Critical analysis and evaluation of change initiated by the CEO of the Australian coal mine with relevant application of change and leadership theory

The CEO of the Australian coal mine applied a new system of appraising work performance and he didn't make any consultation before applying the change which lead to implement a performance appraisal system that is so simple and lacks main components relevant to HRM such as pay, performance and others. Miners were in need for a union official and this should have been regarded by the CEO and other managers as the miners should be job satisfied in order to do well at work as the lack of their needs made them refuse such change and just accept it by law and by force. This lead to reduced productivity and low performance as according to Wittig, (2012) the lack of understanding the occupational culture by managers can lead to not regarding the needs of workers which occurred with miners, the rating process also wasn't fair and was not accepted by miners. Lack of regarding needs and complaints of miners lead to their feeling of a lack of respecting them. Miners feel that they are abused by such appraisal system as they need to feel safe which is lacked in such a system. Another problem is that miners complained of being unfairly scored as this lead miners to work harder but not smarter which reduced the level of performance. Miners identities and the culture forming them were not understood by the CEO before applying the change which lead to problems and refuse to change as legitimating the process of change implementation lead to isolating miners and making them perform without the correct supervision of managers.  Pryor et al, (2008) discussed the reasons that make change fail referring to theories of change management such as using the change model that is suitable to the organization needs and nature of employees and their needs as they discussed organizational change versus organizational transformation; they explained that change should pass some steps in order to succeed as there should be a transformation not a change to occur, this was confirmed by Nickols, (2016) who added that preparing for the change is a very important stage and that change should be studied well and tried before its last implementation as employees' reactions to change should be studied and their needs must be considered when applying the change. Cummings and Worley, (2014) discussed how Lewin's model of change can be effective when it is applied by management as it consists of three stages that are unfreezing which includes preparing for the change and then change which refers to implementing it and refreezing which means to stress the change in the organization, this is useful as it can help managers adapt and modify the change in the unfreezing phase to the needs of employees and the nature of the organization to improve performance as a main goal. This was confirmed by Hiatt, (2006) who referred to ADKAR model of change that involves five phases or main components for implementing the change which are awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement.

Critical explanation and analysis of miners' general views

Miners views show that they have fears of threats to their occupational community as one of the miners said that he had a problem with the rating process as he thought that he is rated without real understanding for his work abilities, performance and outcomes as he mentioned that he is rated before he goes into the rating room and there is no chance for changing the score he gets; this leads to reduction in the level of miners' performance as according to Thomas, (2014), effective leadership is the one that regards employees' needs and complaints about any new change otherwise they will resist change and find ways to work against the organizational goals. This occurred in the current case and many miners feel threatened in such work environment as a miner commented that the place they work in is dangerous and that leadership doesn't consider safety measurements for miners as if their safety is not regarded by the organization or managers. Adamshick, (2007) explained how risky work environment are in need for safety measurement applications rather than any other work environment as safety climate can raise the employees' morale and make them feel appreciated and respected by the work organization and managers which in turn can improve performance and productivity. Samuel, (2013) explained that change management is a crucial process that leaders and managers should understand before implementing any change as they should realize how far employees regard change and if they have different needs that change can't apply because this can lead to making the needed change instead of a change that will lead to passive results and negative outcomes in relation to performance. In the current case, one miner explained that he was very proud that he expressed his opinion to the manager and that he was able to change his score which tells how far the work environment in threatening to employees and may lead to high turnover rates because it lacks effective communication as it is clear that when one employee had negotiated a problem and was able to communicate it with the manager, he sees this is a great thing to do and not a common thing. This is very dangerous as it makes employees feel not respected or regarded by managers which was another opinion of another miner. Another opinion of miners show that change is not fairly implemented in the organization as some miners are low rated while others are highly rated without clear explanations for reasons for such unequal rating system as the miner expressed that he will react as other miners who work smarter not harder in a hint of not correct actions with managers. Farell, (2009) discussed this problem and he referred to equal and fair implementation for rating systems that can bring in the best results in performance of employees; this was confirmed by Mone and London, (2014) who stressed the need for avoiding errors of rating by managers via using successful rating systems that can satisfy all employees and really measure their performance.

Communication plan  

Erskine, (2013) confirmed the importance of communication plans in change management as he focused on two types of communication which are the communication that can discuss the change with employees and the communication that can get information when needed either from employees or managers. This was confirmed by Newton, (2012) who added that communication plans can help in managing change step by step.

Communication type	Objectives	Medium	Frequency	Audience	Owner	Deliverable
Meetings with managers	To make managers understand how to apply change with a model	Face to face	Weekly	Manager	Trainers and consultants	Agenda
Project team meetings	To make employees understand change and express opinions	Face to face By reports By e-mail	Weekly	Miners	Trainers and managers	Agenda
Reports about miners' satisfaction by managers	Realizing needs of miners and modify change to them	Written Reports Questionnaire Interviews	Monthly	miners	Managers consultants	Performance Reports
Reports about managers' performance	Monitoring managers implication for change	Written reports	Monthly	Managers	Supervisors and consultants	Performance reports

Source: https://www.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/187430/Research-Office-Communications-Plan.pdf

The plan can be achieved according to what was reported by Biech, (2016) as he reported that change management needs training for both employees and managers and this can be reached by implementing a communication plan for managing change and as confirmed by Attong and Metz, (2016) who asserted that to make a business change succeed, there should be a communication plan that can be updated to match the needs of the project applied as a change.

The current communication plan is set to focus on both managers and miners as managers are in need for understanding the process of change and to realize that it needs to pass different stages before implementing and there are right ways for the correct implementation of change. The plan has four types of communication which are meetings with managers, project team meetings, reports about miners' satisfaction by managers and reports about managers' performance in applying change. This can be done by the help of some trainers, consultants and supervisors who can provide managers with training needed for change implementation in order not to fall in errors as the occurred before. Supervisors and consultants can monitor managers' performance and report it in order to be estimated and to evaluate change. Miners' opinions and complaints should be listened to by the reports or via the meetings with them that can strengthen the communication process between miners and managers. The plan can be adapted and updated according to the needs of the miners, managers and the organization. The communication plan can be effective when needs of miners are met and when they have a supportive performance appraisal system that can help them have their rights, feel better and perform better in the work which can raise productivity and profitability as well as raising miners' moral which ensures better work environment as the communication process will reveal many opinions and complaints the miners may have which is helpful in meeting their needs and making them job satisfied.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to refer to the importance of understanding change management process and how to implement change properly in the business organization. As seen above, the CEO of the coal mines in Australia has committed mistakes as he didn't prepare for the change or make analysis for miners' needs which resulted in great failure and resistance to change as well as a reduction in the level of miners' performance that reflected on the organizational productivity. The organization should give much interest to miners' opinions in order to raise their morale and make them job satisfied and this can be applied by implementing a communication plan that focuses on both managers and miners in order to establish a work environment where communication is well applied as this will help in recognizing needs and complaints of miners and apply a new change that can satisfy them.

Business Project Management

Introduction

Project management can be defined as a management process that is including a variety of different steps and procedures for analyzing and controlling relevant protocols of a specific issue or a problem that an organization or individuals face and need to find solutions for it to achieve a group of relevant goals. Project management is a process and an approach that uses methodologies and techniques for planning a project since its beginning to end in accordance to a number of goals the project is based upon. (Nagarajan, 2004) The process of project management involves a number of steps and procedures including planning, control, execution and closing stages and they can be fit to many different types of projects. Business project management is defined as a tendency for applying business management strategies and setting plans and action plans for achieving business goals. (Nicholas and Steyn, 2008) The current paper is discussing a project for Oman Shapoorji company for construction Oman explaining the project management process with a time management plan, a cost plan, work breakdown structure, change management plan and a risk management plan. The assignment is discussing the Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) project and how the project was managed.  The project life cycle 4 Ds are discovering, designing, developing and deploying the project. (Westland, 2007).

Body

Time management plan

Iland, (2013) discussed time management planning and how it is important for business management, he referred that it has steps and stages as it begins by defining the project goals then listing the tasks and jobs required for achieving the goals then enlisting the mini tasks under each job or main tasks and jobs should be ordered according to their importance and priority and finally timelines should be listed and steps of tasks should be explained in detail.

Gnnat Chart

Oman Shapoorji

Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) project

Objectives

2016

2016

2017

2017

A

Project Objectives

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

April

May

June

1

Constructing package 3 of Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre

1.1

Making foundation works

1.2

makingthe electrical as well as pluming jobs.

2

Delivering the work on time & with specifications.

2.1

working along with time schedules

2.2

monitoring work application

3

Making sure of safety and security

3.1

ensuring electrical works, plumbing, painting and finishing

3.2

matching the amounts and materials with specifications

4

Working with a prescribed budget

4.1

Allocating money on tasks

4.2

monitoring tasks performance with money allocation

B

IP/Commercialization Strategy

1

Goal1: Achieving profits for the company.

2

Goal 2:Reaching higher revenues than before

3

Goal 3: Improving financial situation

C

Regulatory Strategy

1

Goal 1: Initial Regulatory Planning

2

Goal 2:meeting considerations

3

Goal 3: Regulatory exact Submission

D

Follow on Funding Plan

1

Making a Business Plan

2

Following a Funding Plan steps

3

Engaging a Commercial partner or partners

4

evaluating the plan after applying

The Gnnat chart explains how the project is going on and how tasks and jobs are set according to goals as the project objectives are constructing a package of three of Oman convention and exhibition centers, delivering work on time, making sure of safety and security and working with a prescribed budget. The chart shows that the project works according to a set of strategies such as IP/ commercialization strategy and regulatory strategy in addition to a funding plan for scheduling money allocation.

Matrix chart

Architects	engineers	Consultants	Contractors	Workers
Making the designs of the project	Making sure of materials and specifications according to designs	Making Financial allocations such as cost plans.	Making contracts with owners.	Do the construction different tasks according to engineers' orders.
Supervising the designs' execution	Giving orders to workers	Making schedules and budgets	Giving orders to workers with the aid of engineers	Making works of building, painting, plumbing …etc.
Giving advice for application	Making sure of materials allocations	Ensuring safety and security on sites and supervising work and giving advice.	Monitoring workers and amounts of materials.	Following orders of their bosses.

Cost plans

According to Gerstel, (2002), cost plans are made for identifying the costs of a project and they are made by financial consultants to set different costs along with the project and how contracts can deal with financials of the project. They are helpful in managing budgets, money allocation and in making effective execution of the project according to the budget.

Project's cost plan

Tasks	Budget
Construction works	30.000.000$
Employees' payments	5.000.000$
Electricity works and plumbing works	4.5.000.000$
Accessories	3.000.000$
Total	42.5.000.000$

The company has prepared costs in a way that ensures profits to it as it was expected that the project will make a reasonable profits after the right money allocation as the money was allocated to cover construction works, employees; payments, different works and accessories to be 42.5.000.000$ but profits were estimated by 65.000.000 which means a net profit of 23.000.000$.

Work breakdown structure

According to Brotherton et al, (2008), a work breakdown structure (WBS) is a structure for the work divisions and tasks and it is used in construction works and other works to show the process of project management and how the engineering processes are going on in relation to percentages of dividing the budget according to the importance of each task. It depends on dividing work missions on smaller units and components in order to organize the different teams running the work and it is a hierarchical decomposition of the general overview of the project to be carried out by different teams of the project in order to meet the objectives and goals of the project. The work breakdown structure may contain elements that can be either services, products or even data or to gather all different types of tasks. It can also give the project detailed percentages of costs estimations and how budget is allocated on each mission and task. It is used for guiding the project towards achieving details of the works and it can be useful for engineers and consultants as well at the same time and it is helpful in allocating resources and dividing works on worker through using the time schedules with deadlines. 

The current project of constructing package 3 of Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre depends on a WBS that divides work on three main streams which are internal works, foundation works and external works dividing the 100% budget into three main parts on them to make internal works have 50%, external 255 and foundation works 25% as each of them is classified to include minor jobs and tasks with different percentages of the budget as shown in the figure.

Change management plan

Change management plan is a plan for managing any changes and facing any challenges that may occur during the execution of the project and applying its processes and it can document and focus on the needed information for managing the project changes till it is delivered to the client effectively. The change management plan is made in the project's planning stage as it focuses on works done by the project managers, team work, the sponsors of the project and leaders who give advice and support during the execution of the project in order to achieve the plan effectively. Change management process makes the procedures of the project are effective and orderly for monitoring its submission and evaluation processes as this helps managers approve to release the changes to the project during work. (Lorenzi and Riley, 2000)

Change management plan

Project name: Constructing package 3 of Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre

Introduction: the project may need to change some employees shifts, some main tools used for the construction process and add new tasks.

Project sponsors: the Omani government

Project objectives: constructing a package of three of Oman convention and exhibition centers, delivering work on time, making sure of safety and security and working with a prescribed budget.

Change objectives: Improving the results of the work, delivering work on deadlines and improving the HR work capacity.

Change plan elements: new more workers-more money-different shifting system-adding new tools and equipments.

Rational for the change: enhancing the work capacity.

Stakeholders analysis: employees and other stakeholders may find it good for them to make such changes but the sponsors may find difficulty in adding new money to the budget.

The table shows that changes may be in adding new more workers, more money, more equipment and changing shifts of engineers in order to increase the effectiveness of work and how stakeholders may react to changes as for example, sponsors may not agree on adding more money to the budget.

Risk management plan

A risk management plan is a plan for managing the potential risks a project may face and to define reactions to such risks and how to deal with them. Managers are the employees who set such plans by identifying risks and analyzing them. (Carpenter, 2010) Risks may be of positive or negative impact on the project and they should be tackled with by project management that assesses them and find solutions for them as risks may be avoided, controlled, mitigated or managed according to the type and effect of each risk on the project. A risk management plan can reduce errors that may occur during executing the project and can lead to better outcomes. (Inhofe, 2001)

Risk management plan

	Risk	Outcome	Current treatment actions	Proposed treatment actions
1	Loss of materials	Lack of effective work and lack of specification application.	Avoiding material loss by strict monitoring systems.	Adding new materials by buying them.
2	Budget is not enough	Work will not be done as asked.	Making an accurate financial plan.	Adding new elements to the budget.
3	Some employees turnover	Work will be delayed and not delivered on deadlines.	Making strict contracts with employees.	Bringing more workers.
4	Safety accidents	Reputation of the project will be affected. Employees may leave the project.	Ensuring safety measurements.	Bringing new equipments that ensures higher safety levels.

The table shows how the project managers can deal with the potential risks such as loss of materials, not enough budget, employees turnover and safety accidents as the current solutions may not be enough for dealing with the risks which makes managers give potential solutions for the risks to face them and deliver the work on deadlines according to specifications.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to refer to project management and how it should be done according to what is needed from a project and that there are many elements that should be considered when managing a project such as planning, facing challenges and risks and controlling the budget and financials. Oman Shapporji is executing a project for Constructing package 3 of Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre and is depending on managing the work effectively as there is a time management plan that has main three goals which are constructing a package of three of Oman convention and exhibition centers, delivering work on time, making sure of safety and security and working with a prescribed budget so the project can be done according to the gnat chart. The project has a cost plan where costs are estimated according to the different tasks of the project and profit is estimated after costs. The work breakdown structure gives an idea about the tasks and mini tasks involved within the project which are main three and have minor ones with different set percentages of budgets. The project has a change management plan that focuses on basic potential changes the project may have to improve it and a risk management plan that provides current and potential future solutions to face and avoid different risks that the project may face and can lead to loss or delay of the project.