Discussion 1

Select one of the following tools: the nine steps in Ackerman and Anderson’s roadmap for change, Cummings and Worley’s five dimensions of leading and managing change, or the three components of organizational change.  Explain how a leader could use this tool in guiding an organizational change.  Review several of your peers’ posts.  Respond to two peers who did not choose the same tool as you.  Discuss the similarities and differences between the tools. 

Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length.  Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.

Discussion 2

After reading the Forbes articles “Six Reasons Tim Cook Is Doing A Great Job As Apple’s CEO (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.” and “All Excuses Aside, Apple’s Major Problem Is Tim Cook (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.,” explain the impact you think the transition from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook has had on Apple’s primary stakeholder groups: customers, employees, and investors.  In what ways do you think Tim Cook’s leadership has changed Apple?  Review several of your peers’ posts.  Discuss any similar or opposing perspectives you have, with at least two of your peers.  Take care to be professional and polite even if your beliefs or viewpoints differ.

Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length.  Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.

Assignment week 3

Assume you are the Sales and Marketing Director for Sea Treasures, a small group of well-known retail stores specializing in exotic sea life and high-end accessories for aquariums.   The company has been in business for over 50 years, but the customer base is shrinking, sales are slow, and you are faced with reducing staff and closing stores.  Sea Treasures will be out of business within a year if innovative and creative changes are not made quickly.   After many months, you have finally been able to convince the owner that the only way to sustain the business and increase revenue is to create an Internet Website to sell the large inventory of aquarium decorator items (currently gathering dust in a costly warehouse) .  This will be a short-term, small scale change.  Six months later, you will expand the Website to sell live sea creatures such as tropical fish and small sea turtles online, which is a long-term, large-scale change.

You face many challenges in this transformational change initiative, beginning with strong employee resistance, new technology, and shipping methods.  Many small businesses have been faced with these same issues, and have made the transition successfully.  Consider the humble beginnings of Amazon, and look where they are today.  Selecting the best change model for this business, and implementing it step by step provides the foundation for creating an exciting new company.

In 3 – 5 pages, explain which change model you would follow for the short-term change and which you would follow for the long-term change.  Provide rationale for your decision and discuss the effects that these changes would have on the employees, managers, and executives within the organization.  Include at least three references and follow standard APA formatting for your paper.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.