Effective Change Management Strategies for BT's Takeover of EE

The factors that contribute to resistance to change in an organization are numerous and varied. Some of the key factors include lack of communication, unclear goals, inadequate training, and poor leadership. It is essential for leaders to understand these factors and develop strategies to mitigate them. In the context of BT's takeover of EE, Olaf Swantee should employ a participative style of leadership that involves employees in the decision-making process. This approach can help to create a sense of satisfaction among employees, which is crucial for successful change management.

Leadership and
change
management
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3
Leadership style for Olaf Swantee...............................................................................................3
Change model used in takeover ..................................................................................................4
Managing resistance to change....................................................................................................7
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
2

INTRODUCTION
In modern era, style of leadership and strategies used to manage change in organization
are crucial part of every business organization (Berson and Linton, 2005). Further it is required
by every manager to use appropriate leadership style as it has a direct impact on factors such as
satisfaction and productivity of people within organization (Burke, 2013). On the other hand, in
order to stay competitive, businesses are also required to make changes in strategies, process and
technology. At the time of implementing any kind of change, organizations need to adopt a
proper strategy in order to make the employees capable of resisting the change. Further
resistance to change is a situation in which people in organization starts thinking that the changes
are occurring threat to them. This report is based on various aspects of leadership and change
management such as styles of leadership, change management models etc. Further it consist of
style which can be used by Olaf Swantee to ensure a successful takeover. Other than this, the
report also includes the model using which change can be managed in organization. In the last
part, some recommendations are provided to Olaf Swantee for managing resistance to change.
Leadership style for Olaf Swantee
In every organization, leadership style plays a very important role and thus a manager is
required to ensure that he has adopted the best style. Some of the common styles of leadership
includes autocratic, participative and Laissez-faire. From the give case scenario, it has been
observed BT is going to take over EE. Further the takeover is very big and will be around £12.5
billion. The leadership style which can be implemented by the Olaf Swantee during the stage of
takeover is participative style. One of the main reason why this style is the best suitable one is
that during the takeover the employees will more likely to be satisfied. Workers of any
organization are considered as one of the biggest and most valuable asset. Therefore, employee
satisfaction is very important for every organization and at the time of taking any kind of
decision. The chief executive of EE, Olaf Swantee can adopt participative style of leadership at
the time of takeover. Further this style will help in encouraging suggestions from the workers of
EE to make the entire process of takeover successful. This style will also support in developing
cooperative relation between Olaf Swantee and all his employees. A feeling of self respect will
be developed among all the workers when they will be invited to give their views regrading the
3

takeover. One of the major characteristic of participative leadership style is that it encourages
open communication in organization. This will help Olaf Swantee in identifying all the
precaution and steps needs to be taken at the time of takeover. Along with all this things, this
style of leadership will also results in increasing the overall efficiency and productivity of all the
workers which is very beneficial for EE. There are some disadvantages which are associated
with this kind of leadership style and they are required to be taken into consideration.
One of the major disadvantage is that the decision making process will get delayed.
When the decision making is concentrated in single hand then fast decision are made but when
the views of all employees are taken into consideration then it automatically get delayed (Müller
and Turner, 2007). On the other hand, it is also required by worker to provide accurate and true
suggestion regarding the best practices which needs to be adopted at the time of takeover. Olaf
Swantee needs to take care of the fact that even if this style is crating delay in decision making
process, it is more suitable because it is creating a satisfaction among all the workers which is
more important. Therefore, it can be stated that participative style of leadership is the most
suitable and accurate style which Olaf Swantee should implement at the time of taking over BT.
Change model used in takeover
At the time of takeover by BT, there will be various changes in processes, strategies,
activities etc which will be required to managed by Olaf Swantee. To manage these in the best
possible way, 2 change models have been discussed:
Kotter change management: The 8 step process of Kotter help in implementation of change and
adopt the same swiftly (Madlock, 2008).
 Creating a sense of urgency – Here, the businesses are required to examine the
opportunities which can be exploited. According to the case study, since BT is acquiring
EE, so all resources shall also be taken care off. In this step the management of EE will
be required to create a sense of urgency and an honest discussion with its employees and
other stakeholders regarding the entire process of takeover. Further change can be
possible and successful only in case all employee of EE wants that. If the some of the
employees do not want the change to be happen then it will create a negative
4

environment in entire organization and will also create obstacles for other people which
are adopting the change.
 Forming a powerful coalition- EE will be also required to form a powerful coalition in
order to adjust with the changes which will happen due to the takeover. It will be required
by the organization to convince all its people that the changes are necessary. The key
employees of EE are here required to demonstrate their strong leadership and support.
 Creating a vision for change- at the time of thinking about the change which will happen
because of takeover, the organization will encounter with lots of ides and solution. EE is
required to merge all these ides with a vision so that people in the organization can
remember it easily. Along with this, EE will also need to determine values associated
with change and a strategy to implement the same. For example the vision can be of
getting better opportunities for growth and development after the implementation of
change. This vision is required to be communicated at regular intervals as it will help the
employees to understand the fact that the change will benefit them.
 Communicating the vision- In this step, EE will need to make sure that it is
communicating the vision regarding change to all its employees at regular intervals. In
addition to this, it will also require to have open communication process and will need to
address the anxieties and issues faced by workers.
 Removing obstacles – To manage changes which pop up out of takeover, Berson and
Linton, (2005) argued that the organization will need to remove obstacles regarding
change by hiring a leader which can deliver change in organization.
 Creating short term wins – It is required by the organization to create small small targets
in order to make the entire process of change successful. For example a small target like
making changes in one particular department rather than making it entirely. This will
helps in motivating the employees and cope up with the change.
 Building on the change- After every short term wins, the organization is required to
determine what went wrong and what went right (Brown and Osborne, 2012). This
analysis will help in obtaining the best possible results of change.
 Anchoring changes in corporate culture- In the end,EE is required to make the change
permanent by making it as core part of BT.
5

Lewin's change management model
Changes are considered as a big threat to any kind of businesses and it is very difficult to
manage and maintain change in a company (10 principles to change management, 2014). On the
other side of this Worley, and Lawler III, 2006 stated that Lewin's change management model
can be also used to implement changes within organizations. The model consist of three main
steps which can be used by EE to manage changes. The steps are explained below as:
 Unfreeze- In the first step, the organization will be required to prepare all its employees
to agree with the fact that the change is essential. Further EE need to inform all its
workers that the takeover will have some sort of changes and the same operations cannot
be continued for long. All the values, behavior, belief will be changed in this stage and it
is going to be a very challenging task (Appelbaum and et.al., 2012).
 Change- After completion of the unfreeze stage, the changes are required to take place. In
this stage, the company is required to ensure the fact that changes do not have any kind of
negative impact on the employees and are able to cope in best possible manner.
 Refreeze- stage in which changes are taking place and the employees of EE will be
seeking for the new ways and methods (Burke, 2013).
Managing resistance to change
Resistance to change is a process in which people in organization are not able to act
accordingly or cope with the changes or transformation (Wang, Chou and Jiang, 2005). EE needs
to ensure the fact that it is capable of resistance changes which happened due to take over. Most
of the time people within a company are not able to cope up with the modification and it finally
results in effecting their overall performance (Mary, 2005). It is also possible that the workers of
EE starts suffering from situations such as low morale and productivity. This will further lead to
affecting all the operations and activities of an organization. As per the view of Appelbaum and
et. al., (2012) in order to manage resistance to change the first step which will be required is
development of effective change management process. The senior people within organization
need to develop a process along with the help of employees at middle and lower level. On the
other side of this Todnem By, (2005) has explained that it is never easy for firms to develop an
effective change management process and most of the changes become a failure only because of
this reason. Other than this, change management is termed as one of the most powerful tool
6

which can help EE to not only manage change but also in encourage all its employees to become
a part of change.
On the other hand Worley, and Lawler III, (2006) stated that another effective way which
can be used by the organization in order to manage resistance to change is to expect the changes
which are required. This means that EE should not get surprised to resistance and should be
prepared of the fact that the workers will find it difficulty in adapting change. EE also need to
identify all those factors and elements which have causes or resulted in resistance to change.
During such situation, the organization is required to ensure the fact that it is focusing more on
the factors which have resulted in resistance rather than concentrating on symptoms. Most of the
businesses are now able to manage resistance to change because they starts looking after and
dealing with the factors which has caused resistance (Todnem By, 2005). It may happen that EE
starts facing problems such as getting complain from employees, their absence from key
meetings etc. However Helfat and et. al., (2009) argued that in order to deal effectively with
resistance to change, organizations need to seek for the factors which are resulting in employees
resistance to change. As per the view of Madlock, (2008) resistance to change is one of the most
common problem which has been faced by organizations at the time of implementing any kind of
change and management can easily deal with such situations. On the other side of this Wang,
Chou and Jiang, (2005) has argued that it is not easy for organizations to deal with situations
such as employees resistance to change as the organization first needs to identify the factors
which are resulting in resistance and it is very difficult process. At the time of identification of
factors EE needs to be very careful and it is also required by the organization to measures to help
employees in overcoming the change.
The workers can be asked about whether they were aware about the changes or not.
Along with this, they can be also questioned regarding what kind of impact on their job role is
faced by them. EE will also need to make it clear that the workers do not have any kind of fear
related to loss of their job. EE can also appoint some manager which can help in managing
resistance to change. Here managers means all the senior employees of and managers working in
middle level. These people in organization can support workers and help them to resist change.
It is recommended that Olaf Swantee creates a proper way to implement change
management and involve each employee in it as that will help in understanding the importance
7

and benefit of transformation. It is also recommended that Olaf Swantee identify the factors
creating sense of resistance among employees and take corrective measures to eliminate the
same. One of the main reason why people resists change is that they believe change is
unnecessary and it will make the organization more worst. Along with this, resistance can be also
happen due to some workers do not trust the managers which are making the change. It is
recommended that Olaf Swantee will be required to encourage all its employees to present their
views and opinions with regards to the entire process of change. It is also suggested that if the
workers are facing any kind of doubts, concern and queries, Olaf Swantee needs to address them
effectively.
All the above stated recommendation are fair and ethical because in modern era, many
organizations have used these practices to manage resistance to change. These recommendation
wont harm the morale principles of Olaf Swantee or any of the employee working in EE. Further
all of them laid emphasis on one particular point which is managing resistance to change in
organization. For example an unethical practices could be the one in which wrong information is
provided to employees. In the above mentioned recommendation, no such information will be
communicates and it wont harm any worker. The practices will create a sense of satisfaction
among employees and will assist them in understanding why change is essential. It can be also
stated that the recommendations which are provided to Olaf Swantee do not encourage any kind
of unfair means and practices. In addition to this, thy will help in implementing the changes in
best possible manner and get adequate support from each and every employee.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that it is leadership and change management
plays a very important role at the time of take over. Further in the provided case BT is going to
take over EE and therefore, it is required by the Olaf Swantee to use participative style of
leadership. It can be concluded that this style will help in help in creating a sense of satisfaction
among employees. On the other hand, it can be also evaluated that in order to cop up with the
change, models such as Kotter and Lewin's change management can be used by Olaf Swantee.
Along with this, in order to manage the change, one of the best thing he can do is to making the
employees part of the management process regarding change.
8

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Appelbaum, S. H. and et.al., 2012. Back to the future: revisiting Kotter's 1996 change
model. Journal of Management Development. 31(8). pp. 764-782.
Berson, Y. and Linton, J. D., 2005. An examination of the relationships between leadership
style, quality, and employee satisfaction in RandD versus administrative
environments. RandD Management. 35(1). pp.51-60.
Brown, K. and Osborne, S. P., 2012. Managing change and innovation in public service
organizations. Routledge.
Burke, W. W., 2013. Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Chen, J. C. and Silverthorne, C., 2005. Leadership effectiveness, leadership style and employee
readiness. Leadership and Organization Development Journal. 26(4). pp.280-288.
Cummings, T. and Worley, C., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage learning.
Helfat, C. E. and et. al., 2009. Dynamic capabilities: Understanding strategic change in
organizations. John Wiley and Sons.
Madlock, P. E., 2008. The link between leadership style, communicator competence, and
employee satisfaction. Journal of Business Communication. 45(1). pp.61-78.
Mary, N. L., 2005. Transformational leadership in human service organizations.Administration
in Social Work. 29(2). pp.105-118.
Müller, R. and Turner, J. R., 2007. Matching the project manager’s leadership style to project
type. International journal of project management. 25(1). pp. 21-32.
Todnem By, R., 2005. Organisational change management: A critical review.Journal of Change
Management. 5(4). pp.369-380.
Wang, E., Chou, H. W. and Jiang, J., 2005. The impacts of charismatic leadership style on team
cohesiveness and overall performance during ERP implementation. International
Journal of Project Management. 23(3). pp.173-180.
Worley, C. G. and Lawler III, E. E., 2006. Designing organizations that are built to change. MIT
Sloan Management Review. 48(1). pp.19-23.
Online
10 principles to change management. 2014. [Online]. Available trough: <http://www.strategy-
business.com/article/rr00006?gko=643d0>. [Accessed on 3rd December 2015].
9