8 Change Management

Question 1

What are the most internal and external obstacles for innovations?

Answer 1

• external:
  
  • unpredictable finance and economic policy
  • shrotage of skilled labor
  • administrative burdens
  • labor laws
• internal:
  
  • complexity
  • responsibilities
  • intensity of competition
  • speed management

Question 2

How can companies be classified using the willingness to change/ ability to change matrix?

Answer 2

Question 3

How do the risk preferences of managers differ between a crisis situation and a chance situation? What is the typical process in both cases? And are there any interdependencies?

Answer 3

• crisis: risk taking
• chances: risk averse

Question 4

What are the four stages of the mustafa sherif model?

Answer 4

• common challenge
• common misery: simulation of a crisis
  
  • set of innovation targets
  • portfolio analysis
  • external consultants
  • new forms of organization
  • target costing
  • scenarios
• common advantage
• common fun

Question 5

Where is the difference between central and decentral R&D?

Answer 5

• Central R&D: high synergies between divisions, long time to market
• Decentral R&D: low synergies between divisions, short time to market

Question 6

What are Pros and Cons of a central R&D department?

Answer 6

• Pros:
  
  • concentration of know-how
  • strategic alignment of R&D
  • central coordination of IPR
  • avoiding double activities
• Cons:
  
  • distance to market (lack of market orientation/ reaction speed)
  • tendency towards over-perfection/ inefficiency
  • difficult in communication and cordination with others

Question 7

What are the three steps of Lewin’s 3 step change model?

Answer 7

• Unfreezing:
  
  • seek scenarios with relative safety and sense of control
  • attach sense of identity to their environment
  • resistance even though change could benefit
  • change people from “frozen” state to “change ready” state
• Transition/ Change:
  
  • change is a journey not a simple step
  • misunderstanding may occur
  • classic mistake: leader takes a lot of time on personal journey and expect other to take the same journey quickly
  • the hardest step is the first one
• Refreezing:
  
  • final goal is to achieve refreeze
  • establishing new places of stability
  • stage could be tentative

Question 8

Why do people resist to changes?

Answer 8

• traditions, habits of the past
• change requires additional commitment
• rewards of change don’t match efforts required
• lose something of the value because of the change
• purpose is unclear