THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Taking It to the Net

Monitoring Dramatic Changes

1. Highlight the most dramatic behavior (people), structure, work design, and process changes reflected by the five companies.

• Wal-Mart Stores

A facelift and even lower prices kept the world's largest retailer afloat in a troubled economy.

Staring down the barrel of brutal fourth-quarter retail forecasts, CEO Lee Scott dramatically cut prices on 15,000 items - including popular toys and electronics - by 20% more than usual to lure holiday shoppers. That rocked the industry, pressuring other retailers to squeeze already tight margins.

The tactic worked: Wal-Mart grossed $100 billion, breaking its fourth-quarter sales record, and soundly beat Target in same-store holiday sales for the first time in nearly a decade. --Christopher Tkaczyk and David Goldman

• Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil is the oil behemoth everybody loves to hate - except its shareholders, of course. It's the most profitable company on the Fortune 500 for the fifth year in a row, raking in a record-breaking $40 billion in 2007 earnings.

But the company's near single-track focus on fossil fuels - plus its massive profit amid record gas prices - has drawn criticism from the public. An Exxon executive was recently grilled on Capitol Hill, with legislators demanding to know why the company hasn't invested as much in renewables as some of its peers.

• Chevron

The second-largest U.S. oil company posted its highest annual profit ever, with 2007 income of $18.6 billion.

Still, like the rest of the industry, its earnings from rising crude prices were pinched by increased refining costs. The company has also invested in energy alternatives, including geothermal and biodiesel fuels, and signed contracts to develop oil fields in China.

This past February, it was added back into the Dow Jones industrial average for the third time in the history of the index.

• General Motors

GM's recovery is slow going. High gasoline prices, weak auto sales, layoffs, buyouts and a looming recession helped shrink sales 12% and led to a $39 billion loss.

Still, GM remains the world's largest automaker, though it very nearly lost its top position in global car sales - which it has held for 76 years - to Japanese rival Toyota.

A two-day nationwide autoworkers strike (the company's first since 1970) resulted in a cost-saving labor deal that could make the company more competitive with nonunion rivals. It also created a trust fund for retiree health benefits, the first of its kind for autoworkers.

• ConocoPhillips

Not every oil giant was fat and happy last year. In June, the company was forced to pull out of oil-rich Venezuela following an impasse with President Hugo Chavez. The company estimated that the pullout cost it $4.5 billion and, as a result, ConocoPhillips' earnings plunged 23.5% to $11.8 billion.

But it wasn't all bad news in 2007: ConocoPhillips became the first U.S. oil producer to support mandatory national regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. It recently announced plans to join forces with BP to construct a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in Alaska.

      2.  In retracing the history of your selected firms, are there more dramatic changes reflected in the most recent five year period or in earlier periods?

      3.  Does any of your selected firms have or report on an organizational change task force?

Case for Analysis: Bayer's Major Changes in One Plant

Discussion Questions:

1. What type of change(s) occurred at Bayer?

              Since Bayer management needed to streamline operations to have more secure future in Bayer Corp.'s, they have the so called structural and behavioral change. 


     2.  What type of employee resistance to change did Bayer have to address?
               

•    The pessimistic attitude of every employee about starting a new program.  

     3.  What are the positive and negative lessons learned from how change was handled at Bayer?

               I have learned that in an organization, we need to listen to everyone who surrounds us.  Their opinion and suggestions are important in order for our plan to change will succeed.  Their participation is really an important aspect.  

              On the other hand, there are people who cannot easily accept why things change.  They are very pessimistic.  Change is the constant thing that happens in every organization.  We cannot avoid it.  So let us be open-minded in every thing that is happening around us.