The Progressive Case Study

The Progressive Case Study

Module 1

1. Using Hale (2007) Introduction and Chapter 1, along with Pershing (2006), Chapters 1-3 explain the role of a Management Consultant, Business Consultant, Training Consultant, and Performance Consultant. How can each assist the organization and scope of practice?

Management consultants are required in companies as they help them perform better and experience growth through finding solutions to problems and identifying improved approaches. They can, for example, reorganize the business to suit the needs of the customers(Hale, 2007). A business consultant’s role is to enhance the methods of practice in an organization by identifying weaknesses and formulating strategies to solve the problems. A training consultant is responsible for assisting the organization in performing well in assessing needs, coming up with, and implementing training programs(Hale, 2007). Performance consultants analyze and evaluate situations to advise while also ensuring that the client is responsible for providing support to enhance performance. They offer different perspectives in analyzing performance problems(Pershing,2006)

2. How might these consultants be best used in The Green Organization?

The management consultant can, for instance, improve the Green Organization’s performance by recommending systems that uniformly ensure the business runs at every branch, and managers are under strict guidelines to ensure accountability. The business consultant can help the organization by advising them on how to develop a consistent business model and how to produce customized products around consumers’ needs. Training consultants can assist the company in designing the most appropriate training approaches for all the agents. Managers in charge of the smaller business units should be part of the implementation of these programs a success. The performance consultant can advise the organization while also allowing them to take part in the intervention.

3. View these two video clips at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnt2Yl-momA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdbReKzaYVY. Comment on the critical difference between training and performance consulting. Why is the Collaborative form of consulting most preferred (and successful)?

When it comes to training consulting, the emphasis is on the implementation, whereas performance consulting focusses on obtaining results for the business. For overall success, there needs to be a linkage between training and performance. Training involves understanding, remembering, and motivation to apply the learning. For learners to understand, they are engaged in learning relevant thinking. Remembering is attained by having workers learn events that provide realistic practice that is frequently repeated, and learning motivates learners. When it comes to on the job support, deeper and reinforced knowledge translates to the performance that is above standard when motivation and resources are sufficient. In designing and evaluating, it is crucial to create a fully landscaped intervention to ensure optimum performance.

Module 2

1. Based on your reading of the case information above as well as in Hale and Pershing this week, describe your target audience. Who would you work best with, and why? Please explain your answer.

A target audience is a group that needs to improve its performance. In this case, Real Estate Holdings would be the audience since performance improvement is relevant to them. The group deals with a wide range of clients with different social statuses. Thee employees are also diverse, and therefore they would need to be advised on how to engage the different types of employees to improve the overall performance. The Merger and Acquisition group is also not doing well in terms of the turnover; therefore, the consultancy would be relevant to them since they need to increase sales.

2. Describe what demographic audience you would not work well with and why. Please explain your answer.

It would be difficult to work with the Finance Group because the nature of their business makes it not get affected by underperformance challenges. The aggressive hard-driving salespeople are, in most cases, paid in terms of commission, and they have more motivation than other groups. Therefore, they don’t fail to meet the sales targets, which, in turn, translates to above-standard performance. performance improvement consultancy may consequently not be relevant to this group

3. View the clip on about Caterpillar- Running Learning Like a Business (2:37) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdZcV3SxCzM&feature=related and comment on Dave Vance’s (former President of Caterpillar University) view of performance consulting. What parts of his discussion point out the strategic influence a performance consultant needs to possess within an organization?

In the discussion, Dave Vance discusses the importance of putting a plan together in advance. After formulating an idea, it is also necessary to make a monthly report and compare the goals against yourself to hold yourself accountable. When there is a plan in place, other people get to know that the organization is being run as a business and offers excellent guidance. The organization does not get shaken during transitions when key individuals leave because plans and goals are already in place. When you understand where the company is and determine what needs to be accomplished, you can come up with specific recommendations, and also you can know how you can achieve them.

• Prepare a training summary to be presented to the Real Estate Group’s executive leadership in a closed-door meeting.

A schedule, including workshop sessions, will be developed, and there shall be a direct alignment with important yearly business activities whereby incorporation of newly learned skills can be applied. The learning techniques will be cumulative, and the skills learned in every workshop will build on what was learned in the recent workshops. The focus will be on the basics of consultation, skills facilitation, and communicating complicated information to customers.

• Identify key performance objectives

The objective is to use the most appropriate, affordable and tailor-made reliable consultation techniques and skills enhancement program that makes it possible to determine the strengths of the organization at the same time leveraging these strengths to improve skills that go a long way in substantially and positively impacting the communication and the performance of the organization

• Identify a plan that addresses assessment, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

In assessing the situation, customers need to be analyzed to address their unmet needs using the plans in the strategy(Razzouk, 2008). Organizations similar to Green organization also need to be assessed so that the project finds a way of making the organization competitive. The market will also need to be analyzed in terms of its size and the rate at which it is expected to grow. The elements of the situation will be rearranged into a plan that brings out the relationship between the components. For instance, how training will translate into higher profits through improved performance

• Identify the cultural challenges of the offices in the U.S., China, Japan, London, and Germany (choose 3

In China, there is a culture of loyalty, and friend to friend relationship is considered one of the fundamental links before everything else(Pershing, 2006). The people therefore may be reluctant to form new business ties since they want to remain loyal and thus penetrating that market is difficult. In the U.S., culture, there is a persistent problem of racial discrimination whereby one social group may be viewed differently from the other. The failure to realize that differences in the manner of handling issues brings strength in an organization reduces the performance. In Japan, the most likely challenge is previous cultural learning experiences, which may hinder the learning of new concepts, primarily through the reflective practice module, which may require them to open up about past experiences. This  situation may make them feel victimized as witnessed in a study involving nurses from japan (Pershing, 2007)

• Identify potential threats or challenges to the plan

The plan may face the challenge of not being accepted because it does not sufficiently consider the diverse ethical and cultural aspects in the different countries around the globe in which it is to be implemented. The plan may not be suitable across all the cultural settings. Another challenge is that the approaches of this plan are rarely compared with other theories for change and therefore proving its efficiency may require controls.

• What methods of training will you use?

I would select distance training as the most appropriate method of training as it has been used as an instrument in enhancing a learning organization(Berge,2003). The training will involve employees who are in different locations and who also have different training needs and having a face to face training would be not practical

• Will you facilitate a learning environment/organization

Expertise will be necessary for learning to occur so that there can be technology maintenance. There is also the need to have an instructional approach, for instance, online discussions, learner interactions, and engagement. Learners will also have to be trained on how to use the online platforms since some may not have the navigation skills. Trainers will also be part of the administrative group

• How will you determine the necessary training for each group, team, and individual

I will carry out a need assessment for the learning of the employees at all levels. I will then evaluate the best approaches and technologies that are likely to be useful, depending on the group’s nature. I will also put into consideration the necessary tools and even research on how this method of learning has been implemented in the past

. •What are the cultural factors?

Culture is an important aspect of distance learning. Studies have shown that learners will, in most cases, have a perception concerning how learning should take place, and their cultural background greatly influences this. Disagreements based on cultural differences are brought about by the fact that the training strategies are unable to accommodate all cultural differences, and this challenge is also evident in the face to face learning.

• What is your implementation plan?

First, I will communicate the ideas that I have for the different groups to ensure that the employees are ready for the new developments. Communication will make them understand every aspect and intention of every message. I will then mobilize the leaders to gain their backing. I will then collaborate with the administration to identify potential opposition to the change and find a way to minimize it. I will then initiate the training

• How will you monitor, assess, analyze, and evaluate progress?

I will monitor the expenditures and make a comparison with what has been achieved according to the goals. I will also look at the level of satisfaction among the participants of the strategy by finding out what they think about the process. I will also widely consult with the key stakeholders to determine how the progress is and identify areas of concern that need to be addressed

Module 5

• Choose one group and two different offices (use your imagination). The two offices will have different needs and approaches.

The group will be made up of Real Estate holdings and the Mergers and Acquisition offices. The two offices in the group perform different roles, and so their needs and areas of improvement also tend to be different. The Real Estate Holding personnel deal with both high end and common clients while Mergers and Acquisition group deal with a relatively homogenous clientele. Another disparity between the two offices is the nature of the employees in terms of  their academic qualifications

• Design, develop, and present the second phase performance improvement plan using performance tools.

We will professionally facilitate and train the organizations’ leaders by having several workshop sessions to develop a strategy for improving performance. The purpose of this strategy will be to ensure that the employees are skilled enough to even produce high standard performance. The plan will be customized to fit the different needs of the various offices. Resources and motivation aspects will be highlighted in the process. There will also be special attention on more in-depth learning and repeated training to ensure the employees remember what they learned to produce much better outcomes

• Explain how these two offices will require different monitoring, management, and implementation tools.

. Merger and Acquisition group is expected to require more expenditure, considering that their roles are more complex and paid more. Coaching leaders in these offices will be more costly. In monitoring the process, the Real Estate Holder group will be monitored by, for instance, conducting face to face interviews since the office operates mainly in Manhattan. On the other hand, the Merger and Acquisition group operates globally, and monitoring will require methods that are different from face to face like communication through emails and phone calls since the group works on a global scale and meeting in person can be challenging

• Explain how assessment and evaluation of performance improvement will occur and be

addressed in these two offices

For the Merger and Acquisition group, an evaluation will be done by looking at the turnover. Increased turnover will be an indication of improved performance. Since this office mainly deals with high-end clients, the revenue coming from that section of the organization is expected to be higher than that of the Real Estate Holders group. It is therefore important to note that the standards that will be used to monitor and analyze success will be different since the values of the assets from the different groups are different

Module 6

• Present an executive summary to be given to each member of the E.L. of what has been accomplished, and what assessment and evaluation tools were used to determine these results.

As a result of employees from different group undergoing training, and putting what they learned into practice, they were able to discover how working together as a team in the organization was necessary. They also became aware of how better communication skills could go a long way in improving customer relationships. The employees, therefore, became more efficient and effective in performing their roles. Turn over became higher in the Merger and Acquisition of group sales, which indicated that there was improved performance. The overall performance of the organization also improved as there was an increase in profits. Assessment of the acceptability of the tools used in the Green Organization included interviewing the key stakeholders in the company and also customers. The feedback was positive, and most people agreed with the new strategies in place, which mainly revolved around enhancing communication and marketing skills.

Module 7

• Complete a 1 page summary of your consulting firm’s performance describing how you are assessing and evaluating. Please include the SWOT analysis of your organization

Our consulting firm has been able to offer solutions to organizations that want to survive and remain competitive with the ever-changing business dynamics that require employees to sharpen their skills, adopt better leadership strategies and colleagues’ relationships. We have been able to offer consultancy to many organizations and trained the workers to increase the value of the organizations. We do assessments of the organizations to determine where it stands in terms of performance. This assessment includes considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and also threats. The organization’s assessment covers different levels in the organization, starting from the department level up to the entire organization level. Assessing the organization allows us to determine all important facts concerning the organization(Pershing, 2007). We assess the skill levels and determine the needs. We identify the most important goals that are worth spending on. We assess through interviews, using documents that already exist, reviewing them, and using questionnaires.

For evaluation, we mostly make use of questionnaires. We are, therefore, able to determine the feelings and attitudes of those participating towards the level of performance. Questionnaires have been proved to be acceptable and applicable in many situations; thus, they are quality tools in the evaluation process(Pershing, 2007). These evaluations have improved our performance by working on our weak areas and enhancing our strengths. We ensure that the questions in the questionnaires are in line with what they are intended to achieve to ensure that the findings are valid and reliable. We have also gotten positive reviews from many of our clients on our company’s website, which goes to show that our performance is of standard quality.

• Develop a 1-page plan as to performance improvement of the consulting form moving forward over the next 3, 6, and 12 months

The process begins by identifying potential improvement areas, approximating the cost of making the improvements, illustrating how the changes can be achieved, checking whether the improvements identified are compatible with the strategies, actualizing the upgrades, and finally ensuring that the changes are maintained. The process involves three stages, which are the diagnostic phase, implementation phase, and supervision phase. In the next three months, we are going to focus on the identification of the areas of weakness. Problems are likely to be identified in areas such as cultural barriers, which have been highlighted in many previous studies. The benefit of solving this problem is that it is going to improve the acceptability of the approach among the participants and the clients. In the next six months, we are going to deal with implementing and supporting. We are going to use the tools and methods made to facilitate implementation. Here, we will consider the views of organizations that we have worked with before. We also intend to allow different groups of workers within the company to give suggestions on what they think would improve their effectiveness. We want to improve the performance by assisting the introduction of new practical and effective strategies that can lead to the achievement of positive outcomes. We will also have our workers undergo additional training to improve their performance in their different roles. Also, we will conduct thorough research to get an understanding of market demand and preferences. Another plan is to make an effort in collaborations with clients and other professionals in the field who can offer support. The final stage which involves supervision will be in the next 12 months and will be aimed at maintaining the attained improvements