Change Management: An Analysis of the Change at Lion Nathan

This report analyzes the concept of change management and its implementation at Lion Nathan, focusing on organizational culture and recruitment process. Recommendations for effective change management are also provided.

Running head: CHANGE MANAGEMENT
CHANGE MANAGEMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CHANGE AT LION NATHAM
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aim of this report is to analyse the concept of change management and its related aspects
in the particular context of the case study “HRM and Change at Lion Nathan”. The report
firstly introduces the concept of change management and the likely benefits that the business
enterprises can derive through the usage of the same. The report next highlights the two
major changes undertaken by Lion Nathan, particular the one related to organisational culture
and the one related to the recruitment process used by the concerned enterprise. The report
next undertakes an analysis of the reasons for the changes which were undertaken by Lion
Nathan and also the reasons for the problems faced by the same. The report also undertakes
an analysis of the changes which were implemented by the concerned enterprise and
concludes by proposing three recommendations, namely, use of adequate change
management model (Lewin’s change management model), use of pilot projects and adequate
monitoring and evaluation processes.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Change Management and its importance...................................................................................3
Overview of the change at Lion Nathan....................................................................................4
Reasons for the Change..............................................................................................................5
Reasons for the problems faced by Lion Nathan.......................................................................5
Analysis of the Change undertaken............................................................................................6
Recommendations......................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
As opined by Hayes (2018), the fierce competition or the rivalry which exists within
the spectrum of the modern-day business world had forced the business enterprises to
constantly improve the different business processes or activities that are being used by them.
Cameron and Green (2015) are of the viewpoint that one of the most important processes or
approaches that the contemporary business enterprises use for the improvement of their
processes or systems is the machinery of change management. In this connection, it needs to
be said that the construct of change management enables the business enterprises to introduce
the needed or the desired changes within the spectrum of their workplace or enterprise for the
enhancement of the prospects or the fortunes of their business (Doppelt 2017). However,
before the implementation of any kind of change the business enterprises need to thoroughly
analyse the problems or the issues that they are facing and also the reasons for the same and
thereby needs to formulate the desired or the relevant change strategies or measures (Lines et
al. 2015). More importantly, it had been seen that the leaders as well as the management
teams of the business enterprises are playing an ever-increasing role within the framework of
the different changes introduced by the business enterprises. The purpose of this report is to
analyse the construct of change management and its different related aspects in the particular
light of the case study “HRM and Change at Lion Nathan”.
Change Management and its importance
Alvesson and Sveningsson (2015) have articulat6ed the viewpoint that the process of
change management can be defined as a systematic approach through which the business
enterprises try to introduce new changes within their workplace or enterprise, implement
them, take the help of different measures for the effective implementation of the same and
also regulate or monitor them in an adequate manner. On the other hand, Basile and Faraci
(2015) have noted that the process of change management is mainly concerned with
implementation of the kind of changes which will enable it to achieve or realise its
organisational objectives, goals and mission or vision in the best possible manner. The
resultant effect of this is that the process of change management is often considered to be a
necessary tool which is likely to help it to bring about the necessary or required
transformation or transition within its business so as to attain its objectives. However, at the
same time it needs to be said that there are various factors that the business enterprises need
to take into account during the process of change management like determining the nature of

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the changes which needs to be implemented on the basis of the competencies or the resources
of the enterprise, use of adequate leadership and management for the effective
implementation and control or the regulation of the same and others (Farkas 2016). In this
regard, it needs to be mentioned that one of the most important challenges that the business
enterprises during the process of change management is the resistance that the business
enterprises face from the employees or the workers (Kaufman 2017). It is precisely here that
the role played by the leaders during the process of change management becomes important.
Overview of the change at Lion Nathan
The business enterprise Lion Nathan is one of the largest alcoholic beverage
enterprises of the nation of Australia and offers employment to more than 1800 Australians
and 1400 New Zealanders. However, over the years it had been seen that the concerned
enterprise had faced issues related to the ineffective management of the employees or the
workers and also related to the recruitment of the new employees. This in turn significantly
reduced the productivity as well as the profitability of the concerned enterprise over the years
and it was to overcome this particular issue that the enterprise under discussion here took the
help of the process of change management. In this regard, it needs to be said that one of the
most important changes that the concerned enterprise introduced was to transform the
organisational or the workplace culture of the enterprise. For introducing the necessary
change, the enterprise under discussion here focused on three aspects, namely, the creation of
a sense of vision, values and purpose among the employees, the development of an adequate
leadership framework for the purpose of influencing the behaviour of the employees and the
introduction of different management processes to integrate the changed behaviour of the
employees within the culture of the enterprise. More importantly, it was seen that these
changes introduced by the enterprise under discussion here were supported by the four core
values of the concerned enterprise, namely, acting with passion, integrity, being sociable and
achieving integrity. In addition to these, the enterprise Lion Nathan also modified its
recruitment process so as to hire the right candidates who would rather than becoming a
liability for the enterprise would in the longer run create value for the enterprise. For the
effective attainment of this objective, the enterprise designed a questionnaire consisting of ten
core behaviour questions and on the congruity of the answers given by the candidates with
the values or the objectives they are being selected. These in short are some of the major
changes that the enterprise under discussion here introduced for the attainment of its business
objectives.

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Reasons for the Change
Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015) have articulated the viewpoint that the changes that a
business enterprise introduces should be formulated on the basis of a detailed as well as a
thorough analysis of the business enterprise so as to understand the issues or the problems
that it is facing. This is important because of the fact that the enterprises need to ensure that
the changes that they are formulating or implementing should be supported by its resources or
competencies which in turn would enable the enterprise to derive the desired benefits from
the implemented or formulated changes (Skogland and Hansen 2017). In the particular
context of the business enterprise Lion Nathan, it needs to be said that there are various
reasons for the changes which were being implemented by it. For example, one of the most
important reasons which propelled the enterprise under discussion here to under the changes
was the fact that despite having more than 3000 employees and also the right kind of
organisational resources or capabilities the concerned enterprise was not being able to
perform as per its desired expectations. Another important reason for the changes which were
undertaken by the concerned enterprise was the fact that the enterprise noticed that the
individual goals or the objectives of a large number of employees or for that matter their
behaviour were not aligned with the overall strategic goals or the objectives of the enterprise
or for that matter the kind of behaviour that the enterprise expected from them. This in turn
adversely affected the organisational or the workplace culture of the concerned enterprise and
thereby not only hindered the effective fulfilment of its strategic objectives or goals but at the
same time adversely affected its profitability as well.
Reasons for the problems faced by Lion Nathan
The case study of Lion Nathan in a succinct manner states that one of the major
reasons for the above-mentioned problems faced by it was the ineffective people management
techniques or strategies used by the concerned enterprise. As a matter of fact, it had been seen
that the concerned enterprise was to hire the employees without analysing the fact whether
they would be able create value for the concerned enterprise or not. More importantly, the
case study also reveals the fact that the organisational or the workplace which was
predominant within the spectrum of the concerned enterprise was not suitable enough to
support the strategies objectives or the goals of the enterprise and this in turn directly
contributed towards the problems or the issues faced by the enterprise under discussion here.
As a matter of fact, the organisational or the workplace culture of the enterprise under
discussion here completely disregarded the four important core values of the enterprise,

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namely, passion, integrity, being sociable and achieving integrity and this in turn greatly
affected the performance of not only the individual employees or the workers of the
concerned enterprise but at the same time that of the enterprise itself. It was because of these
issues or the problems that the concerned enterprise that it had to undertake the above-
mentioned changes.
Analysis of the Change undertaken
Imran et al. (2016) are of the viewpoint that for the effective analysis of the changes
that had been implemented by an enterprise the concerned enterprise needs to take the help of
three stages or steps, namely, preparing for the change, management of the change and finally
reinforcement of the implemented change. In the particular context of the enterprise Lion
Nathan, it can be said that the changes under discussion here were formulated or designed
after a thorough analysis of the different issues or the problems that the concerned enterprise
had faced over the years. On the other hand, for the effective management of the different
changes which were implemented as part of the change management for the improvement of
the prospects of the enterprise it was seen that Jason Sharpe, Lion Nathan’s People and
Culture Leader and Bob Barbour, Lion Nathan’s People and Culture Director played a
pivotal. For example, it was seen that the required training as well as coaching or mentoring
were being offered by them to facilitate the implementation as well as integration of these
changes within the organisational or the workplace culture of the concerned enterprise. In
particular, Bob Barbour took the onus for the improvement of the organisational or the
workplace culture of the enterprise and also for the improvement of the performance of the
employees and the concerned enterprise whereas Jason Sharpe took the onus of managing the
change which was introduced in the recruitment process that the concerned enterprise used.
More importantly, the effective leadership as well as the coaching or mentoring offered by
these two individuals ensured the fact that the concerned enterprise did not face any
substantial amount of challenge or resistance from the employee, which inevitably forms an
integral part of change management, during the implementation of these changes.
Furthermore, the effectiveness or the benefits of these changes that the concerned enterprise
implemented becomes apparent from the fact that within a very short time after the
implementation of these changes the concerned enterprise was able to become one of the
leading alcoholic beverage enterprises of the nation of Australia while being able to resolve
the above-mentioned problems or issues and thereby earn a higher amount of profitability as
well as competitive advantage as well.

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Recommendations
Lion Nathan had been able to achieve a substantial amount of success through the
implementation of the above-mentioned changes however at the same time it needs to be said
that there is room for much improvement especially related to the change management
process that it followed for the implementation of the changes. Some of the most important
measures that the concerned enterprise could have used so as to improve the quality of the
results that it got are discussed below-
 Use of adequate change management model: The case study under discussion here
in a succinct manner reveals the fact that the enterprise Lion Nathan did not take the
help of adequate change management model and thus it is likely that the concerned
enterprise would have been able to get better results had it taken the help of adequate
change management model. In this regard, it needs to be said that one of the best
models that the enterprise could have used is Lewin’s Change management model,
which consists of three steps, namely, unfreeze, change and refreeze (Lewis, Cantore
and Passmore 2016). Taking the help of this model, the enterprise at the first stage
could have provided the required information to the employees regarding the changes
which are going to be implemented, the reasons for the same and also offered the right
kind of training or coaching or mentoring so that they would be able to embrace the
change (Cummings, Bridgman and Brown 2016). In the second stage, the enterprise
would be required to actually implement the change and take the help of different
regulatory or monitoring measures for the successful implementation of the same
(Whyte, Stasis and Lindkvist 2016). In the last stage, the enterprise would be required
to integrate these changes within the organisational or the workplace culture of the
same. It is pertinent to note that through the usage of this change management model,
the enterprise under discussion here would have been able to implement the changes
in a much-better or easier manner.
 Use of the concept of Pilot Project: Lines et al. (2015) have articulated the
viewpoint that the different business enterprises in order to check the feasibility of the
changes which they have formulated and intend to implement needs to implement
them for a short span of time first or take the help of the concept of pilot project. As
opined by Kaufman (2017), one of the most important advantages of the construct of
pilot projects is the fact that it offers the opportunity to the business enterprises to
modify or amend the changes that they have formulated or designed on the basis of

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the results that they get from the pilot implementation of the same. Thus, it is likely
that the enterprise Lion Nathan would have been able to substantially improve the
quality or the nature of the changes that they implemented through the usage of this
construct.
 Continuous use of monitoring and evaluation processes: As opined by Farkas
(2016), the business enterprises in order to improve the nature or the quality of the
changes that they have implemented need to take the help of adequate monitoring and
evaluation processes. The usage of these measures enables the business enterprises to
not only monitor the changes that they have implemented but also to evaluate the
success attained by the same. Another important benefit of these processes is the fact
that the business enterprises have the opportunity to modify or amend the changes on
the basis of the results of the evaluation process (Hayes 2018). Thus, it is likely that
had the enterprise Lion Nathan it would have been able to get much better results.
Conclusion
To conclude, the process of change management had become an integral part of the
modern-day business world and it is seen that the contemporary business enterprises are
using the concerned concept for the implementation of the kind of changes which are likely
to help them to improve their business prospects. However, for the effective usage of the
concerned process the business enterprises need to find out the root causes of the problems or
the issues that they face and thereby formulate the changes on the basis of the problems or the
issues that they are facing. More importantly, the usage of adequate change management
models had become important for the business enterprises for the effective implementation of
changes. These aspects of the process of change management become apparent from the
above analysis of the concerned process in the particular context of the enterprise Lion
Nathan.

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References
Al-Haddad, S. and Kotnour, T., 2015. Integrating the organizational change literature: a
model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), pp.234-
262.
Alvesson, M. and Sveningsson, S., 2015. Changing organizational culture: Cultural change
work in progress. Routledge.
Basile, A. and Faraci, R., 2015. Aligning management model and business model in the
management innovation perspective: The role of managerial dynamic capabilities in the
organizational change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(1), pp.43-58.
Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: A complete guide
to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Cummings, S., Bridgman, T. and Brown, K.G., 2016. Unfreezing change as three steps:
Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. Human relations, 69(1), pp.33-60.
Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for
business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Farkas, F., 2016. Hard and soft approaches of strategic organisational change
management. Strategic Management, 21(2), pp.13-22.
Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Imran, M.K., Rehman, C.A., Aslam, U. and Bilal, A.R., 2016. What’s organization
knowledge management strategy for successful change implementation?. Journal of
Organizational Change Management, 29(7), pp.1097-1117.
Kaufman, H., 2017. The limits of organizational change. Routledge.
Lewis, S., Cantore, S. and Passmore, J., 2016. Appreciative inquiry for change management:
Using AI to facilitate organizational development. Kogan Page Publishers.
Lines, B.C., Sullivan, K.T., Smithwick, J.B. and Mischung, J., 2015. Overcoming resistance
to change in engineering and construction: Change management factors for owner
organizations. International Journal of Project Management, 33(5), pp.1170-1179.

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Skogland, M.A.C. and Hansen, G.K., 2017. Change your space, change your culture:
Exploring spatial change management strategies. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 19(2),
pp.95-110.
Whyte, J., Stasis, A. and Lindkvist, C., 2016. Managing change in the delivery of complex
projects: Configuration management, asset information and ‘big data’. International Journal
of Project Management, 34(2), pp.339-351.