The third Case Study “Home Depot’s Blueprint for Culture Change” studied Mr. Robert Nardelli’s role as the CEO of Home Depot. He approached management in an autocratic style, which was criticized by many. This paper will take a look at how Mr. Nardelli’s style follows Kotter and Cohen’s model of change.
It seems that Mr. Nardelli and his team followed some of the steps of the Kotter and Cohen’s model, but not all. There are additional steps that his team could have taken to improve morale and develop the team further.
Mr. Nardelli views management as top-down, command and control style, appreciated by efficiency managers, but criticized by many. He especially focused on process controls and metrics (including cost and quality). He also borrowed many management principles from the military and especially hired managers, who served in the military (Nussbaum, 2007). Nardelli worked hard to build a disciplined team (with order, high-pressure, and high standards) (Grow 2006).
Step 1: Establishing a Sense of Urgency
The first step is “establishing a sense of urgency.” Mr. Nardelli did bring in a sense of urgency, especially in how quickly some of the changes were taking place. In some ways, it could be considered that the changes were taking place faster than employees were ready.
Mr. Nardelli could have spent more time demonstrating why the changes were necessary and why the urgency. Taking a look at the communication strategies (discussed later in this paper), there appeared to have been a great deal of one way communication, but less collaboration and some employees could have felt their opinions did not matter. As such, not everyone agreed with the changes, however, he did place a sense of urgency.
Step 2: Creating the Guiding Coal...
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...tics and critics, management needs to note when it may be a good time to listen to their employees.
As a comparison in the industry, Lowe's culture is much more low-profile, collaborative, and collegial. However, many investment reports show that historically, Home Depot often is in front of Lowe’s (Grow 2006).
After Nardelli
Frank Blake, who followed Robert Nardelli, decided to bring back Home Depot's inverted pyramid, with customers at the top and "CEO" at the bottom (Tobin 2010). Blake’s goal was to listen more to employees and customers.
Mr. Blake has also brought back personal responsibility to managers, who may be more knowledge about the market requirements (Jacobs 2007). He still holds TV-shows, but now as monthly and live call-in, with a different name of InBox Live. Regardless of their level, all associates are encouraged to ask him questions (Tobin 2010).
Rivalry. Home Depot, Ace Hardware and Menards are the biggest competition that Lowe’s faces. With Home Depot being the large...
Leading Change was named the top management book of the year by Management General. There are three major sections in this book. The first section is ¡§the change of problem and its solution¡¨ ; which discusses why firms fail. The second one is ¡§the eight-stage process¡¨ that deals with methods of performing changes. Lastly, ¡§implications for the twenty-first century¡¨ is discussed as the conclusion. The eight stages of process are as followed: (1) Establishing a sense of urgency. (2) Creating the guiding coalition. (3) Developing a vision and a strategy. (4) Communicating the change of vision. (5) Empowering employees for broad-based action. (6) Generating short-term wins. (7) Consolidating gains and producing more changes. (8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.
Division of work, discipline, span of control, order and equity are just a few of the 14 principles of management that Fayol constructed from his analysis. He stressed that the nu...
Home Depot is the brainchild of Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and came about after both men lost their job in the home improvement industry in 1978 (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot has acquired several smaller home improvement stores in both the U.S. and abroad through the years which enabled it to position itself as the world’s largest home improvement chain (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot focuses on the do-it-yourself segment of the market and sells sells tools, construction products and services. Marketing is a strong point for the company. They are able to maintain a competitive advantage by keeping themselves available to their customers at all times. Home Depot has been using both online and offline marketing efforts. The internet has become a very useful tool for the company and part of the reason that they are leading the market in DIY stores. Home Depot currently provides DIY videos on YouTube and Vine that cover current topics that consumers are likely to be interested in. They also have social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, where they have a huge following. They provide online communities where actual employees answer consumer’s questions and provide assistance on
In his book, Leading Change, Dr. John P. Kotter communicates why organizations fail or succeed based on ten years of conducting research on more than 100 companies to see what contributed to their successful transformations and what hindered those transformations. “In October 2001 Business Week magazine reported a survey they conducted of 504 enterprises that rated Professor Kotter the number one “leading guru” in America.” The two significant aspects I took from this book were the reasons why change initiatives fail and an eight-stage process to lead the organization through a successful transformation.
By being a customer oriented company Lowe’s uses the information that is given to them to help build upon their great reputation. To help show that Lowe’s is willing to help others they continue to help with disaster relief not only by donating money and supplies but also help rebuilding. Compared to its rivals I am certain that Lowe’s will be able to carry out its goals and missions. With having one of the best customer service programs in its market Lowe’s does its best to not only help its customers out as a whole but also on an individual level. Lowe’s will continue to grow across the nation to ensure to help you with your every home improvement need.
Change is the only constant in life. And therefore it should be understood as part of a continuing work in progress that calls for a much broader canvas that seeks out competing voices, and works with the resulting ambiguities, contradictions and tensions of messy reality (Graetz, F. & Smith, A., 2010). In this submission I try to show that organizational change is majorly based on the environment surrounding it much more than the desire of the members or change agents working in that organization. This view diverts from that of Lippitt, (1958) who suggests that implementing planned organizational changes successfully depends on premeditated interventions intended to modify the functioning of an organization. It also diverts from the traditional approaches to organizational change that generally follow a linear, rational model in which the focus is on controllability under the stewardship of a strong leader or ‘guiding coalition (Collis, 1998). In this discussion therefore, comparison made between the different philosophies of change and I try to show that successful change implantation largely depends on an organizations appreciation of what goes on around it rather than what they have planned as a strategic direction.
In today’s ever changing world people must adapt to change. If an organization wants to be successful or remain successful they must embrace change. This book helps us identify why people succeed and or fail at large scale change. A lot of companies have a problem with integrating change, The Heart of Change, outlines ways a company can integrate change. The text book Ivanceich’s Organizational Behavior and Kotter and Cohen’s The Heart of Change outlines how change can be a good thing within an organization. The Heart of Change introduces its readers to eight steps the authors feel are important in introducing a large scale organizational change. Today’s organizations have to deal with leadership change, change in the economy,
The article centers on the leadership of Home Depot's Chief Executive Officer Robert L. Nardelli. He was born May 17, 1948, in Old Forge, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Science in business from Western Illinois University, and also earned an MBA from the University of Louisville.
Change is a fundamental element of individuals, groups and all sorts of organizations. As it is the case for individuals, groups and societies, where change is a continuous process, composed of an indefinite amount of smaller sub-changes that vary in effect and length, and is affected by all sorts of aspects and events, many of which cyclic are anticipated ones. It is also the case for organizations, where change occurs repeatedly during the life cycle of organizations. Yet change in organizations is not as anticipated nor as predictable, with unexpected internal and external variables and political forces that can further complicate the management of change (Andriopoulos, C. and P. Dawson, 2009), which is by itself, the focus of many scholars in their pursuit to shed light on and facilitate the change process (Kotter 1996; Levin 1947; et al).
Change is the most crucial aspect of management. In a rapid competitive business environment, change is not only recurrent but also becoming complex. The case study Bega Cheese highlights how the firm has achieved change management from satisfying the needs of local market to being limited company of more than 50 countries globally. Through the case study, it is seen that Bega Cheese has undergone different stages of change process by implementing various effective cultural perspectives, to traditionally organizational designs concerning with structures and new forms, processes and boundaries to adapt to organizational change and eliminate resistance to change. Change is inevitable, and vital to achieve strategic objectives and competitive advantage in the market.
Kotter, J. P. (2007). ‘Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail’. Harvard Business Review, January: 96-103.
The challenge was to overcome the overall resistance to change and find a way to get the organization behind ArcTech Flooring, the new specialty product. A culture of customer disengagement and communication problems among divisions along with past norms held by key senior managers made initiating radical innovation difficult. These norms made up the division's mechanistic organizational structure, incentives that are based on overall sector performance, operational competencies, and low risk culture, all of which hindered innovation. This paper explores the leadership challenges involved in managing strategic change in a highly mature Arctic Timber Engineered Woods Division.
The comments and scores indicate staff is unhappy with office communication. Currently, he communicates any problems he feels need to change. Also he does not like e-communication or meetings.
Hayes (2014), encourages change managers to keep an open line of communication with employees. Although these ones may not agree or support the upcoming change, they value the information being given to them at the onset and may eventually tolerate or accept the change. Therefore, it is important for change managers to not only communicate with employees, but provide relevant information, as the quality of the communication is of the utmost importance.