ACT AS A CHANGE AGENT

-A change agent is an individual or a group of individuals who take initiative and

orchestrate changes within an organization. They identify the need for the change and
takes the initial steps for the change process, overseeing it from inception to closure.
-As middle managers sitting between the operational and strategic levels, they
contribute to strategic thinking, implement strategic strategies and promote
organizational change. This is because they are well placed to understand and drive
strategic goals. So, they play a role in helping staff to understand the reasons for change,
adapt to new working practices and cope with uncertainties. Besides that, their
proximity to staff allows them to generate positivity about a change and reduce
resistance.

-They lead by example, proactive and positive about the improvements and
development initiatives. These people translate organizational strategies and ensure
that they take appropriate and aligned actions with their goals. In the early stages of
planning change, they are able to represent staff views and their needs. Besides, they
will be able to flag up potential issues before they arise and plan contingencies around
any disengagement.

-Therefore, organizational change management required creative marketing to enable

communication between change audiences, but also deep social understanding about
leadership’s styles and dynamics. In this situation, middle managers need to have an
effective feedback system that allows the company to trace the drawbacks of the
changes and react instantly to the possible problems.

-McDonald has been using Lewin’s change model to successfully implement the
proposed changes. The three stages followed by the company to implement the change
include :

1. Unfreezing- The managers prepares the organization for the change by stating the
benefits to eliminate possible resistance
2. Change- This is the transition stage where the company adopts new culture, values,
behaviours, and attitudes by employing excellent leadership and communication
3. Refreezing- The company crystallizes the new change to prevent it from reverting to
the old ways of doing things.

-In the change process, they need to

1. Understanding the change - The manager informs employees about the change to
enhance understanding of the needs for change and the associated benefits and
challenges of such change.
2. Planning the change - The manager in charge of the change develops realistic plan for
the change including strategic goals, the key performance indicators, the project
stakeholders, and project scope while accounting for the challenges that could arise
during the implementation process.
3. Implement the change - Building momentum and encouraging all parties to
participate in the change implementation activities.
4. Communicating the change - Encompasses employees’ empowerment and repeated
communication to keep the employees alert to the change process by giving the right
message at the right time to the people to get ample support to reinforce the change.

As an illustration, McDonald’s was struggling to keep up with changing consumer

preferences and was losing market share to competitors in 2017.

(UNFREEZING)
Then, McDonald’s recognized the need for change and began by unfreezing its current
business model. The leadership team communicated the need for change to the
employees, explaining why the traditional fast-food model was no longer effective and
how the new changes would benefit the company and its customers.

Why? Because fast-food is so unhealthy and realize that these customers are demanding
for healthier choices. In the past year McDonald’s has closed 700 stores due to declining
market sales. They are concerned about overall nutrition and look for resources to
choose the healthier menu option.

(CHANGE/MOVING)
Then, they began implementing changes to its business model and operations, such as
introducing all-day breakfast, creating more customizable options for its menu, and
revamping its in-store technology to improve efficiency and customer experience. These
changes were based on customer research and feedback and aimed at meeting
customers’ evolving needs. They aim to inspire and motivate people to live balanced,
active lives with their Balanced, Active Lifestyles (BAL) efforts by bring in the global
theme which is “it’s what I eat and what I do”

McDonald’s is trying to win back its customers by introducing low calorie options,
including seasonal items such as clementine oranges, to their Happy Meals which were
originally designed for young-age children in suitable portion sizes with essential
nutrients such as protein, calcium, iron and vitamins B.

(REFREEZING)
During this stage, McDonald’s faced some resistance from franchisees and employees
who were accustomed to the old ways of doing things. However, the company’s
leadership team continued to communicate the benefits of the changes and worked with
franchisees and employees to ensure they had the necessary resources and training to
adapt to the new model.

Employees who adapted to the changes were recognized and rewarded, and the
company constantly continues to monitor and assess the effectiveness of its business
model and operations to this day. In this situation, McDonald’s has introduced HALO
recognition and launched ‘Thank You Crew’ program that rewards employees for
extraordinary efforts and for going above and beyond their job requirements.

FACILITATE KNOWLEDGE SHARING

-Knowledge sharing means the exchange of employees' knowledge, skills, and
experiences. It ensures that the knowledge within an organization is available for
employees whenever they need it, and its benefits include retaining intellectual assets
and improving productivity.

-Most organizations have those with a unique set of skills, empirical knowledge, and
general wisdom that can be shared with other employees. The shared knowledge
doesn’t only make employees aware but may find business significance also. Deep
process knowledge and experiential knowledge can help new joiners upgrade faster and
resolve project inefficiencies at a greater place.

-An effective knowledge sharing system increases interaction in the workplace leads to
a rise in creative problem solving, mitigates knowledge loss as employees retire or
move on, and gives every department easy access to the information they need when
they need it, which can speed up response times and improve the customer experience.

-A knowledge-sharing platform, takes the same information and presents it in a

contextualized way, making it easier to understand and engage with. In addition to
storing knowledge, a knowledge-sharing platform users can collaborate, ask questions,
provide feedback, and make easy edits all without leaving the software. If people
understand how their work will contribute to a larger project, they will feel more valued
and will be more motivated to offer creative and insightful solutions

-To encourage knowledge sharing on a day-to-day basis, management should provide

positive reinforcement when employees share information that is beneficial to the
organization, and actively share your own knowledge. For instance, if you have a
centralized knowledge sharing platform, consider regularly publishing video updates or
write-ups.

-With ProofHub, management can create a discussion channel where team members can
actively discuss project topics by sharing ideas, attach files or ask for opinions on a
Discussion topic to keep everyone in the loop. They can opine in the comments,
bookmark the messages or add more to the discussion, all in one place. Each time a new
message is sent on a Discussion topic, all members are instantly notified via push
notifications and emails. Furthermore, they can make a schedule expert session. The
purpose is to let team members know about upcoming sessions well in advance. They
can reach out to organizers and confirm their slots right from within ProofHub using a
1:1 team chat. Other than that, project wikis and notes can also be create in The Notes
section is particularly used for organizing notes and content in a shareable way. Users
can create Notebooks for organizing multiple notes, subscribe for instant updates and
control who has access to the note. It features a rich text editor so that the content can
be formatted and standardized as per company guidelines.

CHALLENGES FACED BY TOP AND MIDDLE MANAGEMENT TO

IMPLEMENT TOTAL QUALITY IN AN ORGANIZATION
Resistance to Change
Resistance to change in an organization refers to the unwillingness or opposition
displayed by individuals or groups within the organization when faced with a proposed
change or a need for adaptation. It is a natural human response to change, as individuals
often prefer stability and familiarity over the uncertainty that comes with change.
Implementing total quality requires a significant shift in organizational culture,
processes, and mindset. Employees at all levels may resist changes that disrupt
established routines and ways of doing things. For instance, a manager of a company
follows the traditional management culture in organisation for a long time. It will be
difficult for the company and the employees to change its organisational culture. Some
factors are coming from an ignorance about practices, people, resources, and culture-
related issues.
Inadequate and Improper Training and Education
Total quality requires a deep understanding of quality principles, tools, and techniques.
Both top and middle managers need to possess the necessary knowledge and skills to
effectively implement and sustain total quality initiatives. Training and education are
important needs to develop an effectiveness to achieve objective in an organisation.
Insufficient training and education can hinder their ability to lead and support quality
improvement efforts. Lacking of it will jeopardize the quality of management into poor
job performance and increase levels of work-related stress. The chances for employees
of searching other workplace for progression and development increased. For example,
the employees hunger a skill of group discussion and communication techniques,
quality improvement skills, problem identification, and the problem-solving method as
way of to increase productivity and performance in the workplace. By not providing the
employee needs, they might be in immobility to enhance the improvement of knowledge
of policies and goals in an organisation.

Questions
1. What’s the other company that also portrays the best as a change agent in their
management team, asides from McDonald?
Apple is well-known for its innovations in hardware, software, and services. Their
performed is not only to get adapted but also to stimulate changes in the environment.
For Apple, change is its culture. Change management in Apple is regarded as necessary
reaction of the company to the changing marketing environment and the requirements
of the target audience. Although Apple products aren’t always the cheapest, they always
make a splash and change the way we look at technology. Their main purpose is to
create products that enrich people’s daily lives. That involves not only developing
entirely new product categories such as the iPhone and MacBook but also continually
innovating within those categories.
-As we can see, Apple has always made new product in every few months after they have
come up with their latest products in order to make their products outstanding by
always following trends, people’ needs and current technology besides their revenues
ofc. The company embarked on value chain management by eliminating obsolete
products and services and introducing new ones. The company simplified its products
to provide what consumers needed.