Case Assignment

Few people have as big shoes to fill as the new CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella. As the new CEO of one of the world's most profitable corporations, Nadella is under pressure to continue the legacy of Microsoft's legendary founder Bill Gates. While Microsoft was once considered a highly innovative and cutting-edge technology company, in this rapidly changing world they are now in danger of being upstaged by newer and trendier technology companies.

While Microsoft is still a leader in operating system technologies, they are struggling to compete in the new world of smartphones and mobile applications. In order to better compete with companies such as Apple and Samsung, they have recently purchased Nokia with the idea that this will give them a better foot in the smartphone market. But in order to make this merger successful to overcome fierce competitors in the smartphone market major organizational changes including possible lay-offs and restructuring will be necessary.

Do some reading about Nadella and the challenges he will face in managing the merger with Nokia. Also, review the background materials on organizational change and pay close attention to models such as the Lewin three-step model, Kotter's eight steps, and the five steps involved in action research. Use the readings to come up with some recommended steps that you think Nadella should take to manage the necessary organizational changes that Microsoft will need.

In addition to the background materials about organizational change, read these following articles and do some of your own research on Nadella as well:

Ovide, S. (2014, Jul 10). Microsoft CEO Nadella hints at organizational changes; chief asks top staff to simplify operations; defends xbox business. Wall Street Journal (Online) [Ebrary]

Cousineau, S. (2014, Feb 05). Nadella saddled with predecessors' missteps. The Globe and Mail,Toronto, Ontario [Proquest]

Waters, R. (2014). Microsoft's Nadella faces handset dilemma. FT.Com [Proquest]

Once you are finished with your reading and research, write a four to five page paper addressing the following issues:

Choose one of the three main organizational change models presented in the background materials that you think would be most useful for Nadella - the Lewin model, Kotter's eight steps, or the five steps in action research. Explain why you think this approach would be the best for Microsoft given the changes necessary to manage the merger with Nokia and other challenges Microsoft faces. Explain your reasoning for this choice, and make sure to cite both the required background textbook chapters on organizational change such as Barine and Minja (2012) or Kumar (2009) as well as specific articles on Nadella such as Ovide (2014) or Cousineau (2014).

Come up with a specific step by step plan for implementing change, and use the model you chose in Part 1 as part of plan. Don't just explain the model in general terms, be as specific as you can regarding the steps you think Nadella should take to implement organizational change and overcome resistance to these changes.