Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Order #00162387
Order #00162387
By
(Student Name)
Institution
Date
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Introduction
Northwell Inc. was founded 25 years ago when a merger between Canadian and US
firms. Since both firms had distributed their products in Canada and the US, the merger
allowed them to share marketing and distribution services for five years. Despite the
challenges, after three years, insiders and outsiders viewed the merger as a success. However,
growth and profitability slowed down nine years ago and flattened afterwards. A year ago,
sales growth was just 4%, and profitability had reduced to 6% of sales and the return on
equity 6.5%, marking a doom for Northwell Inc.'s glorious days. Research done three years
ago showed that the company’s clients could receive orders and information over the Internet.
For those who were not currently able to do the same, they would soon be enabled. The
business had challenges communicating with customers online, lagging behind competitors.
Medichek, which primarily provided the design and implementation of websites for leading
healthcare organizations. Claudia proposed the development of a virtual medical product and
service mall with Medichek. The businesses expected that the change would enable
Northwell Inc. to enhance its competitiveness in the online space. However, the project ran
into problems. The project was four to five months behind schedule. This frustrated the Board
and Senior Management at Northwell Inc., who wanted Claudia to move things. In response
to their frustration, the executives at Medicheck were pushing back, considering Claudia’s
interventions as hindering progress. The sales and marketing team members were unhappy
with the changes, with three resignations recently and the loss of a good distributor from the
address the organization’s challenges and allow it to become a leader in the market once
more.
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an approach breaks down complex information and structures it in simple chunks that
students can understand. Various models and approaches are used in educational planning,
like learning contracts, the loop model and organizational learning. Learning contracts entail
a collaborative agreement between the tutors and learners (Ismail and Yusof, 2008). The
contract has the resources, objectives and other things the learners need to achieve the
intended purpose. In the case of Northwell Inc., a learning contract will allow the
stakeholders to be involved in the design of the educational process. It will recognize the
learning needs of the different participants and allow the teacher to make personalized
approaches to meeting those needs. The approach will ensure that the stakeholders have a
The loop model is based on the idea of making continuous improvements. It provides
a cyclical process of planning, implanting and evaluating the plan to ensure it achieves the
required outcome. The approach sees learning as a dynamic process that needs regular
identifying areas that need change. Using the loop model in the educational plans of
Northwell Inc. will ensure changes are made continuously to allow the educational plans to
performance of the business. Northwell Inc. needs to create a learning culture where the
management encourages employees to acquire new skills and knowledge. Organizing training
sessions would persuade the stakeholders, especially employees, to implement the changes.
Knowledgeable employees are more flexible and can embrace the change needed to change
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the business in the right direction. The business needs to create an environment that
Northwell Inc. are informed about the progress of the business. Communicating with
stakeholders builds their confidence in the organization and works towards getting their
the needs of the stakeholders and developing a communication strategy that addresses those
stakeholders and get their support on the proposed changes. It will prevent misunderstandings
Change is difficult and often attracts resistance. Overcoming cultural resistance can be
challenging, mainly where the norms are deeply rooted in the collective psyche of an entity.
Change is necessary for societies and organizations that want to remain relevant. For
businesses, change is needed to ensure the entity remains competitive. When management
wants to make changes, it is met with resistance because of its potential to disrupt the status
quo. In the case of Northwell Inc, there is a lack of buy-in from the relevant stakeholders. For
instance, employees have not embraced the changes, leading some to resign recently. Because
the employees have not bought into the strategy, they perceive the change as a threat. They
feel that the move to embrace technology was not well thought out and do not agree with the
defection the business is taking. In essence, the resistance from the employees has made it
The business also faces emotional resistance to overcoming the business culture.
Northwell Inc. has an already established culture which stakeholders have embraced. Having
thrived on the particular culture for some time, the stakeholders have become emotionally
attached to the culture. Besides, Northwell Inc. has done well with the current culture in the
past. Since Claudia wants a digital approach to business operations, stakeholders are still
emotionally connected to the old culture. Such an emotional attachment is challenging and
requires change agents to be patient and empathetic with stakeholders. The inability to
understand the attachment can make change agents insensitive to the needs of the
Moreover, people in Northwell Inc. are afraid of the unknown. While the business is
currently performing poorly, and an intervention is required, they do not know what to
expect. The stakeholders in the business are more comfortable with what they know and do
not want to engage in new things. The employees, in particular, are unhappy with the change,
perceiving it as threatening their well-being. They are unsure of what to expect and are afraid
that the consequences of the change may be adverse to their survival in the organization.
communication skills. Before change agents proceed with their activities, they must
articulate issues and explain why change is needed. In this case, Claudia must share that the
change is necessary to save the business from declining performance, which could jeopardize
the whole business. She needs to demonstrate that more clients are adopting technological
solutions. Suppose the business does not adjust to the tastes and preferences of the
consumers, it is likely to lose more business in the future Change agents like Claudia need to
take time and explain the consequences of the change and address any concerns.
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Communication skills would build a trusting relationship that will allow change agents to be
References
Elwy, A.R., Maguire, E.M., Kim, B. and West, G.S., 2022. Involving stakeholders as
Ismail, N. and Yusof, M.A.M., 2008. Exploring the use of learning contracts for language