Key Change Agents Recommended for the role of key change agent in the organization is the department chairperson who has also served as interim division head. In both of these roles she is highly respected and therefore would be ideal in“facilitat[ing] the flow of innovations from a change agency to an audience of clients,” which Rogers(2003) argued is necessary(p. 368). The second recommendation for key change agent is the Director of Student Success. E The current department chair/ former interim division head and Director of Student Success possess a high degree of expertise. Each of these change agents will effect positive social change as they: Assess client’s needs Develop rapport with clients following establishing a need for change exists Express empathy while diagnosing clients’ problems Motivate interest among clients to achieve goals Ensure that recommendations based on client need are in place in order to influence behavior change Reinforce messages to clients who have confirmed adoption in the innovation-decision process and thereby stabilize behavior Support and develop the clients self-reliance for change Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. (5 th ed.). New York, NY. Free Press

Key Change Agents cont. Innovators and early adopters of Blogging will likely include members of the social system who are tuned in professionally and personally to social networking. They have a keen interest in new ideas and regularly blog, use wikis, follow others on Twitter, and have Facebook accounts. These Innovators and Early Adopters embrace innovations with favorable curiosity even in the face of uncertainty. They include, division heads, department chairpersons, and other members of the organization who have spearheaded and/or adopted previous innovations.

Audience Segmentation: Moving Key Change Agents toward adoption Strategies in garnering support from Innovators and Early Adopters include: Compile a “clique of innovators” from different geographical regions to network and open the communication channels Engage innovators in the diffusion process Increase awareness of the soundness and credibility of the innovation. Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. (5 th ed.). New York, NY. Free Press

Resistance to Change Many individuals will be resistance to change. These laggards will reject the innovation primarily because they would rather hold on to the status quo and keep things as they are. They are tied to the past and the social circles they operate within in the social system is small and contains like-minded individuals, all of whom are suspicious of change. Most are older, nearing the winter of their career, or are younger, but long-term members of the organization.

Audience Segmentation: Combating Resistance Strategies to help move Laggards toward adoption include: Being proactive and address limitations of innovations previously adopted Increase social networking Create awareness and knowledge of the innovation Increase confidence that the innovation will be successful Remove most uncertainty about the innovation’s performance Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. (5 th ed.). New York, NY. Free Press

Attributes of Innovations These combination of perceived attributes would be best for helping Blogging meet critical mass.  Relative advantage  Compatibility  Trialability  Observability

Centralized or Decentralized A centralized approach to adoption of Blogging to the Board of Directors is recommended for the following reasons Rogers (2003) outlined, although he noted that diffusion systems usually contain some elements of both centralization and de-centralization, creating a hybrid system:  Members of the social system will share the power of diffusion which also allows for diffusion that may be unplanned and spontaneous  Diffusion will be the result of user experimentation, typically from non-experts  Innovations will diffuse among peers through horizontal networks  Decisions on which innovations will be diffused will be determined by informal evaluations at the local level  The diffusion process will be driven by the needs and problems of clients. Rogers defined this as a problem-centered approach (p. 296).  Local adaption will be high as innovations diffuse among adopters Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. (5 th ed.). New York, NY. Free Press

Critical Mass Blogging has not met critical mass in society; that is, further diffusion is not self-sustaining. Therefore, several strategies must be used in order for acceleration of the adoption to occur which Rogers (2003) argued should happen in the early stages of diffusion. Three strategies for achieving critical mass will be used. First, decision makers and highly influential individuals will be targeted for initial adopters. Secondly, incentives will be provided to early adopters. Finally, the innovation will be introduced to a sampling or selected group of members of the social system who generally embraced new innovations.