Assignment- Key Concept Exercise: The challenge of change

What will the operating environment look like in 5-years' time, and how do we prepare for that environment?

The material you have studied this week can be conveniently summarised into the following overarching statement of the principle that is presented as a basis for this week's Key Concept Overview:

Organisations must accept that a continuous pattern of necessary change is an integral element of sustainable growth and development. The scope and scale of required change flows from developments in the character of both internal capability and external operating environment, and these developments are prefaced by change drivers that are classifiable according to parameters of scope, timing and urgency.

A commonplace practice amongst organisations is to react to the impact of change drivers once the full implications of that impact are felt, but a more effective approach is to scenario plan the future in order to more accurately anticipate the emergence of change drivers. Organisations, and the individuals who work for those organisations, are better able to design and implement an optimally effective change response as a result.

The Key Concept Exercise requires you to reflect on the underlying principles of change that have been discussed this week, and to use those principles to anticipate the possible options that lie in wait for the recently restructured Deseret News organisation. The key question in this Exercise is ‘what will the operating environment look like for this organisation in 5-years' time, and ‘what does it need to do now to prepare for that environment?'

To prepare for this Key Concept Exercise:

• Read the Required Learning Resources.
• Reflect upon the ideas presented in the Key Concept Overview and the assigned journal articles.
• Review the case study example of the Deseret News, in Gilbert, Eyring and Foster (2012).

To complete this Key Concept Exercise:

In an approximately 500-word response, address the following issues/questions:

• Use the scenario planning processes described in the article by Konno, Nonaka and Ogilvy (2014a).

In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following requirements:

• Provide an outline description of what you believe would be a ‘best case' vision (the set of circumstances that would be most favourable) of what the Deseret News operating environment might conceivably look like 5 years from today. Include a comment on those aspects of the operating environment that you consider to be particularly influential over the planning decisions the organisation will make today.

• Provide a parallel ‘worst case' vision (the set of circumstances that would pose the greatest threat), using the same criteria used to develop your best case vision.

• Briefly explain whether you believe the best or worst case scenarios are more likely to develop, providing a justification for your opinion.

• Suggest specific things that Deseret News could do now in order to maximise its capability to cope with either version of the future.

Submit your Key Concept Exercise.

Be sure to read over your Key Concept Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.

Articles:

1. Scenario Planning: The Basics by Noboru Konno, Ikujiro Nonaka & Jay Ogilvy.

2. The Mind of the Scenario Thinker by Noboru Konno, Ikujiro Nonaka & Jay Ogilvy.