ANALYSIS
Cisco Systems, Inc., an American multinational is the worldwide leader in networking which transforms the connectivity, communication and collaboration of the people around the globe. The strategic landscape of an organization is also known as the business space, which refers to the playing field which is occupied by the organization. The concept has been derived from the notion that each firm has a certain position in the market which can be defined based on particular set of dimensions. The business space also impacts and actually decides the amount of shareholder wealth that is created by the company; the more valuable the position of the company is in the market, the more chances of it earning wealth for the shareholders. The organization has defined its strategic landscape in terms of three target areas which tend to overlap and they are: first is the big corporations, government agencies, educational institutions who have complex needs of networking where several types of computer systems are involved; the second areas includes the SMEs (small and medium scale enterprises) who require their personal Intranet data networks and also need to connect with their business partners; the third area includes those companies which provide information services like the telecommunication carriers, the providers of internet services and also the wireless communication providers.
One of the critical changes that are being foreseen in the near future is the technology of Software Defined Networking; it would completely change the approach of networking. So the biggest threat is not from the hardware manufacturers; the company is being threatened by virtualization and the leader in this field is VMware. The SDN is a great disruption to the market where the software actually takes the divers’ seat while putting hardware out of that (Moorhead, 2013). This is a great change and challenge for the company as customers are looking for more flexibility and value.
It is critical for the business to frame communication of what is the reason to change; the management of Cisco needs to explain to its employees how important this change is. The company has skilled professionals and a good market share; another, core strength is that the company focuses on employee engagement and participation; the management is skilled enough to determine the right pace for change; it is also using the existing structures and processes so that people remain connected. With all these factors, it can be seen that Cisco has a good capacity to change as an organization in this threatening situation. Capacity for change involves all the above mentioned factors including clear communication, hiring change professionals, routinizing change with current situation, pacing of the change, and participation of the employees (Soparnot, 2011).
In my point of view, first of all the company must target its customers and try to understand all the reasons due to which the customers are being attracted towards the SDN. The company is already in a profitable situation; the company must make the customers understand and prepare them for their transition. But it must make sure not to abruptly jump towards the new solution; rather a consistent and smooth change is required where involvement of the employees, the management and the customers would be equally required. The most important part in this aspect of change is to align all the business units of Cisco as they all must strive towards achieving similar goals. With proper alignment of the business units, not only the employees would be clear bit also the confusion of the customers would be eliminated. So, the business must communicate with its stakeholders before implementing the change and then implement a gradual change which is neither too slow nor too abrupt. In addition, the company should also ensure hiring experts who would ensure smooth transition of change; these people would target the employees and also the processes so that there is minimal resistance for change and a smooth process is formed until the company has completely entered the new phase where it has to refreeze the conditions.
References
Moorhead, P. (2013). Cisco's Challenge To Remain Relevant In SDN. Forbes, [online] 12th Aug. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2013/08/12/how-challenged-is-cisco-in-sdn/ [Accessed: 26 Nov 2013].
Soparnot, R. (2011). The concept of organizational change capacity. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 24 (5), 640--661.
