Impact of Change on Organizational Strategy and Operations - A Case Study of Amazon

This document discusses the impact of change on Amazon's strategy and operations, including the comparison of change impact on a company's strategy and operations, the effect of drivers of change on the firm, and the analysis of barriers for change. It also evaluates measures to minimize negative impacts of change on organizational behavior and explores different leadership approaches and models of change management. The case study provides insights into how external and internal drivers of change affect leadership, team, and individual behaviors within the company.

Understanding and
Leading Change

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
P1. Analyse the impact of change on an organisation's strategy and operations........................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P2. Ways in which external and internal divers of change affect leadership, team and
individual behaviours within a company....................................................................................6
P3. Evaluation of measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on
organisational behaviour.............................................................................................................7
M2. Apply appropriate theories and models to critically evaluate organisational response to
change.........................................................................................................................................8
D1. Conclusion and recommendations with valid justifications fro planning effectively for
change.........................................................................................................................................9
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4. Different barriers for change and monitor that how they influence leadership decision
making.........................................................................................................................................9
M3. Use force field analysis to monitor the driving and resisting forces and how they
influence decision making.........................................................................................................11
D2. Evaluation of the use of force field analysis in context of meeting organisational
objectives...................................................................................................................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
P5. Different leadership approaches to deal with change in a range of organisational context12
M4. Evaluate the extent to which leadership approaches can deliver effectively applying
appropriate models and frameworks.........................................................................................13
D3. Evaluation of of the effectiveness of leadership approaches and models of change
management..............................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Leading change refers to a agglomerate undertaking within the context of human relation.
It can be a team activity coalition become alignment, alliance become high acting groups and
they work together to lead modifications. In organisational context, change is essential because
by making change within the company the management of the firm can make innovation in nits
products ad services which is curial for the growth and development of the organisation to
sustain and survive at marketplace (Al Barwani, Flores and Imig, 2018)). This assignment is
based on Amazon which is an American transnational technology organisation. This company
was founded in 21994 by Jeff Bezos and headquarters in Seattle, Washington and Arlington,
Virginia, US. This report will discuss about the comparison of change impact on a company's
strategy and operations. Further, will explain about the effect of drivers of change on the firm
and analyse that how barriers of change influence leadership decision making. Different
leadership approaches and models of change management will also describe to deal with change.
TASK 1
P1. Analyse the impact of change on an organisation's strategy and operations
Overview of Amazon- It is an American international technology firm that concentrates
on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming and artificial intelligence. This organisation
was established in 1994 in Seattle Washington and the founder of this company was Jeff Bezos.
It offers its services worldwide in different nations by providing its several products and services
like Amazon fire, Amazon kindle, Amazon.com, Amazon Prime Video etc. There are 647,500
employees are making their participation in running and operating the business of the firm.
Overview of eBay- It is an American transnational e-commerce company that based in
San Jose, California. It was set up by Pierre Omiduar in 1995 and the firm facilitates consumer-
to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales by its websites. It operate its business globally with
the help of its different service like online shopping. There are 14,000 people who are employed
by it and they contribute in the operations of the firm.
To make innovation and getting attention of number of customer these organisation
make change like development in technology that impacted the plan of actions and operations of
the companies so that they can operate their business in the market according to them
(Amazon.com case study. 2019).

Impact of change on an organisation's strategy and operations
Particulars Impact on Amazon's strategy
and Operations
Impact on eBay's Strategy
and operations
Change Due to make maximization in
the sales of the company, the
management of the respective
company make change through
developing technology. So that
the production and sales can be
improve (Al-Haddad and
Kotnour, 2015).
To make improvement in the
customer experiences, the
company make technological
change for making
development in search insight
and discovery etc.
Impact on strategy For these kind of
modifications, the
administration adopt Artificial
intelligence. This will
positively affect the business
of the company in terms of
offering various products and
services of the company like
Amazon Prime, eBook and
others to its customers in easy
way through online.
To implement this change, the
management of the company
use Machine learning. This
plan of action can assist the
consumers to identify the best
prices when they should list a
particular product. It will also
help in attracting purchasers
(Ways eBay Is Using Artificial
Intelligence. 2019).
Impact on operations It is a development
modification which help in
maximizing the sales and
number of customers in the
market of Amazon (Alavi and
Gill, 2017). For the utilization
of this technology, they can
provide training and learning
This change is generated by
the company to make
improvement in customer base
of eBay at marketplace. To the
use of this technology, the
company can provide
information about it to its
employees thorough session,

sessions to the employees so
that they can make
development inn the business
with the help of it
online method and by
organising training program.
Driver of change This change in Amazon is
occurred due to technical force
so the driver of change in this
respective is technical factor
(Bin Taher, Krotov and Silva,
2015).
This modification is made by
the company due to social
purpose and the driver of this
change is social factor.
TASK 2
P2. Ways in which external and internal divers of change affect leadership, team and individual
behaviours within a company
Administration has an essential role to monitor the necessity of modification an it effect
as change can bring both favourable and unfavourable impact. Determinations are based on the
level by which the change will affect the culture, leadership, individual demeanour and team
execution. In the respective company, there can be different drivers of change that are described
as below:
Internal Drivers- It refers to those factors which can be controlled by the firm. Several internal
drivers of change that influence team, individual and leadership are as:
Organisational environment- In every organisation business atmosphere, culture and
values are developed by the leaders so that they can operate their business effective. When the
company make inn ovation in its technical factor to maximize the sales than the workforce of the
company accept it a growth option for both organisation and themselves cause of strong
leadership which can be the strength of the firm.
Task structure- To work according this technology, the management is framed a team so
that effective implication of this can be conducted (Byers, 2017). During the time of using
Artificial Intelligence, the administration can make change in task structure which can affect the
performance of the group that can be a weaknesses for it.

Communication- If there are ineffective communication in the company, then it make
system ineffectual to provide clear operating instructions to the employees which can impact the
performance and thus affect the behaviour of people as it can generate chaos and conflict which
can be a threat for the company.
External drivers- It indicates to those macro environment factor that influence the company and
can not be control by firm. These factors are mentioned as beneath:
Political factor- This factor can affect the business of the company regarding its change
in different manners. For example, if the government make change in its trading laws then it can
affect the team performance of Amazon in negative manners (Coghlan and Shani, 2015).
Because the management will operate its business according to them.
Economical factor- This factor consider various factors like interest rate, currency rate,
inflation and deflation etc. So these all can affect the Amazon in different manners. For instant,
stock market uncertainty is an increasing component of the interactional world and its extent of
uncertainty. So it can also negatively influence the business of Amazon.
Social factor- It consist various factors like change in needs, taste and reference of
customer, culture, value and beliefs etc. For example, if the company offer products and services
as per its consumers needs then it favourably affect the business. In Amazon, if the change which
is made by the company in its technology, is able to fulfil their needs like providing information
about the products and services etc. then it positively affect it.
Technological factor- To make development in technology is crucial for Amazon
because it offers its services and products to its target audiences through online mode. For
example, if the company adopt technology of locker system that permits Amazon deliveries to be
dropped off even when the customer is not home. This positively affect the company as well as
employees because with this the company offer effective services and employees feel
comfortable play their duties.
P3. Evaluation of measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on
organisational behaviour
Change is crucial for the company but the influence connected with the more essential
interpret. There are several unfavourable effects are faced by the leaders is resistance by
workforce towards change which can vantage to employee turnover rate, alteration of focus etc.
for which different measures require to be monitored (Daft and Marcic, 2016).

Concerning people in change procedure- If the management of the company involve
employees of the company in the process then it encourage them to adopt change as did. The
firm considered its workforce by providing them training to accommodate the modifications
which assisted them to make their consumers comfortable with the self service counter change.
Proper knowing of the organisational culture- It is important to understand as the
demeanour of the employees depends upon the culture. Also apprehension of stream of
information and components that influence the most is essential (Doppelt, 2017). The culture of
Amazon is friendly, negotiable, decentralised which make its individuals efficient enough to
accept the modifications.
Effective leadership- It is crucial for the administration of the firm to apply
modifications. They communicate the growth options, implications of the change which
encourage the workforce to accept it. As leader, they formulate vision so that the employees can
work according to it. Leadership play an important role in Amazon in adopting the change which
is formulated by the management.
M2. Apply appropriate theories and models to critically evaluate organisational response to
change
There are different models and theories which can be used by the administration of the
firm to implement the change. Kurt Lewin's change model is a popular concept which can be
used by the management of Amazon. There are three stages like Unfreeze, change, refreeze
within this framework which are essential to implement change.
Source: Kurt Lewin's change model, (2019).
In Unfreeze, the company prepare themselves for the modification and define workforce
about how it is important. Change is another phase, in which the change take place and put in to
action with the help of leaders by effective inclination and abstraction. Refreeze is the last stage
in which change is already adopted and everything start going back to their place making people
comfortable with the modification (Espedal, 2017). Similarly, in Amazon, the management can
Illustration: Kurt Lewin's change model

implement the change by providing information about them to the employees and adopted by
them easily due to offering training and directions.
D1. Conclusion and recommendations with valid justifications fro planning effectively for
change
Requirement and importance of modifications in the company need to be found out and
on the basis of which planning for the change is to be completed by finding out different drivers
and forces of the change like internal and external (Glass and Cook, 2016). There are several
models and concept that are crucial to make change. Lewin's change management concept
expedited in implementing modifications. The brief analysis of favourable and unfavourable
impact of the change assists a company to determine that whether change should be accepted and
not. The recommendations to Amazon for efficacious designing and implementing changes are
as:
 Major abilities of the company should be kept in kind and how effective are the rivals and
their expectation determination, as they barter the advantages from the company easily.
 The company should monitor all the components that can be inside and outside of the
firm has direct affect the origins with the company should be found out.
TASK 3
P4. Different barriers for change and monitor that how they influence leadership decision making
Introduction of the organisation- Amazon is the world's largest online merchandiser and a
spectacular cloud services render. This firm was established by Jeff Bezos in 1994 in Seattle,
Washington. The firm provide various services and products like Amazon Echo, Amazon
Kindle, Amazon Alexa, Amazon web services etc.
To apply modification successfully information about different barriers is crucial. The
change plan can be attuned as per the administration need to minimise and reduce the issues
generated by the barriers. Barriers has unfavourable impacts in term of creating gap among
existing practices and what organisation wants to accomplish by applying change. There are
different barriers and they create their impact on the leadership decision making which are
defined as beneath:
Lack of employee engagement- It is one of the most ordinary barrier which highly
influence the determination devising of the leadership. In it employees refuse the modification

due to having a fear of change which can be resolved by involving workforce in the change
procedure (Houwer, 2016). So that they can have brief information about it like, how it can be
beneficial for the development and growth of the company and as well as employees. In
Amazon, leaders help in administrating the barriers as they involved their workforce as a part of
change process. They listen their opinion and suggestion which made the employees comfortable
and ready to adjust with the change.
Lack of communication strategy- Communication can be generated in the form of barrier
when there are not effective conversation and communication in the employees and seniors. In
Amazon, it can be occurred as a barriers in the situation when the top management of the
company instantly announce about the argumentation of the change instead of making workforce
comfortable by informing the advantages they will get (Hughes, 2016). During time of making
change, the employees are make change in their working style, process and others. So when they
are not familiar with the benefits they will not ready to adopt and make change in the firm. This
makes leadership determination devising hard as employees refuse change forcefully.
Organisation complexity- The barrier of the company complexness occurs where the
firm follow tangled procedure and the products or commodities they deal in are convoluted. The
complexity of the company makes change activity complex. Amazon does not trade with
complex goods but operate its business number of products and services which became
challenges for the leaders to guide and train workforce so that they can work as per advance
technologies and applications
Unknown current situation- It can be a barrier which create barriers in teem of gap when
the administration does not monitor the current situation or condition and apply & implement
change. Due to application of these kind of changes, the company face failure and these
modifications leads it (Iveroth and Hallencreutz, 2015). Due to which leaders can not able to
convince workforce to work and perform their responsibilities according to the situation and may
not be in control of the company.

M3. Use force field analysis to monitor the driving and resisting forces and how they influence
decision making
Source: Force field analysis, (2018)
Lewin's five force model consist of driving forces and restraining forces. To apply a
change driving force require to be more commanding than the restraining forces (Lawrence,
2015). This concept can be utilised by the management of the company to find out its
stakeholders, balance of powers and others. This conception assist in understanding the force for
and against the modification. By implementing this model. Amazon can efficiently apply the
alteration by analysing the growth options and threats which can be occurs or generated from the
changes. It influence the decision as administration may cognisance the modification essential
but after determination with the help of this model, it may not be in real.
D2. Evaluation of the use of force field analysis in context of meeting organisational objectives
Force field analysis model assist in effective determination devising because it provide
the summery of all the components which are affiliated with the alteration and can be in support
of the change or in opponent of it. It also assists in efficient communication and conversation to
create awareness in the staff about the modifications applications (Nelson‐Brantley and Ford,
2017). Amazon can use this model to overcome the crucial situation and condition which are
occurred in the company due to make change and modification within it.
Illustration: force field analysis

TASK 4
P5. Different leadership approaches to deal with change in a range of organisational context
Leadership is a procedure which is important to make change as they have the ability to
influence and convince people to adopt change. The region that are ariled under leadership are
creating awareness about the modifications and their benefits, making them comfortable with
the change by offering training, tools and techniques to administrate change (Rodd, 2015). They
also help the employees in understanding the plan of actions of the modifications and improve
plans to put it into action. There are several leadership style which are beneficial to implement
change are:
Transactional leadership- It is antiphonal leadership style which evaluate formal
structure of the company and believes in encouraging the workforce of the company by rewards
and punishments. This style is also known as telling style because in this, orders are given b y the
leaders and they are followed by the employees. When employees are working in a team, they
are work according to the leader's suggestions and properly follow the instruction which is given
by them. It is basically used by the military in their operation and large companies etc. but is not
suitable in the situation when innovation is needed. This leadership style is appropriate for
Amazon within change and modifications which are made by the administration are affected the
entire firm. When Amazon implement a new technology in its business with thy purpose of
maximizing its sales then this style was suitable as it consider a large amount and by providing
directions they can get outcomes from the group in set times period towards different
determinations affiliated to maximization of sales. With the assistance of this leadership
approach, the leader of the company can provide effective instruction regarding their so that
efficacious outcomes can be gain in appropriate manner by following the guidelines and
directions.
Transformational leadership- It is proactive style of leadership in which leader of the
company concentrate on encouraging and inspiring the employees for modification and alteration
by setting up examples. It help in offering a growth options to the workers to use their potential
and efforts by offering them opportunity of development (Salman and Broten, 2017). This
leadership can be used by the leaders in the company at any extent like departments, functions,
divisions and any kind of firm. It creates a vision to the workforce to align their aims and
objective with the organisation objectives effective and crucial to implement change.

In Amazon, the leaders can apply this leadership style during the time of making change
when the things and applications which are used by the company is not able to maximize the
sales of the company. Then the management of the company can implement change in its
technology which is used by it online shopping and promotion of the products and services so
that people effectively aware with the products and easily purchase the goods and services. By
adopting this leadership style, the leader can motivate employees by provide brief information
about the change and explain different examples to them regarding it (Scott, 2018). So that they
can easily motivate to make their contribution in this process. Another thing that can be done by
the leaders that they make provide the chance of making participation in decision making process
where the workforce can share their suggestions and ideas towards the change. It feel them
important and they use their efforts to apply this change in the firm.
M4. Evaluate the extent to which leadership approaches can deliver effectively applying
appropriate models and frameworks
The management of Amazon utilised Lewins model for planning and applying change but
also by applying Kotter's change model, respective company can enforce modification along
with leadership approaches in an effective manner. The Kotter's 8 step change concept assists in
understanding the response regarding the change by several steps which enables the leaders to
instantly take decision and perform action as per the situations (Soehner, 2015).

Source: Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model,(2019).
The phases which is considered by this model are: In this stage of Creating urgency
individual are aware with the requirement of alteration and their reinforcement will be created
after Building the team leaders motivate workers by contributing and cooperating them. Leaders
Set vision which assist others to interpret the objectives of the company and the time period in
which it has to be accomplished. Thus they Communicate the vision attempting the sentiments
and interests of the individuals (Strayer, 2016). In next phase Get things moving, the
concentration is to remove the conflicts which can be the obstructions to integrate and utilize the
change by motivating people for the vision. By Focusing on sort term goals and attaining them,
workers will be pleased to accomplish the long term and supreme aims. Inspiring them to Not to
give up as the activity will bring changes in the organisational culture also. In the end, the
change become component of company when Incorporation of change is done in the firm. This
is how leadership assist in applying changes by using different models and leadership styles.
D3. Evaluation of of the effectiveness of leadership approaches and models of change
management
Leaders contribute a lot in making individual comfortable with the modification by
setting vision and making them aware about the advantages of them (Al Barwani, Flores and
Imig, 2018). Amazon has enforced change model with leadership style which assisted them to
replicate all of their plans in to actions.
Illustration: Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model

CONCLUSION
From the above information it can be monitor that change is a crucial aspect which is
important for the company for its growth, success and development. By implementing change
and modification in the business of the company, the management of the firm can fulfil the needs
and demands of the customers and deliver services and product them in more effective manner.
Before applying a change in the business, it is crucial for the company that the administrator
effectively analyse the change and its impacts. It can be favourable and unfavourable so they can
affect the strategies and operations of the company both positively and negatively. Internal and
external factors are also impacted by the company in term of performance, growth and others.
Different models and theories can also used by the administration to analyse and manage the
change which is implemented by the management in the organisation. There are different barriers
for changes which influence leadership decision making. Various leadership approach also
effective to deal with the modifications in different manners.

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