EMBRACING CHANGE

In the Assignments for Weeks 7–8, you will focus on creating solutions for a company that is facing challenges due to the impacts of a global health crisis. Such large-scale events can have a sizable impact, but major world crises are not the only factors that can affect businesses. Organizations may need to make drastic changes because of ordinary and predictable reasons, such as a product’s lifecycle reaching its final phase, a new competitor entering the market, or a sudden shift in consumer preferences. It can be easier to deal with change at the organizational level if it is examined first at the personal level. Essentially, you can better assist your organization in embracing change if you have an accurate understanding of how you feel about it and react to it.

In this Discussion, you will explore your relationship with change, including how a professional experience with change from your past was handled and how it impacted you. You will then continue this conversation in next week’s Discussion.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Consider these questions: Do you agree with the idea that change is inevitable? If so, what can be done about it? Do you feel that change is scary, exciting, or a mix of both? How do you typically react to change, and is there anything you would like to do differently about your reactions to change?
• Think of an experience from your professional career when an organizational change occurred and prepare to discuss it. Consider the impact of that change, not just on yourself, but on others within the organization and on the organization itself.

BY DAY 3

Post an analysis of the impact of change on you personally, as well as in your professional experience at an organization. Be sure to addresses the following:

• Explain how you feel about change, as well as how you typically react to it.
• Identify an example from your professional life in which change occurred at an organization and explain how that process went. Be specific about how the change was implemented, including communication of the change, involvement of stakeholders, etc.
• Explain how the handling of that organizational change impacted you, your colleagues, and the organization as a whole. Provide specific examples to support your explanation.

Refer to the Week 7 Discussion Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this grading rubric to assess your work.

Read some of your colleagues’ postings.