BUSI 335 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies Example

Reviewed by Thomas Kerrigan, MBA, CPA · Liberty University · Updated

This BUSI 335 Week 2 sample shows two replies that complete the first forum, written in the third person as the course requires. The first answers a composite classmate who blamed most change failures on poor planning, adding the textbook's account of external and internal pressures that force change whether or not a plan is ready. The second responds to a classmate who believed a clear explanation was enough, bringing in research on managers whose actions during a specific change, not only their words, raised staff commitment most where jobs were changing. For Liberty University BUSI 335, a BS in Business Administration course, the two replies are graded together out of 30 points in Module/Week 2.

CourseBUSI 335 Leading Change (BUSI335)
Module/Week2
AssignmentDiscussion Board Forum 1 Replies
Paper typeTwo discussion replies
Lengthabout 430 words (thread and replies). Course guide: replies to 2 classmates' Forum 1 threads, each at least 200 words in the third person with at least 1 citation from a peer-reviewed article or a course textbook, in current APA format
FormatAPA 7 citations and reference list
Points30
SchoolLiberty University Online
ProgramBS in Business Administration
Where it sitsModule/Week 2 in Liberty's published BUSI 335 course guide; current sections can differ
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for BUSI 335 Week 2

1

Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies: Responding to Classmates on Drivers of Change

BUSI 335 Leading Change, Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies

Thread by [Student Name]

The classmates and their threads are composites; the textbook and research cited are real, and the replies are written in the third person as the guide requires.

Reply to Jordan

Why this part earns its pointsThe first reply widens the classmate's focus from planning to the pressures that drive change.
2

Jordan's thread argued that most change efforts fail because organizations plan them poorly, and the example of a retail chain that rolled out new scheduling software without testing it supports the point. Poor planning certainly causes trouble. The textbook, however, suggests that planning is only part of the picture.

Palmer et al. (2016) describe a range of environmental pressures that push organizations to change, including technological developments, competition, regulation, shifts in customer expectations and economic conditions. Many of these pressures arrive on their own schedule, not the organization's. A retailer may have to adopt new scheduling software quickly because of a new state law on predictable work schedules, leaving little time for the careful planning Jordan recommends. In that situation, the problem is less poor planning than a mismatch between the speed of external change and the organization's capacity to respond.

This perspective suggests that change readiness, the ability to respond quickly and well when pressure arrives, may matter as much as the quality of any single plan. Organizations that scan their environment and build flexible systems are better placed when the next pressure comes.

Readiness of this kind is not the opposite of planning. A chain that already keeps clean staffing data and trains managers on new tools can plan a rollout in weeks rather than months when a law or a competitor forces the pace.

Would the retail chain in Jordan's example have had time to plan more carefully, or was it reacting to an outside deadline?

Reply to Brianna

Why this part earns its pointsThe second reply adds evidence on what leaders do that builds commitment.
3

Brianna's thread argued that employees resist change mainly because nobody explains why it is needed, and that a clear explanation would solve most resistance. Explaining the reasons for change is important, and research supports Brianna's emphasis on what leaders do.

Herold et al. (2008) surveyed staff across work units going through change and reported that managers who explained the reasons for that particular change and brought people into carrying it out had staff who were more committed to it. That link grew stronger for workers whose own daily tasks were reshaped most by the change. General leadership style mattered too, but what leaders did about the particular change made a distinct difference.

The study suggests that explanation is necessary but works best as part of a broader pattern of behavior. Employees who are told why a change is happening and also see leaders involving them, answering their questions and acknowledging the change's effects on their work are more likely to commit to it.

In Brianna's example of the hospital merger, which leader behaviors beyond explanation might have reduced the resistance described?

4

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

Palmer, I., Dunford, R., & Buchanan, D. A. (2016). Managing organizational change: A multiple perspectives approach (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

What the BUSI 335 Week 2 instructions ask

BUSI 335's second module/week brings chapters 2 and 3 of Palmer, Dunford and Buchanan, on images of change management and on why organizations change, along with a presentation, the first case study and replies to two classmates' Forum 1 threads. Replies need 200 words or more apiece, third-person voice throughout, and contain at least one citation from a peer-reviewed article or one of the textbooks in current APA format. The replies are worth 30 points together, and the guide encourages longer or additional replies that add to the discussion. Classmates' threads on why change efforts succeed or stall provide the material for both replies.

How this BUSI 335 Week 2 example is built

The two replies use different kinds of sources, as the guide allows. The first draws on the textbook's discussion of environmental pressures for change, such as technology, regulation and competition, to qualify a classmate's focus on planning. The second draws on a peer-reviewed study of change leadership and employee commitment to extend a classmate's point about explaining the reasons for change. Both are written without first-person pronouns, refer to the classmate by name, and close with a question for further discussion. Each reply also stays close to the classmate's own organization, a retail chain in one case and a hospital merger in the other, so the added source answers the example rather than the topic in general.

BUSI 335 Week 2 grading rubric: where the points go

Replies are graded on whether each engages the classmate's thread with course knowledge, reaches 200 words, uses the third person and cites a peer-reviewed article or a textbook in current APA format. A reply that brings a new idea or new evidence outscores one that simply agrees. A reply written in the first person, one without a citation, or one that responds to the general topic instead of the classmate's argument loses points. Because additional replies are encouraged, students who engage beyond the minimum often strengthen the discussion and their own understanding. Replies that cite the assigned chapters accurately, with page-free APA in-text citations for the textbook, meet the citation requirement as fully as a journal article does.

BUSI 335 Week 2 help: mistakes that cost points

Read each classmate's thread and identify one claim you can extend or qualify. Write in the third person by referring to the classmate by name and describing ideas rather than your own feelings about them. Use the textbook chapters assigned this module/week where they fit, or a peer-reviewed article. Keep each reply focused on one idea, at least 200 words, and end with a question. Finish the replies around the case study's deadline so both are complete. If two classmates wrote about similar examples, choosing threads with different examples keeps the two replies from repeating each other, and a quick check that each reply passes 200 words on its own avoids losing points on one of them.

Related BUSI 335 sample papers

Other BUSI 335 weeks

More BS in Business Administration sample papers

BUSI 335 Week 2 questions, answered

What are the BUSI 335 Forum 1 Replies?

Two responses to classmates' first-forum threads, each 200 words or longer, kept in the third person and supported by a journal or textbook source, worth 30 points in Module/Week 2.

Where can I find a free BUSI 335 Week 2 sample paper?

This page holds a whole BUSI 335 Week 2 sample of two third-person replies on the drivers of change and leaders who build commitment.

What forces drive organizational change?

Textbooks describe external pressures such as technology, competition, regulation and economic shifts, and internal pressures such as growth, new leadership and performance problems.

How do leaders build commitment to change?

Herold and colleagues reported that what managers did about the particular change, giving reasons and drawing staff into the rollout, predicted how committed workers felt to it, most of all when their own roles shifted.

What else is due in BUSI 335 Module/Week 2?

The first case study is also due; students answer the instructor's case questions using Scripture, Palmer's text and two journal articles that passed peer review.

Use it as a model, or ask for your own

This paper is an original model written by our desk for study. It is not a submitted student paper and not an official Liberty University document. Read it for structure and reasoning, then write your own to the instructions in your Canvas course. If you want a version built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

Ask for a custom BUSI 335 Week 2 sample · All BUSI 335 weeks · All courses