Examples 

Here are some examples.

• Both Ford and General Motors experienced serious issues pre-, during, and post-TARP period, causing them to restructure and change how they do business. Each of them reacted to these pressures differently. A paper comparing and contrasting the way both companies reacted to this pressure would be very interesting and easy to set up in an organized fashion. Further, utilizing the grid of the image, you can discuss how they did handle these pressures (using which image) and how a different style of the leader (image) might have handled it differently.
• Both Hewlett-Packard and Home Depot have had issues selecting a new chief executive officer (CEO) for their company. Reviewing the last 10 years of CEO history, a paper comparing and contrasting the pressures involved and how they impacted the overall productivity of the companies would be sustainable throughout the term.
• Review any two companies in the airline industry, their entrance into (and possibly their completion of) bankruptcy, and how they handled the changes through management as a result (i.e., United Airlines and American Airlines).
• Review any two companies who have recently been through some part of merger and acquisition change and how they handled the culture changes.
• Review any two companies who have had industry changes, how they have reacted either successfully or unsuccessfully, and how their reactions perhaps resulted in their success or failure (i.e., Yahoo versus IBM).

Topic Selection

Select your two companies that have undergone some type of fairly substantial change in the recent past. Find the company and the change information online using EBSCO or using another appropriate resource in the DeVry Library. Other ways to find information include utilizing Google, Yahoo Finance, or Reuters and looking up annual reports of companies that interest you. Often, reading the first sections of these reports (i.e., letters from CEOs) will give you ideas about changes they have gone through in the past year(s).

You will need to ensure the following.

1. Your companies are publicly traded so that their information will be easy to research and find.
2. Your change in the two companies are comparable (i.e., don’t compare a new CEO to a change in the human resources information system [HRIS]. Do compare two changes in chief information officer.
3. The changes happened in the recent past so that you will find sufficient online information about how they were handled, but not so recent that the information about the change results is still being researched and published.

Communicating the Change (Milestone 3)

An important part of any change project is how the change is communicated to the organization, to the change agents, to the line workers, to the customers, and to the public. Along with media relations issues, communicating change (especially in a publicly traded company) can involve multiple legal and regulatory aspects as well as personnel and management concerns. Perhaps the single most difficult piece of handling Kotter’s “establish a sense of urgency” is that too many inexperienced or immature change agents read this to mean “panic the troops.” Never do this.

This project piece will have three parts.

1. The main part of this project component will ask you to pick one of the company’s change plans and develop a communication plan for the company. This plan should be submitted by using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and setting out the stakeholders, the timeline of the communication plan, the method of communication, the rationale for why you chose this method of communication, the purpose of the communication, and identifying who will do the communicating. The grid for this project can be found in the Files section of the Course Menu and is titled Grid for Week 6—Communication Plan.
2. Select one of the communication pieces that you would have used that is listed in your communication plan and write the communication in a Word document (either the text or the script, if the communication would have been oral). Be sure to review the Week 6 information and the examples of communication plans and types for more assistance on this piece of the project. If you use any form of communication from templates you find online or in a textbook, be sure to cite your source. Your instructor will grade this based on how well it relates to the audience and stakeholder group to which it is intended.
3. The real-world aspect of this project is that you will write a one- to two-page analysis of one of the media pieces about one of the company’s changes written (or provided via oral media) by the company. For this section of the project, please analyze any media, news, or other communications that explained the change going on in the organization. Explain in your paper how the company handled communicating the change to its stakeholders.

Grading Rubric

Category	Description	Total points
Stakeholder ID	ID Stakeholders have been identified on the Excel spreadsheet grid.	10
Documentation and Formatting	Paper is properly referenced according to APA guidelines with at least two references, properly cited and in-text citations included.	5
Communication Timeline	Timeline of communication has been identified and explained on the Excel spreadsheet grid.	10
Communication Type	The type of communication has been identified and explained on the Excel spreadsheet grid.	10
Communication Rationale	The rationale for why this method of communication was selected.	15
Communicator ID	ID correct communicator has been identified on the Excel spreadsheet grid.	10
Communication Pieces	At least four communication pieces listed on the Excel spreadsheet no more than six.	10
Analysis	An analysis of the actual communication plan as seen from the public eye.	15
Communication Sample	A sample communication piece for the organization.	11
HRM Outcome C	Assess the culture and workplace environment and propose and make HR decisions that align with and help achieve an organization’s strategic goals.	4
Total Points	A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.	100

Course Project: Final Presentation – Written Submission

The written component will simply be a combination of Milestones 1, 2, and 3, completely formatted using APA writing styles. This final written document must be uploaded in the Week 8 Final Written Assignment area. You must ensure that your final written component includes a title page, table of contents, and a References Page (which will include the required 10 references from Milestones 1, 2, and 3). Keep in mind, you will be simply compiling all three milestones and creating a final APA style document for final submission.  Also, adhere to the following points, as you finalize this document.

1. Use of at least 10 references.
2. Remember the title page.
3. Remember in-text citations.
4. Remember the table of contents.
5. Use proper use of APA style.

Grading Rubric

Category	Description	Total Points
Content	All three milestones included	30
Citations	In-text citations included	10
Formatting	Proper use of APA style	5
References	At least 10 references, properly cited	5
Total Points	A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.	50