| Course | LDR 309 Leading Through Change (LDR/309) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Change project analysis |
| Length | about 1,071 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for LDR 309 Week 1
A Second Still House and a Founder Stepping Back: Managing a Change Project at a Kentucky Craft Distillery
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
LDR/309: Leading Through Change
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Copper Ridge Distilling, its people and its figures are composites written for a model paper.
Copper Ridge Distilling is a composite craft distillery founded in 2009 near Bardstown, Kentucky. It produces bourbon, rye and a small line of gins, employs 85 people and earns about $31 million a year from distribution in 22 states and a busy visitor center. Demand for its aged bourbon has outgrown capacity, and the company is building a second still house and two new rickhouses, a $14 million project scheduled over 18 months. The expansion will double distilling capacity, add a second bottling shift and introduce a barrel tracking system. At the same time, founder and master distiller Walt Hensley, 67, plans to step back within three years. The project manager reports that construction is on schedule and within budget. Yet a staff survey shows anxiety, and two experienced bottling employees have resigned. This paper examines the expansion as both a project and an organizational change.
The Project View
As a project, the expansion has a defined scope: a still house, two rickhouses, a second bottling shift and a tracking system. It has a schedule with milestones, a budget, a contractor team and a risk register covering weather, equipment delivery and permits. Weekly meetings track progress against the plan. By these measures, the project is healthy.
Project Success Has Several Dimensions
Shenhar et al. (2001) studied projects in many organizations and argued that project success should be viewed as a multidimensional strategic concept. They identified dimensions including project efficiency, meeting time and budget; impact on the customer; direct business success; and preparing for the future by building new capabilities. Different dimensions matter over different time frames. A project can be efficient and still fail to deliver business value or prepare the organization for what comes next.
The Change View
As a change, the expansion alters how people work. Bottling staff will rotate onto a new evening shift. Warehouse workers must scan every barrel into a new system instead of using paper logs. Distillers will train new hires. And the company's identity, built around one founder's recipes and judgment, is shifting as Walt prepares to leave.
Readiness for Change
Armenakis et al. (1993) described readiness as the cognitive precursor to the behaviors of resistance or support. Readiness reflects employees' beliefs that change is needed and that the organization can carry it out. They proposed that leaders create readiness through a persuasive message about the discrepancy between the current and desired state, through confidence in the ability to change, through active participation and through the influence of credible people.
Commitment to Change
Herscovitch and Meyer (2002) extended a three-component model of commitment to organizational change. Affective commitment reflects a desire to support a change because one believes in its benefits. Continuance commitment reflects a recognition that failing to support it would be costly. Normative commitment reflects a sense of obligation. They found that affective and normative commitment were associated with greater support, including championing the change, while continuance commitment was associated mainly with minimal compliance.
Evidence From Copper Ridge
A survey of 71 employees, interviews with 12 staff and a review of project communications provided evidence. Only 38 percent agreed that they understood why the second bottling shift was needed, and 29 percent felt they had a say in how it would work. Warehouse workers described the tracking system as something imposed on them. Many employees expressed worry about the distillery's character after Walt retires.
The concrete is being poured on schedule, but the people who will work in the building have not been brought along.
Project Strengths
The project is efficient in Shenhar et al.'s terms: schedule and budget are on track, and safety on the construction site has been excellent. Customer impact looks promising, since distributors have committed to larger orders.
Change Weaknesses
Readiness is low. The discrepancy message, why the company must double capacity, has been shared with distributors but not with staff. Participation is limited to managers. Commitment, where it exists, is mostly continuance: employees comply because they need their jobs. The preparing-for-the-future dimension is weakest, since no one is developing the next generation of distillers or leaders.
What Employees Stand to Lose
Resistance makes more sense when seen from employees' side. Bottling staff who have worked days for years may lose evening time with their families. Warehouse veterans whose memory of the rickhouses made them indispensable may feel replaced by a scanner. Distillers who learned everything from Walt worry about who will judge their work. These are real losses, and naming them openly is part of building readiness. Leaders who acknowledge losses, rather than insisting everything will be better, earn more trust for the changes they ask people to make.
Recommendation 1: Integrate Change Tasks Into the Project Plan
Each project milestone will have a matching people task. Before the bottling shift begins, staff will help design the rotation. Before the tracking system launches, warehouse workers will test it and suggest changes.
Recommendation 2: Share the Reasons
Walt and the general manager will hold all-staff meetings explaining the demand, the plan and what it means for jobs, including more positions and overtime opportunities.
Recommendation 3: Use Credible Voices
Respected senior distillers and warehouse leads will serve as change champions, consistent with the role of credible people in building readiness.
Recommendation 4: Plan for the Future Dimension
Succession planning for Walt will become part of the project's goals, with a mentoring plan developed later in the course.
The Founder's Role in the Change
Walt's transition is itself a change that affects how employees read every other change. Many staff trust the expansion because they trust him. If he is visibly involved in explaining the expansion and in preparing his successors, his credibility can help build readiness. If he withdraws early, employees may interpret the expansion as the moment the distillery stopped being his.
Measures
Success will be tracked through project measures and change measures: schedule and budget, plus staff understanding, participation, voluntary turnover and use of the tracking system.
Conclusion
Research shows that project success has several dimensions and that change succeeds only when employees are ready and committed for the right reasons. Copper Ridge's expansion is an efficient project but a weak change. Integrating people tasks into the plan, sharing the reasons, using credible voices and planning for the future can turn a well-built still house into a well-led transformation.
References
Armenakis, A. A., Harris, S. G., & Mossholder, K. W. (1993). Creating readiness for organizational change. Human Relations, 46(6), 681-703. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679304600601
Herscovitch, L., & Meyer, J. P. (2002). Commitment to organizational change: Extension of a three-component model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 474-487. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.3.474
Shenhar, A. J., Dvir, D., Levy, O., & Maltz, A. C. (2001). Project success: A multidimensional strategic concept. Long Range Planning, 34(6), 699-725. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0024-6301(01)00097-8
What the LDR 309 Week 1 instructions ask
LDR 309 usually opens by having students connect two disciplines, running a project and leading a change, through one initiative inside a real or realistic organization. Expect to describe project elements such as scope, schedule, budget, stakeholders and risk, along with change elements such as readiness, resistance, communication and commitment, and to explain why projects that meet technical goals can still fail as changes. A strong paper uses research on project success and change readiness, applies both lenses to a specific initiative with real details and identifies leadership actions that address the technical and human sides together. Cite scholarly sources in APA format.
How this LDR 309 Week 1 example is built
Copper Ridge's expansion is on schedule and on budget, yet bottling staff talk openly about leaving and the warehouse crew resists new tracking procedures. The paper argues that the project is succeeding as construction and struggling as change. Research treating project success as several dimensions, from efficiency to impact on customers to preparing for the future, broadens the definition of success. Research on readiness for change shows how leaders create a shared belief that change is needed and possible, and a model of commitment to change distinguishes support based on belief in the change from support based on cost or obligation. Interviews, a staff survey and the project plan show strong project controls but weak change readiness, and the paper recommends integrating the two.
LDR 309 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Papers in this first week are graded on how well they connect project management and change leadership. Strong work explains project dimensions accurately, recognizes that project success has several meanings beyond time and budget and uses research on readiness and commitment to analyze the human side. Graders look for specific evidence about the initiative, such as schedules, survey results or interviews, and for recommendations that link project tasks to change activities. Clear organization, accurate APA referencing and a conclusion that frames the rest of the course complete a strong paper, and a short discussion of who is affected by the change shows good judgment.
LDR 309 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
A frequent problem in this paper is treating project management and change as separate topics in separate sections with no link. Show how a project decision, such as a new shift schedule, creates a change people must accept. Another common weakness is defining success only as on time and on budget; research shows customers, employees and future capabilities matter too. Some students describe resistance as stubbornness rather than asking what people stand to lose. Interview or survey them. Others offer generic change models without applying each step. Apply the ideas to real tasks and people. Finally, recommend a few concrete actions with owners, because the rest of the course will build on this foundation.
Related LDR 309 sample papers
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- LDR 309 Week 4: Mentorship and Succession Planning
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LDR 309 Week 1 questions, answered
What does LDR 309 Week 1 usually cover?
It usually covers how project management and organizational change relate, including project dimensions such as scope and schedule and change dimensions such as readiness, resistance and commitment.
Where can I find a free LDR 309 Week 1 sample paper?
The Week 1 analysis of a production expansion at a composite Kentucky craft distillery is published above with its references.
Why do projects that finish on time still fail?
Because people may not accept or use what the project delivers; success also depends on readiness, commitment and how the change affects employees and customers.
What is readiness for change?
Readiness is employees' shared belief that a change is needed and that the organization can carry it out, which leaders build through clear messages, participation and visible support.
What are the types of commitment to change?
One model distinguishes affective commitment, based on belief in the change, continuance commitment, based on the costs of not supporting it, and normative commitment, based on a sense of obligation.
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