Overcoming Resistance to Change through Effective Leadership

The assignment content emphasizes the importance of leadership and change management in organizations. It highlights Lewin's force-field analysis as a tool for understanding resistance to change and the role of leaders in building trust and empowering employees to adapt to changes. The essay also discusses different leadership styles, such as directive, supportive, participative, achievement-oriented, and transformational, which can be used to manage change effectively. Ultimately, it concludes that effective leadership is crucial for bringing about strategic change.

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
Introduction:
The essay will deal with the concept of leadership in business and the need for
bringing a strategic change in an organization. The study will do a force-field analysis to
understand the driving forces and hindrances towards a change. The essay will highlight on
certain aspects like change management, different types of strategic changes, ways it can be
made effective for the organization and strategic relation with main stakeholders. The study
will help to analyze the need for leadership in business as well as necessity of change in an
organization. This essay will deal with a renowned technological company as a reference to
give a better understanding of the matter.
The organization taken into consideration in this report is Google Inc. Google Inc. is a
multinational company provides internet based services. The company was founded in the
year 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The company has experienced rapid growth since
its inception, and this led to the development of a chain of products and many acquisitions.
The many offers services like, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail, Google Calendar. The
company has led the development of the Android Mobile Systems. It has developed a light
weight operating system, namely, Chrome OS. The company has also expanded its operations
and started developing hardware products from the year 2010 to 2015. The products include,
Google Pixel Smartphone, Home smart speaker, Wifi mesh wireless router. In this manner
Google has continuously tried to expand its range of products and services.
Mission of Organization:
The mission of Google Corporation is to find a way to organize the information
received from the whole world and make it accessible for all. The focus of the company has
always been on developing programs to increase effectiveness. The organization always

2LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
strives to provide the right information at the time of need. The mission statement of the
organization is mainly focused on four factors, which are, information gathered from the
world, organizing the information, accessibility for all and usefulness. Google fulfills the
factors of its mission statement by organizing the information through its programs, it offers
its services worldwide to each and every person who requires it. The organizing and
processing of the information gives useful results to its users.
Vision of organization:
The vision statement of Google Corporation can be defined as the ability to provide
access to the information of the world in a single click. The services provided by Google
reflect its vision statement. The Google search engine provides information related to any
topic around the world in a single click. The organization compiles the websites all over the
world and provides the information required by its users with the help of its search engine.
The services of the organization are accessible by everyone around the world. The ease of
access of information is also fulfilled by the organization. The organization offers many
innovative products to the users. The company thus follows its vision statement effectively.
Relation between leadership and change:
The leadership in business is mandatory to achieve the desired goal. A leader has an
influence on its key stakeholders. A leader has certain amount of power although exercising
this power depends on the necessity of a particular situation. The objective of all leadership is
to bring about strategic change in organization (Tannenbaum, Weschler & Massarik,
2013).The leaders ought to have an impact on its followers, in order to bring about an
improvement in performance and achieve the result. Changes are necessary to survive in the
competitive market. Both the internal and external factors can bring about a change in the

3LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
organization. It is a great challenge for an organization to bring about a change in any form.
The leader needs to be competent to make this change happen in accordance with the
organizational structure. Then only will this change enable in bringing the desired result. The
leadership can be of any kind but its main purpose is to lead and manage a change in this era
of globalization. Leadership and change is inextricably associated (By & Burnes, 2012).
Factors and changes that may cause change in the organization:
 Competition is an important factor in the changes that are caused in the organization.
The entry of a new competitor in the market causes changes in the organization. The
organization needs to bring changes in its strategies and policies to deal with the
competition in the market.
 Changes in an organization is also caused by the innovation of technology. As and
when new technologies come into play, the organization needs to bring changes in its
structure, so that it can adapt to the new technologies in the market. A business can
gain a lot from new technologies. The efficiency can increase and customer
satisfaction is achieved.
 The desire of an organization to expand its operations brings a lot of changes in the
organization. Expansion is achieved by acquisition or entering into new aspects of the
market. The organization and its employees need to change a lot to adapt to the
expansion of the business.
 The organization needs to improve its processes with time to adapt to the changes in
the external environment and increase efficiency. The level and quality of service can
also be improved. This causes a change in the organization.

4LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
 Changes in regulations and policies of the government can also cause change in the
organization. The organization needs to change its policies and procedures to adapt to
the changes in government regulations.
The change is brought in the company in a strategic manner for the benefit of the
organization. Strategic change can be both transformational as well as realignment.
Transformational change is revolutionary in nature while the other one is reconstructing. The
approach towards these changes is different. Transformational change is immediate
depending on the market competition. Realignment change is a forced change that is imposed
on the company to change its working strategy. This change definitely affects the
organizational culture and its nature. Kart Lewin was the founder of force-field analysis that
would provide a complete understanding of the complex problem and the factors influencing
change (Burnes & Cooke, 2013). According to Lewin, in the first level it is essential to
motivate the staff to bring about a change for certain stability in the situation. Secondly, the
staff is informed about the new trend of behavior in order to get associated with it. Finally, it
isto stabilize the change by implementing the new norms. Lewin’s method is the best way to
deal with strategic change. Strategic change is a way to respond to the changing situation for
achieving the desirable result. The best way to manage these changes is by using a strategic
planning. A strategic planning can help in handling the crisis and the need to change with the
competitive situation (Bryson, 2012).
The example of Google will help us in understanding the ways in which strategic
change can be beneficial for a company. Google Inc. is a multinational technology company
based in America. Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded it. Google has a good hold on internet
but there are certain questions associated with this position of Google. It is whether this
position is permanent, are there any barriers that Google can also face in the future, does
Google get affected by the competitive market (Haucap & Heimeshoff, 2014). In the early

5LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
years of Google, it had no specific business model. In the book, The Search, author has
explained the inside story of Google. The company did not generate stable revenue and was
focusing on minor profit. Then the company went through a strategic change. Google
launched its advertising platform to make searching easier in Google. This escalated the
business of the company. The initiative became extremely beneficial for the company and it
became a powerful advertising forum apart from being an advanced search engine.
In the present context, also Google has some major challenges to overcome. In this
era of smartphones, people are more connected to applications and some even do not have
Gmail account. Google needs to restructure its business model in order to fit the need of the
customers by going beyond its known territory and creating mobile applications. The
company needs to make its impact in the domain of smartphones. Facebook and WhatsApp
have created a monopoly in the field of smartphones where Google is finding it difficult to
penetrate. A force-field analysis as proposed by Lewinwill help in understanding the
hindrances and the driving forces of the company to bring about a change.
Analysis to identify the restraining and driving forces of change:
Force-field analysis helps in planning and decision-making, implementing those plans
in bringing about changes(Odi.org, 2017).It helps in analyzing the factors for a complex
situation. Force-field analysis gives asystematic approach to deal with the
problem(Literacy.kent.edu, 2017).In force-field analysis there is two aspects first, the driving
factor and second, the restraining factor. Driving forces for the company are firstly, providing
the customers with desired product or service as per their specific need. Secondly, have a
better grasp over the market and in expanding worldwide, especially in countries those are
developing. Thirdly, it will cause a technological advancement on part of the company.
Lastly, it will generate more revenue for the company. On the other hand, the restraining

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factors are first, the company will have to promote itself in a new way. The brand promotion
is to be done for the new service to be incorporated. Secondly, implementation of the new
technology in order to meet the customer needs. Thirdly, due to lot of competition in the
market, the company will have to face certain challenges to overcome it. The technology
should be apt and user friendly in order to reach out to the customers. The customer needs to
approve and accept the new service provided by the company. It is finally to be accepted in
the market. The risk of disapproval is a big restrictive factor from bringing about a change.
These changes can be handled as a part of change program as discussed above in the light of
Lewin’s force-field analysis.
Lewin’s has shown that a change is not possible if the factors for change are met with
factors that resist a change. The manager or the leader plays a crucial role here in
implementing these changes and building relations with stakeholders for approving such
changes. The leader needs to be capable of choosing the right direction for an effective
outcome (Mariana, Daniela & Nadina, 2013). Leaders need to build a trust with their
subordinates, customers and other stakeholders to have faith in the management. The more
empower the leader is the impact over his relation to others will be more powerful. This will
enable them to bring the change in alignment with the organization devoid of much resistance
(Hon, Bloom & Crant, 2014). The method of beating resistance through an effective
leadership is of significance.
Different leadership styles of managing change
Organizations experience in regular intervals of time. Leadership style helps the
leaders to adapt to the changes in the organization. Good leaders are able to adapt
successfully to the changes in the organization. There are five different styles of leadership.

7LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
 Directive leadership is the style in which the leader acts like a dictator. The
leader gives the directions to the employees in his team regarding their roles in
the team. This type of leadership helps in managing change in an effective
manner as the leader directs his employees according to the changes in
structure of the organization and the employees perform accordingly.
 In the supportive style of leadership, the leader acts in a supportive manner.
The leader is concerned about his employees and treats them with dignity.
This type of leadership is also helpful in change management. The leader
supports the employees in managing the changes in the organizational
structure.
 In participative leadership the leader is always open to the participation by the
employees in the decisions of the team. The employees can give suggestions
in the decision making process of the team. This leadership helps the
employees to be a part of the change in the organization.
 Achievement-oriented leadership is the style in which the leader motivates the
employees to reach their goals by pushing their limits. The change in the
organization also changes the ultimate goal of the employees.
 Transformational leadership style is the way in which leaders always aspire to
transform themselves. The leadership style is futuristic. This plays an
important role in change management of the organization. The leaders are
futuristic and always strive for expansion.
These are the different leadership styles which play an important role in change
management.

8LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
Conclusion:
Therefore, this essay has summarized the basic concept of leadership and ways the
leadership influences in bringing about a strategic change. The essay has clearly shown how
the resistance to changes can be dealt in specific manner using the various leadership
methods. The force-field analysis of Google Company has enabled to understand the benefits
of strategic change and the ways to deal with it. The in-depth research has shown why the
leaders of the company felt the need for a change.It is essential to understand both the
leadership and change concept clearly, as they go hand in hand. The quality of leadership has
a great influence on the change.

9LEADERSHIP AND NEED FOR CHANGE IN ORGANIZATION
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