Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 PART 1............................................................................................................................................1 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1 P1.Comparisonofwaysinwhichchangehasimpactedorganisations'strategiesand operations....................................................................................................................................1 TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3 P2. Evaluation of ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team and individual behaviour....................................................................................................3 P3. Evaluation of measures that could be taken to minimise negative impact of change...........6 PART 2............................................................................................................................................7 TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7 P4. Explanation of different barriers for change and how they influence leadership decision- making.........................................................................................................................................7 TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9 P5. Application of different leadership approaches in dealing with change...............................9 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
INTRODUCTION Change refers to effective transition of operations or functions of organisations from its existing to a new state. It is an inevitable practice which must be appropriately be performed by companies to adapt themselves appropriately with external or internal conditions having an impact on the firm(Espedal, 2017). The following report is based on Vodafone, which is one of the biggest telecommunications organisation in the UK and in the world. It is divided into two parts. Part 1 includes comparison of ways in which organisations' strategies and operations are impactedthroughchangeandevaluationofinfluencethatdriversofchangehaveon organisational behaviour. Part 2 covers how barriers of change influence leadership and decision making and application of range of leadership approaches to a change initiative. PART 1 TASK 1 P1. Comparison of ways in which change has impacted organisations' strategies and operations Change is an inevitable element which has a wide impact on an organisations functions and operations. In addition to this, change within an organisation also has its effects on strategies adopted by an organisation. However, the context to change, it is not necessary that it has similar impacts on companies. There are different ways in which similar changes could impact different organisations. For this aspect, AT&T is chosen along with Vodafone to determine the impact of change in an effective manner. Comparison of the same is discussed below: ï‚·Technology: The first and foremost element whose change has impacted strategies and operations of both the companies is technology. The telecommunication industry has undergone severe transformations as well as advancements in terms of technology, which is being modified constantly to satisfy needs of customers has recently impacted both the companies(Iveroth and Hallencreutz, 2015). In relation toVodafone, the firm is using modification and innovation as a key to sustain technological changes. With rise in digitalisation, there are several technologies within mobile phones and internet connectivity which are directly associated with provision of quality services to people have quite an impact on the strategies and operations of the firm. As for former, the firm is implementing innovation as an effective approach to withstand the change. The company 1
is using Artificial Intelligence and Automation within their services as a strategy to cope up with changes in technology. As for operations, the firm has changed its operations to accommodate AI within their strategies through introducing new ways of working and procedures within the firm, such as using automated equipments to work with. With such high competition, this change enabled the firm to expand its customer base and better management of its operation overseas (Komives and Wagner, 2016). As forAT&T, the firm is willing to incorporate various strategies such as rationalising their applications, integrated cloud computing, etc. Furthermore, as for operations, these changes also have an impact on the same and to appropriately cope up with the same, the organisation is building effective future platforms and is indulging in different organisation of workforce within the company. The impact of this change within the company has been quite positive as it allows the firm to compete within the market and ensure its long-term sustainability. Organisational Structure: This element also has an impact on strategies and operations of both the companies mentioned above. Quite recently, both Vodafone and AT&T have undergone structural changes which moulded the operations and strategies of both the organisations according to the demand of changes. ForVodafone, the firm has restructured its European Management team. There are several prominent individuals which are leaving the firm as part of the strategies and new individualsare taking up their place. Such heavy changes required their organisation to effectivelymanageandmodifytheirbusinessoperations.Thus,newstrategiessuchas acquisition and integration have been adopted by the firm. Furthermore, to enhance adaptability with the change, the organisation has started providing effective training to their employees and has introduced new performance measuring techniques to ensure effectiveness in the new leadership. This restructuring allowed the firm to implement effective long term planning to incur better profitability. In context withAT&T, the firm has also undergone severe structural changes recently where the firm acquired Time Warner Inc. for $85.4 Billion (AT&T Is Said to Plan Major Organizational Changes After Deal. 2019). This required the company to develop appropriate strategic changes within the company along with operations. To attain this, the company built in strategiessuchastransformingeachdepartmentinwayswhichcouldhelptheoverall 2
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telecommunication business to grow. Moreover, for such transformation, external audits were opted as operations along with introduction of educational programs to ensure smooth working of the company. This impacts the firm in a favourable manner as the firm now has higher productivity and better performance of their staff members. TASK 2 P2. Evaluation of ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team and individual behaviour Drivers of change refers to pressure which is exerted on organisations which either encourage or force a company to introduce change within their organisational strategies and operations. Moreover, these are the factors which have a wide impact on the firm's functionality and which induces transition in its operations. In case of Vodafone, in 2015, the firm changed its European Leadership Structure in order to simplify the organisational processes and for better decision making (VODAFONE EUROPEAN LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE CHANGES,2018). This was perhaps one of the biggest decision related to organisational change which was taken by the company, There are two types of drivers which affect Vodafone, i.e., internal and external drivers. The former drivers are related to all the internal forces within the company which induce change within the organisation. The latter are the ones which are external to the organisation and yet, have a strong influence on change within the organisation. For Internal Drivers, however, SWOT Analysis is being used which is a framework used for determining internal strength, weakness, opportunity as well as threat within an organisation. Further, this framework could also help the firm in determining its internal drivers of change. This framework is mentioned below: Strength: ï‚·Innovation:The biggest strength of the firm is its innovation capability. Vodafone has been quite consistent in innovating its services and products to suit the real time and potentially future demands within the market. For instance, the firm has been quite effective in working project like Gigabit Society, which is an initiative by the company to ensure effective access of individuals to gigabit networks by 2030. Weakness: 3
ï‚·Organisational Culture:Vodafone has been criticised continuously in the past due to having a weak organisational culture. The firm did not have appropriate unity, which resulted in weak performance of the firm. This, became a quite effective driver for change for the firm as it wanted to sustain in the market appropriately and for a longer term. Opportunity: ï‚·New Financial Resources:Vodafone has tie-ups with different multinational financial organisations which has allowed the firm to consistently carry out its operations and invest in other prominent opportunities. However, new and innovative ways of handling finance became a consistent change driver which encouraged the company to change its operations in accordance with these resources. Threat: ï‚·Morale of Employees:One of the constant threats which this company faces is the reduced morale of employees working within the company. This could happen in many ways, like limited pay scale, ineffective opportunities, etc. Thus, this factor, too has been a driver for change for Vodafone as it is very important for the firm to modify its operations to satisfy its workforce. As for external drivers, PEST Analysis is being used which is a framework determining external pointers influencing the change within an organisation. This model is discussed below:ï‚·Political Factor:These factors undertake the political conditions within a country which affects its functionality and performance. In context with Vodafone, the firm is currently suffering from the aftermaths of Brexit, which has been quite an effective driver of change, as it forced the firm to change its operations accordingly.ï‚·Economical Factor:These factors reflect economic performance of a nation. Post-Brexit, the whole country suffered reduction in value of pound. Such factor became driver for change for Vodafone as it influenced the firm in providing its services at a lower price.ï‚·Social Factor:These factors undertake all the social factors prevailing in the market. Social trends within the market have been effective drivers of change, which required the firm to shift its operations as per demands of the people, who required quality services at lower prices. 4
ï‚·Technological Factor:There are ongoing advancements in technologies, which requires thefirmtoconsistentlychangetheirservicesandincludelatestandtopquality technology to keep up with the technological change(Yardley and. et. al., 2016). However, all these internal and external factors have an impact on the firm's Leadership. Individual and Team Behaviour. This impact is mentioned below: FACTORSLEADERSHIPINDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR TEAM BEHAVIOUR Internal Factors Internalfactorslike moraleofemployees andorganisational cultureaffect leadershipina negativemanner. Vodafone thus have to change its Leadership StyletoDemocratic, which would help the firm in improving its culture and morale of employees(vander Voetand.et.al., 2015). Internal factors have a major impact on this behaviouras innovationallows individualsto showcasetheir creativityeffectively, thus,ensuring positivity. Newfinancial resourceswould enhancetheskillsof employeeswhich would positively effect teambehaviour.This is because they would beenhancingtheir skillswhichwould ensurebetter managementofthe same. External FactorsExternalFactors requirethefirmto shiftonto Transformational Leadership asallthe factorsrequiresome sortof changeto be introducedwithinthe Onindividuals, external factors would have avery negative impact as these factors couldn't be controlled bythesepeople. Furthermore,they wouldbechanging Someofthefactors might cause resistance in teams with respect tochange.Thisis becausethesefactors require them to modify theirfunctionality, which as a team they 5
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company.their working patterns withrespecttothese factorswhichwould again have a negative impactonthe company. might not admit to. P3. Evaluation of measures that could be taken to minimise negative impact of change As per the above discussion, it was quite evident, that while some changes had a positive impact on the company, there were some which had negative impacts as well. Thus, it is very important for Vodafone to effectively change their business operations in such a manner which ensures prosperity and positivity within the company. Vodafone is required to take appropriate measures which minimises negative impacts of change. Further, these measures would also help the firm in processing change in an effective manner. For this, the firm must adopt PDCA Model, which would assist the company in implementing and process change effectively. This model is described as under:ï‚·Plan:The first and foremost step of this model is to plan the overall change. The prime requirement of this step is to appropriately recognise opportunity within the market. Vodafone must define the problem which is required to be addressed. Furthermore, the company must collect all the appropriate and relevant information related to the problem and ascertain root cause of the same.ï‚·Do:This step requires Vodafone to test its proposed solution. However, while doing the same, the firm must keep it certain that this model works upon introducing incremental and smaller changes which ensures minimal disruption. The firm is required to test the solution in a closed environment on a targeted audience.ï‚·Check:This step requires the company to effectively test their results of their evaluations and proposed solution. Once the firm tests the same, it would make those aspects evident with the firm which could use some work or modification for improving the overall process. ï‚·Act:The last stage of this model requires Vodafone to implement these changes. For the same, the company must identify what resources would it take for the firm to effectively 6
implement the same. Moreover, the organisation must also adopt methods to measure its performance and ensure that their change help Vodafone in accomplishing the overall opportunities(Rogers and Marres, 2016). PART 2 TASK 3 P4. Explanation of different barriers for change and how they influence leadership decision- making There are several barriers of change which resist an organisation in implementing change in an appropriate manner. Moreover, these also cause resistance within the organisation in adopting the change and implementing the same within the company(Rodd, 2015). Some of these potential barriers in respect to changes in leadership structure in Vodafone is mentioned below: ï‚·Inappropriate Leadership: One of the biggest barriers of change is inappropriate leadership. This is because it is very crucial for employees to embrace changes taking place within the company. Leaders are required to play a crucial role in the same, as they are required to motivate them effectively in relation to the change. However, in case of inappropriate leadership, employees would not be dynamic and accepting enough to ensure the change within the company, thus, enhancing the resistance of employees. This has a negative impact on decision-making as in such a case, chances are that company undertake ineffective decision which might lead to worsening of the condition. ï‚·Ineffective Communication: Anotherbarrierofchangeisineffectivecommunication.Itisveryimportantfor organisation to communicate change, its reason and potential outcomes to the subordinates who will be responsible for appropriately implementing the same within the company. However, in case of ineffective communication, each stakeholder might not get proper and appropriate information related to the change, which could cause ambiguity within the information, that might lead to a different outcome from the stakeholders than what was expected. Thus, in case this link gets broken due to ineffective communication, this might lead to rise in burden and hurdles for Vodafone in implementing the change(NHS England, 2016). Leadership in such a 7
case is quite affected as without stakeholders' proper approval, leaders might not appropriately direct the firm in an appropriate direction. As for decision making, ambiguous decisions would be taken by the company if there would be a lack of communication related to change. However, to better and more appropriately understanding the same, the firm must effectively use Force Fields Analysis, which would allow the firm to identify forces which are both for and against the change to implement the same in a more effective manner(Lawrence, 2015). Moreover, to achieve change within the company, this model requires the firm to upset the equilibrium by using the model, either by effectively adding elements which encourage change or by reduction of resisting forces. Illustration1: Lewin's Force Field Model (Change Management) (Source: Lewin's Force Field Model (Change Management), 2019) Following are the steps which are required to be adopted by Vodafone to ensure proper application of this model. These steps are as follows:ï‚·Defining Change:The first stage is related to defining change. In context of Vodafone, this change is the structural change in terms of leadership(Doppelt, 2017).ï‚·Analysing Driving Forces:This step requires Vodafone to analyse driving forces which could lead to this change. In context with Vodafone, there are several driving forces which are discussed below: â–ªImprovement in Speed:One of the biggest driving force with respect to the change is that the firm has always required more speed in its functions and 8
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productivity. Having implemented the structural change would have allowed the company to bring in speed in its operations. â–ªIneffective Organisational Culture:Another driving force for this change is the ineffective organisational structure which was essential to be restructured to enhance productivity and effectiveness within operations.ï‚·Analysing Resisting Forces:Further, this stage needs the firm in analysing resisting forces within the company which work against the changes. These forces with respect to Vodafone is mentioned below: â–ªCost:The first and foremost resisting force for any change is cost. Bringing in structural leadership change requiresthe firmto hire awholenewsetof individuals who would be leading the organisation forth. However, this aspect is quite costly and requires the firm to invest ample amount in the same which is the biggest cause of resistance with respect to change(Coghlan and Shani, 2015). â–ªTime:Another aspect which causes resistance to change is time which is required by the firm to achieve status quo again. While bringing in such a big change requires adequate amount of time and patience for leaders to get up to their full functionality and adaptability of employees related to this change. However, with daily functioning, this factor might lead to resistance of change, seeing such a competitive market which requires consistency in operations to succeed. ï‚·Evaluation:By the above analysis, it was found out that while cost and time have significant impact on the change, the firm required to improve its organisational culture and ensure speed within its operations and thus, this change is necessary for the firm to bear long term opportunities and benefits. TASK 4 P5. Application of different leadership approaches in dealing with change It is very crucial for an organisation to apply effective approaches to manage the change, as well as lead the organisation towards success(Anderson, 2016). In context of Vodafone, the firm could apply Kotter's 8-Step Model in relation to effectively manage the change within the firm. This model is discussed in detail below: 9
Illustration2: Kotter's 8-Step Change Model (Source: Kotter's 8-Step Change Model, 2018)ï‚·Creation of Urgency:The first and foremost step is related to creating an urgency of change within subordinates. For this, Vodafone must create urgency related to the structural change it is trying to implement.ï‚·Building Guiding Coalition:Through effective leadership, the next step requires the firm to appropriately convince individuals that this change is necessary.ï‚·Formation of Vision:Leaders at Vodafone must appropriately form a vision, which aligns with the personal agendas of subordinates for minimising their resistance.ï‚·Enlisting Individuals Through Communication:This step needs the organisation to communicate this vision to the employees of the firm, to ensure appropriate and effective volunteering of individuals with respect to the change(Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2015). 10
ï‚·Barrier Removal:Any sort of obstacle or barrier in terms of implementation of change must be removed by the firm.ï‚·Short-Term Wins Generation:Vodafone must work upon generating short-term wins which would further encourage employees in implementing change(Alavi and Gill, 2017).ï‚·Sustaining Acceleration:New opportunities with respect to change must be accelerated by leaders to ensure more effectiveness. ï‚·Instituting Changes:This step needs Vodafone to implement the structural change within the company. Furthermore, the firm requires to lead its organisation towards implementing of this structural change, for which, the firm must use several leadership approaches mentioned below:ï‚·Autocratic Approach:As per this approach, power of decision making would lie with a few individuals. There will be a little, or no consideration of viewpoints of employees. Furthermore, clear and precise orders would be given to employees related to the change. However, this might cause demotivation in staff and resistance in terms of change.ï‚·Transformational Approach:In this approach, leaders at Vodafone are required to create a vision and communicate it throughout the company to bring each employee at the same place as the company. Strategies are required to be developed by the leaders to enhance coping up with the change and increase their performance throughout. ï‚·Democratic Approach:According to this approach, leaders let employees participate in change and all the strategies which are developed throughout the process are decided as per the employees perception. They are free to present their views within the company which is necessary for the organisation as per this strategy. Outofalltheapproach,thefirmmustuseTransformationalApproachtolead organisation in a better and consistent manner towards the change. This is because it would help the employees in understanding the need of change in a better manner which would be cause effectiveness in relation to their adaptability and performance(Al-Haddad and Kotnour, 2015). CONCLUSION Thus, it is concluded by the report, that it is important for organisations to understand and lead change within their companies. It is effective to compare how change impacts strategies and operationsofdifferentcompaniestoanalysetheireffectanddevelopbetterstrategies. 11
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Furthermore, it is also important to analyse drivers of change to determine their possible effect on the firm. Moreover, firms could use PDCA model to reduce negative impacts of change appropriately. Apart from this, companies could use Force Fields Model in relation to derive supporting and resisting forces. Lastly, organisations must use Kotter's 8-Step model and transformational leadership approach to implement the change within the company. 12
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