Cisco Systems: Maximizing Stakeholder Engagement for Business Change - Essay Sample

Introduction

Cisco Systems, as an international organization and one of the leading information technology companies, operates in a changing business environment and communicating to all the stakeholders is a significant challenge. Stakeholder's involvement in implementing change within an organization is an important avenue through which Cisco systems can be able to present its change plans and strategies. High stakeholder involvement increases the overall engagement towards the business change strategy and success. Cisco Systems has an extensive network of stakeholders, and one of the key challenges that face the organization is the ability to simultaneously communicate with its stakeholders on the planned changes and their expected roles in implementing the change. Without a proper communication plan, the business will not be able to rally resources and effort of all stakeholders to successfully implement the desired change to realize the best outcomes (Ting-Toomey & Dorjee, 2018). A communication plan is an instrumental approach through which a Cisco Systems can sustain change within the organization and ensure long-term organizational success. A good communication plan for Cisco systems should factor the multicultural and global aspects of the business and create a communication plan that meets the organization's operating environment.

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Strategies for Successfully Implementing the Change Plan

Successful implementation of change requires a strategy that lays down an overall plan for change. Change strategies help to maximize the overall change process and manage the change outcomes. Cisco systems can benefit largely in implementing a new communication plan by establishing the right change implementation strategy. Successful change plan implementation requires the understanding of the overall organization situation and the creation of a team that will be responsible for the change activities within an organization. Understanding the organization's situation, all the stakeholders, and the resource's capability of the organization will be instrumental in understanding the scale parameters of implementing change. This is followed by creating the need for change, which involves communicating to different stakeholders on their roles in the implementation of a proper communication plan for Cisco systems. The third strategy of implementing change will be the adoption of a change model, which helps to guide the change decisions and the overall approach of achieving the desired change outcomes. In this case, the Lewin change model can provide Cisco systems with a framework for implementing communication change within the organization. Kurt Lewin's change theory establishes a three-step model of procedures for implementing change. The initial stage in the change process ensures that the organizational stakeholders are aware and ready for the change. This Lewin change model stage is called the unfreeze phase, and it is critical for the overall change process, which involves communicating to all the stakeholders of the intended change (Hussain, Lei, Akram, Haider, Hussain, & Ali, 2018). The second phase is executing change, which will involve the actual implementation of the new communication plan. The change phase is followed by the refreezing phase of the change process, which is instrumental in ensuring that the change becomes sustainable and permanent. Using the Lewin change model ensures a step by step implementation of the Cisco systems communication plan to meet the desires organization outcomes (Shirey, 2013). Lastly, it is vital to conduct regular reviews of the new communication plan at Cisco systems which ensures that the organization can be able to identify areas of future development and aligning the new communication plan with the dynamic organization culture and situation.

Strategies for Effectively Communicating To Internal and External Stakeholders

Cultural and Context Competent Communication

One of the most effective strategies of implementing communication change in Cisco systems will be by creating a cultural competent communication avenue that involves creating communication messages and avenues that promote cultural competency and ensures that the avenue used in communication is in alignment with the current organization context (internal or external communication. Cultural competent communication ensures that the message is not cultural offending to all the target audience, given that Cisco systems is a multicultural and equal opportunity organization (Savignon, 2018). Besides, the communication method to be implemented will be based on the context. There are communication approaches that are more effective in internal business communication, such as the use of organization memo and direct email to ensure specific individuals have the right information (Ting-Toomey & Dorjee, 2018). On the other hand, the use of press releases and newsletters will be the most appropriate approach of external business change communication avenue that ensures that customers, investors, regulators, and creditors have information on the desires organization change and how they will be affected.

Understanding the Target Audience

The target audience is instrumental in the design of the desired change within an organization. In Cisco Systems understanding the target audience can be instrumental in creating an effective change process within the organization by ensuring that the change activities or issues reach the audience in time and also by aligning the information with the audience features (Kuruppuarachchi, Mandal, & Smith, 2002). Therefore, understanding Cisco Systems stakeholders who will be reached by the business information is instrumental towards attaining success in the resulting change. Most of the Cisco Systems stakeholders have a high technological reach and the use of press and digital newsletters can increase the overall message penetration and the target audience convenience.

Cisco Systems Information

There are different levels and direct of communication within Cisco systems. The most important communication target in Cisco systems are the investors on the need to advance the organization 4G products to 5G products which will increase the business sustainability. 5G network products is an opportunity that Cisco systems should take advantage of due to its increased capacity and function applications. Internally, the organization will give developers and marketers information on the organization need and future expectations to be able to develop 5G networks while the marketing team will create consumer awareness of Cisco new product. This information will be instrumental in creating innovation direction for Cisco developers and also expectations on the consumers which is instrumental in the implementation of the desired change.

Communication Skills and Language

Good communication should be objective and cultural sensitive which ensures that the information reaches the desired audience and pushes the audience to take the desired actions help Cisco gain competitive advantage. The message should use simple and easy to understand universal language and integrate features for translation which will ensure that the audience access the information in the press release, email, and the newsletters in the most understandable dialect (Arkoudis, 2014). Besides, the information should be succinct and clear and at the same time provide the audience an avenue for providing feedback (Sanden, 2015). The most effective communication process should begin by understanding the target audience, establishing the communication objective, establishing the most ideal communication avenue and ensuring that the audience can provide feedback.

Strategic Plan for Sustaining the Change

Sustaining change requires high engagement of all the stakeholders in the change process which is instrumental in facilitating greater stakeholder involvement after the change has been initiated. Getting Cisco systems stakeholders involved reduces potential resistance by communicating the need for change and the desired outcomes. Besides, it is important to ensure that the implementation process is highly flexible which is instrumental in accommodating for future changes that will be desired to maintain the change initiated (Brannen & Doz, 2012).

Potential Obstacle

Stakeholders Opposition

Opposition of change occurs when there is poor involvement of all the people involved in the creation and implementation of change. This can be prevented by ensuring that all the stakeholders are involved in the change process and the stakeholder feedback is acted upon. Cisco systems can benefit from the planned change by ensuring that all the stakeholders are involved in the organization change plan which creates greater ownership of the change process and the outcomes by all the stakeholders.

References

Arkoudis, S. (2014). Integrating English language communication skills into disciplinary curricula: Options and strategies. Sydney: Office for Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from https://altf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Arkoudis_S_NST_report_2014.pdf

Brannen, M. Y., & Doz, Y. L. (2012). Corporate languages and strategic agility: trapped in your jargon or lost in translation?. California Management Review, 54(3), 77-97. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263237397000388

Hussain, S. T., Lei, S., Akram, T., Haider, M. J., Hussain, S. H., & Ali, M. (2018). Kurt Lewin's change model: A critical review of the role of leadership and employee involvement in organizational change. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(3), 123-127. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444569X16300087

Kuruppuarachchi, P. R., Mandal, P., & Smith, R. (2002). IT project implementation strategies for effective changes: a critical review. Logistics information management, 15(2), 126-137. Retrieved from https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/09576050210414006

Sanden, G. R. (2015). Language strategies in multinational corporations. A cross-sector study of financial service companies and manufacturing companies. Retrieved from http://openarchive.cbs.dk/handle/10398/9174

Savignon, S. J. (2018). Communicative competence. The TESOL encyclopedia of English language teaching, 1-7. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0047

Shirey, M. R. (2013). Lewin's theory of planned change as a strategic resource. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(2), 69-72. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/jonajournal/Fulltext/2013/02000/Lewin_s_Theory_of_Planned_Change_as_a_Strategic.5.aspx

Ting-Toomey, S., & Dorjee, T. (2018). Communicating across cultures. Guilford Publications.