Choices and Change

Answer

Ascension Strategy Essay - TED
Content………………………………………………………………………………………. Page No.

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Kaleidoscope Change Model……………………………………………………………………. 3

Lewin Force Field Analysis…………………………………………………………………….. 5

Johnson’s Cultural Web model………………………………………………………………… 7

Kotters 8 Steps…………………………………………………………………………………… 10

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………. 14

Reference......................................................................................................................... 15

Introduction
The ascension case is one of the success stories where a change strategy has succeeded in returning a loss making organization which was at the brink of closure back to profitability. The Transport Engineering Division of Ascension plc, TED, a construction and maintenance undertook some changes that saw its position change from near insolvency and back to profitability between the years 2012 and 2014. The company was established in 1994 as a division of Ascension during the privatization of the United Kingdom’s railway system. Its major operations include maintenance of the transport engineering projects. Its major project was the London Cross rail development. Its major competitors include Babcock international, Carillion and Balfour Beatty.
1. The Kaleidoscope Change Model
The theory of change Kaleidoscope and the change process was initially introduced and defined by Balogun and Hailey (2009) when analyzing the organization change context. To introduce and implement any strategy in an organization, a number of factors have to be considered. These factors are; the resources the company has to pull through the project, the power and the competitive advantage involved amid other factors and the theory of kaleidoscope analyzes these factors and how to deal with them in an organization. An organization stands to gain enormously if all the change leaders concentrated some efforts to study and investigate the organization’s unique capabilities especially as it relates to the stakeholders, time constraints, culture, readiness and other forces of power (artuspoint.com).

The Kaleidoscope Change Model

Organizational Powerppowe Change

Design alternatives
Change path/Style/roles
& Interventions starting
Points

Context

The Scope in the kaleidoscope model defines the extent of change that’s needed by the company to turn it around. Most change processes are occasioned by either events or crisis that force the management to restrategize their organizational skills in order to revert back to the profitability path. TED division had to revolutionize all its operations and a large number of its senior and junior employees had to leave the organization. The organization structure of the company had to be changed together with the negative attitude that characterized the nature of employment with the company. The resources that the company required had to be set aside and it included the experienced manpower and other cooperate ideals and values that the company could not let go. The diversity of the staff provided the strength in the company’s cooperate strategy to deal with different customers and other level of investors (Balogun & Hailey, 2009).
The CEO was experienced in change management and he entrusted the whole process to people who were positive on the change process. The company had the resources and the financing needed to spearhead the change process (Hailey & Balogun, 2002).
Before the change process begun, the CEO went round personally to talk to the employees about the impending changes, what the company was going through and what the management expected from the employees. The CEO was honest and clear about his intentions and how he expected to manage the company. The employees who were resistant to change were gradually replaced and sent home where as the ones who cooperated were grouped together to form teams that could work together. The employees had no power to resist change bur were empowered to create their own work systems provided they achieved the goals set by the company that was regularly reviewed every fortnightly.
Lewin Force Field Analysis
The management of Ascension was expecting the management of TED to turn over the company’s performance from loss making organization to a profitable company.
Lewin in his change model critically examined the effects of force field through an analysis that evaluated the factors that encouraged and facilitated the change process or the change driving forces. He also studied factors that hindered change or the restraining forces.
TED major hindrance to change was largely lack of coordination and low staff morale that originated from the earlier administration. There other initiatives to change the working system in the company like the introduction of the information system in the year 2010 never yielded any meaningful results and the staff and part of the management were skeptical about the whole process. The company was not listening to the customers or its staff members and most of the employees feared expressing negative opinion about the company for fear of victimization. The factors together with the financial challenges that the company was facing relegated TED division to its final journey to insolvency.
Driving Forces Resisting Forces
1 Needed for cost reduction Bureaucratic mgt style
2 Main focus is on the care & General resistance to change
service of customers non cooperative and conservative workforce
3 The need to improve the Lack of commitment and coordination
efficiency of operations Lack of motivation and Rigidness
4 The need to succeed Fear of loss of authority & power

However, the factors that propagated the company back to its feet were the appointment of re-energized and talented CEO who had adequate experience on the company affairs as he had worked in various departments of the company and clearly understood what had to be carried out. His experience in handling change process was a useful resource for the company. He created a culture of teamwork and sharing of information. He listened to all the workers and divided the change process into three phases that were practical. He restored employees trust in the management and also improved the company’s cooperate image by allowing and financing the employees to take part in social events and charities.
2. Cultural Web
The cultural web theory of change was developed by Gerry Johnson in an attempt to shade some light on the reasons why some firms failed adapt to environmental changes promptly as needed. his conclusion was that over the years of operations companies develop a paradigm that’s difficult to break from and it creates an obstacle that prevents any actions or reasoning outside the paradigm. The former management never realised its weaknesses as it locked itself from the outside world and all the decisions taken were based on their own input only (Johnson & Scholes, 2011)
Gerry Johnson’s Cultural Web and TED Company
The Org paradigm • The company management before 2012, believed that all the solutions must
& Values come from the management and it shut its doors to all other low cadre employees.
• The company.
• The management adopted transactional style of mgt - Top to bottom
Symbols • TED, under Jack Warner abolished private offices - as a symbol of teamwork
• closer discussion, collaboration and the need for convenient intercommunication
between related groups.
Power Structure • TED, under Jack Warner abolished an entire layer of management to bring down
the former bureaucratic administration.
• The CEO empowered all the employees but powerfully maintained the overall authority
Org Structure • The organization structure was transformational as it took a bottom - up approach
• The employees were responsible for their own actions and production processes.
Control systems • The CEO introduced the display PowerPoint slide system where different colors
were used to display the progress of each unit in the division.
Routines & Rituals • Fun activities, charities were introduced to bond the different employees together
• The bureaucratic system and other retrogressive former mgt styles of operations
were discarded.
• The CEO also participated in the activities and also subsidized a daily exercise
activities in a gymnastic that he also attended regularly.
Stories & Myths • These activities countered the negative corporate culture that the company had
• acquired over the years and the popular myth against working for the company
was actually replaced by the positive attitudes and stories about the fun activities
and the amounts raised for charities.

The company, TED earlier management was obsessed with bureaucratic processes and most decisions were exclusively made under closed doors and the management believed that for the company to succeed the only decision makers would be the ones on the board room. This paradigm contributed to the near collapse of the company (Johnson, 1992).
The Johnsons cultural web

(Johnson & Scholes, 1998)
The new CEO had to get rid of this paradigm and was even symbolic when he brought down a full layer of management to pave way for easy accessibility to his office. The power structure was also changed from top down to down up. The organizational structure changed from transactional to transformational. Most of the decisions that concerned the production processes were made by the teams on the ground (Johnson, 2000).
The routines and rituals that surrounded the former administrative system were also discarded. The bureaucratic processes, the private offices and the red tape that existed between the management and the other employees was removed (Losekoot, 2008). All the managers participated in fun activities together with the CEO and other employees to bond and form a formidable team that would propel the company into higher levels of profitability (Johnson, Whittington, Scholes, Angwin & Regner, 2013).

Changes Before 2012
• Culture of talking badly about the company was in the increase
• Staff was talking more badly about the position of the company than the way it really was.
• Lack of trust between senior management
• it was difficult to initiate any new projects because of lack of trust
• A lot of disagreements and lack of teamwork, unity or common direction
• The middle management level lacked information on change and were not sure what was expected.
• A lot of gossip on retrenchment occupied most of the employees talk
• Cultural change was required on how the staff viewed the customers and how they related to themselves.
• The attitude between the workers had to change especially on how they perceived the company.
• The management was private and inaccessible
• Low staff motivation and Lack of coordination resulted in loss of contracts.
• Company problems and speculation that the business had no future
• Earlier change initiative yielded no success as they lacked accountability and transparency.
• The company was not listening to its customers
• And it was impacting negatively on the company performance
• Very little transparency and limited sharing of knowledge
• Projected staff were avoiding giving bad news and fear culture developed
• Bad news surprised the management and lucrative contracts were lost

Changes After 2014
• The company provided a devolved system of management where the office plan was replaced by
• Open plan office system that increased accessibility to senior staff.
• A new culture was created that motivated the employees and the attitude of talking badly about the
• Company was replaces by more positive talk.
• Feedback systems were developed and the low level staff were also empowered
• Staff motivation was provided including participation in fun activities.
• A lot of transparency and accountability was introduced.
• Team work was encouraged
• The CEO developed a bond with most of the employees.
• The change process was explained to all the employees and what was expected from them
• Clear and effective communication

3. Kotters 8 Steps
For TED the Kotters 8 steps apply very well
a) Creating Urgency
Jack Warner, the new CEO initial strategy was to create an urgency of change as the management of ascension was already exhausted with the non performance of the TED section of the company. On many occasions they had contemplated closing the entire department as it was making losses and no longer sustainable. After the loss of the lucrative contract to one of its rival companies most of the TED staff were demoralized and the morale of the department was at its lowest. The new CEO faced a stiff challenge from the management as he had to convince them that the department could return to profitability. To implement the changes, he created the three phases. The first face was the rapid turn round stage. This stage had a lot of urgency and all operations in the department were targeted as only positive actions by the staff and the management of the company could convince the Ascension management to retain the department. This phase had a maximum period of six months to achieve its objectives. The second phase had a period of between 6 – 18 months to return the department back to profitability while the final phase was the long term growth strategies.
The CEO realized the importance of team work and the need for a powerful coalition. He explained clearly and honestly to all the staff members, face to face about the problems the company was facing and the need for change. These actions created a bond of teamwork between himself and the employees. The spirit of teamwork would prove useful later when company objectives needed every member of staff to contribute effectively and efficiently towards the realization of the management’s strategic goals. The poor financial performance of TED division necessitated overall team support for the company to perform well. The CEO also reduced the number of middle level managers by a half as well removing an attire layer of management level in order to devolve the organization structure and empower the employees by making himself more accessible to the staff when needed. The CEO also abolished the private offices for managers and actually designed an open plan sitting office system where all the managers were visible from any angle of the office. These actions motivated hard working employees and also exposed those that were resistant to change and were actually not facilitating the whole exercise.
For an organization to develop and achieve its strategic goal, the company must develop a clear vision which reflects the company’s future vision and which can be communicated easily to the clients or customers and all the stakeholders. This process involves clear explanation to the employees what the change means to the organization and also the employees. Jack Warner went out of his way to explain to the entire staff of the TED division what to expect and the state the company is in. The CEOs strategy of improving the company’s financial position stemmed from the employees themselves who derive a lot of satisfaction if they are allowed to participate in the change process. The use of scorecards as depicted from the slides of the PowerPoint presentations encouraged the employees to increase production, be accountable and transparent as well as objective (Kotter, 2001).
Effective communication plays a critical role to the success of the company. Jack Warner developed and communicated the company’s vision to all the staff and explained to them face to face about the company’s intention and vision. By encouraging open discussions most employees changed their perception on the company’s management which was totally different from the previous administration’s private and restricted access to the CEO. The mindset of the employees was changed positively towards the administration. Most managers were forced out of their private and restricted offices into open office plans that included all the other levels of junior and middle level employees. All the teams that had to communicate frequently were closely grouped together and the move was even more symbolic than practical as the shift to open office plan reflected a picture of an organization that was gradually integrating its roles and sharing its efforts towards uplifting itself from the immediate danger of insolvency.
To move higher the company had to remove all the obstacles on its path. The CEO scrutinized everyone’s job and interviewed all the staff in the department. All managers and employees who were positive to change and who were systematically adapting to the changes were immediately reappointed while the rest were relieved off their duties. The tough unions that were once very active and vocal were cooperative with the managements actions as they also viewed the situation as precarious and the company could lose even much more if the change process was not handled well. About 400 employees lost their jobs at the TED division and which represented about 25% of the total work force. All the levels of staff were affected including the front line workers and the management team (Kotter, 1995).
To cut down on expenses, some departments and sections were merged into one to save costs through middle level management staff cuts. The removal of a whole layer of management level removed one of the manager obstacles of inaccessibility of line managers to the lower level employees. This action was the most single motivating factor that drove the change process positively as the powers were devolved even to the lower level employees who could now rate their performance directly from the PowerPoint slides without the interventions of the line managers and also follow the feedback and comments on their individual efforts (Kotter, 1995).
The process of recovery was divided into 3 phases. The final phase was for long term strategies but the first two phases were divided into two major phases and a series of other short term goals that were to be reviewed every fortnightly. The goal of the short term goals was to focus on the performance attained both on profitability levels and also on the cost reduction progresses. These operations supported the change processes and encouraged the employees to work hard to achieve them.
Kotters 8 Steps for Change Strategy
Creating the climate for change 1 Urgency Ted had to return to profitability before its closed down
2 Form a powerful coalition For quick results, the co. had to work in teams
3 Create a vision for change A clear vision was set - the co. had to make profits
Engaging and enabling the org 4 Communicate the vision The vision was communicated clearly by the CEO
5 Empower action All the employees were empowered.
6 Create quick wins The mgt had to produce results for Ascension mgt
implementing & sustaining the change 7 Build on the change The change strategy had to have short term effects
8 make it stick The change strategy had to be long term

The management consolidated the change process and built on the employees’ morale and motivation to spearhead the change process and also to create a new culture that would have a positive impact on the perception of the company (Kotter, 2001).
The organization sponsored a series of fun activities that included participation in London marathon, collected over £7000 in charities and also subsidized the rates of a local gymnasium for their employees to work out after a day’s long hard working day. These activities changed the negative culture that had been associated with the talk about the company into a more positive attitude. The employees started incorporating the positive projects and fun activities talks into their daily stories and weekly outings. The CEO also took part in the fun activities including almost daily appearance in the gymnasium. These actions developed a new corporate culture for the organization and the company profile together with its production and sales level also increased (Kotter, 2012).
Conclusion
The strategy change that jack Warner adopted at the TED division can be referred to as an emergent strategy and not outlined intended strategy. Intended strategy is mostly equated to the top management and it involves careful deliberations but emergent strategy results from unspecified strategy which is not uniquely planned and it comes about as a result of unexpected opportunities and major challenges facing the organization. It affects three areas position, actions involved and the choices made. Jack Warner strategy can be classified as emergent strategy as it developed based on several strategic moves that came in three phases. To reduce costs, the jack Warner identified he actual problems that affected the company and he removed an entire layer of management. The bureaucratic system was removed and it was replaced by a new and open system of organization that encouraged open discussion and disclosures of issues by the workforce and their views and input were also considered. These are examples of emergent strategic processes (Franken, Edward & Lambert, 2009). The leadership style initially was transactional i.e. from top to down but the new administration instituted the transformational style i.e. bottom-up management style. The organization reduced the number of employees and also encouraged the remaining group to form teams that were managed by themselves to increase the company’s output. The strategies later emerged in an incremental way through experience and partial commitments and prior moves (Drucker, 1999).
The change strategy that was adopted by jack Warner was timely and very effective. The first phase was actually not a strategy at all but it formed the basis that allowed the ascension management to allow him implement his short term strategies. The removal of the bureaucratic processes returned the wane trusts that the employees had in the management before. The eventually success of the TED division can be equated to the efforts of the CEO alone but to the entire team that supported the change process under the leadership of the new CEO.