Change and Culture Case Study 1
Change and Culture Case Study I
Paul Sullivan
HCS/514
August 15, 2011
Kendra Slatton
Change and Culture Case Study I
The job of a middle manager is not easy, especially during times of extreme change. It requires balancing and maintaining varying personnel within the organization including upper management and a subordinate workforce. An option for many who successfully have not influenced the direction of an organization is to leave the company. However, according to Covey (2004), “A more common but insidious alternative is to remain and become a mindless conveyor of decisions from the top” (p. 47). The middle manager who manages to compete with the pressures from upper management with some degree of success faces alternate challenges from within the organization. According to Armour (2007), “Middle management jobs have become more demanding. Technology means middle managers have to do more multi-tasking and are expected to be accessible to their staffs, a Herculean challenge in the age of globalization. Employees may be spread across the globe, and a manager may have to get up at 3 A.M. to take a call from an employee in another country” (para. 4). The demanding and steady rate of change throughout the structure of an organization fosters the complications that already exist for the middle manager.
The middle manager in a health care organization that has merged with a previous competitor faces many challenges. Up until now, the employees of that organization saw the competition as an enemy that provided poor quality of care. On top of that, the new corporation has in place several inpatient and outpatient services that the organization does not. Knowing that the existing employees of the organization view this new company as an enemy plays an important role in how the middle manager will regulate the change. Recognizing that the employees of both organizations will be resistant to this change, and understanding that a large amount of fear and
Paul Sullivan
HCS/514
August 15, 2011
Kendra Slatton
Change and Culture Case Study I
The job of a middle manager is not easy, especially during times of extreme change. It requires balancing and maintaining varying personnel within the organization including upper management and a subordinate workforce. An option for many who successfully have not influenced the direction of an organization is to leave the company. However, according to Covey (2004), “A more common but insidious alternative is to remain and become a mindless conveyor of decisions from the top” (p. 47). The middle manager who manages to compete with the pressures from upper management with some degree of success faces alternate challenges from within the organization. According to Armour (2007), “Middle management jobs have become more demanding. Technology means middle managers have to do more multi-tasking and are expected to be accessible to their staffs, a Herculean challenge in the age of globalization. Employees may be spread across the globe, and a manager may have to get up at 3 A.M. to take a call from an employee in another country” (para. 4). The demanding and steady rate of change throughout the structure of an organization fosters the complications that already exist for the middle manager.
The middle manager in a health care organization that has merged with a previous competitor faces many challenges. Up until now, the employees of that organization saw the competition as an enemy that provided poor quality of care. On top of that, the new corporation has in place several inpatient and outpatient services that the organization does not. Knowing that the existing employees of the organization view this new company as an enemy plays an important role in how the middle manager will regulate the change. Recognizing that the employees of both organizations will be resistant to this change, and understanding that a large amount of fear and
References: Armour, S. (2007). Who wants to be a middle manager? USA Today, (), 2. Covey, S.R. (2004). The 8th Addiction: From Effectiveness to Greatness. New York, New York: Free Press Davenport, J., & Barrow, S. (2009). Employee Communication During Mergers and Acquisitions. New York, New York: Gower. Kandler, D. (2011). Helping employees cope with corporate downsizing, merger or Acquisition. Project Management Journal, (), 24-25 Mergers and Acquisitions. (2009). QFinance, (), 1. Retrieved from http://www.qfinance.com