Leading and Implementing Workplace Change

Leading and
Implementing
Workplace Change
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Table of Contents
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3
History of the organisation .........................................................................................................3
Impact of the changes in the external environment ...................................................................4
Model for change........................................................................................................................7
Incorporation of the issues related to strategic change and how the change was managed by
the company................................................................................................................................8
Leadership style..........................................................................................................................9
Impact of the Organisational Culture on change management program...................................10
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Change in the organisation is necessary to ensure their survival in the competitive business
environment. Such changes can take place in the structure of the organisation, alteration in the
processes which are followed the organisation, the technologies adopted, in the strategies of the
organisation etc. This influences the workplace culture as the change in any aspect of the
business affects the people working there and the other resources held by the company. To
successfully implement the change the major role is played by the leaders of the organisation
which create vision for their followers and make them understand the impact of such change on
them. For this report the organisation that is taken into consideration is Unilever, which is a
British-Dutch company headquartered in London. The company has been operating in various
countries with a wide range of their products. In this report the detailed history of the company
and the impact of various changes in the external factors are taken into consideration. Along with
this the model of changes are analysed with which the change can effectively be implemented in
the organisation. Various leadership styles that have been used in the organisation and the
various strategic issues are identified that helps them in managing change. Impact of
organisational cultural on the management process of the change is also taken into account.
History of the organisation
Unilever is a British Dutch company which was established in 1929 with the merger of
margarine producer of Dutch and the British soap maker Lever Brothers. The company has been
offering transnational consumer goods. The products which they have been providing include
various food products, beverages, beauty products, personal care products and cleaning agents.
The company is being considered as one of the most valuable company of Europe also
considered as one of the oldest multinational company of the world. The Unilever is a dual listed
company which has been listed as Unilever plc in London while as Unilever N.V. in Rotterdam.
In this company more than one lakh fifty five thousand employees are working. To expand their
operations they have been mergering with various companies and acquiring various companies.
The expansion always helps the companies to in increase their market base as in year 2000,
Unilever acquired Best Foods which helped them to increase their scale in foods in America and
with this they added various brands to their list such as Knorr, Bovril and Hellmann’s to their
portfolio (Amann and et. al. , 2017). Later they divided their businesses into two segments, one
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for foods and other for home and personal care. After this for two-three years they kept on
selling some of their shares in various companies. In 2007, Unilever became the first large scale
company by their operations in tea as they commit to sourcing in a sustainable manner. In 2019
Unilever acquired the business of Sara Lee Corporation which help them to strengthen their
category of leadership in skin cleansing and deodorants. Then August 2010 Unilever signed an
agreement to purchase assets and later on enter into an agreement to sell tomato products in
Brazil. Unilever kept on adding various products in their product line. In 2013 Unilever increase
their stake in Hindustan Unilever which increases their revenue to 67%. Recently in 2018,
Unilever announce that headquarter will be shifted to Rotterdam which will end its Anglo-Dutch
structure. They also required 75% stake in an Italian personal care business Equilibra and
acquired eco friendly laundry and household cleaning product company the Laundress. Unilever
has been declared as ninth best private sector employer. The operations of the company have
been classified into four main divisions: Personal care, refreshment, food products and home
care. Unilever is one of the largest media buyers in the world and has been investing funds in
advertisement and promotions which create awareness about their products among the
consumers. They have been facing stiff competition from Nestle and Procter and gamble along
with that competition comes from local market as well. The company has strong environmental
record as they have renewable grid electricity and various other sustainable methods. Unilever
faced various issues as they have been using paper for packaging along with this they is an issue
of Mercury contamination that has affected their business. They have to adapt changes which are
the requirement of the business for which they have to manage various strategic issues.
Impact of the changes in the external environment
External environment has a great impact on the business operations so they have to
consider all the external factors. The change which the organisation has to introduce on the
organization is compelled onto them due to changes in these external factors. Such factors cannot
be controlled by the organisation. To formulate the strategy the organisation need to consider
various environment such as internal and external. With the help of this analysis the company
can identify various opportunities and threats can be availed by them to achieve their
organisational goals. On the basis of the strength and weaknesses of the organisation it is
identified that what opportunities can be availed by minimising the impact of various threats
(Beer and et. al., 2017). To identify the opportunities and threats it is important for the
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