Ictsas601 Implement Change Management:Case Study Assessment Answers

Answer:

Introduction

The critical role of this change management is to ensure that strategies are implemented appropriately to impact and control the change in the organization and in the enabling of various people to be flexible with the change accordingly. Change management thus involves the scheduling and the implementation of the particular project from. In any methodology, Change management itself is an individual element during the usual method which is being used in the project. This change management plan report is based on the required flexibility and outlines the necessary elements for needs to be met. Change management process involves three stages namely:

• The details of the change. Entails the identification of change, the elements of the change and the approach used in the shift
• The Implementation of transition which involves the strategies and the strategies being released
• The review of the change implemented is all about the appraisal of the policy.

Key Personnel

The ICT project involved the IT experts, procurement manager, senior accountant and the CEO. The CEO authorised every stage of the development with major activities including giving permission to employ persons and make payment for the expenses (Olsen, 2018). The procurement manager had the responsibility of awarding contracts to the external experts. The senior accountant ensured that the system was developed according to the employees and customer expectations. The project will be essential for Aussie Financial and Accounting Company due to the availability of broad scope in the Enterprise Resource Planning currently due to the benefits accrued by the ERP software in the financial firms. The employees and customers had an indirect role during the development (Olsen, 2018).

Policies applied for the change requests and approval procedures

The system development had various policies and procedures to ensure the smooth flow of activities and authorisation of activities (Boyer, 2018). The project team developed a policy that all the activities should take place after authorisation by the project team leader. The process for change required the project team to write proposals and submit to the ICT committee. The committee discussed the changes to establish the importance and the effects on the project. (Perks, 2017). The ERP system entails materials which such as expansion which make it possible for the description of web-based software which enhances actual time access to the ERP systems and becoming integrated A significant content of the ERP is traits of the system which entails a particular database being in control of all the applications and taking the responsibility of deploying options, i.e., the cloud-hosted. The EPR also requires its jurisdiction areas where it performs such as the activities involved in finance and management. Lastly, the system is usually accompanied by the very best practices which are essential in the operations of Aussie financial and accounting company in line with the set standards and quality such as the transfer of funds through electronic means (Boyer, 2018). The approval of the change involves the administrator and is accepted by the user. For the approval, more than half must approve the request. The approval request is done through the email and from the self-service in the Aussie financial and Capital Company. After the committee agreement, the project leader could sign the proposal to give permission to the team to undertake the changes

An effective communication plan for the stakeholders

The communications with the stakeholders happened through the meetings with the stakeholders to give a report about the progress (Nigel Slack, 2013). Additionally, the meetings allowed the stakeholders to give suggestions on the projects. Further communications took place by sending milestone reports to the stakeholders after the end of each activity. The reports allowed the stakeholders to understand the progress of the ICT project and establish that the activities continue as planned (Hartney, 2016). The stakeholders have to be updated with each step undertaken in the change process. This requires a significant communication plan. The purpose of the communication is updating the stakeholders, the message should be well designed, and emergencies and hurdles planned for an effective action plan in the conversation. The conversation has to be done on the weekly basis. This will occur through the invitations sent by the quality control manager to the stakeholders. An advanced tile-conferencing channelling has to be used to ensure efficiency in the communication of objectives. The data will thus be spread through the use of emails, and the meeting noted distributed by the SharePoint.

Communication Matrix

The strategy used to gather feedback

The ICT project gathered feedback by conducting performance audits on the system and interviewing the users and other stakeholders (Griffin, 2018). Enterprise resource planning involves the integration of applications whereby the organization uses to collect data then store them from the various activities in the business entity. The data processes are usually maintained by the management system. The ERP software is essential in the tracking of business components such as the capacity in production, the payroll and the orders entailed in the organization. The interviews allowed the users to give feedback about the successes and failures of the system. Additionally, the interviews allowed the collection of feedback about the required improvements. On the other hand, the performance audits helped to identify whether the system satisfies the required need. The audit focusses on whether the system has incurred challenges in delivering user need (Griffin, 2018).

Performance evaluation

The evaluation of the current performance took place by use of data reports to identify the current performance trends (Juneja, 2018). The performance trends show the changes in performance after the installation of the new system. Furthermore, the performance of audits allows understanding whether changes have happened in production after the development of the new ERP system. The use of the best system is required. This is due to the vast nature of the Aussie financial and accounting company. The best method to be enhanced for use is the Oracle E-Business Suite Financials and the PeopleSoft system. These software systems are preferred due to the efficiency of operations. The modules in the company are enabled easily thus advocating for proper budgeting and timely analysis of the business activitiesThe changes to observe include the migration to a cloud-based server and increased visibility to the operating system.

A time plan from the beginning to the end of the project

The Gantt and network diagrams helped to plan the start time of the project to the end (Hartney, 2016). The diagrams show the activities necessary to accomplish the project with details of time for each activity. The overall allocated time frame that is assigned for the project is one month and two weeks. The activities in the project will be based on the phases where the change plan will first be initiated into the system, planned for executed managed and finalized.

The start activity includes the preplanning stage, which includes the selection of the project’s personnel. The second stage involves procuring the necessary materials and experts to develop the system, development of the system. Finally, the project team undertakes monitoring and evaluation activities to identify whether the systems serves the purpose. 

Vendor and product information

The best way to gather information includes by performing deep market research to identify the best suppliers (Nigel Slack, 2013). The aim of the evaluation is to be familiar with the business operations and the main drivers in the company.

The IT infrastructure of Aussie financial and accounting company is usually focused on the local centralized system whereby all the processes and functions in the business are supported by customized application software. This has been well received by the staff as they see it favourable. The best vendor for the transformation to a distributed architecture is the met information system to break away from the old ways. The best suppliers for the system includes the expandable software suppliers who offer high-quality systems that meet international standards. The expendables supply the expandable software that performs enterprise resource planning activities. The software suppliers have the best experts to decentralise the system used by the company and serve the customers better than when using the current system.

Impact analysis

The, impact analysis would be carried out using performance audits to identify improvements in operations (Olsen, 2018). The key factors to observe includes checking whether the new system gives complete visibility to the system, reduces costs of operations, decentralises operations to all branches within the country, reduces manual work and replaces the local servers with cloud-based servers. Additionally, the impact analysis happens by collecting data from the customers to identify levels of satisfaction and efficiency resulting from the new system.

Impact Analysis Report

Liaising with the affected persons

 Liaising with the affected persons happened through proper communication about the new roles (Griffin, 2018). The individuals received assurance of job retention since the new system caused fear of replacement and obsolescence of roles. Therefore, the management liaised by motivating the employees to accept the new system. The communication mentioned the role of the system in making the employees work easier (Juneja, 2018). Additionally, the employees received proper training to ensure impart the adequate skills of using the system.

The efforts put to engage the key stakeholders

The stakeholders were involved through communication about the progress and listening to suggestions about the project (Hartney, 2016). The communication happened through meetings with the stakeholders to inform about the achievement of milestones. Moreover, the project team involved the stakeholders in solving problems that face the ERP system. The project team asked for views and solutions from the stakeholders about the best method to solve a problem that hinders the achievement of the objectives (Nigel Slack, 2013).

Prioritizing project requirements

The project team used the quantification matrix to identify the activities that required higher attention (Krishnan, 2018). The matrix involved asking the team members to list the activities as the high, medium and low requirement. After listing, the team assigned numerical values to the activities depending on the listing to develop a quantification matrix. Finally, the requirements were ranked in accordance with the final total values. Moreover, the team prioritised activities using various members from the departments to form a cross-functional team (Krishnan, 2018). The team assisted to identify the high and least important activities.

The training needs analysis and the training action plan

The training needs analysis took place by linking the employees’ behaviour to the system changes (Greenberg, 2018). The employees respond differently depending on the level of expertise and skills required to handle operations using the new system. After linking the behaviour, the plan checked the trainable traits and assessed the extent to which employees possessed various skills by exposing the performance gaps. Finally, the plan outlined the method for training the persons to equip with the necessary skills. The skills to be enacted during the training are as below:

• Skills in developing integrated software thus enacting programming lessons.
• The skills of designing the cloud computing utilizing both user relationship and comfort
• Leadership skills by providing classes aimed at encouraging management
• Sales and accounting skills using mediums such as Facebook and YouTube.

 The training took place through the involvement of experts who conducted training by observation (Greenberg, 2018).

The measurement of the key performances areas and presentation to the key stakeholders

The measurement of key performance areas occurred using a balanced scorecard, which checked the financial perspective, customer perspective, learning and growth, and internal processes perspective (Kumru, 2012). The stakeholders have to be engaged appropriately through several means such as the conducting of dialogues in line with the change plan process. This is key in the identification of the issues that affect the company. Hence the engaging of stakeholders is essential in making wise decisions and ensuring transparency in the company. This prompts the change requirements to be arranged according to the set priorities depending on the sense of urgency in each of the element. The financial perspective of the system included checking the achievement of a reduction in costs of maintenance and operations (Kumru, 2012). Moreover, the customer perspective checked the system’s ability to process customer demands quickly and meeting expectations (Kumru, 2012). Furthermore, the learning and growth checked whether the employees had acquired the necessary training to use the system (Kumru, 2012). Finally, the internal processes focussed on whether the system had achieved decentralisation, visibility and processing request quickly (Kumru, 2012). The presentation of the information to the stakeholders happened through meetings and sending memos to the respective stakeholders.

The plan for documenting the actions

 The project documentation took place using a project history (Nigel Slack, 2013). The project history transmitted information such as the project’s performance. For example, whether the system was able to improve operations as planned by the CEO of AFAC. Additionally, the document outlined the administrative performance such as the meetings held and the roles of all parties involved in the project. The history also stated the project management techniques such as time management, cost management and quality management. Therefore, the project history contained all the details necessary during the project lifecycle (Olsen, 2018).

Conclusion 

Aussie financial company should strictly observe the implementation of the project to ensure success. The final ERP system should ensure visibility to the whole system, create a single point of reporting and decentralise the operations.  Furthermore, Aussie company should create a system of effective communication with the stakeholders to allow acceptance of the system. The implementation should follow the set procedures to avoid delays in time of completions.

References

Boyer, S. (2018). 8 Top Project Management Methods, Approaches, Techniques. Retrieved May 25, 2018, from https://www.nutcache.com

Greenberg, C. L. (2018). How to Conduct a Training Needs Analysis. Retrieved from XpertHR: https://www.xperthr.com/how-to/how-to-conduct-a-training-needs-analysis/6716/

Griffin, D. (2018). Types of Employees Appraisal Systems. Retrieved from Chron: smallbusiness.chron.com

Hartney, J. (2016). The 10 PMBOK Knowlegde Areas. Retrieved May 26, 2018, from Project Enigneer: www.projectengineer.net

Juneja. (2018). Management Study Guide . Retrieved from Management Study Guide Website: https://www.managementstudyguide.com

Krishnan, A. (2018). Techniques to Prioritize Requirements. Retrieved from Modern Analyst: www.modernanalyst.com/resources/article/tabid/115/ID/3332/Technique-to-Prioritize-requirements.aspx

Kumru, M. (2012). A balanaced Scorecard-based Composite Measuring approach to Assessing the Performance of a Media Outlet. Taylor and Francis, 32(2), 821-843. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02642069.2010.531264?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Nigel Slack, A. B.-J. (2013). Operations Management (7 ed.). Madrid ,Spain: Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pdfdrive.net/operations-management-e19944602.html

Olsen, E. (2018). Strategic Implementation. Retrieved from On Strategy Website: https://www.onstrategyhq.com

Perks, R. (2017). Quality Control Systems and Customer Satisfaction. Retrieved April 21, 2018, from Uk Essays: acdemic.mintel.com