Sunflower Incorporated
Case Synopsis:
This case focuses on the planned change program that was implemented on the financial reporting system of Sunflower Incorporated, a large distribution company which resells salty snack foods and liquor. It also focuses on the management of the change program that was implemented to monitor pricing and purchasing decisions.
Issues:
• The major issue that this case highlights is manipulation in products in some regions to increase the sale and the profit of the company.
• The other issue is ineffectiveness in implementing the change program that Agnes Albanese initiated.
• Inability to maintain the sustainability of the change program as even after agreeing with the change program, not a single regional executive bother to send the pricing and purchasing report.
Analysis:
After Sunflower began to use financial reporting system that compared sales, costs, and profit across regions, management found out that there was lack of congruence between the pricing and purchasing decisions across regions. Due to this, profit varied widely from one region to other. The head office encouraged each region to be autonomous because of taste and practices, the management found that highly profitable regions were sometimes using low-quality items to boost profit margins and increase the market share. Here, Leon Steelman has acted as the initiator of the change who hired Agnes Albanese as the change agent for the change program. The nature of change was the planned change to bring about congruence in the pricing and purchasing decisions across regions.
Analysis of the Change Process according to the Change Management Model:
Sunflower incorporated initiation for change program was a reasonable step but the process of change program was ineffective. According to change management model, Albanese needed to consider certain parameters that deterred the change process.
Motivating change:
She had inadequate analysis