Time For Positive Change
Nicole Shields
MGT435: Organizational Change (BFL1301A)
Instructor: Kristin Brocklesby
February 4, 2013

Time For Positive Change
Introduction
Organizational change occurs when business strategies or major sections of an organization are altered. It is defined as a change that has significant effects on the way work is performed in an organization. Innovation is more important than during this present day. Rainsoft a local company exhibits the positive benefits of change as the company continues to grow and expand with the current market.
Company Overview Rainsoft is a water treatment company that has been operating since 1953. The company serves to improve the quality of drinking water. RainSoft started with one location in Bensenville, Illinois. Today RainSoft, a division of Aquion Inc., is an international company with dealerships in the United States and 20 other countries. The company headquarters are located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. RainSoft produces a host of water and air purifiers ranging from small household sizes to large industrial sizes. The company also produces portable purifiers and filtration systems for use in hotels and hospitals. Rainsoft has been cited for its customer service and superb quality products offered to its customers. The RainSoft company's products are sold, installed and serviced by more than 150 independent dealers in the U.S. and in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. A RainSoft dealer is an independent businessman or woman with exclusive rights to sell and install RainSoft water treatment equipment in a specified area(s). Each RainSoft operation is a ran by an independent person.

DIAGNOSIS RainSoft provides a service that most people would like to have in their home however the price can be a little overwhelming. There are several water purification system providers in the business. Culligan®, Ionics®, Kinetico®, Rain Soft®, Hague®, Water Resources, Rayne®, Eco Water® etc. RainSoft is sold by independent dealers so its products are not generally available at a local store. Whereas some of the brands mentioned above are available at local stores such as Home Depot and Lowe’s. One major benefit to purchasing from one of these retail stores is that a consumer can make purchase using their personal credit card or a credit card issued by the store for purchase of items that store sales. When purchasing a treatment system from RainSoft the consumer must either finance the system through their bank or credit union or they can finance the unit through the dealer. The down fall to this is that financing a unit through a dealer or the company has proved to be costly.

KOTTER’S 8 STEP APPROACH For change to be successful everyone must want it. According to Kotter’s research, 70% of all major change efforts in organizations fail, because organizations often do not take the holistic approach required to see the change through. By following Kotter’s 8 Step Process, organizations can avoid failure and become adept at change. By improving their ability to change, organizations can increase their chances of success, both today and in the future. Without this ability to adapt continuously, organizations cannot thrive Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. This may help you spark the initial motivation to get things moving.
The first step in Kotter’s approach is to create a sense of urgency. It is imperative for a company to identify what aspects of a company need to be changed. In the case of Rainsoft the need for change is the payment methods. The product needs to be more accessible to consumers. The idea is to get the product to my customers. If the product is on the shelves in stores then more people will be able to purchase the product. A meeting should be conducted with key management personnel initially. Zeroing in on the most effective change leaders , the development of a schedule that everyone must adhere to would be done. Any leaders who were unable to meet the schedule or are on the fence about the change process would be dismissed, as for this team only a influential people are needed. Creating a presentation demonstrating how the future will be different from the past. If a water filtration system is moving from an independent dealer to a chain the chances of the profit increase are much greater. After presenting the plans for the future it is important to continue to communicate the vision. Daily meetings regarding the new plans to get our products to the stores will be held at the beginning of the shifts so that we could brainstorm ideas. After the change leaders are established and a the plan in in place, it is time to weed out individuals or practices that are not beneficial to the company. At this point it is time to revamp all process and make sure that the future will be prosperous. To begin with placement of a few filtration systems would be placed in a few stores. The goal would be, to have maybe ten leave the shelves in the span of a month. At the end of the month the team would gather together and verify the results If the goal was met there would be a party celebrating the success. Each week we could continue to increase the goal. At this stage more change would be implemented. Employee demonstrations would also be considered and extra time off or gift cards would be awarded to the person with the most demos in one month or the person that generated the most sales in a month.
The idea to launch more products should be introduced after the company has seen a success with implementing change, At this stage a new filtration system should be introduced to stores as well as other countries. Hopefully with the success of other changes this new product would be successful as well. Setting a goal of having ten of these items leave the shelves in a month would be the start. With a steady increase to the goal on a monthly basis, weekly meetings will still be help and weekly voting on the addition of change leaders and empowered employees would continue to take place. The ability to keep change leaders fresh and vibrant is a benefit to the company. The last step is to take all of the practices during this process and make them procedures. The continual support of all employees and managers are needed. Kotter states that for any change to be sustained, it needs to become embedded in the new way.

You have to work hard to change an organization successfully. When you plan carefully and build the proper foundation, implementing change can be much easier, and you'll improve the chances of success. If you're too impatient, and if you expect too many results too soon, your plans for change are more likely to fail.
Create a sense of urgency, recruit powerful change leaders, build a vision and effectively communicate it, remove obstacles, create quick wins, and build on your momentum. If you do these things, you can help make the change part of your organizational culture. That's when you can declare a true victory. then sit back and enjoy the change that you envisioned so long ago.

Stewart, J. (2012, Oct 31). Alliance data signs credit card deal with RainSoft. American Banker. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1117901530?accountid=32521