Force Fields
Analysis
Lecturer:
Dr Kamal Kishore Jain
Jo MB2-00027
|
Question:
Assignment 1: BMM 7173
Assume that
several students have petitioned your instructor to grade your current course in
organization Development on a pass-fail basis. Your instructor has reservations
about this, but was willing to ask the dean if there was a possibility of
changing the grading in this course from an A through F basis to pass-fail
basis. The dean expressed the willingness to consider the question but asked
for a more detailed proposal, including the pros and cons and how such a plan
might be implemented. Your instructor, in turn, has asked your group to develop
a preliminary analysis of how such a change might be made.
·
Develop a stakeholder analysis. Identify all
stakeholders and their interests and concerns.
·
Prepare a force-field analysis. Identify the
pushing factor and restraining forces and estimate the intensity and importance
of each.
·
Prepare a brief recommendation indicating
whether you agree or disagree with the proposal.
1.0
Introduction
Force field
analysis is a management tool developed by Kurt Lewin, a pioneer in the field
of social sciences, to analyze a given situation. It is useful to determine the
variables involved when planning and implementing change management program.
Lewin assumes that in any situation there are both driving and restraining
forces that influence the direction of any change iniative. The driving forces
are the forces that are pushing the situation towards a new equilibrium,
whereas the restraining forces are acting to restrain or decrease the driving
forces. Apathy, hostility, and poor maintenance of equipment may be examples of
restraining forces against increased production. Equilibrium is reached when
the sum of the driving forces equals the sum of the restraining forces.
2.0
Stake
Holders Analysis
A stakeholder
analysis is a technique used to identify and assess individuals, groups or organizations who have significant and
legitimate interests in specific issues. In the case the grading system of the
Unitar’s MBA program, the stakeholders are those who have interest in the changes in the grading system
The analysis can
also look at stakeholders in terms of their information, expertise and
resources applicable to the given issue. However, the stakeholder analysis by
itself can only identify the potential stakeholders but it does not ensure that
they will become active and meaningful participants. Attempt must be made to
generate the interest and to sustain the commitment.
The potential stakeholders
relevant to the issue of the change of the grading system are given below: The
stakeholders will be interested in the change of the grading system as this
change may effect their interest directly or indirectly.
Table 1 :
Stakeholders analysis.
Stakeholders
|
Interest
|
Concerns
|
|
1
|
LAN
|
LAN or Lembaga
Akreditasi Negara, is the Board created to manage the private education in
|
1. The
change in the assessment grading may affect the quality of the MBA.
2. The
grading system may not be in line with the majority of the universities
supervised by LAN
|
2
|
Ministry of Education
|
It is the
government’s body the control and manage the education system in
|
The ministry
will be concerned on the effect of the decision on the education system and
possible impact on the output of the system.
|
3
|
Students
|
The students
are interested because the change may:
1. Affect the
grading of his study.
2. Affect the
value of the qualification.
|
1. There
is no differentiation between top student and the average performers. Both will be awarded the same merit point.
This may be demotivating for top performer.
2. The
value job market will not be able to differentiate the performance of the
students.
3. The
grade obtained is not true reflection of a persons performance.
|
4
|
Lecturers
|
Lecturer needs
to grade the students.
|
The pass-fail
grading system may lead to mediocrity attitude.
|
5
|
Unitar
|
Unitar is
interested in the quality of its product, whether actual or perceived.
|
1.The
pass-fail grading system may not be
widely accepted by the job market.
2. The pass-fail system may be perceived as
odd and different .
|
6
|
Potential
Employers
|
1. The
students may be the supply for the future labor market. The employers would
like to choose the best staff to meet their organisation’s requirements.
|
1. With pass-
fail system, divide the students into two group only and does not
differentiate between the top performers and the average.
|
7
|
Present Employers
of the students
|
The employers
may be the sponsor of the student.
|
Sponsored
students are expected to perform to a certain standard
|
8
|
Political
Groups
|
Political
groups are looking for issues that can strengthen their position.
|
Unitar is a
subsidiary of KUB and KUB is associated with a certain political group.
|
9
|
Sponsors of
the students
|
The sponsors
want value for the investment.
|
The pass-fail
grading make it more difficult to assess the value of the students.
|
10
|
Other
Universities
|
Universities
offering MBA’s are interested in the happenings in the other universities.
|
Other
universities may have influences on the authority to affect the decision.
|
3.0
Force
Fields Analysis
In planning for
the change of the grading system from an A through F basis to pass-fail mark,
the sentiments of the various stakeholders are assessed. These sentiments are
translated into different direction and intensity of the forces
REMOVED
All the forces
acting on the change initiative are shown above. The driving forces are
the forces that push toward the new state or grading system of pass-fail. The
restraint forces are trying to maintain the present state of grading. The
figures next to the forces showing the intensity of the forces.
4.0
Recommendation
The grading system should reflect the
capability and the effort put by an individual student. Theoretically, there is
a wide range of performance differences between the an ‘A’ and the ‘F’ grade
students. These differences can be further subdivided into various grading
between A through F. In practice, the differences in the grade may not reflect
the student’s capability and ability in the workplace. As such, it can be argued that the multiple
grades do not really reflect that actual grade of the students.
I do not agree with the change of the grading
system due to the following reasons:
a. The new grading of pass-fail
are not widely practiced in Malaysia ,
where culturally, the grades of the students are critically observed.
b. The pass-fail grading may lead
to a culture of mediocrity, where the students would strive to get the ‘pass’
and not aiming for excellent.
c.
The pass-fail system will be a demotivating factor to the students.
