In this assignment, you will apply Kurt Lewin’s Three-Step Change Model to analyze the strategic changes implemented by Xibei Catering Group. This exercise will help better familiarize yourself on of how organizations manage significant changes by using a structured model to diagnose, implement, and stabilize transformation. Additionally, you will explore how organizational change practitioners may face ethical dilemmas during the change process.
You are expected to evaluate Xibei’s change journey based on the case study provided, focusing on how the company executed the change and embedded new processes in its operations. You will also reflect on the role of Xibei’s mission during the change process and consider ethical challenges that may arise.
Instructions
1. Read through the Xibei case study thoroughly. Pay close attention to the company’s strategies, decisions, and actions over time.
2. Analyze Using Lewin’s Three-Step Change Model
- Unfreezing: Identify the pressures or motivations that led Xibei to recognize the need for change. What were some internal and/or external factors that created urgency? How did Xibei challenge its existing operations and culture?
- Movement: Describe the actions Xibei took to implement the changes. What specific strategies and innovations did they pursue to improve operations, leadership, and stakeholder relationships? How did the company manage these changes?
- Re-Freezing: Explain how Xibei stabilized and reinforced the changes after implementation. What steps did they take to make these changes part of the organizational culture? How did they ensure the changes were sustainable?
3. Ethical Dilemma in Organizational Change:
- Consider this ethical dilemma. Organizational change practitioners often face dilemmas that challenge their values and ethics. In Xibei’s case, imagine the tension between cost-cutting for profit maximization and maintaining employee welfare (e.g., continuing investments in training and profit-sharing). How might this tension play out during the change process?
- Discuss how a practitioner should navigate this dilemma, balancing financial pressures with Xibei’s mission “to create the joy of life.” including employee empowerment. What would be the potential consequences of prioritizing one over the other, and if you were the practitioner, how might you uphold ethical standards in this situation?