| Course | BU 506 Leading Change and Operational Excellence |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 6 |
| Paper type | Implementation plan |
| Length | About 760 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 506 Unit 6
One Showroom First, Three Showrooms After a Go Decision: An Implementation Plan for the Special-Order Redesign at a Composite Columbus Flooring Retailer
Student Name
Business, Herzing University
BU 506: Leading Change and Operational Excellence
Instructor Name
February 16, 2026
One Showroom First, Three Showrooms After a Go Decision: An Implementation Plan for the Special-Order Redesign at a Composite Columbus Flooring Retailer
What the Plan Covers
This plan puts the Unit 4 redesign, with the adjustments from Unit 5, into an order that can be run. It covers preparation, a ten-business-day pilot at Westerville, a go decision, rollout to the Dublin, Hilliard and Canal Winchester showrooms, and retirement of the paper order route. Every activity has one accountable role, a date, a precondition and a completion test. Westerville goes first because it produced the most late orders in the baseline, 19 of 59, which gives the pilot the best chance of showing whether the change works, and because its manager volunteered.
Preparation
Preparation is grouped separately because none of the pilot can start until every row is done. The written statement on hours appears here, not in the pilot, because Unit 5 identified the administrators' uncertainty as a source of resistance that should be settled before anything changes for them.
| Activity | Accountable role | Date | Must be complete first | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carton table built for all special-order products | Buyer | February 13 | Current price sheets collected from all manufacturers | Every active special-order product has a carton size and a lot-sensitive marker |
| Waste allowances set by product type | Installation manager | February 13 | None | Allowance table signed off |
| Order-capture screen configured | Business system vendor, coordinated by operations coordinator | February 18 | Carton table and allowances loaded | Ten test orders produce correct cartons and lot flags |
| Purchase order and receiving changes | Operations coordinator | February 18 | Screen configured | Lot flag prints in large type; receiving form has a lot column |
| Written statement on administrator hours | Operations manager | February 18 | None | Statement issued to all four administrators |
| Training at Westerville | Operations coordinator | February 19 and 20 | Screen tested | Each consultant enters two practice orders under observation |
| Procedure document revised | Operations coordinator | February 20 | Training content final | Revised steps 1 to 6 approved by operations manager |
Pilot and Rollout
| Activity | Accountable role | Date | Must be complete first | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot: Westerville consultants use the order screen for all new special orders | Westerville showroom manager | February 23 to March 6 | All preparation rows done | Ten business days of orders captured |
| Time check during pilot | Operations coordinator | February 23 to March 6 | Pilot running | Added time measured on 30 orders |
| Go decision | Operations manager, on the coordinator's report | March 6 | Pilot data summarized | Decision recorded: go, adjust or stop |
| Training at the other three showrooms | Operations coordinator | March 5 and 6 | Pilot showing no stop condition | Each consultant enters two practice orders |
| Rollout to Dublin, Hilliard, Canal Winchester | Showroom managers | March 9 | Go decision | All new special orders captured on screen |
| Paper order form withdrawn, except in-home fallback | Operations manager | March 23 | Two weeks of full rollout without a stop condition | Paper forms removed from showroom counters |
Running the Process While It Changes
The work does not stop while the change lands. Orders taken on paper before a showroom's start date finish on the old process: the administrator keys them as before, and the buyer adds lot notes by hand. Only orders whose deposit is taken on or after the start date use the new screen. This creates a period of about four weeks at each showroom, the typical time from deposit to staging, when both versions run side by side. During that period receiving will see purchase orders with and without printed lot flags, so the receiving clerk will check every lot-sensitive product by name against a printed list, not only flagged orders.
At Westerville the administrator will also compare each screen-captured order with a quick paper copy for the first five business days, to catch configuration errors before they reach a manufacturer. That double entry ends on February 27 if no discrepancies are found.
Communication Within the Plan
Communication is scheduled like any other activity, because people who learn about a change from a rumor resist it before they have seen it. The operations manager announces the change and the reason for it at the monthly showroom managers' meeting on February 10, using the Unit 3 counts. Showroom managers brief their own consultants and administrators in person before training, so the first explanation comes from someone they report to. The written statement on administrator hours goes out on February 18, before anyone touches the new screen. After the go decision on March 6, I send a one-page summary of the pilot results to all four showrooms, including what was adjusted because of the pilot, so the three later showrooms can see that the design changed in response to the people who used it first. Receiving and the buyer are briefed directly by me, since their steps change in ways the showrooms never see.
Contingency
The pilot stops, and the paper process resumes at Westerville, under any of three conditions: the median added time per order exceeds 8 minutes after the first three days, an order reaches a manufacturer with a wrong carton count caused by the screen, or the business system's order screen is unavailable for more than half a business day. If the median added time falls between 5 and 8 minutes, the go decision becomes adjust: the screen is simplified and the pilot extended by one week. A stop at any point after rollout returns the affected showroom to paper while the cause is fixed, and the stop and its cause go into the operations manager's monthly report.
Why This Order
Westerville's volume and willing manager make it the fastest honest test. Training the other showrooms only after the pilot means they learn the adjusted version, not the first draft. Withdrawing paper forms two weeks after rollout, rather than immediately, respects the lesson of the 2022 tablet rollout described in Unit 5. Kotter (2012) warns against declaring victory too soon; here that means keeping the fallback available until the new route has carried a full cycle of orders. Bateman (2005) found that improvements are more likely to last when follow-up actions are planned and owned before the project team moves on, which is why the control plan in Unit 7 is due before rollout completes. Montgomery (2019) notes that a process should be stable before control limits are set from its data, so control limits will wait until eight weeks of full operation have passed.
References
Bateman, N. (2005). Sustainability: The elusive element of process improvement. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 25(3), 261-276. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570510581862
Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business Review Press.
Montgomery, D. C. (2019). Introduction to statistical quality control (8th ed.). Wiley.
Reading the BU 506 Unit 6 instructions
BU 506 Unit 6 asks for an implementation plan that turns the redesign into an order someone could actually run. Expect a sequence table giving each activity, the accountable role, timing, what must be finished first and how you will know it is done. Preparation work such as training, documentation, system changes and approvals from above should appear as its own group. The plan must say how the process keeps running during the transition, including whether old and new versions run side by side, and when the change would be paused or reversed. Real dates or relative timing are both acceptable if consistent. Reusing an employer's own project plan is discouraged. Most instructors also expect a pilot or staged rollout for anything touching customers, with a stated point at which someone decides whether to continue.
How the BU 506 Unit 6 example is put together
An opening paragraph defines the plan's scope and explains why Westerville goes first. A preparation table lists seven activities, from the carton table to the revised procedure, each with owner, date, precondition and completion test. A second table carries the pilot, time check, go decision, later training, rollout and withdrawal of paper forms. The cutover section explains how in-flight orders finish on the old route, how receiving handles mixed purchase orders, and a short double-entry check at the pilot showroom. A communication section schedules who tells whom and when. Contingency gives three stop conditions and an adjust range, and the close explains the order of steps with three sources.
Reading the BU 506 Unit 6 rubric
Herzing's rubric for the implementation plan typically gives points for sequence logic, ownership, preparation, cutover, contingency and presentation. Sequence logic earns full credit when each activity's precondition is stated and the order follows from them. Ownership is scored on one accountable role per activity. Preparation rewards a plan that groups training, documentation, system work and approvals before go-live. Cutover is often the deciding criterion, rewarding plans that explain how work continues during the change. Contingency earns points for specific, measurable stop conditions rather than a promise to monitor. Presentation matters more here than in most units, because the plan should look like something people could print and work from. A go or stop decision built into the sequence is often credited on its own.
BU 506 Unit 6 help before you submit
Implementation plans lose marks when they read as narratives instead of schedules. Activities owned by the team have no owner. Preparation is often missing, so go-live depends on training and approvals that never appear. Many plans assume work pauses while the change happens, with no word on orders already in progress. Contingency is frequently a vague promise to adjust as needed. Some plans also forget to schedule communication, leaving people to hear about the change secondhand. Pilots are another gap: a plan that rolls out everywhere on one day has no chance to learn before the mistakes multiply. If your plan needs a clearer sequence or a real cutover section, our writers can help you build one around your own redesign and timeline.
Get a BU 506 Unit 6 example written to your instructions
Two files get this moving: the Unit 6 instructions and the BU 506 rubric your classroom carries, plus the improvement design and any planning template the assignment requires. We write a custom example that gates activities by prerequisite, sequences relative to a start, assigns single owners and keeps the process running through cutover. First custom sample free, returned in 24 to 48 hours.
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BU 506 Unit 6 questions, answered
Should the plan use real dates or relative timing?
Relative timing is safer unless the instructions ask otherwise, because a plan built on dates you cannot control ages badly and a marker can see the guesswork. Anchor everything to a start point and express activities as intervals from it. Where the assignment does require a calendar, label every date as belonging to the case rather than to a real schedule.
How much detail does a graduate plan need?
Enough that somebody else could run it without asking you what you meant, which is usually fewer lines than a first draft carries. Twelve activities with owners, prerequisites and completion signals beat forty bullet points. Where an activity would need explaining in a conversation, either split it or write what done looks like, since that is the detail markers actually reward.
Can I reuse a project plan my employer already built?
No, even in redrafted form. Project schedules, resource allocations, approval records and internal milestone documents are company work product, and a graded submission carries them outside. Plan the composite improvement from first principles, using what you know about how implementations behave, and keep every owner a role rather than a colleague who could be identified.
Where can I find a free BU 506 Unit 6 sample paper?
Nothing in the BU 506 Unit 6 implementation plan is locked; it is all here free, with the preparation and rollout tables, the cutover section, stop conditions and margin notes. Send your prompt and redesign and we will draft a plan for your case free, generally inside 48 hours.
Should a BU 506 Unit 6 plan run old and new processes together?
Usually, for work already in progress. The sample lets orders taken on paper finish on the old route, so both versions run for about four weeks at each showroom while receiving checks lot-sensitive products by name.