Hrm 587 week 4 discussion topic; emotional intelligenceovercoming

HRM587 Managing Organizational Change

(DeVry – Taken March 2016)

(Note: This case is a work of fiction.) Lefty’s BBQ is a U.S. national restaurant chain which serves beef, pork, and chicken barbecue along with Pepsi products, thin-cut French fries or slaw as sides, and offers biscuits or garlic bread as well. The restaurant operates as a drive-up only, with parking lots available at most locations for people to sit and eat in their cars, as well as picnic tables outside in some southern locations. The “average” customer is white male and about 35-45 years old. Many of the workers in the chain are high school part-time, hourly workers who operate the registers, clean-up, and cooking. Managers range from the age of 18+. Lefty’s BBQ senior management has implemented a change plan to introduce alcoholic beverages to its menu (beer and wine only). This is going to impact quite a bit of the operations, and certainly is going to impact the employee base, as in most states, to serve alcohol will require employees to be a minimum of 21 years of age. Due to some licensing issues, Lefty’s is also going to switch from Pepsi products to Coke products along with introducing the beer and wine to its new menu. Unfortunately, the press got a hold of this change in plan before senior management had communicated the change to the rest of the employees throughout the country. Identify, discuss, and begin to address the many resistances, emotional intelligence issues, and unintended consequences which the management will face and need to overcome and handle throughout this change.