Central Washington University DynaCorp Revisited Case Study

According to the case, there are a host of issues in the change process at Dynacorp. Although the shift to a new structure appeared to be a good idea, the implementation has not succeeded. Some of the problems are evident on the surface, but underlying those symptoms are a small number of systemic issues that give rise to these surface-level problems. Your goal in this essay is to identify one systemic issue that you believe is causing the most problems. Then, using the political and/or cultural lens (and the related theories from the book), explain why these problems have emerged and make recommendations. Note, you can use either the political or the cultural lens, or do both. There are pros and cons of using one lens and using both lenses.

The effectiveness of your paper will be based on three elements:

1. Define and describe the key systemic factor in the case, and make an argument about why this factor is the most important cause of the problems at Dynacorp.
2. Show how various elements of politics and/or culture are operating, by linking specific examples – data from the case – to specific theoretical concepts from one or both lenses.
3. Use the concepts from one or both lenses to identify three or four specific actions that you recommend to begin solving the underlying systemic factors in the organization.

Essentially your paper should begin with a claim – a ‘hypothesis’ about why the change process has been less than effective. Your claim should be based on concepts from either the political or cultural lens (or both). The paper should then make a careful and compelling argument to prove your claim, through an analysis of the data – linking specific examples from the case (your data) to theoretical concepts from the lenses. Your analysis should also be logically sound and convincing. In your conclusion, you should summarize your analysis, and use it to make three or four specific recommendations for action based on the insights you gained in your analysis. However, the focus of this paper is to practice careful thinking and argumentation, rather than jumping to a conclusion or set of suggestions.