Change Management for Wooden Bakery: Approaches, Drivers, and Impacts

This report discusses the approaches, drivers, and impacts of change management for Wooden Bakery, an emerging bakery brand from Lebanon. It evaluates the change processes implemented and identifies the change drivers. It also analyzes the impact of expansion to Chicago.

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Change management
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Introduction
In the current business scenario, change management plays an important role in
determining the organizational effectiveness due to the reason it helps in coping up with the
change in the external business factors. This should be noted that current external factors are
changing at much rapid rate. Thus, the more effective will be the change process, the more will
be ability of the firms in dealing with the external changes. However, implementation of the
change process is difficult for the smaller business organizations due to the reason that
organizational capabilities of these firms are limited (Kuipers et al. 2014). Wooden bakery is an
emerging bakery brand from Lebanon and currently looking for tapping the American markets.
However, in order to get succeeded in the American markets, Wooden bakery should change
their existing processes and they have implemented a few changes already. These changes are
being implemented in different of perspectives and based on different drivers. However, it
should also be noted that the change implementation process should adhere with the key external
factors.
In entering in the American market, it is further important for Wooden bakery to review
their external factors and internal capabilities. This report will discuss about the approaches of
the key organizational change process implemented and will evaluate their existing change
processes. In addition, the external influencing factors along with their impacts will also be
discussed in this report.

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Evaluation of the change processes
It is identified that Wooden bakery involves different change process including
conversion of manual labor to automation, distribution approach changed from small bakery to
the multi branch chains. Thus, the changes are being implemented in terms of structural and
process elements. It is identified that the first change process implemented is the conversion of
the manual labor based process to automation. With the increase in the business operation of
Wooden bakery, the requirement for the higher efficiency is much needed in order to meet the
increasing market demand (Matos Marques Simoes and Esposito 2014). However, in this case,
increasing the manual labor is not a viable option due to the reason that it will increase the cost
and complexities in the business process. On the other hand, initiation of the automated process
helped Wooden bakery in reducing the cost of human resources even with the increase in the
business operation. In addition, the production rate of Wooden bakery also got increased with the
automated process, which further helped in reducing the average cost of production.
Another change process being identified in Wooden bakery is the change in the
distribution process. This is due to the reason that Wooden bakery initially started as small
bakery and further expanded to multi branch chains of convenience stores. This change is also
being implemented in order to tap the growing opportunities. Initiation of the multi branch
distribution process helped Wooden bakery in gaining the competitiveness in terms of larger
target segments. Thus, it can be concluded that both the change process implemented are in line
to the growth strategy of Wooden bakery as both these changes are contributing in the
enhancement of the business for them.

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Identification of the change drivers
In the case of the initiation of the automation in the production process of Wooden
bakery, the major change drivers are the cost, production rate and flexibility. Cost is considered
as a major change driver due to the reason that it will determine the profitability of the business.
Involvement of the manual labor caused added cost in terms of different benefits and
remuneration. Thus, automation process is initiated to reduce the cost involved in the employee
management. In addition, initiation of the automation process also implemented in increasing the
production capabilities. This can also be termed as a change driver because entering in the new
market will increase in the demand for the products and increase in the production capacity will
only help in tapping this change in demand. This should also be noted that gaining flexibility is
another change driver for the initiation of the automation process (Vora 2013). This is due to the
reason that flexibility is important in the production process to change the approach according to
the change in the market demand. In the case of manual labor, this flexibility will be lower due to
the reason that employees will take time to change and training program is required for that.
However, in the case of the automated process, flexibility can be gained in short term.
In the change management in terms of the distribution process, the major change drivers
are the market growth, competition and this globalization. This is due to the reason that Wooden
bakery is following growth business strategy and in line to this strategy, they are having the
requirement for increasing their market presence. The more will be the exposure and presence in
the market, the more will be the potentiality for market growth. This extensive market growth
and presence is not possible with having single business units. In this case, Wooden bakery
initiated multi channel distribution in different regions to contribute in their growth (McCarthy
and Eastman 2013). In addition, competition is another major change driver for the initiation of

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the change in the distribution process. This is due to the reason that with the increase in
competition for Wooden bakery in their existing market, operating on the basis of only one unit
is not viable for them. Thus, they have implemented multi channel distribution process to tap the
extended regions and to fend off the intensity of the competition from their existing market.
Lastly, globalization can also be termed as the major driver for change in the distribution
process. This is due to the reason that with the help of the globalization, more global competitors
are entering in the existing market of Wooden bakery and on the other it is opening up the global
opportunities for Wooden bakery. Thus, in line to the globalization, Wooden bakery is increasing
their distribution units and positioned as multi channel convenience store.
Recommended steps
 It is recommended that Wooden bakery should increase the involvement of all the
internal stakeholders especially the internal stakeholders in the decision making process
regarding change. This is due to the reason that feedback even from the lower level
employees is important for effective process of change. Thus, it is recommended that
Wooden bakery should have holistic involvement of the internal stakeholders in the
decision making process of change. This will ensure that probability of emergence of the
resistance from the employees will be less.
 It is also recommended that customer centricity should be initiated by Wooden bakery
due to the fact that in the current business scenario, change should have positive impact
on the external stakeholders. With the help of the customer centricity in the change
process, Wooden bakery will also be able to implement change in the product strategy.

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 Lastly, it is also recommended that Wooden bakery should follow and practice the
evaluation and feedback process in their change management. This is due to the reason
that evaluation is important to identify the limitations and shortcomings of the current
change plan and amending the plan accordingly.
2.0 Analysis model to assess different drivers of change
2.1 PEST analysis
2.1.1 Political
The political stability index in United States is quite strong with a point of 0.58 that
means the country is still a great place to invest. As far as the government effectiveness is
concerned, it can be argued that the USA government is flexible enough to manage the business
environment across the world. As a result of that US is considered to be one of the leading
economy in the globe. As per the report of the World Bank, the average effectiveness of the US
government is 1.50 points (Mourad 2016). It means the government is highly pledged to deal
with the practice of developing a better business environment. Therefore, it will be effective for
Wooden Bakeryto enter into the US market effectively.
2.1.2 Economic
From the economic point of view, United States is the wealthiest country across the
world in terms of its GDP and the development in the economic and financial sector. Fluctuation
in the economic growth is a common thing but not a threat to the steady development of the
business industry. The average growth of the US economy is 2.3 within the last 5 years

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(Koradaet al. 2018) so that it generates a competitive advantage for the business organisations to
expand market effectively in US. Apart from the free economy in US market paves the way for
the business organisations to get strategic advantage in the market.
2.1.3 Social
Lower unemployment rate proves that a prevalence to focus on the social wellbeing
within the country also shapes a better place for the business organisations to establish business
effectively. Moreover, it can be argued that the unemployment rate also helps people to live a
high life style and business organisations to get the opportunity to set up an extensive business
practice in United States (Gambaet al. 2015). As a matter of fact, the US society is highly diverse
and most of the people have fond of eating cookies and other bakery items. Therefore, for
Wooden Bakeryalso it will be a great opportunity to expand market in US.
2.1.4 Technological
High technology and creative measures are identified as the most important part for the
business organisations in order to get strategic advantage in the high competitive market of US.
Moreover, the government put a great deal of focus on the health related issues in the food
industries. Therefore, the companies are always looked for new and cutting edge technologies for
safeguarding the health related issues of the consumers (Du 2016). Therefore, for Wooden
Bakeryimplementing new technologies will be an effective measure in order to attract more
customers and sustainable business practice in the competitive market of US. It is important to
acknowledge that most of the big food manufacturing companies are located in US. Henceforth,
choosing technology with the understanding of the people and their behaviour is important to
consider for Wooden Bakery.

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2.2 SWOT analysis
Strengths Opportunities
 Steady business practice in Gulf Countries.
 Good management decision making in order
to envisioned the effective measures for the
company.
 Cope with the change in the market.
 Stable business establishment in the Gulf
countries.
 Increase in the revenue of the organisation.
High lifestyle of the customers delivers better
market opportunities.
The free market condition is resembled with
the practice of developing an effective
measure for the food business
High scope for using advanced technology.
Increase in the demand of the customers and
market expansion.
Weaknesses Threats
 Lack of understanding the change in the
consumer behaviour.
 High expenses for implementing new
technologies.
 Fluctuation and vulnerability within the
consumer behaviours.
 High competitiveness in the US market.
Over competitive market nature.
Lack of government control over the big
business companies.
Dominance of the giant food companies over
the small and medium scale companies.
High fluctuation in the consumer behaviour.
2.3 Change impact analysis
In this regard, there are three major points that can affect the change effectively. For
instance, the rapid fluctuation within the customer behaviour, high competitiveness within the

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market and the lack of government effectiveness for safeguarding the interests of small and
medium scale companies. For the first problem regarding rapid fluctuation in the customer
behaviour, it can be stated that there is an intense marketing practice is required in order to bring
a clear perception regarding the different behaviour of the customers and their requirements and
demands that will facilitate an effective business plan for Wooden Bakery. In addition to this, to
skip the competition in the market it will be effective for Wooden Bakeryto initiate the online
services and promotional strategies by using the social media. It will be effective for the
organisation in order to maximise its customers (Elmes, Mendoza-Abarca and Hersh 2016).
Apart from that keeping an eye of the government initiatives and trying to pressurize the
government is also an important for Wooden Bakery.
2.4 Recommendation
 Putting great deal of emphasis on the customer change behaviour.
 Making clear marketing strategy with unique promotional tactics to survive in the highly
competitive market.
 Influence the government to establish a better business environment in USA.
Evaluation of the impact of the change
In the case of the employees, the major psychological change is the change in their
attitude and behaviors in the workplace. This is due to the reason that with the change in the
business processes, the importance of the employees will be affected and they may react in
positive or negative manner. In terms of the managers, the impact of the change will be in terms
of their attitudes towards the management of the employees (Langley et al. 2013). This is due to

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the reason that with the initiation of the automation in the business process, managers will be less
depended on the skills of the employees and thus their attitude will also get changed. In terms of
the board of directors, the major impact of the change will be in terms of their objectives from
the business. This is due to the reason that implementation of the change process based on the
growth strategy, will change their attitude towards the expectations from the business.
Evaluation of expansion to Chicago
Expansion to Chicago will have implications on both team dynamics and leadership
strategies. One of the major impacts will be the cultural factors. This is due to the reason that the
cultural factors between the home and host markets of Wooden bakery will be different and this
will affect the team dynamics. The teamwork approach being followed by Wooden bakery in
their Lebanese operation will not be applicable in the case of their operation in Chicago. For
instance, power distance is more in Lebanon compared to in Chicago and thus less authority will
be followed in the new operation. On the basis of this factor, leadership strategies will also be
affected as there will be different leadership approaches. For instance, directive leadership
approach will be effective in Lebanon but not in Chicago. In this case, Wooden bakery will
require democratic style of leadership. Thus, it can be concluded that with the expansion in
Chicago, Wooden bakery will have different leadership styles and tem dynamics.
Evaluation of the specific measures
One of the most effective measures will be the management of diversity in the workforce.
This is due to the reason that managing the diversity in the workforce will help Wooden bakery
in having the employees from their home and host country. This will ensure that a standardized

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organizational culture can be followed in the workplace. In this case, it is also recommended that
geocentric approach of staffing should be initiated in order to have the diversity in the workforce.
It is also recommended that increasing the involvement and engagement of the employees in the
decision making process will also be beneficial in reducing the negative impact of the change
process. This is due to the reason that the more will be the involvement of the employees; the
lower will be the probability of resistances from the side of them in terms of the implementation
of the change process.
Critical analysis of the organizational response to change
Lewin change model is one of the most popular change models being used. As per this
model, the first step is to unfreeze the existing processes of Wooden bakery. In the case of
Wooden bakery, it is identified that they have implemented the change process after reviewing
the needs and areas of change. The next step is the change process implementation. In this case,
it is recommended that phased approach should be followed but Wooden bakery has
implemented the process in holistic manner. Thus, the chance of facing challenges is more for
them. The last step is the refreezing of the changed process. In the case of Wooden bakery, it is
identified that there are no provisions of evaluation and feedback from the employees, which is
also one of their major gaps in the change process implementation.
Justifications of the section of Chicago
Chicago is being selected due to the reason that it is one of the major metropolitan cities
in the United States with having positive economic growth. Thus, the purchasing power of the
customers will be more and the sales potentiality of the bakery products of Wooden bakery will

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be more in Chicago. Gaining the market share and brand value in the metropolitan cities such as
Chicago will help Wooden bakery in leveraging the same in entering in other countries.
However, it is also identified that Wooden bakery will face the challenge of higher competition.
This is due to the reason that metropolitan cities such as Chicago are having larger number of
bakeries. Hence, it will be difficult for Wooden bakery to cope up with these challenges.
Conclusion
The above discussion tries to project a clear perception regarding the market entry of
Wooden Bakeryin US. In this regard, the change management that the organisation is already
addressed is resembled with the automation in the production process and facilitating a good
business practice by establishing effective communication with the distributors. However, those
changes are not adequate in terms of entering into the US market. Therefore, it is essential for
Wooden Bakeryto establish the market with putting a great deal of focus on the customer
behaviour, market competitiveness and the role of the government to make a better business
environment. Henceforth, it is important for Wooden Bakeryto implement some strategies in
order to bring efficacy into its business orientation. The effective marketing strategy with the
help of the promotion and social media promotion will be an effective measure for the business
organisation to establish business effectively. The psychological change and its impact on the
employees is also discussed in the report to get a clear perception about the effectiveness of the
change in progress. Therefore, it can be concluded that the report is rightly discussed the change
in Wooden Bakeryand its consequences while entering into the market of USA.

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