Overview
You are a business development manager in a life sciences organization based in the Midwest. You report to the vice president (VP) of business development. While the organization has shown constant growth and profitability since its inception in 1999, the owners have decided that it is time to sell. The VP has called on you to join the strategic planning team to assess the organization’s exit strategy and make recommendations to the board of directors.
The proposed exit strategy means that the organization will be acquired by another one, which will be a major transformation for the organization and its employees. In order to support the employees through the upcoming acquisition, the planning team wants to understand how they are likely to respond to organizational change. To that end, they decide to ask employees to complete a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis of their skills as they relate to change readiness. As a member of the planning team, you are one of the first people asked to complete a SWOT analysis and evaluate your change readiness.
Prompt
First, reflect on your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) and how they help you accept or resist change. Then, perform a personal SWOT analysis and record the results in a Word document. Describe how you think this analysis impacts your change readiness skills to manage and lead the organizational change in the course scenario.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
- Strengths: Identify at least two strengths that support your readiness for change.
- Explain how they support your readiness for change.
- Weaknesses: Identify at least two weaknesses that might get in the way of change.
- Explain how they can impact your response to change.
- Opportunities: Identify at least two opportunities you can use to leverage your strengths.
- Explain how you can use these opportunities to develop your skills.
- Threats: Identify at least two threats that you would like to minimize.
- Explain how you can minimize these threats and how this will help you develop your skills.
- Change Readiness: Explain what your SWOT analysis reveals regarding your change readiness for the proposed acquisition of the organization in the course scenario.
- Are you ready to accept organizational change that is likely to arise from the proposed acquisition?
- Are you ready to initiate and lead the change efforts for the organization in the scenario? Why or why not?
What to Submit
Submit a 1- to 2-page Word document. Sources should be cited according to APA style. Consult the Shapiro Library APA Style Guide for more information on citations.
Module One Journal Rubric
| Criteria | Exceeds Expectations (100%) | Meets Expectations (90%) | Partially Meets Expectations (70%) | Does Not Meet Expectations (0%) | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Identifies two strengths; explains how they support change readiness | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include identifying at least two strengths and explaining their impact on change readiness | Does not attempt criterion | 20 |
| Weakness | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Identifies two weaknesses; explains how they can impact response to change | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include identifying at least two weaknesses and explaining their impact on change readiness | Does not attempt criterion | 20 |
| Opportunity | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Identifies and explains two opportunities that can be used to leverage strengths | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include identifying and explaining how strengths can be leveraged for at least two opportunities | Does not attempt criterion | 20 |
| Threat | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Identifies and explains two threats that should be minimized | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include identifying and explaining at least two threats that should be minimized to help develop change readiness | Does not attempt criterion | 20 |
| Change Readiness | Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains what the SWOT analysis means for personal change readiness, including determining readiness for change, change leadership, and change initiation related to the organizational change in the course scenario | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include explaining what the SWOT analysis means with a clear connection to change readiness related to the acquisition of the organization in the course scenario, including what it means for organizational change readiness, explaining change initiation and leadership skills | Does not attempt criterion | 15 |
| Clear Communication | Exceeds expectations with an intentional use of language that promotes a thorough understanding | Consistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audience | Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understanding | Shows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication | 5 |
| Total: | 100% |