CHANGE MANAGEMENT AT AW LTD.

QUES 1. What was the focus of the protagonist and did she do her job well ?
Ans. (a) The focus of the protagonist was to be the catalyst of internal
change and transform a family owned traditional Business entity into a vibrant
organisation by developing highest quality of people processes in the pharmaceutical
industry. The entire process of change management was based on a carefully
crafted and time staggered strategy with clear goals. These are :
(i) Conduct an organisational excellence audit
(ii) Redefine the role of HR by operating at a strategic level
(iii) Institute a transparent performance appraisal and maanagment
system linked with the firm’s strategy.
(iv) Develop role clarity by developing clear job definitions for all
managers and higher-level employees in the production deptt.

(b) Shiela Parmar did not do her job well due to various reasons which are given
below:
(i) Change Management is not a process which can be tied to water-tight
precepts. The very premise that the whole process of Internal change
management as conceptualised and executed by Miss Parmar was being
followed with more impetus on process than the people, was wrongly
founded.

(ii) Even after doing research on AW Ltd and later on finding out during the
audit that the traditional thoughts and archaic working ethos were deeply
entrenched in the organisational fabric, she did not factor it into the execution
vector while implementation in the Phase-II

(iii) Change management is an incremental process with iterative follow-

up. Resistance to change is basic human nature. Though her research and
audit were impeccable and so were the inferences which were substantiated
by the VP(HR) also but the implementation methodology was incorrect.

Ques 2. Why did Change Initiation process fail at AW Ltd. ?

Ans The process of change initiation had failed at AW Ltd due to following
reasons:-

(a) Too much reliance on data and incorrect caveats, least realising that
data inference was indicating drastic interventions in the Top Management
and resistance & rigidity of top managers during the entire process was an
indicator of their counter-productive role in implementing change.
 (b) Trying to initiate change with a Single-shot Approach rather than trying
it on a prototype model and then evaluating the pros & cons.

(c) Miss Parmar had already executed an external change management in

Automobile Industry and had tried situating the same at AW Ltd without
aligning with the established processes, studying the faultlines and then
pointing out the way ahead.

Ques 3. What are the softer areas to pay attention to in future in any change
management process ?
Ans. The softer areas to pay attention to in future during any change
management process are :
(a) Smart Engagement & Communication
(b) Build Support & Create Ecosystem for change through
incremental approach
(c) Engage Top Leadership by positive Projection of Existing Model
and making them feel the urgency of change through
participative involvement.
(d) Organisational Alignement
(e) Training and Support
(f) Prototype testing & evaluation
(g) Change Measurement & Iteration