Introduction
The Kudler Fine Food Virtual Organization is comprised of the various department that includes sale, accounting, operation, marketing, finance, and customer service, etc. the paper aims to offer a change proposal for accounting and sale department of Kudler. The objective of this proposal is to convince the top management for the implementation of the change management program in accounting and sale department. Therefore, for the attainment of the objective the paper has been set out into four segments. First identifies the need for change and in result opportunities. The second segment demonstrates the dimensions of change. The third section summarizes the approached choose to manage the change. However, the last section through explaining ROI supports the position of the proposal.
Need for change at Kudler in accounting and sale department
The change management program through the share vision and empowering employees will enable the organization to manage the change appropriately. The program through the coordination, cooperation, and commitment of employees will make sure that the organization is running its operations in competitive manners. The change management program will offer an opportunity to make the change constant at the firm. The first step of the change program, therefore, is to realize the accounting and sales department to realize the value of change.
Leadership change at sale department will enable the company to perform better in term of more singing up of customers, more sales of new and existing items, and improved customers experience. Online grocery sale is a billion dollar business in 2015 the total revenue of the sectors was $13 billion with annual growth rate of 16.6 percent in the United States (IBIS World, 2015).
However, in the accounting department, the leadership change is essential for preventing the organization from material frauds. These frauds lead businesses to failure, therefore, for the better financial and operational performance it is crucial that all fraud cases are eliminated or at least reduced. The leadership change in accounting department through ethical, meaningful, and inspiring vision and responsible culture building will help the firm in achieving the better return on equity (ROI). Even, through strategic change, the change in leadership will help the organization in streamlining the processes that will contribute to cost effectiveness and operational efficiency. The cultural change in accounting department will affect the overall organization as this department has a link with all other departments (Cohen et al., 2008; Kerfoot, 2005).
The proposed organizational change will be the increase in the coordination and commitment of employees. Increase in teamwork behavior, the culture of shares responsibilities, and developing the sense of empowerment in employees.
Four dimensions of change management and their implementation on change proposal
Rapid technological change and environmental changes have cleared the importance of change management in accomplishing the success of the organization. Organizational change is a driver of improving the bottom line and optimizing organizational effectiveness. The four strategies that have been defined in the book of Leban and Stone (2007) include culture, resources, change, and strategy. Organizations meet their objectives and goals, obtain, and improve their competitive advantage through interconnecting these four dimensions. The strategy is a major factor in defining the resources, systems, and culture for the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives. The change management strategy will be to change the accounting processes and sale strategies. Accounting processes will be changed through the adaptation of automation technology (resources). However, sale strategies will be changed through having customer data or will be customer driven. For facilitating the change, people involved in change process will be facilitated through training and development, and necessary information will be provided to them (system). The culture of trust, knowledge sharing, coordination, commitment, communication, and shared responsibilities will help the company to be in the constant process of change and make it a success.
Project management approach
For the success of the organization, it is essential that a proper project management approach is adapted. Adaption of a project management approach along with the four dimensions of change management will enhance the outcomes through enhancing the capacity. The six-step project management approach presented has been adapted to explain the management of change (Laurita, 2007).
The first step in the approach is to determine the need for the change that has been recognized. The second step is to determine the goals of the project; this step has been performed as it has been recognized that the outcome should be the increase in sales, profitability, positive customer experience, and decreasing cost through decrease or elimination of frauds and improving efficiency. The third step of the project management approach includes the outlining of different tasks such as individuals will be selected who will be liable to implement the change, training and encourage people. In the fourth step, the manager will collaborate the fourth step with three. Individuals will be selected who will help in leveraging the implementation of change and provide resources for implementing the change. The fifth step will be to set a timeline for each task in the project. For example, the date of the completion of software installation, IS system installation, training, development, etc. At the final stage, the senior executive will monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the change proposal, and if required then change will be made; if required then resources will be reallocated, and strategies will be revised. In this way, the project management approach will offer the detailed checklist in performing the change program from its start to its implementation.
Position on ROI
The increased return on investment is the clear indication of increased performance. The proposal will contribute to operational efficiency and will result in increased sales and profitability as the change management will encourage employees through coordination and collaboration to improve their individual performances. The culture of teamwork and shared knowledge and responsibilities will help in bringing innovative solutions to resolve issues that would allow the company to enhance its performance. All these steps together will contribute to increasing the return of the organization on its investment in the long run.
Conclusion
The paper presents a change proposal for Kudler Fine Food Virtual Organization. The organization has several departments, but the change management has been considered for marketing and accounting department. It has been determined that both departments can contribute immensely to enhancing the performance of the firm if the change proposal is applied appropriately. Change proposal will enable the enterprise to improve its capabilities of generating returns through improving its operational efficiency. The four dimensions along with the implementation of six-step project management approach will enable the company to reach its stated goals. The overall plan will contribute to enhancing the gains of the business and allow the firm to take full advantage of existing opportunities for the online grocery industry.
References
Cohen, J., Ding, Y., Lesage, C., & Stolowy, H. (2008). The Role Of Manager’s Attitude In Corporate Fraud: Extending Auditing Standards. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.461.6784&rep=rep1&type=pdf
IBIS World. (2015).Online Grocery Sales in the US: Market Research Report. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/online-grocery-sales.html
Kerfoot, K. (2005). The Johnny Appleseeds of organizational change. Nursing Economics, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 271.
Laurita, W. E. (2007). Project Management: A Six-Step Approach. American academy of ophthalmology. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from http://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/project-management-six-step-approach?march-2007
Leban, B., & Stone, R. (2007). Managing organizational change. USA: John Wiley & Sons.
