The document provides instructions for a case assignment requiring students to analyze an organization's change environment. Students must select an organization to research, identify its core business and mission, provide a brief history and SWOT analysis, identify a core competency, and analyze how the organization can address weaknesses, threats, and changes. The summary should be 2-3 sentences and include: - Students must research and analyze an organization, including its core business, history, strengths/weaknesses, and how it can address changes. They must write a 2-3 page paper in APA format citing at least one source and discussing the organization's environment and ability to adapt to changes.

1. Case Instructions
For this assignment, you are to prepare a brief report in which
you identify and define your organization and/or industry of
choice and in which you begin to analyze the organization's
change environment.
First, you must select an organization to use for your case.
Choose carefully! You will continue to use this same
organization for the Unit 3 and Unit 4 Case.
It might be good to use your place of work or an organization in
which you are involved. If you do not work or if you are not
involved in any organization, then you should select an
organization that interests you or perhaps where a family
member works. If none of these situations apply to you, then
select a local organization. We all have community fast food
restaurants and supermarkets that would be excellent choices.
Your report should contain the following information and
points. This report is not to be written as questions and answers.
You must write in paragraph/essay format. The bullet points
listed here just describe the content that you need to include in
this report.
•Identify the organization or industry you have selected.
•Explain why you selected this organization or industry.
•Describe the core business of this organization and include the
mission statement.
•Include a brief history of this organization.
•Briefly identify this organization's strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats (SWOT).
•Identify one core competency for this organization. (Refer to
the media presentation on core competencies.)
◦Be sure you explain why you think this is a core competency.

2. ◦How does this competency differentiate the company from its
competitors?
◦How does this competency contribute to the company's current
success?
•Based on your research and findings, how should this
organization use its strengths and core competencies to offset
weaknesses and threats for future growth and success?
•How should this organization deal with a constantly changing
business environment to be successful?
•In conclusion, give an example of one type of change this
company is facing now or will face in the future.
◦From your point of view, how significant is this change and
how might this change impact the organization?
Requirements
1.Refer to the grading rubric at the end of this page.
2.Your report should be from 2-3 pages long. This does not
include the cover page.
3.Use APA style to format your paper and cite your sources.
You are not required to create an abstract. The APA tutorial
here in our course gives excellent help with citation. The EPI
Online Library has information and templates for APA citation.
You should also make good use of the Writing Assistance
Center (WAC). The instructors in the WAC can help you with
organization, structure, grammar and citation.
4.Insert a cover page that includes the title of your project, your
name, the course, and the date.
5.Your report must be in essay format. This means you must
write in complete sentences and paragraphs instead of just
inserting answers under headings.
6.You must use at least one outside resource for this report.
7.Name your file: BUS224_U2_Case_(Your last name)
8.Please make sure you proof your file in addition to running
spell check before submitting.
TIPS

3. •A company's website provides a wealth of information.
However, do not copy and paste directly from the company
website. If you take any text directly from any resource, put this
text in quotation marks.
•Personal interviews are also an excellent source of
information. Interview people who work for this company or
even someone who works for a competitor! Cite this source just
as you would any other source.
•If you work for the company, you cannot help but give your
own personal information. However, avoid using yourself as a
source for data or facts. This type of information must be
supported by a source - employee pamphlet, website, handbook,
interview, etc.
•Incorporate your own summaries, interpretations, ideas,
opinions into the company data and information you cite.
Researching information and then interpreting this information
is the primary purpose of any research project. I want to see
evidence of research, but I want to see your own ideas and
opinions and conclusions in these case reports as well.
You should work on this assignment as you go through the
chapter(s). This assignment reinforces information in your
textbook and concepts presented in this unit. You will be graded
on the accuracy and thoroughness of your responses. Please
write in complete sentences unless otherwise directed.
Remember to cite your textbook just as you would any other
resource. Your textbook and any additional outside resource
citation should use APA format.
1.Benchmarking is an extremely useful business tool that helps
organizations to stay competitive. Explain what benchmarking
means. How can benchmarking be used to anticipate change?
2.Consider your own industry/company. What company, in your
opinion, sets the benchmark? Justify your answer.
3.Customers are an excellent source of information. Customers
help you determine your strengths and weaknesses; customers
tell you what they value about your organization. Customers

4. help you anticipate the need for change. According to your
textbook, there are six methods for collecting feedback from
customers. What three methods would you use if you were
conducting a customer value analysis (CVA)? Be sure you
explain how you would use these methods and what you would
expect to learn.
4.What sort of information about your products and services
might you gain from warranty records and customer service
records? How would you use this information?
5.Success is our Biggest Enemy! (adapted from Effective
Change, page 97) Here is a scenario for discussion:
"You won't believe what I heard our CEO say during the weekly
staff meeting this morning," said Mavis Parsons who took the
minutes for the meeting. Parsons is the executive secretary to
the CEO of TDI, Inc. She is talking on the phone with Melba
Matthews, who works in the engineering department.
"What did he say?" asked Matthews.
"Essentially, he said that all the success we have had over the
last 10 years is killing us," said Parsons.
"Are you sure you heard right?" asked Matthews. "How can our
success be bad? It's been good for me. I'm making more money
than I ever thought I would."
"So am I," responded Parsons. "They were talking about some
big change the CEO wants to make, and I heard him say that
success has become our biggest enemy. In fact, he got pretty
upset and told our vice presidents that half of them are
complacent and the other half is arrogant."
What do you think the CEO meant when he said, "Success has
become our biggest enemy?" What must be happening in his
company for him to make such a statement?

5. 6.Using the scenario in #5, what should the CEO do to
overcome arrogance and complacency in the company and start
his plan for change?
7.You want to put together a change leadership team that will
help you implement a major plan for change. Before you enlist
the people you want for your team, you should determine what
duties this team will perform and what types of skills and
abilities are required.
Identify and describe your plan for change. Describe what your
team will do. Include how this team is to take ownership of the
change initiative.
8.Refer to #7. You want to place a posting for your change
leadership team. Write a brief job description for your team
members.
9.Consider your place of work. If you do not work, consider
where a close friend or relative works. Describe the leadership
in this company. What role does senior level management take?
Are there leaders other than senior level management? What are
their roles? Why do you consider these employees to be leaders?
How could the leadership in this company improve?
10.Finding the right people, creating trust, and developing a
common goal are important steps in creating a change
leadership team. Explain the processes you would use in
performing each of these three steps.
Unit 2 Discussion: Building a Team for Change

6. No unread replies. No replies.
In previous business courses, we learned that people are an
organization's most valuable resource. Employees are assets.
Working as individuals and in teams, employees ensure an
organization's success. We must depend upon employees to do
what is best for the organization. Doing what is best for the
organization can mean developing a willingness to move
forward with organizational change plans and strategies.
Before initiating any change plan or strategy, an organization
must build a group of key employees who see themselves as
vital to the overall success of the organization. These
employees understand their role in the organization. They
understand they must continue and protect the organization's
strengths and core competencies.
How do we get employees to see themselves as valuable
corporate resources who are capable of embracing change? How
do we build this group of key employees?
Keep in mind the following data from this unit's introduction:
"You can assume that 20% of employees will resist change, 60%
will be ambivalent, 10% will help, and 10% will champion
change." (The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner) This
means as managers, we may have some work to do to introduce
any plan involving change.
For this discussion, address the following:
•What motivates you? What makes you want to do your very
best?
•Do you consider yourself to be a "key employee" where you
work? Why or why not?

7. •Consider your place of employment or perhaps that of a friend
or close relative. How does the organization motivate
employees? Is there a system of rewards? Or is failure
personalized and is blame too readily assigned?
•Assume you are in charge of a plan for change where you
work. How would you go about motivating your people? How
would you reward?
•Explain how you would go about creating a group of key
employees who would help you facilitate this plan for change -
a team of change agents.
•When you reply to your classmates, compare and contrast their
plan for creating a team who will champion change with your
own plan.