WGU C721 - NJP1 Task 1 Change Management
Updated 2024 with complete Solution.
Western Governors University
C721 T 1: Change Management Name:
Student ID:
Date:
A. Using either the contingency model or the organizational life cycle model,
discuss the need for change for the company in the scenario.
In regard to the organizational life cycle model, the company in the scenario is in
the second stage. While the company in the scenario has a strong and strategic
company direction, the company suffers from a lack of autonomy brought on by
the stage two crisis of the organizational life cycle model due to the fact that the
company is structured in a manner of topdown hierarchical leadership. Stage two
is known as the growth/survival stage, and autonomy is a critical component to
employ for a company to make it through to stage three.
Because of the structure of the company in the scenario, the company's
employees feel trapped by the company's rigid and outdated way of doing things.
To ensure the company continues to grow and survive in such a competitive labor
market, the company must loosen some of its grasp on control and decision-
making responsibility and allow both the lower-level managers and employees to
contribute. Employees will feel more empowered to play a strong role in the
company if the company delegates and loosens restrictions. This will ultimately
result in more balanced control and decision-making across the whole of the
company.
, B. Describe the differences between a learning organization and a traditional
organization.
Compared to a traditional organization, a learning organization is different in that
a learning organization focuses on "big picture" ideas, in other words, long-term
ideas, and these organizations take a special effort to learn and grow from lessons
learned in the past.
Learning organizations encourage their members to think of new and creative
ways of doing things that will ensure the organization continues to adapt, evolve,
and thrive in today's competitive labor market. In a learning organization, as
employees try different roles and teams change, leadership openly and happily
adjusts to support this knowledge and innovation that's shared across the
organization.
Compared to a learning organization, there is much more structure and
predictability present within a traditional organization. In a traditional
organization, welldefined roles and responsibilities are established and designed
to ensure the status quo is maintained and innovative ideas are shot down.
Nonflexible processes and a rigid culture are present in a traditional organization.
Employees lack encouragement from the organization to take risks and make
decisions. In a traditional organization, for a decision to be approved, it must be
moved up to the very top of the hierarchical command chain. This, in turn, results
in a slowdown of suggested resolutions. In today's competitive labor market, these
slowdowns are detrimental as quickly deciding and implementing resolutions is of
immense vitality in ensuring a company's continued growth and survival.
Bl. Stage of Woolner's 5-Stage Model the Company Is Currently In.
Regarding Woolner's 5-stage model, the company in the scenario is currently in
the second stage.
BIA. Explain Why the Company Is in the Identified Stage.
There has been a development of formalized processes over the last decade the
company has been in business. Due to this formalization, the company has been
taken out of the first stage. The first stage is when a new company learns from
trial and error. According to Acrobatiq (2022), in the second stage, a stable
, organization begins to see the need for learning, and once this need has been
realized, the organization begins to introduce training scenarios via a 3rd party.
The company in the scenario has identified a need, with that need being growth and
training, and this situation aligns with the second stage of Woolner's 5stage model.
The company in the scenario has hired a change management expert to guide the
company in satisfying the growth and training needs the company has identified.
The company in the scenario has yet to make it to the third stage of Woolner's 5-
stage model, where, in the third stage, a company has begun to provide internal
training measures that are viewed as critical in allowing the company to continue
to grow and succeed.
B2. How Will the Company in the Scenario Use Senge's 5 Disciplines to Become a
Learning Organization.
Regarding the first discipline, according to Feldman (2013), the ability to view an
organization not only in its individualized processes but as a whole unit comprised
of interconnected processes is what it means to employ systems thinking.
Because the company in the scenario has now expanded and grown to an
international scale, employing systems thinking will allow the company's
leadership to visualize how all the moving parts of the organization will interact
with one another on a global level. Ultimately, this will result in more
comprehensive decision-making, and these more comprehensive decisions will
grant the company's leadership the ability to better identify process issues that
require immediate attention.
Personal mastery is the next discipline, and while this discipline is more prone to
ambiguity than systems thinking, personal mastery is equally as important.
According to Feldman (2013), personal mastery is when a person strengthens and
deepens their personal vision via the means of individual learning. While personal
mastery may seem like a simple concept, there's more to it than that. Personal
mastery results in a person feeling a sense of internal motivation to focus all their
energy toward making their vision become a reality.
Personal mastery is an ever-lasting process rather than a set goal or destination.
The company would benefit from employing personal mastery as employees would
feel empowered to partake in constant learning and growth, and ultimately, this
Updated 2024 with complete Solution.
Western Governors University
C721 T 1: Change Management Name:
Student ID:
Date:
A. Using either the contingency model or the organizational life cycle model,
discuss the need for change for the company in the scenario.
In regard to the organizational life cycle model, the company in the scenario is in
the second stage. While the company in the scenario has a strong and strategic
company direction, the company suffers from a lack of autonomy brought on by
the stage two crisis of the organizational life cycle model due to the fact that the
company is structured in a manner of topdown hierarchical leadership. Stage two
is known as the growth/survival stage, and autonomy is a critical component to
employ for a company to make it through to stage three.
Because of the structure of the company in the scenario, the company's
employees feel trapped by the company's rigid and outdated way of doing things.
To ensure the company continues to grow and survive in such a competitive labor
market, the company must loosen some of its grasp on control and decision-
making responsibility and allow both the lower-level managers and employees to
contribute. Employees will feel more empowered to play a strong role in the
company if the company delegates and loosens restrictions. This will ultimately
result in more balanced control and decision-making across the whole of the
company.
, B. Describe the differences between a learning organization and a traditional
organization.
Compared to a traditional organization, a learning organization is different in that
a learning organization focuses on "big picture" ideas, in other words, long-term
ideas, and these organizations take a special effort to learn and grow from lessons
learned in the past.
Learning organizations encourage their members to think of new and creative
ways of doing things that will ensure the organization continues to adapt, evolve,
and thrive in today's competitive labor market. In a learning organization, as
employees try different roles and teams change, leadership openly and happily
adjusts to support this knowledge and innovation that's shared across the
organization.
Compared to a learning organization, there is much more structure and
predictability present within a traditional organization. In a traditional
organization, welldefined roles and responsibilities are established and designed
to ensure the status quo is maintained and innovative ideas are shot down.
Nonflexible processes and a rigid culture are present in a traditional organization.
Employees lack encouragement from the organization to take risks and make
decisions. In a traditional organization, for a decision to be approved, it must be
moved up to the very top of the hierarchical command chain. This, in turn, results
in a slowdown of suggested resolutions. In today's competitive labor market, these
slowdowns are detrimental as quickly deciding and implementing resolutions is of
immense vitality in ensuring a company's continued growth and survival.
Bl. Stage of Woolner's 5-Stage Model the Company Is Currently In.
Regarding Woolner's 5-stage model, the company in the scenario is currently in
the second stage.
BIA. Explain Why the Company Is in the Identified Stage.
There has been a development of formalized processes over the last decade the
company has been in business. Due to this formalization, the company has been
taken out of the first stage. The first stage is when a new company learns from
trial and error. According to Acrobatiq (2022), in the second stage, a stable
, organization begins to see the need for learning, and once this need has been
realized, the organization begins to introduce training scenarios via a 3rd party.
The company in the scenario has identified a need, with that need being growth and
training, and this situation aligns with the second stage of Woolner's 5stage model.
The company in the scenario has hired a change management expert to guide the
company in satisfying the growth and training needs the company has identified.
The company in the scenario has yet to make it to the third stage of Woolner's 5-
stage model, where, in the third stage, a company has begun to provide internal
training measures that are viewed as critical in allowing the company to continue
to grow and succeed.
B2. How Will the Company in the Scenario Use Senge's 5 Disciplines to Become a
Learning Organization.
Regarding the first discipline, according to Feldman (2013), the ability to view an
organization not only in its individualized processes but as a whole unit comprised
of interconnected processes is what it means to employ systems thinking.
Because the company in the scenario has now expanded and grown to an
international scale, employing systems thinking will allow the company's
leadership to visualize how all the moving parts of the organization will interact
with one another on a global level. Ultimately, this will result in more
comprehensive decision-making, and these more comprehensive decisions will
grant the company's leadership the ability to better identify process issues that
require immediate attention.
Personal mastery is the next discipline, and while this discipline is more prone to
ambiguity than systems thinking, personal mastery is equally as important.
According to Feldman (2013), personal mastery is when a person strengthens and
deepens their personal vision via the means of individual learning. While personal
mastery may seem like a simple concept, there's more to it than that. Personal
mastery results in a person feeling a sense of internal motivation to focus all their
energy toward making their vision become a reality.
Personal mastery is an ever-lasting process rather than a set goal or destination.
The company would benefit from employing personal mastery as employees would
feel empowered to partake in constant learning and growth, and ultimately, this
