Micro Switch Case Study | Three in the Middle | The Experience of Making Change at Micro Switch | |
Three in the Middle: The Experience of Making Change at Micro Switch

Introduction
Micro Switch, founded in 1937 and acquired by Honeywell Inc. in 1950, is a division that has long been known as an innovative industry leader in switches, sensors and manual controls. During the transition from electro-mechanical to electronic and solid state, Micro Switch enlisted the assistance of 49 year Honeywell employee to maintain their competitive edge within an ever changing market. With an internal shake up intended to preserve the organization’s reputation, as well as improve their downward decline, middle managers are left to ponder if
However, they did not anticipate this, and this led to a great deal of resistance to the change itself. Massof has indicated that she was eventually successful in developing cross functional business teams, but states that initially thinking independently was exceptionally unusual for nearly all of the employees and most of them couldn’t even comprehend why they were being pressed to do so. Communication of expectations and really communication in general could have improved the efficiency of this situation vastly and could have got lower level employees on board a lot quicker. Case and point, Massof stated that in July of 1990, her unit completed their second strategic plan with no complaining, and brought a “new level of skill and detail to the task” (Lenan, Stone, 2008, pg. 202, para. 3). In addition to this, they were also able to establish benchmarks during their second strategic plan.
Measurability is an essential aspect of the change process and yet Ellis Stewart, another Micro Switch director, indicated that his team felt as though they were not able to see any of their progress despite their efforts. “What we need is some growth to take advantage of all the work we’ve done” (Lenan, Stone, 2008, pg. 204, para. 2). Due to the fact that Stewart’s business unit had not established any benchmarks, short term goals, or measurability to illustrate short term wins, they had trouble maintaining motivation and upholding morale.
The next underlying problem is