methodologies.
Organizational Intervention
In order for the change from a catalog based business to a web based company to be
successful, leaders of the organization must reflect a common understanding and shared
commitment to the strategies, plans, and goals of the organization (Anderson, 2015, p. 319).
The purpose of the organizational change is to ultimately cut costs, increase productivity,
increase accessibility, increase brand awareness, and increase profits. It is important to
understand that the employees feel a strong sense of loyalty and belonging to the way they have
been doing business in the past; and as a result, will feel a certain sense of loss when the
organization goes through a large scale organizational change. Organizations consist of
complex networks of agents who each play an important role in determining the outcomes of an
intervention (Nielsen, 2013, p. 283). Anderson states that a strategic analysis will gauge the
organizations readiness for change, and diagnose organizations strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats (p. 299). In order to address the organization as a whole, focus
groups should be used to identify perceptions of the change, gauge employee morale and

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTERVENTIONS

satisfaction, gather thoughts on areas in need of improvement, indentify internal obstacles, and
encourage ideas that can improve any proposed approaches to the large scale organizational
change (McQuerrey, 2016, p. 1-2). One way to help the groups begin the process with less
resistance is to allow them to keep the same group names that were used before the change. This
simple idea can help break down the walls of resistance by offering group members something
familiar to hold on to. Once these groups have been established, it will be important to
communicate strategies, changes to the organizational vision and direction, and changes to preexisting organizational structure. Utilizing the focus groups to work through potential future
scenarios can help reduce their resistance to the change and help identify pitfalls that may have
not been foreseen. In addition to utilizing focus groups, leadership needs to tap into the different
social and political groups within the organization in an effort to gain support for the impending
change, and to inject the desired propaganda into the organizational grapevine.
Conclusion
Transitioning from a catalog based business to a web based organization is an
undertaking that cannot be embarked on recklessly. Executing effective interventions on the
individual, team, and organizational levels will help the organization navigate through the large
scale transition more effectively by identifying and reducing resistance to the change. Efforts to
manage change using a one-size-fits-all approach are doomed to failure for the simple reason that
peoples brains are hard-wired differently (Schwartz, 2012, p.1). Gathering feedback from
organizational members by utilizing diagnostic instruments and assessments, coaching and
mentoring employees, and providing career planning classes will help to ensure that the
individual interventions are successful. The goal of the team intervention is to employ a
problem-solving approach to team building that helps established work groups identify and

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTERVENTIONS

address obstacles and constraints to high performance (Barner, 2006, p. 48). The organizational
intervention will require that leadership reflect a common goal and vision for the company, and
be able to effectively embed the philosophy in the entire organization. Resistance to a change of
this magnitude is unavoidable; however, by executing focused interventions the organization can
reduce resistance and increase employee ownership in the change.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTERVENTIONS

References
Anderson, D. (2015). Organization development: The process of leading organizational change.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Barner, R. (2006). Managing complex team interventions. Team Performance Management, 12,
44-54.
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to
the models, tools, and techniques of organizational change. London, United Kingdom:
Kogan Page
McQuerrey, L. (2016). Advantages of employee focus group discussions. Retrieved March 19,
2016 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-employee-focus-groupdiscussions-17997.html
MBA Knowledge Base. (n.d.). Intergroup interventions in organizational development. Retrieved
March 19, 2016 from http://www.mbaknol.com/modern-managementconcepts/intergroup-interventions-in-organizational-development/
Nielson, K. (2013). Organizational interventions: A research-based framework for the evaluation
of both process and effects. Work & Stress, 27(3), p. 278-279.
Schwartz-Hebron, R. (2012). Organizational change: The keys for lasting success. Retrieved
March 19, 2016 from http://chiefexecutive.net/organizational-change-three-keys-forlasting-success/
Stone, F. (2004). The mentoring advantage. Chicago, IL: Dearborn.