Purpose

This exercise is designed for students to gain an understanding of the range of perspectives employees have on the link between vision and the process of change. The aim is to broaden students knowledge about the role of vision in producing change, and the different reactions of recipients of change to vision and vision statements.

Format:

• Individually

Materials:

• a few vision statements for students to give as examples while interviewing (if needed) if employees are not sure what a vision statement is.
• students should have a copy of the vision statement for the company the employees work for, as some employees may not know the vision.

Time Required:

The longest time for this exercise will be spent in organizing and conducting the interviews. Each interview, once arranged by the student, will take about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the level of information the employees have about a change. The time required after the interviews are completed is approximately 30 minutes unless the exercise is to be submitted for formal assessment.

Potential Problems and Helpful Hints

• Depending on the way that the interviews are approached, there could be some issues of confidentiality where employees are concerned that the information will be presented to others in the company and this will affect their employment. Students will need to comply with university ethics regulations and the instructor should outline these to students.
• Students need to make sure that their comments and questions are kept in everyday language as appropriate for employees (and the industry) they are interviewing, and not use jargon.
• Students may feel that an interview was unsuccessful when an employee didnt know much about the change situation. The information from this situation is very useful as it tells a lot about the internal communication system in the company and the structure of the change. Students should be encouraged to assess this type of response from What would you expect an employee in this position to know?

Your task is to interview (online - use the phone, social media or other communication platforms) three employees; they can be in the same or different organizations. Ask them to think back to an organizational change that they experienced, and to answer the following questions:

1. Were they presented with an organizational vision about the change, and if so:

• What was the vision?
• What effect did this have on them?
• Were they involved in developing the vision?
• To what extent did the vision motivate them to engage in the change?
• How central was the vision to implement the change?

2. If your interviewees were not given an organizational vision for this change, ask them:

• Would a vision have helped them to understand and become involved in the change?
• How important is a vision to achieving organizational change?

When you have completed your interviews, consider the responses that you have documented. What general conclusions emerge regarding the relationship between vision and organizational change? What have you learned from this exercise?