| Course | LDR 309 Leading Through Change (LDR/309) |
|---|---|
| Week | 5 |
| Paper type | Change leadership plan |
| Length | about 1,002 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 5
Doubling Without Losing Character: Adaptability, Transformational Leadership and a Change Leadership Plan for a Kentucky Distillery
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
LDR/309: Leading Through Change
Week 5 Final Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Copper Ridge Distilling, its people and its plan are composites written for a model paper.
Four papers have traced change at Copper Ridge, the invented 85-person bourbon maker. Week 1 found the expansion project efficient but weak as a human change. Week 2 found that a second bottling shift was limited by changeovers at the labeling step. Week 3 planned how to integrate a barrel tracking system with a skeptical warehouse crew. Week 4 designed a three-year succession plan for founder and master distiller Walt Hensley. These changes overlap: in the coming 18 months, employees will move into a new still house, work new shifts, learn a new system and watch their founder begin to step back. This paper presents an integrated change leadership plan built on research on adaptability and transformational leadership.
Adaptability as Skills
Pulakos et al. (2000) developed a taxonomy of adaptive performance from analyses of many jobs. They identified eight dimensions: handling emergencies or crises, handling work stress, solving problems creatively, dealing with uncertain and unpredictable situations, learning new tasks, technologies and procedures, demonstrating interpersonal adaptability, demonstrating cultural adaptability and demonstrating physically oriented adaptability. The taxonomy treats adaptability as several distinct skills, which can be assessed and developed, rather than a single trait.
Transformational and Change Leadership
Herold et al. (2008) studied employees in many organizations undergoing change and compared two kinds of leadership. Transformational leadership, a general style of inspiring and developing followers, and change leadership, specific behaviors such as explaining the change, involving people and supporting them through it, both related to employees' commitment to a change. When a change hit employees' own jobs hard, the specific behaviors around that change counted for more, while the broader inspiring style supplied background trust.
Leaders at Every Level
Oreg and Berson (2019) reviewed research on leaders' impact on organizational change. They found that leaders influence change through their traits, their behaviors and the ways they communicate and involve employees, and that frontline and middle managers often shape employees' reactions as much as senior leaders. They called for attention to how leaders at different levels interact during change.
Who Is Affected and How
Bottling staff face new shifts and schedules. Warehouse crews face scanners and a changed routine. Distillers face new equipment and new colleagues. Everyone faces the uncertainty of the founder's transition. The personal impact is highest for bottling and warehouse staff, where change leadership matters most.
The Leadership Approach
Walt and general manager Dana Kessler will provide transformational leadership: a shared vision of Copper Ridge as a larger distillery that keeps its character, expressed through its history, its farmers and its whiskey. Supervisors and leads will provide change leadership for each specific change, explaining it, involving people and supporting them. Maria Ochoa and Jordan Pike, the succession candidates, will model adaptability and take visible roles in the changes.
Walt can tell everyone why the distillery must grow, but only the bottling supervisor can make the new shift work for the people on it.
Sequencing the Changes
To limit strain, changes will be paced. Months 1 to 3: workflow changes on the bottling line and the tracking system pilot in one rickhouse. Months 4 to 9: full tracking rollout and preparation for the new still house, with staff tours and training. Months 10 to 18: still house startup and new rickhouses. The succession plan runs alongside, with the candidates' apprenticeship visible throughout.
Developing Adaptability
Using the taxonomy from Pulakos et al. (2000), development will focus on three dimensions most relevant to Copper Ridge: learning new tasks and technologies, through hands-on practice and super users; dealing with uncertainty, through regular updates and honest answers about what is not yet known; and handling work stress, through manageable overtime limits and supervisor check-ins during startup.
Equipping Supervisors
Research by Herold et al. (2008) and Oreg and Berson (2019) points to frontline leaders, so the six supervisors and leads will receive training in change leadership: explaining the reasons for each change, involving their teams in details, recognizing effort and identifying people who are struggling. Each will hold a weekly team conversation about the changes.
Recognizing Progress
Long changes wear people down unless progress is visible. The plan marks milestones with small celebrations: the first full month of complete scanning, the first week the bottling line reaches 700 cases a day across two shifts, the first barrel filled in the new still house. Walt will be present at each, linking progress to the distillery's story.
Communication
Monthly all-staff meetings will update progress on every change and the succession plan. A board in the break room will show the timeline and what is coming next. Questions will be collected anonymously and answered at each meeting.
Risks
The main risks are fatigue, the loss of key people and a delay in the still house. Too many changes at once could push experienced staff to leave, so pacing will slow if pulse surveys show strain. If one succession candidate leaves, the plan shifts to developing a second internal option. If construction slips, training will continue so staff are ready when the building is.
Measures
The plan will track project measures, such as schedule and budget; workflow measures, such as cases per shift; technology measures, such as scanning completeness; people measures, such as voluntary turnover, a quarterly readiness and commitment pulse survey and participation in training; and succession measures, such as candidates' progress in blind tasting panels.
Review and Adjustment
Dana Kessler will review all measures monthly with supervisors and adjust pacing if commitment falls or turnover rises. The owners' board will review quarterly.
Conclusion
Research shows that adaptability is a set of developable skills, that change-specific leadership raises commitment when changes affect people personally and that leaders at every level shape how change unfolds. Copper Ridge's plan combines an inspiring vision from its founder with supervisors who lead each change, paced changes, deliberate development of adaptability and clear measures, so the distillery can double its production without losing the character that made it worth growing.
References
Herold, D. M., Fedor, D. B., Caldwell, S., & Liu, Y. (2008). The effects of transformational and change leadership on employees' commitment to a change: A multilevel study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(2), 346-357. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.346
Oreg, S., & Berson, Y. (2019). Leaders' impact on organizational change: Bridging theoretical and methodological chasms. Academy of Management Annals, 13(1), 272-307. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0138
Pulakos, E. D., Arad, S., Donovan, M. A., & Plamondon, K. E. (2000). Adaptability in the workplace: Development of a taxonomy of adaptive performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(4), 612-624. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.85.4.612
What the LDR 309 Week 5 instructions ask
At the close of LDR 309, students are generally asked to develop a change leadership plan that integrates the course's topics: project management and change, workflow, technology integration, mentorship and succession and adaptability and transformational leadership. Expect to describe the change, the people affected, the leadership approach, actions and timeline, communication, how adaptability will be developed and how success will be measured. A strong paper uses research on adaptability and change leadership, shows how earlier analyses fit together, addresses the human side of each change and builds in feedback and adjustment. It should read as a plan leaders could carry out. Cite scholarly sources in APA format.
How this LDR 309 Week 5 example is built
Copper Ridge faces several changes at once: a new still house and rickhouses, a second bottling shift, a barrel tracking system and a founder's planned retirement. The final paper treats them as one transition requiring one leadership approach. A taxonomy of adaptive performance identifies eight ways employees adapt, from handling uncertainty to learning new technologies, which guides development. A multilevel study shows that change-specific leadership, such as explaining and supporting a particular change, raises commitment to it, especially when the change affects employees personally, and that transformational leadership builds a general base of trust. A review of leaders' role in change emphasizes leaders' behaviors at every level. The plan names leaders, actions, a timeline, communication and measures.
LDR 309 Week 5 grading rubric: where the points go
Final change leadership plans are graded on integration, use of research and practicality. The highest marks go to plans that connect the course's topics into one coherent approach, apply research on adaptability and change leadership to specific people and situations and include actions, owners, a timeline, communication and measures. Graders reward attention to how changes affect employees differently and to the role of leaders at every level, not just the top. Graders also check that the plan's timeline matches the pacing argument. Honest discussion of risks and the ability to adjust the plan as results come in show maturity, and consistency with earlier weeks' figures and names keeps the plan credible.
LDR 309 Week 5 help: mistakes to avoid
Final plans often list each week's recommendations side by side without showing how they work together. Explain the sequence and connections, such as how the tracking system rollout depends on readiness built earlier. Another common weakness is relying on the top leader alone; research shows supervisors' change behaviors strongly shape commitment. Assign roles at every level. Some papers discuss adaptability as a trait people have or lack, rather than a set of skills that can be developed. Plan development. Others forget the cumulative strain of several changes at once. Pace them. Finally, build measures and review points, since no change plan survives contact with reality unchanged.
Related LDR 309 sample papers
Other LDR 309 week samples
- LDR 309 Week 1: Project Management and Change
- LDR 309 Week 2: Workflow Management
- LDR 309 Week 3: Technology Integration
- LDR 309 Week 4: Mentorship and Succession Planning
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LDR 309 Week 5 questions, answered
What does LDR 309 Week 5 usually cover?
It usually covers adaptability and transformational leadership and asks for a final change leadership plan that integrates project management, workflow, technology integration and succession planning.
Where can I find a free LDR 309 Week 5 sample paper?
The final change leadership plan for a composite Kentucky distillery doubling its production is posted in full above.
What is adaptive performance?
Adaptive performance describes how well employees handle change, including dealing with uncertainty, solving problems creatively, learning new tasks and technologies and adjusting to new people and conditions.
Does transformational leadership increase commitment to change?
Research suggests it builds a general base of commitment, while change-specific leadership, explaining and supporting a particular change, has stronger effects when the change personally affects employees.
What should a change leadership plan include?
A description of the change and who it affects, the leadership approach, actions with owners and dates, communication, development of adaptability and measures with review points.
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