Change in Organizations and Leadership Interventions

Running head: CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERSHIP INTERVENTIONS
CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERSHIP INTERVENTIONS
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERSHIP INTERVENTIONS1
Introduction
The different modifications in the organizational operations relied critically on the
different market situations. The change in organizational operations critically reflect the rate of
collaboration among the stakeholders of the venture while expanding to the different markets
(Baumgartner and Rauter 2017). The research will take steps to delineate the different changes
that was implemented by Polman in the year 2008 at Unilever and the major challenges that
might be encountered by the same while undertaking the change initiatives. The different
changes that were initiated by the leader aimed at adhering to the triple bottom line related needs
of the venture. On the other hand, the research will also outline the chief leadership roles that
might be applied in the organizational operations for avoiding the restrictions to change process.
Therefore, the research would identify a range of concepts relating to the change in the
organizations and the leadership constructs for risk avoidance.
Background of change in Unilever
The change that was planned by Polman for Unilever specifically relied on
innovativeness in the brand propositions and the wider appeal to the customers for developing
stronger market base. On the other hand, the strategies that were framed by Polman also relied on
continuous developments for the venture while maximizing the collaboration among the target
stakeholders of the venture.

Chang
es in
Unilev
er
Efficient decision making
through decentralization
Developing innovation
through recruitment of
skilled staffs
Growth in the existing
markets through
continuous innovation
Resistance from
employees due to layoffs
Reluctance of employees
to undergo training
programs
Confusion among the
investors
Forces for
change Forces against
change
CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERSHIP INTERVENTIONS2
Outline of challenges faced by Unilever
Force field analysis
(Source: Author)
Resistances from the managers and employees while the organization aimed at changing the
existing people: The organization faced significant issues while changing the existing managers
and employees through layoffs for continuing with the efficiency of the operations in orientation
with the needs of sustainable development of the line of operations. Layoffs also affected the rate
of motivation of the existing employees while operating in their respective job roles. The
resistance from the employees and the managers affected the successful implementation of the
change process in the organizational model while aligning with the strategic objectives of the
venture (Johnson 1984). The modifications in the organizational context was based on
empowering innovativeness through the recruitment of skilled employees. However, the
retention of the existing employees and manages could have increased he operational costs of the

CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERSHIP INTERVENTIONS3
venture while improving the resource and capabilities of the same. In this relation, the CEO
planned to layoff the existing employees from the different departments with the objective of
recruiting skilled workforce for empowering the organizational processes. However, the layoff
affected the interests of the chief workforce due to job cuts which resulted to dissatisfaction and
lack of motivation (Johnson 1984). On the other hand, the job cuts also resulted to stiff resistance
from the side of the existing employees towards the change processes which acted as a force
resisting change in the organizational situation.
Reluctance of the existing staff to undertake developmental programs: The staff’s reluctance to
attend the training and development programs that are organized by the organization restricted
the operational capabilities of the venture while aligning the strategic objectives of change with
the vision of market growth. Reluctance of the employees to attend the training programs and
lack of change readiness among the stakeholders affects the capabilities of a venture in
continuing with the efficiency of the operations while operating in the different markets (Roy
and Sarkar 2016). Moreover, Fernandez and Rainey (2017) also opined that efficient training
and development programs enables an organization in maximizing the performance of the same
while adhering to the changing needs of the customers. However, the reluctance of the
employees towards attending the training and development programs offered by the organization
incapacitated the venture in empowering the performance of the employees towards achieving
their strategic goals. The organization developed the training and development initiatives with
the objective of improving the performance of the employees (Johnson 1984). However, the
reluctance of the employees to get indulged in the different training and development initiatives
of the venture restricted the capabilities of the organization in improving the performance of the
same while expanding their venture in the different locations.