CASE STUDY: RIVERBEND
Summarize the case. Provide a synopsis of the case study, focusing on how communication problems and cultural misunderstandings created conflict in the organization.
Apply the four learning organization disciplines to the case.
Using the lens of one or more of the four core disciplines (personal mastery, mental models, team learning, shared vision), provide an analysis of the extent to which the discipline(s) reveals organizational dynamics and contributes either to organizational learning or to the organization’s problems.
How could the four disciplines be fostered to have a more beneficial impact on the organization?
Apply a systems lens to the case.
Analyze the organizational disabilities and systems archetypes present in the case.
Explain and map at least one example of a systems archetype that can be seen in the case. Include at least one systems map as part of your explanation.
Recommend change management strategies for the organization based on the case.
Prior to suggesting change management strategies, use critical thinking tools to identify assumptions the stakeholders in the case may have made, and develop a set of questions you would ask to help the stakeholders uncover their assumptions and clarify the steps needed for future progress. Reference Paul and Elder’s Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life text in your comments.
Describe and explain how the four-stage process could be used by the Riverbend leadership to improve the strategic planning processes that enhance cultural understanding among stakeholders and the community. Refer to Stroh’s Thinking for Social Change text.
Provide a set of specific practical recommendations about how the CEO should proceed in the future in a way that furthers the goals of supporting increased cultural understanding among stakeholders and the community.
Explain how an action research/inquiry cycle that incorporates the recommendations could be planned, implemented, and evaluated for the next phase of organizational improvement.
