The paper should be 3-5 pages in length. You will present your paper to the class on November 7 and for this you may find it helpful to prepare notes and / or a PowerPoint presentation or any other presentations tools – your preference. You will have 5-6 minutes to present your paper. The assignment grade will comprise 80% for the paper and 20% for the presentation.

Based on class discussion and the two textbooks we are using for the class, Accelerate and The Heart of Change, it is necessary for companies to be more flexible, creative, and responsive to the fast-changing environment to (a) take advantage of new opportunities and (b) avoid or address threats.

Assignment: Doing research online, identify a company that has gone through a major change. This may be any company, in any market or industry, in any country, in any time period. However, it must be a case that you identify through online research, based on information and reporting on newspaper or magazine websites. The change may involve a merger, acquisition, introduction of a new product, expansion into a new industry or market or markets, or any other significant change. Then:

1. Identify and clearly define the opportunity, challenge, or problem that the company faced.

2. Identify the implications and potential impact of this problem with regard to:

• The company’s customers

• The general public

• The company’s competition

• If applicable, government and regulatory agencies

• If applicable, national security (for example, if the company is / was in the defense or security industry)

3. Discuss:

• What the company did in terms of initiative regarding the opportunity, challenge, or problem;

• How the initiative leveraged / solved / failed to solve the opportunity / challenge / problem.

For extra credit: Relate the initiative and actions taken to Kotter’s 8 accelerators as presented in Accelerate and The Heart of Change. For example, how did the company communicate the issue, internally and externally? Did the company establish a “guiding coalition” or a task force to lead and communicate the initiative or address the problem? What barriers did the company face in driving the initiative or addressing the problem? Were the changes introduced institutionalized and lasting, or were they only temporary?