Managing Change in Woolworths: Challenges and Solutions

This report discusses the challenges faced by Woolworths, a leading supermarket chain in Australia, and suggests changes in the organisational set up along with an implementation plan and possible solutions to the challenges derived.

Running head: MANAGING CHANGE
Managing Change
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors note

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Introduction
Organisation operation is a complex idea as it has a number of departments and
individual involved in the process. The strategies of the organisations are developed
depending on market research and customers’ demands. The trend and need of the market
changes with time and innovation of new technologies. Therefore, changes are an integral
part of an organisational setup, and they are tough to manage. Change might occur for a
number of reasons like encouraging company growth, managing the customer’s demands,
coping up with new industry trends or gaining competitive advantage by changing the
strategies. Woolworths is one of the most reputed supermarket chains in Australia. It has
captured almost 50% of Australia retail market share in FMCG along with Coles. There is a
total of 995 stores of Woolworths in Australia. The company has recently extended its
business on online platforms. The outcome of the online extension has cast a positive impact
on the revenue numbers of the company. The recent statistics of Woolworths is going down
for excessive market competition and other challenges. This report is designed to discuss, the
relevant issues, reason for these problems, and how they could be managed. The changes in
the organisational set up would be suggested along with the implementation plan and possible
solution to the challenges derived.
Area of involvement
I am working as a marketing manager of the company for the past few years. As part
of the marketing team, we also have to manage some of the sales aspects. My primary role in
this organisation is to take care of the customer demands, marketing strategies, plan
management and implementation and effective execution of the marketing plans. Delivery
and product penetration is another part of our marketing team. In the course of my working
years, I have realised that the company has increased its business mainly through the brink

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and motor structures. I think the company need a changed model for marketing management
in the Australian market.
An account of the current situation
Woolworths is the second largest group of retailers in Australia and New Zealand.
The company revenue has been continuously increasing since 2010. After that time, the
market started becoming saturated as a number of new companies joined the retail marketing.
The online FMCG market also stared blooming after 2003. All these affected the market
share of Woolworths. The company has faced a loss of $1.3 billion in the year 2016. These
numbers show that the company needs to change its traditional approach to business
marketing. The company has not changed its strategies and outlooks from the very beginning
(Alderton 2015). The consumers are now choosing the option that is more convenient for
them. New companies with innovative and customers oriented strategies are entering the
market. Whereas, the business strategies of Woolworths are product-centric.
The company need to revise its business model according to the present market needs.
As it is not selling a number of products in their online portals, online customers are not able
to order them from their place. This is helping in giving the advantage to other online
organisations like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal to capture the market share more than
Woolworths. According to (Hornstein 2015), as the company is using two different suppliers
group for online and store business, there are more complications and low scope of
negotiations. The company cost is increasing as well as the outcome is not satisfactory.
In spite of the growth, the company is facing some problems in managing the stiff
competition of the market in recent years. The main reason behind this scenario is the
increased market demands of online product delivery (Garber 2015). The company is taking

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supplies from two different groups of suppliers. The problem with the business process of
Woolworths is that it has a business alliance with the online suppliers that restricts it to sell
their online products in offline stores or visa-a-vies.
Another important thing that I have noticed in this organisation is that the stores are
renovated and the employee training projects are not implemented for a long time now.
Customers demand more personalised and innovative touch in their visit to the stores (Kelly
2008). They want some suggestions the whole buying a new product which they are not
getting effectively. This is cutting short the customer loyalty base of the company.
Identification of Changes
The negative outcomes in company sales make it necessary to make some decisions
for betterment. Changes in the existing process are needed, and that is to be marked at the
first place (Hoff 2008). Marketing is the action of promoting the product or services.
Therefore, to mark the area of changes in marketing, one has to take into consideration the
customers as well as the organisation’s context.
Motivation
The organisation has been able to maintain its reputation for a long time period. As a
marketing manager, I have the job role in driving the company sales towards positive
numbers. The decreasing number of sales figure presents a challenge for the team. The
motivation for these changes come from the market researches that we have done with our
team. As opined by Lozano, Ceulemans and Seatter (2015), customer behaviour is influenced
by a number of factors and these are crucial for company success. The employees of
Woolworths are self-motivated for the welfare of the company. They need the right path to
follow. As the world business is using the customer-centric mediums for their marketing and
gaining profits, this would definitely work for a big organisation like Woolworths (Georgalis

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et al. 2015). The company has already established its brand equity. Therefore, the aim of this
company would now rest on the target achievement in marketing and sales.
Rationale
The main reason for implementing certain change in the organisation is the loss of
revenue. Therefore, the target of the changes would be to increase the sales number of the
company group and increasing brand loyalty. The main changes that are needed for the
company are- 1. Changing in the supply chain for online and brick and mortar, 2. Increasing
the positive experience and satisfaction of the customers, 3. Making the business process
more customer-friendly and 4. Involving the employees in the whole process of store
management.
Justification
These changes are needed to ensure the company its business profit. As the company
is using two kinds of supply strategies for its store and online business, it is unable to balance
the process properly. The new process of choosing the suppliers would bring the company
profits both in their online and offline ventures. The customers have more than one options in
the market. This company could actually use its regained brand popularity to exercise the
changes. New process of store management could add value to the customer’s experience.
They would be interested in visiting the stores and company websites more if they get
individualised experience from our services (Hammer 2015). The skills of the employees
could be shunned through the training, and they could provide better services to our
customers. These changes are necessary to help the company adapt with the changing trends
of the market. The new system would rejuvenate the company operations and increase
customer’s interest in the company products (Harmon 2019). As they would be able to access

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all the Woolworths products both in online and offline stores, the increase in sales is an
obvious outcome of the changes.
Changing the plan
Changes are important and inevitable in an organisational context. It gives the scope
to develop the operations in a way that helps in sustainability and growth. The challenges that
a company faces in the course of change implementation are various. The changing plan for
this company is based on the market research done by our team. The result suggests that the
company has taken certain wrong decisions in choosing their suppliers and managing
strategies. The changing plans are discussed in details below-
Changing the suppliers
The company need to apply Omni-channel business strategy to fight the challenge.
Changing trends indicate that most of the consumers have changed their shopping preferences
in modern times (Doppelt 2017). The innovation of technology and the internet is the reason
for this change. If a person could simply order his or her required products through the
mobile phones and does not have to go to the stores for collecting them, then it would be the
most convenient way of shopping without any doubt (Hornstein 2015). This applies to all the
industries who have chosen an online platform for achieving higher targets in sales.
Woolworths have understood the importance of online business, but it has
complicated the process. Most of the products that it sales online are delivered by the
suppliers who do not adopt the brick and mortar business context. This decision of the
company needs to be changed. This company should go for the suppliers who would provide
supplies for both the online and offline retailing of the company (Umble & Umble 2014). As
there are two different types of suppliers, the negotiations are also built-in dual steps. The
cost of the negotiations is increased with the effects of the overall cost-effectiveness of the

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company. To solve the problem, the company should contact the suppliers who would
provide materials for one-channel business models (Van der Voet, Kuipers & Groeneveld
2016). If the company is able to develop a successful omnichannel business with the help of
suppliers, it would definitely get higher revenues.
Improving the delivery methods
The company has to work with its delivery methods in online business. There are a
number of companies like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeals who are providing extraordinary
delivery performances in their online business. Therefore, if the company do not match that
level, the customers of Woolworths might shift to other options in the market. This is one of
the reasons that the company’s customer loyalty rate is decreasing. There are other
competitors in the market, like Coles and Aldi who are increasing their sales by developing a
time-efficient and effective delivery technologies.
Woolworths need to assess the delivery channel model of the company. The supply of
the inventories is also suffering as the delivery agents are not supplying them on time. This
possesses a high threat of losing customers. If this is the scenario, there would be a time when
the customers would not get their required products on the shelf because of late deliveries in
the stores (Sanchez 2016). The company need to change its delivery methods using modern
technologies that would give extra convenience to the customers. It could use the model of e-
commerce chains to develop online delivery tracking software.
Training employees
Employees re the main asset of any company. Woolworths has always followed the
traditional way to execute their business. As a result, the employees are not skilled with
modern consumers’ trends (Fernandez & Rainey 2017). They are not able to present their
services properly. The company should train its employees with modern technology and store

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management processes (Lozano, Ceulemans & Seatter 2015). This would add a new level in
the store services.
Redesigning stores
Redesigning the stores could make the product presentation more interesting. The
customer feedback has been collected for understanding what kind of change they want in
Woolworths’ stores. Some of them has marked that they want more information of the
products and their nutrition value while they visit the stores. They also want to see more
decorated and easily accessible store designs.
Implementation process
Change implementation
The Australian retail magnate, Woolworths, is advised to implement the changes that
are necessary for the overall development of the company.
Change of suppliers
One of the major areas that a need proper development refers to the changes that are
to be made in relevance to the change in the suppliers of the organization. The changes in the
suppliers would help in the overall development of the various services that are provided by
the company. The change in the suppliers of the organization would help in the overall
development of the products that are marketed by the concerned organization (James and
Weddell 2016). In order to maintain the delivery of the similar products in both the online
and the brick-mortar stores, the company might be advised to invite the tenders and proposals
from the concerned suppliers who would not put forth clauses regarding the sales of the
products at both the store types. The company might further be advised to devise contracts
with the existing suppliers of the organization. This might in turn help in the maintenance of
the various issues that are faced by the organization in terms of the suppliers.

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Improvement in the delivery management
The delivery management as have been maintained within the organization needs to
be improved in order to deal with the growing demands of the clientele. The delivery
management system as have been existent within the company is observed to be separate in
case of the ecommerce section as well as the brick-and-mortar retail stores of the company.
The company might be advised to hold proper meetings with the existing with the delivery
partners who have been involved with the company. The company is advised to devise the
various strategies that would help in the overall resolution of the issues that are faced by the
concerned organization as well. In order to put forth a development in the strategies that are
required for the management of the delivery of the products that the concerned company has
been offering to the clientele of the organization (Kalendra & Cook 2017). The company
might invite the tenders from the existing delivery partners who have been dealing with the
delivery of the various products that are marketed by the company at both the online and the
brick-and-mortar stores that are maintained by the organization. The majority of the delivery
partners of the organization might be advised to improvise their contracts in order help in the
overall development of the company in the given markets.
Training of employees
The employees within the organization need to be trained in the various matters that
are required for the overall development of the organizational performance in the given
markets. The employees of the organization need to be trained on the grounds of
communication and the technology. The technological training of the employees would help
the concerned organization to deal with the smooth operations of the various e-retail stores
that are operated by the organization (Harris & Daunt 2016). This would further help in the
development of the issues that are highlighted within the given organization. The concerned

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organization might need to train the existent employees in order to deal with the overall
development of the issues that are highlighted by the clientele of the organization. The
training of the employees might be conducted through the conduction of the various
workshops within the organization. The workshops would help the employees gain
knowledge on the various issues that are highlighted in terms of the interaction with the
clientele of the organization as well as help in the understanding of the ways in which the
clients need to be dealt with.
Redesigning stores
The stores of the organization might further need a revision in order to attract the
clients towards the organization. The company is known to have been dealing with the
redesigning of the physical stores that are operated by the organization. The redesigning of
the brick-and-mortar stores of the organization would help in the overall development of the
client engagement within the organization. The redesigning of the stores that are maintained
by the organization would help in boosting the morale of the employees within the
organization. The boosting of the morale of the organizational workforce helps in motivating
the employees to perform better in the development of the organizational performance in the
international markets (Gould et al. 2018). The company is advised to devise the various
strategies that would help in the overall resolution of the issues that are faced by the
concerned organization as well. The redesigning of the brick-and-mortar stores of the
organization would help in the overall development of the revenues that are earned by the
organization in the concerned financial years. The overall development of the store designing
would help in the revenue collection as well as the overall performance of the company as
well. This in turn affects the competitive advantage of the company as well.

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Challenges and its possible solution
There must be some resistance and challenges while changing the suppliers. The
company need to do extensive negotiations with the suppliers to solve the problems.
The company faces huge challenges in terms of the implementation of the measures
that are suggested above. The changes in the suppliers would help in the overall development
of the various services that are provided by the company. The change in the suppliers of the
organization would help in the overall development of the products that are marketed by the
concerned organization. In order to maintain the delivery of the similar products in both the
online and the brick-mortar stores, the company might be advised to invite the tenders and
proposals from the concerned suppliers who would not put forth clauses regarding the sales
of the products at both the store types (Beer et al. 2017). The delivery management system as
have been existent within the company is observed to be separate in case of the ecommerce
section as well as the brick-and-mortar retail stores of the company. The company might face
issues in the development the selection of the suppliers and the delivery partners who have
been appointed by the company. The company might also face issues in the overall
development of the delivery systems as are employed by the company. The other major
challenge refers to the employee engagement within the company.
Solutions
Another challenge is resistance from the employees while implementing the changes.
Training would help them to identify the need for the changes. Other than training, the
managers need to communicate with the employees (Russ 2008). The required changes in the
store designs and product presentation could be achieved through the active participation of
the employees and the management.

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Conclusion
Change management is a process through which the challenges and implementation of
the changes are managed. The organisations have to make various changes in their work
process in the course of time. These changes first need to be identified properly. If the
identification is not made in a definite way, the outcomes might not be appropriate.
Therefore, market research and understanding the requirement of the customers are needed in
every step of change identification. In the case of Woolworths, the main challenges were
presented by the supply chain and customers preferences. This kind of problems needs to be
resolved through a well-designed plan and strategy implementation. In any change
implementation, there would be a certain level of restrictions. The employees training is
needed for the company and redesigning of the stores would complement the process.
Therefore, as a manager of marketing, I think this plan would be crucial to manage the
challenge of revenue loss in Woolworths operations.

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