GOOGLESCHOLAR: HRM 560 Assignment 4: Resistance and Communication
CHANGE DIAGNOSIS 8
Change Diagnosis
Strayer University
Professor. Jeannette Wood
04/30/2017
Company Description
Apple Inc is in the business of manufacturing, designing, and marketing mobile communication devices, personal computers, and portable music players. The company is known for its high level of innovation that has seen Apple Inc products set themselves apart in the market. Apple operates globally with a strong presence in Asia Pacific, U.S. and Europe. Apple had employed 110,000 employees by end of September 2015 (Apple Inc SWOT Analysis, 2016). The company headquarters are located in Cupertino, California.
The company traces its humble beginnings to Steven Wozniak and Steven Jobs who had been friends since high school. The company has grown to become a giant in the information technology industry due to its innovative capacity. The company has experienced many up and downs, which have helped define the culture, practices, and strategies used by Apple (Apple Inc SWOT Analysis, 2016). The company owes its success to talented individuals who have been able to keep Apple one step ahead of major competitors by embracing innovation and sound human resources practices.
Current HR Practice, Strategy, and Policies at Apple
Apple is highly innovative, which means the company has to get the best talents in the market to ensure it stays ahead of competitors. The HR strategy at Apple is largely responsible for the success of the company. Apple puts so much emphasis on employee recruitment because all Apple employees should be hardworking and committed to the mission and vision of the company (Management Training, 2013). The company has a policy that does not support the advertisement of opportunities internally. The belief is that hardworking and committed employees will find a way to advance their careers because they have adequate motivation. The talent management at Apple is focused on pushing employees to become the best version of themselves by creating an environment that pushes people to work hard. Every employee at Apple must own his/her career path to thrive.
Apple’s retention strategy is not training or any other development programs. Most organizations retain their talented workforce by offering opportunities for individuals to enhance their skills at the cost of the company. Apple relies on economic rewards to keep the best employees. The company awards stocks or grants to employees that have made significant contribution to the success of the company (Management Training, 2013). For example, an employee that is responsible for designing and explaining a new generation of smartphones can be awarded with stocks or grants. The company terms the economic rewards as opportunity for wealth creation. Agility is among the most important traits in Apple. Employees are expected to demonstrate high levels of agility by adapting to different types of products without problems.
The company encourages competition by assigning several teams to one project. Typically, companies tend to select the best team to focus on one project at a time. Apple assigns multiple teams to work on the same project. The team that completes the project on time and meets expectations is rewarded. The goal is to create a competitive workforce.
Reasons for Change
The systems theory of management is based on the belief that an organization is a system and a manager must understand the contribution of every employee in the system because it aids in making informed decisions. Apple Inc should change its HR strategy to focus on understanding and assigning employees roles within the system. Too much competition can have a negative impact on organizational unity and effectiveness (Friesen, 2016).
Secondly, Apple Inc should change its HR strategy to offer some support to employees in form of development programs. The presence of development programs can help the organization to discover the talents of employees who might seem mediocre if the right tools are not in place to help him/her achieve full potential (Liu, Akram, & Bouguettaya, 2011).
The third reason for change is that it will help Apple to get talented employees at a low cost. Collaborating with universities and colleges to recruit straight from school will provide the management with employees who can be moulded the Apple way. They can take up management positions and demonstrate a high level of loyalty for the organization. In general, the change will improve the quality of Apple workforce.
Diagnostic Tools
A simple employee survey can be used to find out if employees are happy with the current HR strategies. The strategies might seem inadequate but if the employees are happy with the current situation then change is difficult. The 12 Question processed developed by Gallup can be used to check the overall mood in the organization. It is an opportunity to give employees a chance to suggest different ways that the company can use to improve service quality.
Alternatively, the readiness for change can be assessed by looking at the organizational culture, resources, state of the organization and the general attitude the current HR practices. A critical analysis of these components will reveal whether the top management will go for change and anticipate the response of employees.
Assessing Readiness for Change
The following matrix shows the key aspects of the organization, which can help determine if the organization is ready for change.
| Level | |||
| Dimensions | Institutional | Organizational | Individual |
| Attitudes | Apple has created a friendly working environment that can help employees achieve full potential. However, too much competition between employees can lead to lack of unity. | The culture supports hard work, innovation, and commitment to the organization. It supports the innovative framework in Apple Inc | The leadership might be reluctant to provide these changes. They have to see the benefits of the new strategies for them to effect change. |
| Conditions | HR strategies focus too much on competition than on taking care of employees. | The company has structures in place to ensure that employees are answerable. | Employees understand agility is key. They do not have definite job descriptions. Change is easy for the individuals. |
| Resources | The business environment supports change because of the pressure to maintain a competitive advantage. | Apple has the resources to implement new HR policies and improve overall performance. | Employees are less likely to oppose the implementation of policies that will help everyone achieve full potential. |
The organization is ready for change because it has all the resources needed to start recruiting from colleges, individual employees are less likely to oppose, and the current business environment is pushing organizations to get the best talents. Therefore, the leadership has to consider the success of the company, which means change is inevitable.
In conclusion, The Kotter’s Change management model the need to analyse the organization, identify the changes needed, create the urgency for change and then implement the changes. Apple Inc is ready to embrace new HR strategies that focus on talent recruitment and employee nurturing. The change diagnostic process follows the Kotter change management model to identify the required changes and implement them.
Apple Inc SWOT Analysis. (2016). Apple Inc SWOT Analysis, 1-10.
Friesen, W. (2016). Change Management: A Key to a Successful Future. Business Credit, 118(9), 42-43.
Liu, X., Akram, S., & Bouguettaya, A. (2011). Change Management for Semantic Web Services. New York: Springer.
Management Training. (2013, December 14). HR Strategy at Apple Make Their Employees Creative and Innovative. Retrieved from Management Training: http://management-training-guru.com/2013/12/hr-strategy-at-apple-make-their-employees-creative-and-innovative/
