2Change ImplementationDeyanira DiazSouthern New Ha.docx

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Change Implementation
Deyanira Diaz
Southern New Hampshire University
MBA 687
Dr. Rivero
October 2, 2022
Change Implementation
Organizational change is a complex process that requires
detailed planning to succeed. A change management plan is,
therefore, needed to ensure successful implementation. The plan
helps manage the change process and controls schedule, scope,
budget, resources, and communication. A change management
plan also helps manage employee responses to organizational
change. Employees respond differently to change. Some will be
eager to use new processes and procedures, while others will
resist. Bad communication, fear of the unknown, lack of support
from the management, lack of understanding of the reason for
the change, and fear of failure are some of the reasons why
employees resist organizational change. No matter the reaction,
a change management plan should provide a complete roadmap,
as well as, tools to successfully implement change and support
employees as they transition through change. In this report, I
will analyze the pre-implementation and implementation stages
of the change management plan in the U.S. branch.
Key Stakeholders and their Significance
Key stakeholders are individuals or groups with an interest in a
change initiative and can either affect or be affected by the

change. The president, the vice president, and business unit
leaders are the key stakeholders in the change process. These
individuals want to see successful change implementation to
ensure company goals are met. Their main roles include creating
a change vision and communicating change throughout the
organization.
Each stakeholder’s role plays a significant part in gaining
acceptance, buy-in, as well as, support for change across the
organization and departments. As indicated above, one major
role of the key stakeholders is to create a change vision. A
change vision gives employees a picture of what the company
will look like in the future after change implementation
(Tanner, 2021). Also, a change vision tells employees why they
should let go of the past and embrace the future. In other words,
having a vision of change helps employees understand the
reason for the change and the benefits it can bring. This, in
turn, will create buy-in, support, and acceptance for the
proposed change. Besides that, key stakeholders communicate
the proposed change across departments and throughout the
organization. Effective communication can encourage
employees to embrace change and make them aware of the
objectives and vision for change (Hasanaj, 2022). Additionally,
effective communication can help the organization to convince
employees that the existing state of affairs is no longer suitable.
It can also encourage employees to support and accept the new
state. It is necessary to be honest and clear when
communicating change to create buy-in. It is also important to
communicate how the change will affect employees to keep
them engaged.
Every stakeholder can enhance the success of the change
initiative. For instance, a stakeholder can play a role of a
counselor. Here, the key stakeholder can help employees deal
with their emotional responses to change and, in turn, make a
good transition. Organizational change can be emotionally
intense, igniting fear, confusion, anxiety, helplessness, and
frustration among employees. According to experts, going

through organizational change is the same as grieving (Wiens &
Rowell, 2018). It is, therefore, necessary to have a counselor to
help employees accept and embrace change. Besides that,
stakeholders can play the role of opinion leaders. Opinion
leaders are very influential and significant to organizational
change. Whether or not a change leader will enlist them, they
will either approve or disapprove of the change initiative
(Galloway, 2019). And because they are connected and
respected, opinion leaders will influence their peers (in either a
negative or positive way) and determine whether the change
will happen. Hence, it is advisable to engage key opinion
leaders to get the new practices or new procedures adopted.
Employees will not adopt and embrace the new practices or new
ideas until opinion leaders do.
Strategic Goals
Various strategic goals align with the change management plan.
Strategic goals are the objectives that an organization aims to
attain over a specific period. The strategic goals of the company
can be classified into four areas: growth, talent and learning,
customers, and marketing. The U.S. branch will achieve its
mission and vision in the next five years by directing its efforts
toward these areas. Specifically, the company will achieve its
mission and vision by promoting and supporting United States
businesses’ efforts to expand, develop, and sustain operations.
The U.S branch will also try to get the best from employees,
retain top talent, and channel more resources and efforts toward
employee core competencies. Besides that, the company will
provide effective and efficient work systems that fulfill the
various needs of employees, as well as, leaders. The U.S branch
will also offer a regular flow of information to stakeholders and
employees. Additionally, the company is determined to attract
new customers, increase sales in the United States market, and
perform market research. The U.S. branch is also determined to
improve marketing and visibility efforts.
Various trends could affect employees of the U.S. branch. One
major trend is remote work. Advances in technology and

globalization led to growth in remote work in the past years.
The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 accelerated this growth.
According to reports, over 90 million American workers can
work remotely and around 80 million are already doing so at
least part-time (Ricker, 2022). This is a clear indication that
many employees want more flexibility. The U.S. branch should,
hence, give the employees the freedom and autonomy they need
to meet their individual needs and get their work done. Another
major trend is employee wellness. Employee wellness is more
vital now than ever. Modern life is fast-paced, which
contributes to a rise in depression and anxiety among workers.
Calls for employee wellness and self-care have increased
tremendously all over the globe as mental health awareness has
grown. In the future, employees will prioritize self-care. They
will also invest in initiatives that focus on health and wellness.
Therefore, the U.S. branch should make employee wellness a
priority to attract, hire, and retain the best talent.
Improving Organizational Systems
The U.S. branch needs to modify organizational systems to have
successful behavioral change. Specifically, the organization
needs to change certain policies, procedures, and processes to
implement change. First, the U.S branch should enhance its
problem-solving process. Based on the exit interview, the
company takes a long time to address issues. Taking too long to
solve issues can be detrimental to the employees and the
organization at large. Besides that, the U.S. branch should
improve its approach to idea implementation. Based on the exit
interview, the company takes too long to implement new ideas.
This can discourage employees from generating new ideas,
which can eventually prevent change. The ability to generate
and implement new ideas allows a company to stay relevant and
implement positive change.
These improvements will influence behavioral change in the
organization. By improving the company’s problem-solving
process, issues will be dealt with quickly and effectively. This
is very important especially when implementing change. Several

issues can arise during change, including resistance, lack of
communication, conflicts, and poor planning. It is important to
quickly and effectively deal with these issues as they arise to
ensure a successful behavioral change. And by implementing
new ideas instantaneously, employees will be motivated to
generate new ideas – ideas that can help them navigate through
behavioral change.
Enhancement Strategies for Team Collaboration
There is poor team collaboration between team members across
the U.S. branch. This could be due to poor communication.
Proper communication is critical in team collaboration. When
employees communicate effectively, they are more likely to
work collaboratively and reduce the risk of conflict and
misunderstandings. Poor communication tends to create a poor
work environment where employees are not inspired to be
productive and not motivated to collaborate. Poor collaboration
could also be attributed to the lack of training. The main
purpose of employee training is to increase their skills and
knowledge in different areas. Lack of training will hinder
knowledge sharing and collaboration
The U.S. branch can take different measures to turn an
individual performer into a team player. First, the organization
needs to build and foster a supportive environment. This is a
work environment where job performance and physical, mental,
and emotional well-being are respected and valued. This
environment will keep employees happy, and in turn, improve
collaboration. Besides that, the organization can create a reward
system. Employees who feel like their effort is recognized and
rewarded usually feel valued and more motivated to work as a
team player.
Leadership behavior at the U.S. branch should change to build
and nurture trust. First, leaders should change their decision-
making approach. Based on the exit interview, the company
seems to have a top-down approach to management where top
managers make decisions and lower subordinates implement
them. This may cause team disconnection or disengagement as

employees feel their opinions and feedback are not valued
(Asana, 2021). In the long run, this will erode trust between
employees and managers. It is, therefore, advisable to
encourage employee involvement in decision-making to build
trust.
Change Management Model
The U.S. branch can use Lewin’s change management model to
implement change. This model was first established by Kurt
Lewin, a German-American social psychologist during the early
twentieth century. The change management model comprises
three stages; unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. Unfreezing
is the first stage of the change process. Here, the employees
need to let go of the existing situation for change to happen. In
the second phase, which is the change stage, the organization
begins to implement change (Deborah, 2018). This will be
characterized by a change in behavior, feeling, and thoughts.
The final step, refreezing, takes place immediately after change
implementation to ensure that the new procedure, process, or
behavior is sustained. Otherwise, the organizational change will
be short-lived and employees will quickly go back to their
previous behaviors.
Lewin developed the change management model to evaluate two
important areas: the change process within the organization and
how the existing state of affairs can be challenged to achieve
effective changes. Lewin’s change management model
comprises three major aspects: restraining forces, driving
forces, and equilibrium. Restraining forces can be defined as
elements that hinder change. Driving forces, on the other hand,
are elements that enable change. Equilibrium is achieved when
restraining forces equal driving forces.
Implementing the Change Management Model
As indicated above, Lewin’s change management model
comprises three phases. In the first phase, the U.S. branch
should help employees to let go of old behaviors or old
practices. The organization can use three approaches to achieve
this: increase the driving forces, reduce the restraining forces,

or combine the two approaches (Deborah, 2018). In the second
phase, the U.S. branch will start to implement the proposed
change. It is in this stage that employees will start acting and
believing in a way that supports the new path. Communication
and time are necessary when implementing change. Change
leaders need to communicate clearly and widely to avoid
misunderstanding. On the other hand, employees need time to
understand and embrace change. In the last stage, the
organization will reinforce and sustain change.
Roadblocks are expected during the change management
process, but they can be mitigated or even removed. The U.S.
branch can mitigate and remove obstacles by communicating.
According to Collazo (2020), effective communication can
improve the change process and facilitates a better
understanding of the change vision. The organization can also
mitigate roadblocks by involving all stakeholders throughout
the change process. Stakeholders are part of the change
initiative. Their influence, acceptance, engagement, and input
are critical to the success of the initiative.
The U.S. branch should prepare for planned and unplanned
changes, as well as, any contingency to successfully implement
change. This will require the change leaders to create a
contingency plan. The plan will help the organization to
evaluate situations and their possible impact. A contingency
plan will also provide a framework for creating the actions
needed to deal with a given issue or situation.
The organization will need to accomplish different milestones
for change implementation to succeed. Some of these milestones
include obtaining employee buy-in or acceptance, getting
funding for the proposed change, and creating a change
management plan.
Measuring the success of the management plan is the last step in
the change management process. This process involves
ascertaining whether the change management plan was
effective. The U.S branch will use employee feedback to
determine if the plan was effective. The organization can also

assess employee engagement, participation, and buy-in to
measure success.
References
Asana, (2021). Top-down approach vs. bottom-up approach:
What’s the difference? Retrieved from:
https://asana.com/resources/top-down-approach
Collazo, J. (2020). The Importance Of Communication When
There Is Change In A Company. Forbes. Retrieved from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2020/08/03/
the-importance-of-communication-when-there-is-change-in-a-
company/?sh=45a18bf6739e
Deborah, O. K. (2018). Lewinâ€™ s Theory of Change:
Applicability of its Principles in a Contemporary Organization.

Journal of Strategic Management,
2(5).
Hasanaj, R. (2017). Importance of communication during
change: a case of the municipality of vlora.
European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies,
2(1), 15-19.
Galloway, D. (2019). Leverage opinion leaders to make change
happen. Continuous Mile. Retrieved from:
https://www.continuousmile.com/leadership/leverage-
opinion-leaders-to-make-change-happen/
Ricker, T. (2022). 92 million US workers now have the
opportunity to work remotely: survey / 58 percent can work
from home at least part-time, 35 percent full-time. The Verge.
Retrieved from:
https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/28/23186112/us-
flexible-remote-hybrid-work-survey-mckinsey
Tanner, R. (2021). Leading Change (Step 3) – Develop a
Change Vision and Strategy. Management is a Journal.
Retrieved from:
https://managementisajourney.com/leading-change-step-
3-develop-a-change-vision-and-
strategy/#:~:text=The%20change%20vision%20and%20strategy,
senior%20leadership%20into%20the%20future.
Wiens, K., & Rowell, D. (2018). How to Embrace Change Using
Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved
from:
https://hbr.org/2018/12/how-to-embrace-change-using-
emotional-
intelligence#:~:text=Changes%20at%20work%20can%20be%20
emotionally%20intense%2C%20sparking%20confusion%2C%20
fear,loss%20of%20a%20loved%20one.

2
Alaska Airlines: Case study
Deyanira Diaz
OL 633
Dr. Ellington
September 25, 2022
Strategic vision
Alaska Airlines’ path to success was flawed by ineffective
organizational culture, which resulted to poor performance of
the company. The management led a culture that made it hard
for the airline to perform effectively. Therefore, the airline had
to navigate a different operational course to improve its
operations. The first action by the airline was to hire a vice
president at its Seattle operation. In addition, prior the change,
the airline had changed its management structure. Each
department was operating under independent managers. The
vice president met with the managers to discuss on the
strategies to get the airline on the right track. The meeting
resulted in the implementation of lean processes within the
operations of the company to reduce or eliminate wastages
(Avolio, Patterson & Baker, 2015). Before the changes, the
airline had recorded high cases of customer mishandled bags

and delayed departure time. Therefore, it is was high time the
company implemented new strategies to change its status quo.
Initially, the company operated on a culture that believed
“just good enough” was enough and did little to improve its
operations. The company operated on the slogan that “it’s ok to
be late, so long as we’re nice.” This perception was attributed to
Ray Vecci, who was the acting CEO of the airline between 1990
and 1995. This was the period when the company started
cultivating a lazy culture and also resistant to change. Ray
Vecci was resistant to the adoption of mandatory Departure on
Time (DOT) reporting (Avolio, Patterson & Baker, 2015). The
attitude by the CEO led to the adoption of culture for blaming
the system rather than confronting the challenge and
implementing changes that facilitated effective operations
regardless of the environment in which the airline was operating
in.
The Kotter’s’ third step in change management is creating
a vision for change. For Alaska Airlines to move towards the
right direction, it had to create a vision for change. This
entailed what the new change seeks to achieve or the existing
problem (Kotter, n.d.). In this case, the airline had in place a
reluctant culture that contributed to significant failure of the
company. The culture resulted in poor employee performance
which was witnessed through mishandling of passenger bags as
well as delayed departure time. Therefore, the vision for change
was to ensure that the airline addresses these problems in order
to ensure customer satisfaction and to increase its revenues. The
management of the airline learned that in order to improve
customer experience, it was important to minimize lost baggage
or mishandling of bags, increase on-time departure and arrival
time. Therefore, the strategic vision focused on transforming
the entire organizational culture in order to enhance customer
experience and improve employee performance.
However, for the change to be successful, it is imperative
for the management to bring on board all stakeholders to the
company. For example, employees play a critical part in the

success of the organisation. Therefore, they should be part of
the group that create the strategic vision for change so that they
are part of the change implementation.
Change communication
The Kotter’s fourth step in change management process is
communicating the vision. Communicating the vision is
imperative as all stakeholders have to understand why the
change is important to the organisation and what it seeks to
achieve (Kotter, n.d.). Alaska Airline management must make
the stakeholders understand the current problem the company is
facing and what change the company seeks to implement to
address to solve the problems. Stakeholders support to the
vision is largely dependent on how effectively the management
makes them understand why the company needs to implement a
change. Ineffective communication of the vision results in
resistance from stakeholders who fail to understand how the
change will impact their operations (Recardo, 1995). It is
imperative for the team responsible for creating the vision to
walk the talk. To effectively get support from stakeholders, the
management should not only communicate the vision, but also
to address the concerns and anxieties of the stakeholders.
Addressing concerns and anxieties of stakeholders helps reduce
the likelihood of resistance by stakeholders (Recardo, 1995). In
most cases, change can be disruptive and people are more likely
to stick to a status quo rather than embracing a change.
Concerns and anxiety can be addressed by involving the
stakeholders in the change implementation process and also
openly and honestly communicating how the change will impact
the organisation. In some instances, stakeholders are afraid to
embrace change because they do not understand how it will
affect their roles within the organisation.
Therefore, to avoid the resistance, the management can
encourage a two-way communication where employees and
management work together to implement the changes.
Involvement of employees in decision making process and
allowing them to give feedback and opinions allows for two-

way communication and also reduces instances of resistance.
Open communication where employees are allowed to give their
input towards the change feel as they are part of the change and
are more likely to embrace and support the change.
References
Kotter. (n.d.). The 8 steps for leading change.
https://www.kotterinc.com/methodology/8-steps/
Avolio, B. J., Patterson, C., & Baker, B. (2015). Alaska
Airlines: Navigating change.
Harvard Business Review,
93, 1-22.
Recardo, R. J. (1995). Overcoming resistance to change.
National Productivity Review,
14, 5-5.
1
6

Alaska Airlines: Navigating Change
Deyanira Diaz
OL 633
Dr. Ellington
In every successful organization, organizational managers play
a vital role in providing employees with the necessary tools to
motivate them to work toward achieving the organizational
vision, mission, and goals (Avolio et al., 2015)). Alaska
Airlines is an airline that has tried initiating changes in its
operation to no fruition. However, after Ben Minicucci ascended
to power, he ensured that his initiatives were inclusive. Every
team member understood their roles and knew they were
accountable for failures. Minicucci used the daily meeting as a
strategy to hold everyone accountable for the success or failure
within the organization. It ensured that departmental heads
stayed updated on the change efforts and would stir their teams
toward success. This paper reflects what I think should have
been done in the change effort through actions such as removing
barriers and generating short-term wins.
E. Enable Action by Removing Barriers
Forces, barriers, and hindrances
Based on Kotter’s stages of change 5 and 6, the Alaska Airlines
change managers had to develop first-hand exercises to jump-
start the change initiative. In stage 5, the managers had to
dispose of all obstructions to enable the expansive plan (Kotter,
2012). Eliminating would have been essential in aligning the
team toward the proposed change effort. According to Cohen
and Kotter (2005), “evaluating boundaries to activity is critical
to keeping the undertaking’s direness at high levels (Cohen &
Kotter, 2005). Some of the boundaries that needed disposition
for Alaska Airlines to push its change efforts included but were
not limited to;
· The fight or misunderstanding between the baggage carousel

merchants and departmental offices was to be eliminated
because it caused staff strain.
· The pilots were to have a candid conversation with the
management to ensure that the past issues have been resolved
and a way forward.
· Alaska Airlines believed in a hierarchical culture that absolute
minimum work was right. The change initiative needed to be
successful and practical; therefore, change managers in the
airline were required to annihilate this notion and demand
significant work.
Resistance
Organizational change initiatives face opposition from most
stakeholders. Resistance can be coherent or passionate. Each
type of resistance to change within an organization paralyzes
any change initiative efforts (Cohen & Kotter, 2005). According
to the Alaska airline case, resistance occurred when baggage
workers were terminated and re-appropriated. Retained workers
opposed the change because they felt sidelined by the managers
since they re-appropriated the fired workers. Resolving
resistance, in this case, required the managers to hold face-to-
face meetings with the parties to seek a way forward.
Remaining receptive during progressive opposition is essential
during resistance. Cohen and Kotter argue that "leaders who
disregard sensitivity to resistance are frequently caught off
guard at some point when they think all is going on well"
(Cohen &Kotter, 2005). Talking to the workers and establishing
why they need to resist the changes will help make the change
efforts and talks more reasonable. More so, the staff should be
sensitized to the need to align with the organization's vision,
vision, and values.
Enable and empower employees
Alaska airline requires the collaborative input of the employees
and the staff to push the change drive towards success and
fruition. Therefore, change managers need to strengthen the
nourishment of the stakeholders and the teams in general.
Through this, the workers and the staff will adapt to the changes

and accept the cause of action to enable the changes. Therefore,
managers should develop actions that will enable and empower
employees to help drive the change effort. Some of these
strategies would be;
· Training and development of the employees are essential in
pushing them towards job mastery achievement.
· Giving the workers absolute rights to engage in the change
initiative by permitting them more control. In this case, they
will be accountable for any failures or successes within their
job prescriptions.
· Exposing them to other successful workers who will act as
role models to help them focus on effectiveness.
· Total support to help them ease their tension. They will feel
compassion and know that failure does not mean all is done.
· Encouraging employee feedback to understand and gauge
where the change is working and where it is stagnant.
F. generating short-term wins
Short-term wins
Short-term wins are essential in change efforts because they
show convenience in the change and help to build up the
validity that the change will be successful. Short-term wins
work as proof or evidence that the change exertion is
satisfactory and workable. Therefore, based on the Alaska
airline case, the managers had to embrace certain qualities to
show that the change effort was the best and for the best
achievement of organizational goals. Short-term wins are
quantifiable, obvious, and applicable across departments. In this
case, the wins will play a significant role in boosting the trust
and loyalty of the workers. It will also reduce the baggage
carousel waiting time, which would be a plus for the sides of
consumers. Therefore, managers should ensure that they reward
satisfactory work by developing reward and remuneration
incentives, thanking them openly, and prioritizing them during
training and development exercises.
Gains
A lot can be gained from short-term wins. First, short-term

results help in reducing the adversity of resistance. Therefore,
short-term changes will decrease resistance toward the change
effort. According to Cohen and Kotter, "short-term results give
valuable data about the legitimacy of the vision and the
capability of the change exertion" (Cohen & Kotter, 2015).
Short-term wins send a great message to the stakeholders that
the change initiative or effort is on track. It also convinces
those in resistance that the change is worth their support.
In conclusion, the viability of Kotter’s stage 5 and 6 changes
depends on the efforts put forth by relevant stakeholders.
Organizational change faces much resistance from stakeholders
through coherent or passionate resistance. Alaska airline
managers must work towards eliminating all obstructions by
identifying them and developing strategies. The airline needs to
strategically acknowledge and brag about its short-term wins
because they are key to persuading resistors that the change is
viable and worth undertaking. Employees or the staff that
performs well should be rewarded to motivate them to do better.
References
Avolio, B. J., Patterson, C., & Baker, B. (2015).
Alaska Airlines: Navigating Change. Harvard Business
Review, 1-22.
Cohen, D. S., & Kotter, J.P. (2005).
The Heart of Change Field Guide: Tools and Tactics for
Leading Change in Your Organization. Boston: Harvard
Business Review Press.
Kotter, J. P. (2012).
Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business Review
Press.

2
Deyanira Diaz
OL 633
September 11, 2022
What Actually Occurred in the Case Regarding Kotter's First
Two Steps
Kotter’s first two steps are creating a sense of urgency and
building a coalition. Kotter (1996) indicates that creating a
sense of urgency includes examining potential threats in the
market which may affect the company in the future. It also
includes finding opportunities that can boost the status of the
company. For Alaska airlines, none of these took place because
the company had already declared itself the best customer
service provider. It did not analyze threats such as competition
nor did it find opportunities to strengthen its future. When it
comes to building a coalition, Kotter believes it’s a stage of
calling on a united group to work on the required change and
have a powerful team that could facilitate the change. The team
must be led by the company leaders and all stakeholders must

develop a vision and effective strategies to realize the change.
In the case of Alaska, employees were doubting their value to
the company and it was difficult to involve them in building a
coalition. The new CEO had not yet devised effective strategies
of communicating with the stakeholders to guide them on the
implementation of the change.
Change Effort Analysis
1.
Create a Sense of Urgency
A plan to Create Urgency
The best way to create a sense of urgency is to communicate
directly to the employees and ensure they understand where the
organization is and where it should be. According to Rajan and
Ganesan (2017), the leadership should have an honest
discussion with employees about the issues affecting the
company and involve them as partners in the journey to solve
the problem. They should give a convincing reason for the
change and persuade all stakeholders to stay committed in
solving the issue. This will create a sense of urgency and
develop a sense of responsibility among the stakeholders.
Current Processes for Implementing Change
The processes that currently exist for implementing change at
Alaska is the quick-fix approach. The leadership of the
organization identify a problem and make it upon itself to solve
that problem. No employees are involved, no analysis is done,
and there is no enough time given to solving the problem.
According to Backer and O’Hara (1991), this quick-fix
approach has led to the downfall of giant leaders in the world.
The quick-fix approach has led to Alaska making impulsive
decisions which affect the operations of the company later.
How Change Process Should Be Updated
There are times in business when fast change is required but the
process involved should be thought out properly. Even though
Alaska felt the pressure of the competition in the industry,
leadership required a better approach other than the quick fix

one. Implementing a strategy such as the quick reaction
approach when situations call will help Alaska ensure its
decisions and changes are effective. Competition is something
that requires analyzing the market and the best change process
for Alaska is to involve all stakeholders especially employees
and customers to ensure they find a long lasting solution.
Strategy to Get Support from Employees
The first strategy to get support from employees is to get the
support of the executives and ensure they act as examples in
guiding employees towards the change. Once employees see that
the executives are committed, they will commit too. Another
strategy to get support from employees is clearly
communicating the change, its vision, and the benefits to be
achieved from the change. If employees understand that the
change will increase productivity which in turn can lead to an
increase in their salaries, this will motivate them to support the
change. Lastly, engaging the employees is an important way of
getting their support. They will feel their contribution is valued
and this will motivate them to take on the change.
2.
Building a Guiding Coalition
Who Should Be Involved in the Guiding Coalition
Everyone in the company must be an agent of change for it to be
effective and that is why the guiding coalition will include all
stakeholders. These stakeholders include the employees,
shareholders, customers, and supervisors. Integrating all these
stakeholders requires the 33% leaders, 33% managers, and 33%
informal leaders. In Alaska’s situation, this approach will
ensure all members of the company are well represented in the
decisions regarding the change. Each part of the organization
will provide their input and it will enhance decision-making.
Steps to ensure Commitment from Those Involved
To achieve commitment from those involved, it will be essential
to assign roles and responsibilities to every team member. They
will have a chance to decide which areas they think they will

perform better and their opinions will be taken into
consideration. Every member will have a responsibility to
deliver high quality work on their part and this will drive them
to commit. This will be followed by weekly meetings in which
every member will present a report to the team to show their
progress and their plans. This will ensure everyone is
committed to meet the required standards and the set goals.
References
Backer, T. E., & O'Hara, K. B. (1991).
Organizational change and drug-free workplaces:
Templates for success. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Kotter, John P. (1996).
Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press.
Rajan, R., & Ganesan, R. (2017). A critical analysis of John P.
Kotter's change management framework.
Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and
Management,
7(7), 181-203.

OL 663 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
To be an effective leader, one must be able to lead change
efforts in a way that is collaborative and demonstrates the
culture of the organization. At some point,
all leaders will be tasked with either leading an organizational
change effort or being part of upper-level team planning and
implementation of an organizational
change effort.
Your final project in this course is the development of a change
plan based on a case study. Your plan will utilize Kotter’s
change implementation plan
components for an organization. Kotter’s plan will take you
through steps that demonstrate what should be looked at during
each step of a change effort.
Changes take time to implement, and it is vital that all aspects
of an organization are considered when making these changes.
This project addresses the following course outcomes:
implementing an organizational change effort

targeted goals of change efforts for determining the needs of a
change effort
the roles of employees
to develop a well-informed, effective change plan
involving employees for successfully implementing a change
effort
organizational change efforts
Prompt
In this project, you will develop a change plan based on a case
study with stated objectives to accomplish an intended goal or
goals. Once the objectives are
established, you will build backward from those goal(s) in order
to develop a timeline for completion in a phase-by-phase
sequence. This change plan will
analyze what is needed for the implementation of a change to be
successful and things to look out for along the way.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Analysis and Diagnosis
A. What is the problem in need of addressing at this point in
time? Describe which forces are driving the change effort.
B. How did this problem arise? Determine how this problem is
currently impacting the organization.
C. Identify the specific organizational needs driving the
change. Explain each.
D. Identify specific variables, conditions, issues, individuals,

and other factors that will impact the change effort negatively.
Describe how these
should be handled prior to planning the change effort.
E. What are the underlying causes of the problem? How should
these be addressed?
F. Identify the gap between what the problem’s current situation
is and what the hoped-for targeted outcome will be. Establish
what needs to
occur to build a process to bridge this gap.
II. Developing a Change Plan Using Kotter’s Model for
Implementing Organizational Change
A. Create Urgency
1. Describe a plan to create urgency within the organization and
convince stakeholders that this change needs to take place.
2. What processes currently exist for implementing change?
How will these processes need to be updated for the proposed

change?
3. Describe the strategy you will use to get support from your
employees. How will this strategy be effective?
B. Build a Guiding Coalition
1. Identify who should be involved in this guiding coalition.
Provide rationale for each choice. Kotter likes 50% leaders and
50% managers
with experience, while others prefer the composition to be 33%
leaders, 33% managers, and 33% informal leaders, but you can
assemble
the guiding coalition as you see fit.
2. Determine steps you can take to ensure commitment from
those involved. Describe those steps.
C. Form a Strategic Vision
1. Determine the values that are essential to this change. Why
are these values essential?
2. Establish the vision for this organizational change effort.
How will this vision be effective in promoting your change
effort?
3. Identify your intended targeted outcomes. Defend your
choices.
4. What must occur for the organizational change effort to be
considered a success? Defend your response.
D. Communicate the Change
1. What is required for the change to be communicated
effectively within the organization? Why?
2. Determine actions you will take to encourage two-way
communication for effective feedback loops during
implementation of the change
effort. Explain why these actions will be effective.

3. How will you support the direct supervisors in the
organization in their efforts to communicate with employees
about the change effort?
4. Describe how you will address any concerns or anxieties
regarding this change.
5. Who needs to be involved and in what capacity for this
change effort to be a success?
E. Enable Action by Removing Barriers
1. Identify the forces, barriers, and hindrances to the
organizational change effort, and describe each.
2. How can resistance be recognized? How will you eliminate
resistance or mitigate its impact on the implementation of the
change plan?
3. Describe actions that will enable and empower employees to
help drive the change effort.
F. Generate Short-Term Wins
1. Determine how you will generate short-term wins. How will
you reward these wins?
2. What can be gained from short-term wins? Defend your
response.
G. Sustain Acceleration
1. How will you ensure that the momentum driving the change
effort continues?
H. Institute Change
1. What actions need to occur for this change to become part of
the organizational culture? Defend each action.

2. What infrastructure mechanisms need to be in place to
maintain and sustain the change into the future? Describe the
importance of
each.
Milestones
Milestone One: Kotter’s Steps 1 and 2
In Module Three, you will review the case study “Alaska
Airlines: Navigating Change” and then complete the following:
(a) State what actually occurred in the
case regarding Kotter’s first two steps of establishing a sense of
urgency and creating the guiding team in a change effort and (b)
reflect on what you think
should have been done in the change effort regarding those two
steps. State your reflection as recommendations to implement
steps 1 and 2.
This milestone will help you build Section II parts A and B of
your final project. This milestone is graded with the Milestone
One Rubric.

Milestone Two: Kotter’s Steps 3 and 4
In Module Five, you will review the case study “Alaska
(a) State what actually occurred in the case
regarding Kotter’s steps 3 and 4 of developing a vision and
strategy and communicating the change vision (two to three
paragraphs), and (b) reflect on what you
think should have been done in the change effort regarding
those two steps. State your reflection as recommendations to
implement Kotter’s steps 3 and 4.
This milestone will help you build Section II parts C and D for
Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Kotter’s Steps 5 and 6
In Module Seven, you will review the case study “Alaska
(a) State what actually occurred in the
case regarding Kotter’s steps 5 and 6 of empowering employees
for broad-based action and generating short-term wins, and (b)
reflect on what you think should
have been done in the change effort regarding those two steps.
State your reflection as recommendations to implement steps 5
and 6.
This milestone will help you build Section II parts E and F for
Three Rubric.
Final Submission: Change Plan
In Module Nine, you will be submitting your final project, a
change plan for the Alaska Airlines case study. Throughout the
course, you have had multiple
opportunities to work on the elements of this proposal and fine-

tune your thinking for the change plan.
Your finalized proposal should incorporate feedback you have
received from your instructor as well as your peers. This
submission is graded with the Final
Project Rubric.
Deliverables
Milestone Deliverable Module Due Grading
One Kotter’s Steps 1 and 2 Three Graded separately; Milestone
One Rubric
Two Kotter’s Steps 3 and 4 Five Graded separately; Milestone
Two Rubric
Three Kotter’s Steps 5 and 6 Seven Graded separately;
Milestone Three Rubric

Final Submission: Change Plan Nine Graded separately; Final
Project Rubric
Final Project Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your change plan must be 13–15
pages (not including title page or references), double spaced,
with 12-point Times New Roman font,
and adhere to APA guidelines.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs
Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Analysis and
Diagnosis: Problem
[OL-663-01]
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
description is exceptionally
clear and contextualized
Identifies the problem in need
of addressing and describes
which forces are driving the
change effort
Identifies the problem in need
of addressing, but does not
describe which forces are
driving the change effort
Does not identify the problem 3.5
Analysis and
Diagnosis: Impact

[OL-663-01]
response demonstrates a
nuanced awareness of the
organization
Establishes how problem arose
and determines the current
impact of the problem
Establishes how problem
arose, but does not determine
the current impact of the
problem
Does not establish how the
problem arose
3.5
Analysis and
Diagnosis:
Organizational Needs
[OL-663-01]
explanation employs specific
examples
Identifies specific
organizational needs driving
the change and explains each
Identifies specific

organizational needs driving
the change, but does not
explain each
Does not identify
organizational needs
3.5
Analysis and
Diagnosis: Variables
[OL-663-03]
description is well supported
with specific examples
Identifies specific variables,
conditions, issues, and
individuals that may impact
the change effort negatively
and describes how these
should be handled prior to
planning the change effort
Identifies specific variables,
conditions, issues, and
individuals that may impact
the change effort negatively,
but does not describe how
these should be handled prior
to planning the change effort
Does not identify specific
variables, conditions, issues,

and individuals that may
impact the change effort
negatively
3.5

Analysis and
Diagnosis: Underlying
Causes
[OL-663-04]
determination is well
supported and plausible
Identifies underlying causes of
the problem and determines
how these causes should be
addressed
Identifies underlying causes of

the problem, but does not
determine how these causes
should be addressed
Does not identify underlying
causes of the problem
3.5
Analysis and
Diagnosis: Gap
[OL-663-02]
response employs specific
examples to support claims
Identifies the gap between the
current situation and the
targeted outcome and
establishes what needs to
occur to build a process to
address the gap
Identifies the gap between the
current situation and the
targeted outcome, but does
not establish what needs to
occur to build a process to
address the gap
Does not identify the gap
between the current situation
and the targeted outcome

3.5
Change Plan: Urgency
[OL-663-06]
Describes a plan to create
urgency within the
organization and convince
stakeholders that the change
needs to take place
Describes a plan to create
urgency within the
organization and convince
stakeholders that the change
needs to take place, but plan is
misaligned with the problem
Does not describe a plan to
create urgency within the
organization
3.5
Change Plan:
Processes
[OL-663-02]
with examples

Identifies current processes for
implementing change and
describes how processes will
need to be updated for
proposed change
Identifies current processes for
implementing change, but
does not describe how
processes will need to be
updated for proposed change
Does not identify current
processes for implementing
change
3.5
Change Plan: Support
[OL-663-04]
Describes a strategy to gain
support from employees and
describes how the strategy will
be effective
Describes a strategy to gain
support from employees, but
does not describe how the
strategy will be effective

Does not describe a strategy to
gain support from employees
3.5
Change Plan: Guiding
Coalition
[OL-663-06]
rationale demonstrates a
nuanced understanding of the
roles involved in a coalition
Identifies who should be
involved in the guiding
coalition and provides
rationale for each choice
Identifies who should be
involved in the guiding
coalition, but does not provide
rationale for each choice
Does not identify who should
be involved in the guiding
coalition
3.5
Change Plan:
Commitment
[OL-663-04]

Determines steps for ensuring
commitment from those
involved and describes each
step
Determines steps for ensuring
commitment from those
involved, but does not describe
each step
Does not determine steps for
ensuring commitment
3.5
Change Plan: Values
[OL-663-06]
defense is well qualified with
examples
Determines values that are
essential for the change and
defends why the values are
essential
Determines values that are
essential for the change, but
does not defend why the
values are essential
Does not determine values

that are essential for the
change
3.5

Change Plan: Vision
[OL-663-06]
description uses concrete
examples to qualify claims
Establishes the vision for the
organizational change effort
and describes how vision will
be effective in promoting the
change effort
Establishes the vision for the
organizational change effort,
but does not describe how
vision will be effective in
promoting the change effort
Does not establish the vision
for the organizational change
effort
3.5
Change Plan: Targeted
Outcomes

[OL-663-02]
defense employs industry-
specific language to establish
expertise
Identifies intended targeted
outcomes and defends each
choice
Identifies intended targeted
outcomes, but does not defend
each choice
Does not identify intended
targeted outcomes
3.5
Change Plan: Success
[OL-663-02]
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
defense uses industry-specific
language to establish expertise
Determines what must occur
effort to be considered a
success and defends response
Determines what must occur
effort to be considered a

success, but does not defend
response
Does not determine what must
occur for the organizational
change effort to be considered
a success
3.5
Change Plan:
Communication
[OL-663-05]
explanation utilizes industry-
specific language to establish
expertise
Establishes what is required for
change to be communicated
effectively and explains
response
Establishes what is required for
change to be communicated
effectively, but does not
explain response
Does not establish what is
required for effective
communication
3.5

Change Plan: Two-Way
Communication
[OL-663-05]
explanation is well supported
and plausible
Determines actions that will be
taken in order to encourage
two-way communication and
explains why selected actions
will be effective
Determines actions that will be
taken in order to encourage
two-way communication, but
does not explain why selected
actions will be effective
Does not determine actions
that will need to be taken in
order to encourage two-way
communication
3.5
Change Plan: Direct
Supervisors
[OL-663-05]
response is well qualified with
concrete examples

Establishes how direct
supervisors within the
organization will be supported
in their efforts to communicate
with employees regarding the
change effort
Establishes how direct
with employees, but plan is
misaligned with the change
effort
Does not establish how direct
with employees
3.5
Change Plan: Concerns
or Anxieties
[OL-663-05]
Describes how concerns or
anxieties regarding the change
will be addressed
Describes how concerns or

anxieties regarding the change
will be addressed, but
description is cursory or
inaccurate
Does not describe how
concerns or anxieties regarding
the change will be addressed
3.5
Change Plan: Involved
[OL-663-05]
and plausible
Determines who will need to
be involved in a change effort
and describes the capacity in
which they will be involved
Determines who will need to
be involved in a change effort,
but does not describe the
capacity in which they will be
involved
Does not determine who will
need to be involved in a
change effort
3.5

Change Plan: Forces,
Barriers, and
Hindrances
[OL-663-04]
Identifies the forces, barriers,
and hindrances to the
and describes each
Identifies the forces, barriers,
and hindrances to the
organizational change effort,
but does not describe each
Does not identify forces,
barriers, and hindrances to the
3.5
Change Plan:
Resistance
[OL-663-04]

Describes how resistance can
be recognized and determines
how resistance can be
eliminated or mitigated
Describes how resistance can
be recognized, but does not
determine how resistance can
be eliminated or mitigated
Does not describe how
resistance can be recognized
3.5
Change Plan: Enable
and Empower
[OL-663-04]
Describes actions that enable
and empower employees to
help drive the change effort
Describes actions, but lacks
alignment to enabling and
empowering employees
Does not describe actions 3.5

Change Plan: Short-
Term
[OL-663-03]
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
supports response with specific
examples that further illustrate
claims
Determines how short-term
wins will be generated and
establishes how these wins will
be rewarded
Determines how short-term
wins will be generated, but
does not establish how these
wins will be rewarded
Does not determine how short-
term wins will be generated
3.5
Change Plan: Short-
Term Wins
[OL-663-03]
defense employs specific
evidence to support claims
Determines what can be
gained from short-term wins
and defends response

Determines what can be
gained from short-term wins,
but does not defend response
Does not determine what can
be gained from short-term
wins
3.5
Change Plan:
Momentum
[OL-663-03]
Describes how to ensure that
the momentum driving the
change effort continues
Describes how to ensure that
the momentum driving the
change effort continues, but
description contains issues
regarding accuracy or
relevancy
Does not describe how to
ensure that the momentum
driving the change effort
continues
3.5

Change Plan:
Organizational Culture
[OL-663-06]
defense is masterfully
supported with specific
examples
Determines what actions need
to occur for the change to
become part of the
organizational culture, and
defends each action
Determines what actions need
to occur for the change to
become part of the
organizational culture, but
does not defend each action
Does not determine what
actions need to occur for the
change to become part of the
organizational culture
3.5
Change Plan:
Infrastructure
Mechanisms
[OL-663-03]

Establishes infrastructure
mechanisms that need to be in
place to maintain and sustain
the change into the future and
describes the importance of
each
Establishes infrastructure
mechanisms that need to be in
place to maintain and sustain
the change into the future, but
does not describe the
importance of each
Does not establish
infrastructure mechanisms that
need to be in place to maintain
and sustain the change into the
future
3.5

Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and
organization and is presented
in a professional and easy-to-
read format
Submission has no major
errors related to citations,
grammar, spelling, syntax, or
organization
Submission has major errors
spelling, syntax, or
organization that negatively
impact readability and
articulation of main ideas
Submission has critical errors
spelling, syntax, or
organization that prevent
understanding of ideas
2

Total 100%
OL 663 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric Overview Prompt
Milestones Milestone One: Kotter’s Steps 1 and 2 Milestone
Two: Kotter’s Steps 3 and 4 Milestone Three: Kotter’s Steps 5
and 6 Final Submission: Change Plan Deliverables Final
Project Rubric
2
Change Readiness/Needs Assessment Audit
Deyanira Diaz
MBA 687
September 11, 2022
Areas in Need of Change at the U.S. Branch
Engaging employees in company goals
Embrace inclusion & diversity
Employee training and education

An increase in employee autonomy
Improved communication
Promotion of employees
Justification of Chosen Data Points
According to the employee engagement survey, there is lack of
freedom and autonomy in the organization and only 36% of
employees feel that they have the authority to make personal
decisions at work. This implies that it is the management that
makes most of the decisions. This also explains the low level of
communication in the company. Only 36% of the company hear
about decisions and important changes through the management.
The rest dwell on rumors which they can’t verify whether it is
true or not. Only 26% of the employees understand the mission,
vision, values, and direction of the company. The environment
in the company does not support the expression of different
views and opinions. Changes in all these areas are essential to
promote communication and collaboration within the
organization. Kotter (1995) asserts that change cannot be
effective without effective communication. The organization
has also failed to promote employees for them to get
motivation. In the past two years, only 2% of the workers have
been promoted and this leads to low productivity.
Employees’ Confidence in Change Management

The survey indicates that employees in the company support
each other and they work in teams. However, they lack support
from their management and they don’t trust the leadership of
the company. Very few employees feel that the management is
doing well in creating a team environment. The management is
not open and trustworthy and therefore employees lack
confidence in their ability to uphold change management
practices. There is need for urgent change in the relationship
between managers and employees to create an environment of
teamwork and trust.
The middle managers will perform an excellent role in creating
an adoption mindset since the survey indicates that they are
70% open, honest, and trustworthy. Therefore, they can bridge
the gap that exists between the company’s leadership and
employees. Riwo et al., (2012) asserts that middle managers can
be perfect agent of change because employees trust them more
than they trust the senior managers.
The survey indicates low levels of communication, poor
employee morale, and lack of employee engagement in decision
making which signal a lack of preparedness for change. Over
60% of employees are lacking communication from the
management and this will make it difficult for them to
understand and implement the change. The workers also
indicate that there is no effort for continuous improvement and
this means implementing change is difficult.
Leadership styles and power distribution determine the
relationship between the employees and the management. In this
case, there is some kind of authoritative/dictatorship leadership
which makes the management the sole decision-maker. This
increases the chances of resistance to change. However, in a
workplace where employees are engaged and there is a
relationship of openness and understanding between them and
senior managers, change is easily accepted and implemented.
Opportunities to Increase Change Readiness/Trust
From the survey, there is a high level of teamwork among

employees and this is an opportunity for the U.S branch to
increase the readiness for change. In addition, the employees
trust the middle managers and the company can use them to
increase the employees’ trust for the change.
Employees are different and their values are different which
makes it easy for others to accept change and difficult for
others. There are employees whose values are in alignment with
the organization’s values and such employees will easily
embrace change. Resistance mostly comes from those
employees who do not believe in the vision of the company and
whose values do not align with those of the company.
According to the forms of resistance grid, there are also
employees who fear change and it is difficult for them to get out
of the comfort zone.
The common form is resistance is peer-focused dissent whereby
those resisting change mobilize their colleagues to resist it too.
Another commonly used form of resistance is sabotage. They
sabotage the activities of the change by being absent at work
and other strategies that affect the momentum of the change.
Cultural considerations for Employees to Adjust
Hofstede’s cultural dimension model focuses on the differences
between cultures of different nations and how these differences
affect business. In this case, the U.S culture is different from
the Singaporean culture and how employees work in the U.S is
different from the way employees work in Singapore. For
instance, Singapore is a collectivist society while the U.S is an
individualistic society. So employees from the U.S may find it
difficult to work in teams in Singapore. Individualism focuses
on personal goals and that is why employees from the U.S are
finding it difficult to collaborate and implement the change. The
power distance index is also high in the company which creates
inequity and bureaucracy which have hindered the motivation to
implement the change.

References
Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation
efforts fail.
Riwo-Abudho, M., Njanja, L., & Ochieng, I. (2012). The role of
strategic leadership during change.
KCA Journal of Business Management,
4(1), 48-61.
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