Intersect Investments: Benchmarking

Running head: INTERSECT INVESTMENTS: Benchmarking

Intersect Investments Benchmarking

University of Phoenix

Intersect Investments Benchmarking

Intersect Investments (II) is a financial service company that has been struggling along with other financial firms ever since September 11, 2001. To succeed in the volatile financial industry, II believes the company must offer ever-expanding real-time products coupled with expert financial advice. The company has barely survived this chaotic period and has implemented a new strategic vision shift from product-based sales to customer-intimacy sales philosophy; however, the sales department does not believe the new sales philosophy will work.

The vice president of sales is resisting the new sales philosophy because of her past success with product-based sales and is skewing her organizational loyalty by not emphasizing the new sales philosophy within her department. Sales department resistance to shift sales philosophy has resulted in employee frustration, high turnover rate that if fueling the decline of customer satisfaction. The company did not anticipate resistance to the new vision and should have included a transitional leadership plan that addressed the stakeholders' resistance to change.

This team paper consists of a benchmarking worksheet that will identify potential solutions to problem statements defined by the Decision Makers team. The worksheet includes Problem/Opportunity Statements, three topics with justification, and companies in many different industries that will help identify those potential solutions. Solutions to problem statements will help Intersect Investments make the right decisions in its pursuit of becoming a dominant leader in the financial industry.

Executive Summery

This paper presents a high-level framework of activities that can help Intersect Investments make the organizational change from current sales practices to the customer intimacy model. There are three levels of change; Intersect Investments should carefully consider which level is appropriate for the organization. Intersect Investments may not be ready for the large-scale (level one) organizational change. However, there is still plenty to gain by working at the initiative level (level two), or building up some initial skills and support at the project level (level three). This framework provides the bigger picture and a method of breaking it down into manageable pieces. These manageable pieces are also a beneficial way to break down the investment required.

There are a number of key aspects to successful change. In the first place, Intersect Investments should tackle all eight of Kotter's steps. Avoid taking shortcuts, and always consider how Intersect Investments will benefit with Kotter's recommendations. Remember that success breeds success. The first initiative needs to be ambitious, but realistic. The initiative should make a valuable contribution to the key business goal of customer intimacy model. Plan for results and publicize them when success is achieved. The greatest success will be an initiative that delivers beneficial results that are measurable upon a first implementation. The results should drive the incentives. Team members are measured according to how many activities completed on schedule and that is where the team member's priorities will be focused. Real results should be the yardstick for measuring success.

Benchmarking Worksheet for Intersect Investments

Problem/Opportunity Statement

1. Intersect Investments will become the investment leader by successfully implementing organizational change through emphasis on giving the organization information about how to accomplish strategic and tactical change decisions on time and within budget.

2. Intersect Investments will become a premier financial firm by using opportunities to grow with the changes that must take place to stay competitive. Opportunities ranging from realigning leadership, motivating employees and instituting feasible mission and vision statements, which will inspire the goal of customer intimacy.

3. Intersect Investments will become a financial investment leader by offering a variety of forward-looking products, coupled with expert advise, and integration of customer-intimacy business model into the strategic plan that capitalizes on building long-term relations based on trust and value to the customer.

Generic Benchmarking: Topics

Topic 1: Effective Leadership to Lead Organizational Change

Intersect Investments Leadership Team must get all the employees focused across the organization to agree on the scope of the customer intimacy model. Intersect Investments will have to justify further investments in the organization move the customer intimacy model to completion. This framework will be defined to allow the organization to measure the impact (ROI) of the changes across the organization. The Leadership Team must layout the short-term, medium-term and long-term metrics and measure the effectiveness. The short-term metrics are for the short-term wins. Reviews of the steps to complete the vision need to be conducted. Leaders in the steps need to be identified and set as examples to gain experience and become mentors to others. An implementation plan will be created that will bring the results required. A high-level plan must be produced for the whole initiative and more detailed plans for each phase. Each Leader of each department must work through all these steps to bring about organizational change to meet the vision of customer intimacy model for Intersect Investments.

Topic 2: Alternative Strategies for overcoming resistance to change

When organizations implement change the comfort level of some individuals within will be compromised and will bring possible resistance. If not understood and carefully dealt with, resistance may cause tension and conflict, undermining any positive outcome. The purposes and production in life could revolve around Maslow's hierarchy of needs: Developed a theory of motivation that emphasized a "hierarchy of needs" which