The Change Management plan for Dehl Computer Company’s PC and Peripheral Department is designed to improve customer service as a means of accommodating growth. The current competition in the personal computer market put pressure on Dehl to assert it’s presence in the computer market and they did so by targeting students. An increase in the number of calls to Dehl’s PC and Peripheral Repair Department has strained the company’s resources and prolonged the time for response to repair calls. Dehl wishes to become the first computer company to offer next-day, on-site product service. Unfortunately, at present Dehl’s management plan cannot facilitate next-day, on-site product service.

At present Dehl’s PC and Peripheral Repair Department employs 2,500 staff members at their 12 locations nationwide. The employees perform their duties at the office locations and do no work on-site. Dehl wants to deploy 1000 employees to mobile locations. Additionally, Dehl wants to transition another 500 technicians from the office locations to mobile locations. In order to accommodate this change Dehl plans to implement a new and improved customer service system.

Assessment of Change
Internal and external factors
The internal structure of Dehl’s PC and Peripheral Repair Department currently prolongs response time. Typically, a customer purchases a computer from Dehl under a one year warranty which necessarily requires Dehl to assist he customer in the event the computer malfunctions within that time frame. This process is conducted through Dehl’s Customer Service Department. The Customer Service Department has the duty of first determining whether the problem encountered by the customer is either warranty (hardware) related or software related. If the difficulty is software related, the Customer Service Department will direct the customer to the relevant software company. If the customer’s problem is hardware related the Customer Service Department will refer the customer to the Technical Service Department.

To further complicate matters Dehl’s Technical Department is divided into three sections. There is the Type I technical team that is focused on the computer system itself, for example, processor, hard drive or memory. On the other hand there is the Type II technical team that responds to peripheral problems such as monitors or printers. The Technical Service Agent will typically attempt to fix the fault via telephone or email, failing that the customer is required to ship the computer to Dehl’s repair shop. In the event the computer is shipped it is then delivered to a Technical Service Type III phase for repairs. For obvious reasons, this process for repairs cannot take place the next day. On-site repairs is the only method that can accommodate a next-day repair service.

The external factor, the increase in sales and repairs, require that the level of customer service and technical service improve to such an extent to both avoid delay and guarantee speedy response. Moreover, in attempting to maintain its position as a viable force in the computer industry, Dehl must implement a Change Management Plan.

The Type of Change
The type of change required is transitional and functionally organized in nature. It also involves vertical organization structures within the company’s boundaries. This transition will necessitate the setting up of mobile locations from which to deploy field technicians as well as relocating customer service agents to mobile locations. Approximately 1,500, more than half of Dhel’s employees will be directly affected by this transition, as 1000 customer service agents must leave their office sites as well as 500 technical service agents.

There are three fundamental phases of change. They are: 1.The current stage, 2.The future stage and 3.The transition Stage.(Beckhard. 1987) The current stage refers to the how things are currently done. The future stage refers to how things will operate in the future and the transition stage refers to the process by which change will be undertaken. The current stage which is a time-consuming process will change so that the future stage will close the gap and result in better economy of time. With the current influx of sales and repair orders together with Dehl’s ambition to respond in amore timely manner, the organization itself is prepared to make the necessary adjustments.

The first order of business is to determine whether or not the employees are prepared to make the necessary adjustments. This will require the setting up of a leadership team for the purpose of enlightening and preparing employees.

Leadership Alignment
The stakeholders are those who are going to be affected by the Change Management Plan. Generally persons in managerial positions have the largest stake in the Change Management Plan. The stakeholders are the people whose involvement is necessary for the implementation and success of the Change Management Plan. This process will begin with a manager who will be responsible for approving the necessary changes and ensuring that his or peers support the changes. MORE..