Leading and Managing Change at Marks and Spencer

Leading and
managing
change

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
Outline of the case ......................................................................................................................1
Analysis of the dynamics of change ...........................................................................................2
Power and Politics ......................................................................................................................4
Communication ..........................................................................................................................4
Learning .....................................................................................................................................4
Interventions ...............................................................................................................................4
Recommanded alternative actions ..............................................................................................4
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Organizational wide change is defined as large scale transformation which affects the
whole company. Leadership plays significant role in ensuring that organization wide change is
successfully implemented. This report is based organizational wide change happening at the UK
based retail company Marks and Spencer. The change being implemented at Marks and Spencer
is outlined in this report along with analysis of the change dynamics by application of
appropriate theories. In addition to this the specific change scenario at Marks and Spencer is
explained in context of various topics such as politics and power, communication learning and
intervention. Finally a suitable set of recommended actions is provided which can support
successful change management at Marks and Spencer.
MAIN BODY
Outline of the case
In he light of recent COVID-19 pandemic and the loss faced by Marks and Spencer in the
retail industry, several organizational wide change are being implemented at the firm in order to
support recovery and growth of the company from the period of loss. By September 2020, M&S
suffered a loss of £87.6 million in its history as a 94 year old publicly listed company (M&S
suffers first loss in 94 years as clothing slumps, 2020). The loss has motivated the company to
implement several industry wide change which are outlined below:
 Leadership change: The chief executive of Marks and Spencer is being replaced as
Stuart Machin will be taking the place of previous chief executive Steve Rowe. The new
chief executive will perform the day to day responsibilities of leadership and overlooking
the executives committee. The leadership change at Marks and Spencer has been taken in
order to support transformative change of the organization. In addition to the position of
chief executive many the leadership positions at Marks and Spencer will also be changed.
Eoin Tonge will become the chief strategy and finance officer while Kate Bickerstaffe
will become the co-chief executive (M&S unveils new leadership team, 2022). These
leadership changes are organization wide change because they impact the way employees
are supervised and the future direction where Marks and Spencer will be going.
 Ocado Collaboration: The rise of fast fashion and discount grocery stores has increased
the competition in the UK retail industry. The intense competition faced by Marks and
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Spencer during the pandemic has prompted the company to form a tie up with the online
retailer Ocado. The company has collaborated with Ocado to take its grocery products
online and survive in the age of e-commerce. This is considered an organization wide
change because it directly impacts the way in which company sells its products and
interacts with the consume. This is wise organization wide change made by the company
because it supports Ocado in competing with rising influence of online retailers such as
Amazon and TESCO.
 Digital transformation: The digital transformation at Marks and Spencer is focused on
increasing omni-channel capabilities of the company in order to gain revenue from
physical and digital channels. Omni-channel retailing is centred around providing
consumers seamless shopping experience. The company is taking action to increase
digital data centric capabilities across all of its departments so that the firm is able to
optimally utilize digital technology to compete and gain industry leadership (Never the
same again? M&S has found digital religion at last, but can an 'omni-everything' mindset
translate into a monetized customer base?, 2021).
These three primary changes at Marks and Spencer have been influenced by the loss suffered
during the pandemic along with the need to move in digital direction in order to compete with
retailers with advanced digital capabilities. Marks and Spencer will b able to achieve better
profitability ad increase its profit margins in the UK retail industry if all of these organization
wide change are implemented with proper planning. It is important to understand the different
dynamics affecting these changes so that the implementation of these changes is completed
without any hindrance.
Analysis of the dynamics of change
The analysis of factors affecting change can be understood by applying suitable change
management model which covers every factor associated with implementation of change in a
company. The appropriate change management model which can be used for analysing the
dynamics affecting each three changes at Marks and Spencer is the McKinsey 7S analysis model.
This change management model is utilized to identify and implement changes at a company
(Aubry and Lavoie-Tremblay, 2018). The organizational design at the company is analysed by
applying the change management model and helps asses the well-being of the company. This
model can be applied to examine various factors essential for successful implementation of
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