HR587 Final Exam

1. For Scott and Jaffe, the cycle has four phases, beginning with denial, then moving through resistance to exploration to commitment. Denial can usually happen at work when changes are made. Employees that are in denial about their supervisor and their actions and behaviors. May act out by becoming passive-aggressive in the workplace, take a manager dealing with employee with non-technological skills. This can manifest itself in many denial outburst even shouting, destroying objects, throwing items or withdrawing emotionally; however, once asked, the employee will say that nothing is wrong. Since this type of behavior not only affects workplace morale but could endanger other employees, the person in question must be pulled aside quickly. Sometimes the resistance to change is driven strictly by fear. If technological advances are coming into the work place, some managers may feel threatened. They may feel that, not only their position, but the positions of their staff will soon be unessary What a manager must realize is that their job is to lead. Management resistance to change must be dealt with immediately. They need to stay positive in their communications to their employees. If they have fears about their department, they should use the appropriate avenues to express themselves. Exploration, which means taking their concerns up the chain of command. If the decision to move forward with the change is upheld, even after exploring all their options to not create waves. They must communicated their fears or concerns, their job is to motivate and encourage the employees through the steps of the change. Many times the change brings about a better working environment and the employees end up being happier in their position than they were in the past.When a change is coming and there is management resistance to change, people get nervous and begin to feel unsecure. The worst thing possible would be for the employees to begin looking for other employment opportunities simply because they are getting a negative feeling about the change from their leader. It is important for the employee to commit to the change; and the manager needs to commit to help the transition. It costs a lot of money to train new employees, let alone the expense of advertising and recruiting qualified employees. A manager could find themselves in a lot of trouble if their negative communication about the change causes a large turnover.Even if a manager has made a decision to not speak of the change in a negative manner, their nonverbal expressions can do just as much damage. Think about it. Would you be convinced that a movie was great and that you should run out and see it soon if the person that described it to you was not excited about it and cringed every time the movie was mentioned? Probably not.

2. The PESTEL framework is designed to provide managers with an analytical tool to identify different macro-environmental factors that may affect business strategies, and to assess how different environmental factors may influence business performance now and in the future. The PESTEL Framework includes six types of important environmental influences: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. These factors should not be seen as independent factors. Factors such as technological advances may probably affect the social and economic conditions in different markets. Political factors. These refer to government policy such as the degree of intervention in the economy. What goods and services does a government want to provide? To what extent does it believe in subsidising firms? What are its priorities in terms of business support? Political decisions can impact on many vital areas for business such as the education of the workforce, the health of the nation and the quality of the infrastructure of the economy such as the road and rail system. Economic factors. These include interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates. As you will see throughout the "Foundations of Economics" book economic change can have a major impact on a firm's behaviour. For example: higher interest rates may deter investment because it costs more to borrow. A strong currency may make exporting more difficult because it may raise the price in terms of foreign currency. Inflation may provoke higher wage demands from employees and raise costs. Higher national income growth may boost demand for a firm's products. Social factors. Changes in social trends can impact on the demand for a firm's products and the availability and willingness of individuals to work. In the UK, for example, the population has been ageing. This has increased the costs for firms who are committed to pension payments for their employees because their staff are living longer. It also means some firms such as Asda have started to recruit older employees to tap into this growing labour pool. The ageing population also has impact on demand: for example, demand for sheltered accommodation and medicines has increased whereas demand for toys is falling. Technological factors: new technologies create new products and new processes. MP3 players, computer games, online gambling and high definition TVs are all new markets created by technological advances. Online shopping, bar coding and computer aided design are all improvements to the way we do business as a result of better technology. Technology can reduce costs, improve quality and lead to innovation. These developments can benefit consumers as well as the organisations providing the products. Environmental factors: environmental factors include the weather and climate change. Changes in temperature can impact on many industries including farming, tourism and insurance. With major climate changes occurring due to global warming and with greater environmental awareness this external factor is becoming a significant issue for firms to consider. The growing desire to protect the environment is having an impact on many industries such as the travel and transportation industries (for example, more taxes being placed on air travel and the success of hybrid cars) and the general move towards more environmentally friendly products and processes is affecting demand patterns and creating business opportunities. Legal factors: these are related to the legal environment in which firms operate. In recent years in the UK there have been many significant legal changes that have affected firms' behaviour. The introduction of age discrimination and disability discrimination legislation, an increase in the minimum wage and greater requirements for firms to recycle are examples of relatively recent laws that affect an organisation's actions. Legal changes can affect a firm's costs (e.g. if new systems and procedures have to be developed) and demand (e.g. if the law affects the likelihood of customers buying the good or using the service).

3. I think the perfect example of stress during a change in a organization is when Marines are informed about being deployed to a war zone; and what they go through during that time. It is so bad that many people get diasagnosed with Post tramatic stress disorder. Take this Marines story on: "October 18, 2006, started out like any day over there, at least as much as I can remember of it. We had a newspaper reporter with us, and he rode next to me in the up-armored humvee. We stopped to inspect an Iraqi police station that had been shot up the night before, and then to check on a squad of Marines who guarded a notoriously dangerous area. As we exited the vehicle at our next stop, I told the reporter about an enemy sniper in the area who had already killed several Marines, and warned him to move quickly. Based on this advice, he took a big step forward, and a bullet smashed into the wall next to us right where his head had been. The next bullet hit me behind my left ear and exited out my mouth, causing catastrophic damage along the way. Somehow, from hundreds of yards away, the sniper had managed to shoot me in the thin sliver of exposed skin between my helmet and neck guard. Miraculously the bullet did not hit my brain or my spinal cord. It did, however, tear apart my mouth and face. Although I initially did not lose consciousness, I do not remember anything from the sniper attack, nor anything else from the next two weeks." Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a very serious disorder with symptoms such as self harm, anger, violence and drug addiction as well as depression. All of these are common symptoms of Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and sadly affects thousands of soldiers every year who have serviced in the armed forces. Treating Military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is done through psychotherapy and basic counseling but can take a lot of time and patience.