Barriers To Change

Assignment Content

1. Competency
   Evaluate the risks associated with change.

   Student Success Criteria
   View the grading rubric for this deliverable by selecting the “This item is graded with a rubric” link, which is located in the Details & Information pane.

   Scenario
   You are the Chief HR Officer of a large textbook publishing company. At the last leadership meeting, the CEO indicated a concern that the company’s customer base was shrinking. The CEO provided data that shows more universities are adopting electronic textbooks; your company only currently produces textbooks in hard copy. Although historically resistant to creating electronic textbooks, the CEO has decided that the time has come to do so. Otherwise, the company may be in danger of shutting down.

   The CEO is determined to make the change to e-textbooks successful and has asked you to brief him on potential obstacles to this change. The CEO has specifically asked you to prepare an executive summary describing the most likely risks and obstacles to his plan of changing to the production of electronic textbooks.

   Instructions
   Conduct research and prepare an executive summary for the CEO that:

   • Details the most likely reasons change efforts fail.
   • Discusses the risks of change initiatives.
   • Provides recommendations for overcoming barriers to change.
   • Examines the roles of management and HR in change initiatives.
   • Provides attribution for credible sources used in the executive summary.