Managing People Through Change in Marks and Spencer

This report discusses the recent change in Marks and Spencer, the Lewin change model, ethical issues faced by the organization, and recommendations for managing organizational change. The report also includes a reflective approach using the KOLB model.

Managing People
Through Change

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
A recent change in a company literature review....................................................................1
How contemporary organisations deal with ethical issues when managing people through
organisational change.............................................................................................................3
Present specific recommendations, based on evidence, for managing organisational change5
Demonstrate a reflective approach by using the KOLB model.......................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
References:.......................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
People management is define as the collection of several activities which are being
related to the humans working in the business organisation such as recruiting, engaging, training,
retaining and many more. It is found a necessary for the management of business organisation to
manage the people for the purpose of optimizing the talent along with maximization of
productivity. Change management refers to the systematic approach which help the management
in implementing any type of change or modification in the process, technology or goals of
organisation in successful manner (Amarantou and et, al., 2018). The chosen organisation for
this report is Marks and Spencer which is a British multinational retailer having headquarter in
London, England, united Kingdom. As per this report, the respective business organisation is
implementing changes and introducing the Indoor positioning System (IPS). This report include
the literature review on the recent change in the organisation, model of change, ethical issues
faced by organisation while implementing change along with the strategies which are being
developed for managing the people while implementing the change. In addition to this, it also
deal with the recommendations and self reflection portion by KOLB model related to managing
the people at the time of bringing changes.
MAIN BODY
A recent change in a company literature review
Marks and Spencer which is one of the largest and oldest retail chains in the United
Kingdom is going to bring significant changes in the organization as its management wanted to
introduce many changes in the company for its better functioning. Company does not follow any
particular change management models. The change programme and the leaders of changes have
been very effective in terms of bringing Marks and Spencer back to its former glory. In the past 2
or 3 years the company is going under a crucial period and important changes under the Stuart
Roses leadership. The management has brought the technology changes in the company and its
stores. Company has bring the indoor positioning system in its retail stores. The indoor
positioning system (IPS) is the new trend of interest in the recent years which helps users in
navigating indoor areas where the GPS is not available or accurate. There are many application
for this technology (Aslam and et, al., 2018). On the stores the indoor navigation have great
potential for navigating which has been realized in the stores. There are many challenges coming
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in its implementation in stores navigations solutions in the company. First step is the hardware as
having the right infrastructure is very important such as Bluetooth beacons,Wi fi RTT and ultra
wideband. When the consumers shops with the help of Target app on the mobile phones in the
stores ,they will get the access to the map which will help them to find the position in the stores
and find the items which they need. The solution is placed the beacons of Bluetooth in the
lightings systems over the sales floor (Idris, See and Coughlan, 2018). The solution is based on
the size and layout of stores. When the infrastructure is set the development of software may take
benefit of it. IPS systems haves great potentials than only just helping consumers. The systems
can offer the targeted deals by offering them suggestions on the app. Company will get the
consumers data easily as they are using the app of the company. It will also help in tracking the
items in retail stores and give detailed data of the locations of the products.
Marks and Spencer is presently under going change. Many of the programmes arise from the
management fads like change in culture, business process change,empowerment and total
quality. Other initiative of change for the company are driven by the need of repositioning in the
face of changing conditions of competition.
Model of change
Lewin change model- It is the 3 stages model of planned approach to the organization is the
models which is very relevant in the today's scenario. Developed by the Kurt Lewin who was a
social scientist and physicist on 1950s who made as simple model for knowing the process of
change in organization. According to him for any person or business organization the change is
not easy but very complicated and consists of different stages of transitions and also the
misunderstanding before the phase of stability. This change model includes the 3 stages of
change. The first is called Unfreezing which means to accept the change where individuals
accept the change which is taking place and breaking the present state. Second one is called
Change where individuals are able for working with uncertainty and moving in new direction of
completing things (Dzwigol and et, al., 2019). Third stage is Refreezing where the individual are
comfortable with unfreezing and the change which has taken places and start embracing new and
improved way of doing things. The model is cyclical through the business and process which are
required for maintaining the effective business and community.
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Marks and Spencer model of business has to adapt the change and trends of consumers in past
few years for maintaining the organizations position as the biggest retailers in globe. Here is the
change model steps-
Unfreezing- It is the most fundamental change in the theory. Its all about the
stakeholders,employees and authority,government and board for understanding that
change is needed. The impact of driving and restricting forces which comes in play in the
step. In this step Marks and Spencer will create awareness between the various
stakeholders and employees for letting them to know about the plan of change which they
are implementing which is Indoor Positioning System. The need for change may be
caused by fear of meeting goals and standards. After this phase is implemented
successfully the members of stakeholders will evaluate the ways for counterproductive
for performing actions.
Change- Changing to new level means the replacement of old actions which are
consistent with the goal (Gigliotti and et, al., 2019). Its not about doing the old things but
replacing it with new things like Marks and Spencer is using new technology of Indoor
Positioning System. By working in groups is the motivation for maintaining the change.
It gives the environment where mistakes and errors can be done and learned by offering
positive reinforcement. Change process is not only done physically but requires mental
changes also.
Refreezing - It is the last stage in the model when the changes are taking place and
individuals are embraced of new working ways. Marks and Spencer is ready for
refreezing. The signs of refreezing are stable chart of company, regular job description
etc. It also aids the company and individuals for internalizing and institutionalizing he
changes. It ensures that changes are used every time and are incorporated in every day
business. With the new ability the Marks and Spencer employees will be more confident
and comfortable with new working ways (K’onyango, 2022).
How contemporary organisations deal with ethical issues when managing people through
organisational change
While adopting any change in the business organisation, the management of business
organisation will face several ethical issues in order to manage the people at the workplace. In
order to implement the change in the Marks and Spencer, the management of business
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organisation have to manage the people in the organisation as well because it is necessary for the
people to have relevant skills and knowledge to perform in an effective and efficient manner.
While introducing the Indoor positioning system in the organisation of Marks and Spencer
stores, it is essential for the management to provide the training in order to implement the same
change in an effective and efficient manner (Li, Zheng and Yuan, 2022). Below mentioned are
the several challenges which are being faced by the management of Marks and Spencer while
managing the people through the organisational changes:
 Discrimination and harassment: these are two major ethical issues which are being
faced by the organisation in managing the people while implementing the changes in the
organisation. The consequences related to the discrimination and harassment at the work
place of Marks and Spencer will affect the entire work place negatively which may result
in the loss in the finances along with the reputation of business organisation in the
market. In order to manage the people through implementing the changes in the business
organisation, the management of Marks and Spencer is require to follow the anti-
discrimination laws and regulations which help all the employees to protect themselves
from the unfair treatment. Age, disability, equal pay, religion, sex and gender are the
various areas of discriminations which are being act as ethical issues while managing
people.
 Workplace health and safety: It is an important have an important right under which they
always look for the safe working environment along with health working conditions at
work place. While implementing the changes in the Marks and Spencer, it is necessary
for the management of business organisation to ensure the safety of employees. If the
employees will not feel safe and secure at the work place, they can not perform their
operations in an effective and efficient manner (Love and Matthews, 2019). Fall
protection, hazard communication, scaffolding, machine guiding are the several factors
which effect the management of people at the work place while implementing the
changes in the organisation. The management can overcome from such situation through
adopting the laws related to providing the safe and secure working environment to the
employees.
 Whistle blowing or social media rants: The use of social media has been spreading all
over the world. Higher the use of social media by the employees of Marks and Spencer
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result in conducting the critical consideration in their employment status. It will be the
ethical issue to punish the employees for any unsuitable post over the social media
channels. Positive the response of social media post result in the spread of positivity
among the employees working in the business organisation (Thakur and Srivastava,
2018). The treatment of employees working in the Marks and Spencer will may be
influenced through the negative social media posts. The management of Marks and
Spencer is require to treat their employees positively by taking care of the working
environment and the benefits of employees as it will result in the effective management
of people at work place and the changes can also be implemented in the organisation in
the most possible effective manner.
 Technology and privacy practices: The privacy apprehension of both the employees as
well as the customers can be enhanced through the development in the technological
security abilities of the business organisation. The management of Marks and Spencer
can overcome from this ethical issue through monitoring the activities or practices of
employees on the work computers or system and other devices which are being provided
by the management to perform the business functions (Makate, and et, al., 2019). The
Management of business organisation can make the usage of modes of electronic
surveillance for the purpose of ensuring the higher productivity and efficiency, in the
case, if they will not violate the privacy of employees. Monitoring internet connections is
the electronic surveillance for the organisation. It help the management in keeping the
track on the activities of their employees, so that they can effectively manage their
employees and adopt the changes in an effective and efficient manner.
All the above mentioned are the several ethical issues which are being faced by the
contemporary organisation while managing the people at the work place through adopting the
change. For the same purpose, majorly, the management of business organisation have to focus
on both people management as well as the change management on the same point of time
(Nguyen, 2020). The management of Marks and Spencer a required o constantly work on
managing the people at the workplace as it has crucial role in adopting by change or performing
he regular work operations d business. Management f people long with the management of
change at the same time result in bringing the effectiveness and efficiency in the performance d
entire business organisation.
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Present specific recommendations, based on evidence, for managing organisational change
Recommendations to manage the organizational change: -
 It has been recommended to the management of the Marks and Spencer that in order to
manage the change in proper manner they have to give priorities to their people. The
management have to involve or engage the people in the change so that they can
effectively understand the same.
 To make the change happen in proper manner the management of the company can
utilized effective communication of channel like social media, emails and many more,to
effectively guide them (Güttel and Link, 2019). Also, change management model can
also be used by the company management to effectively connect the strategies of
business to actions which help in effective implementation of the change.
 It also been recommended to Marks and Spencer management that the changes which are
implement by them must be compelling and exciting. The benefit of the change can be
better understood by the employees when the organization consistently communicate
them. They must have to shift from rote compliance to true engagement.
 The organisation must have to communicate all the reasons for implementing the change
in proper manner with full transparency and treat their employees as an important part of
the change process. This assists the company management in managing the change in
proper manner.
 In order to effectively manage the change of Indo-position system within the respective
company, the management must have to provide the training to their employees before or
during the change (Lamba and Singh, 2018). This result in developing a feeling within
the employees that the organisation is investing their adaption to business change.
 It has been recommended to the company that in order to manage the change within the
organisation they must have to assign clear expectations as well as the responsibilities ti
each and every employee. This result in encouraging them to adopts the change in proper
manner.
 When the change is implemented by the management of company it has been
recommended to the company that they have tom paid high as well as low point in
momentum (Hayes, 2022). With the help of this management can effectively manage and
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leverage all these points in time. So being proactive, assist the management of the Marks
and Spencer in managing the change to attain the great success.
 It is very crucial for the company management to paid focus on the signs of the change
resistance. This can be identified with the help of effective communication through
surveys, feedback channels and input sessions.
Demonstrate a reflective approach by using the KOLB model
The KOLB model is basically a four-stage process which assist in acquiring the new
skills as well as knowledge. This theory assists the user in appreciating the links between the
experiences, feelings and thoughts (Matthews and et, al., 2018). The four stages of this model
have been discussed blow: -
First stage: Concrete Experience: - this is being considered as the first stage of this model
which includes the written reflection of the which I have experienced. During this module it has
been analyse by me that change within the business organisation plays a very important role in
attaining the success in the competitive market. If an organisation wants to attain the success,
they must have to implement the changes on regular basis. I have developed different types of
skills as well as knowledge within me during this module. It has been analysed by me that people
of the company resist the changes, they don’t want to adopt the change.
Second Stage: Reflective Observations: -During this module, I have developed various skills
as well as knowledge within me. At the starting of the module my communication skill was not
that good along with this I am not be able to research form the different sources in proper
manner. But during this, I have to communicate with my team members and search form the
different sources. This assists me in improving in my communication as well as research skills.
As I behave with all my team members in proper manner but due to some conflicts between the
team members, we are not be able to complete the give task on time.
Third Stage: Abstract Conceptualisation: - It has been realized by that, we can complete the
task on time but because of the ineffective time management, we are not be able to complete the
task. I realize that, we can do the task in different manner by dividing the task as per the skills.
This can be improved by me, by understanding the skills as well as knowledge of other members
so that this type of situation didn’t arises in the team.
Fourth stage: Active Experimentation: - the skills like communication and research has been
developed by me while working on this module which assist me in attaining a successful position
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in life. The communication skill helps me out in cracking the interviews and with the help of
research skill I am able to provide reals and actual data to my organization. I start setting up the
small goals on daily and tr to attain them within the set time limit so that my time management
skills become improved. This skill also helps me completing the organisational task on time in
future.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that the adoption of change in the
management of business organisation is essential as per the time because it help the management
in working in the dynamic environment along with gaining the competitive advantage as well.
The Marks and Spencer is planning to bring the change by introducing Indoor positioning system
(IPS) which will help the customers doing shopping in the store of M&S to find the place of
particular product. It will assist the customers to find the product and make purchase as well. As
an advantage, it will help the organisation in meeting the competition available in the market. It
is necessary for the management to apply the change management in the organisation while
implementing the changes as it leads to bringing the effectiveness and efficiency in the
application. The implementation of change also result in the creation of several ethical issues
which the management have to face and deal. The management of organisation must develop the
strategies to manage the people in the organisation while applying change. Through the use off
KOLB model, reflective approach has been presented which is linked with the managing of
people while implementing the changes.
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References:
Books and Journals
Amarantou, V., and et, al., 2018. Resistance to change: an empirical investigation of its
antecedents. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Aslam, U., and et, al., 2018. Emerging organizational parameters and their roles in
implementation of organizational change. Journal of Organizational Change
Management.
Dzwigol, H., and et, al., 2019. Formation of strategic change management system at an
enterprise. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18, pp.1-8.
Gigliotti, R., and et, al., 2019. The role of perceived organizational support in individual change
readiness. Journal of Change Management, 19(2), pp.86-100.
Güttel, W.H. and Link, K., 2019. 3. Change Management: Die Umgestaltung des Performance
Core 3.1 Führung in Veränderungsprozessen: Sinn, Motivation und. Erfolgreich in
turbulenten Zeiten. Impulse für Leadership, Change Management & Ambidexterity.
Hayes, J., 2022. The theory and practice of change management. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Idris, A., See, D. and Coughlan, P., 2018. Employee empowerment and job satisfaction in urban
Malaysia: Connecting the dots with context and organizational change
management. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 31(3), pp.697-711.
K’onyango, C.O., 2022. Implications of Land Use Change on Spatial Stability in Peri-Urban
Areas (Doctoral dissertation, JOOUST).
Lamba, K. and Singh, S.P., 2018. Modeling big data enablers for operations and supply chain
management. The International Journal of Logistics Management.
Li, R., Zheng, L. and Yuan, L., 2022. TMT's decision-making on adoption of management
innovation. Journal of Organizational Change Management, (ahead-of-print).
Love, P.E. and Matthews, J., 2019. The ‘how’of benefits management for digital technology:
From engineering to asset management. Automation in Construction, 107, p.102930.
Makate, C., and et, al., 2019. Increasing resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change
through multiple adoption of proven climate-smart agriculture innovations. Lessons
from Southern Africa. Journal of Environmental Management, 231, pp.858-868.
Matthews, J., and et, al., 2018. Building information modelling in construction: insights from
collaboration and change management perspectives. Production planning &
control, 29(3), pp.202-216.
Nguyen, P.M., 2020. Change Management with Insight from Brain Science. In FBE-CAREM
conference.
Thakur, R.R. and Srivastava, S., 2018. From resistance to readiness: The role of mediating
variables. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
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