ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

CASE FOR ANALYSIS: BAYER’S MAJOR CHANGES IN ONE PLANT

Discussion Question:

What type of change[s] occurred at Bayer?

    The plant had change ownership three times and the work force seemed to have dissolved as fast as the analgesic tablets rolling off production lines down from 800 to 360 workers in less than a year . That was a lot of change to absorb in a facility that had been steadily producing over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceuticals for more than half a century.

What type of employee resistance to change did Bayer have to address?

    Resistance to change can be overcome by acknowledging not only the business rationale for change but also the hopes, fears and dreams of those affected, noted the change management experts at Sibson & Co,. In the race to make change happen, organizational leaders often fail to tell the straight story to people who then write their best scripts.


What are the positive and negative lessons learned from how change was handled at Bayer?

   POSITIVE LESSON:
The positive lesson I think, was when the managers listened to what everyone had to say, treated the employees’ equals and really valued their opinions.
In the case of the positive lesson for the employees, Employees needed to be involved at the heart of any turnaround.  And communication was so important in getting and receiving information about on site performance, department projects, and rumors.

  NEGATIVE LESSON:
I think nothing negative lesson found in the case for analysis, because they were all realize their failure and learned from their mistakes.