Organizational Change Management - Case Study of Australia Post

This report discusses the case study of Australia Post and how management plays a crucial role in implementing a change in the business process of a company. The paper addresses the key changes, driving factors, people development strategies, future strategies, and lessons learnt from the case study.

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Organizational change management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Key changes and reforms implemented by Australian Post........................................................3
Driving factors that contributed to the reforms...........................................................................4
People development strategies implemented by Australian Post to overcome any resistance to
change..........................................................................................................................................6
How Australia Post has aligned its future strategies to manage change and innovation to lead
in global business environment?..................................................................................................7
What lessons have you learnt after analyzing the Australia Post case study?.............................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
As per Matos Marques Simoes and Esposito (2014), companies implement changes in
order to bring improvement in the business process. Hence, in order to assure that the change is
implemented successfully, management holds immense importance (Carnall, 2018). Thus, the
report will discuss how change is implemented and keeping the core aspects in mind. The paper
intends to throw light on the concept of change management focusing on the changes and
reformations took place in the organization named Australia Post. Hence, the report will begin by
giving a brief introduction change implemented by the company. The further discussion will
continue by addressing the key changes implemented by the company while giving special
attention to the driving factors behind the implementation. In addition to that, the paper also
discusses the people development strategies which the company implemented in order to
mitigate any resistance in the pathway of the change. Meanwhile, the paper gives special
attention on the future strategies of the company in order to manage innovation and change in
order to remain stand out in the global business environment. The final part of the discussion
sheds light on the lessons from the analysis of the given case study. Finally, the paper concludes
by giving summarization of the whole discussion.
Discussion
Based on the case study on Australia Post’s change management the paper will address
the five key areas: what were the changes implemented by Australia Post, driving factors behind
the implementation of the change, the organization’s people development strategies so that
obstacles in the process of change can be overcome, the future strategies developed by the

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company in order to manage the whole process of change implementation and the essential
lessons that can be learnt after the case study analysis. Hence, it can be said that a critical or
thorough analysis of the case study will be done while addressing these core aspects of the
change implementation.
Key changes and reforms implemented by Australian Post
As per the annual report of 2017, the company Australia Post has implemented rapid
changes in its business process.
 The major change that Australia Post had implemented is ‘champion positive change’
with an aim of connecting the people of Australia both digitally and physically in order to
reach out to maximum number of customers (Auspost.com.au, 2018).
 The another significant change implemented by Australia Post is the development of the
role of Chief Customer Office in order to offer the customers a great experience while
improving the parcel delivery experience (Auspost.newsroom.com.au, 2018).
 The most important reforms implemented by Australia Post is the investment of $2
billion in improvement of digital capabilities and building of parcels in order to remain
capable to deliver the online shopping sector of the country (Auspost.newsroom.com.au,
2018).
 The cultural change program was conducted in the organization which enabled the
organizational transformation in the larger scale (Auspost.newsroom.com.au, 2018).
 Change of address platform that is COAN was introduced in order to enhance a wide
range of identity services as well as payment services like Digital ID so that more
convenience can be provided to the customers (Auspostenterprise.com.au, 2018).

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 Changes were implemented to the Speed of Delivery and the Basic Postage Rate to
mitigate financial loss and to improve letters service sustainability
(Auspostenterprise.com.au 2018).
 The other change is the relocation of surplus machines and consolidation of mail services
in Victoria and Queensland (Auspost.newsroom.com.au, 2018).
 An additional speed of service was introduced for the senders of mail (Financial Review,
2018). The new Regular service was introduced in order to provide consumers a
reasonable option of sending non –urgent mails with slower delivery of two days than the
usual time.
 Meanwhile, priority service has been implemented for the customers’ whole want to send
mails within the current schedule (Auspostenterprise.com.au, 2018). The consumers need
to pay more for the priority service. However, the fastest mail delivery service Express
Post remained unchanged with next day mail delivery.
Driving factors that contributed to the reforms
 The major driving force behind the implementation of the changes or reforms is was
customer-centricity (Auspostenterprise.com.au, 2018). Since the company always wants
to provide the best service to the customers, it continued implementing changes in its
business process so that it will be able to keep a hold on the customer hold as well as in
order to increase its sustainability in the business environment (Al-Haddad & Kotnour,
2015).
 The use of letters was declining at a rapid pace along with that the volume of the letters
declined by 11.8% (Financial Review, 2018). Hence, in order to manage the decline of

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letters at rapid pace call for implementing reformation in the year of 2016. It also
encouraged the company to implement changes in the operation.
 The dramatic customer shift in customer behavior with digital disruption was another
driving force behind implementation of changes and reformation (Kuipers et al., 2014).
The loss of $350 million in the service of mail due to increased digitization was the major
driving force to transform the company from a postal business to ecommerce deliveries
(Auspostenterprise.com.au, 2018).
 Another driving force behind the implementation of the change was the intention of
connecting with the people through a more integrated manner with a successful digital
shift (Auspost.com.au, 2018). The company introduced COAN that is the change of
address platform so that a more improved as well as convenient system can be provided
to the customers.
 In addition of being a digital service than a mere postal service, the intention of providing
the best mail products and service, and more than that the aim to offer on-time delivery
was the driving factor behind the implementation of change to the Speed of Delivery
(Auspost.com.au, 2018).
 Meanwhile, the independent report which government commissioned stated that unless
there were any reformation the amount of loss could soar to $1 billion in the letters
business (Auspost.newsroom.com.au, 2018). Not only that, that loss could lead Australia
Post to face an overall loss by $6.5 over a decade (Auspost.com.au, 2018). Thus, it would
be apt at state that this independent report contributed significantly the company to
implement change and reformation (Hesselbarth & Schaltegger, 2014).

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 However, the major driving force was the aim of sustaining in the sphere of Australia’s
mail service (Community.auspost.com.au, 2018). Australia Post is completely a self-
funded business and does not receive any tax payer’s funding. Hence, the aim of
managing the losses in a better way in order to sustain as well as to accelerate the growth
of the business drove the company to shift to the digitization (Auspost.com.au, 2018).
People development strategies implemented by Australian Post to overcome any
resistance to change
 Transforming from a mere postal business to a digital business the company was not an
easy process of change. Hence, the company used a lot of strategies in order to assure that
the change process is successful (Hesselbarth & Schaltegger, 2014). The company has
been supporting as well as developing its employees in order to overcome the possible
resistance in the pathway of the change implementation. The company has started
conducting the Post People 1st program in order to help the employees to adopt the
attributes required for being fit for the digitization shift (Auspost.com.au, 2018).
 Delivery partners are the integral part of the business of Australia Post since they conduct
direct communication with the customers every day (Jacobs, van Witteloostuijn &
Christe-Zeyse 2013). The company has implemented a wide range of activities in order to
make the delivery partners of the company understand about the company’s expectation
from them as they deliver the product and service on behalf of the company
(Auspost.com.au, 2018). For the purpose of helping the delivery partners to improve their
efficiency an end-to-end sourcing has been implemented along with suppler management
tool and the Australia Post Supplier & Contractor Portal (Community.auspost.com.au,
2018). The new portal has been designed in a way that can assist the delivery partners to

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communicate with management without any hassle with an aim of encouraging them to
maximize their collaboration with the organization (Auspostenterprise.com.au, 2018).
The new portal gives the management the access in digital manner so that their
administration records can be accessed. In order to provide maximum support to the
delivery partners, the company assured that the system fulfills the professional needs of
the delivery partners (Rafferty, Jimmieson & Armenakis, 2013).
 The major change was implemented by the company in terms of gender equality
(Auspost.com.au, 2018). In order to bring equality the company focused more on the
recruitment of women employees. Hence, in order to drive change in this particular area
Managing Director of the organization, Ahmed Fahour continued his participation in the
Male Champions of Change program (Auspost.com.au, 2018).
 In order to meet the requirements of changing operation, the company shifted 1100
employees from night shift to day shift (Auspost.com.au, 2018). In addition in order to
provide support to the employees, a wide range of programs were introduced inclusive of
finance management, sleep management, health awareness programs and so on
(Schneider & Spieth, 2013).
 On the other hand, in order to accelerate the growth of product offerings and to
strengthen the ecommerce service, the company developed its workforce by
incorporating innovation (Auspostenterprise.com.au, 2018). Special attention was given
by the company on encouraging the employees to become creative so that the service of
the company can be more enhanced (Jansson, 2013).

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How Australia Post has aligned its future strategies to manage change and
innovation to lead in global business environment?
As per the annual report of the company, the future strategy of the company includes
realization of the company’s Part of Tomorrow strategy which is in regard to the offering of the
best ecommerce experience to every customer irrespective of his geographical specifications
(Auspostenterprise.com.au, 2018). As part of the future strategy, the company gives special
attention on the optimization of the delivery networks so that the market share can be maintained
and in a highly competitive market of delivery business. Hence the maintaining of market share
is of immense importance for the company’s future strategy of managing the implemented
change (Auspost.newsroom.com.au, 2018). Since the company deals in the ecommerce field it
has aligned its future strategy by focusing on developing and implementing the latest strategies
in its business process so that best service can be provided by the company (Schneider & Spieth,
2013). In order to manage the implemented change as well as maintaining the growth of the
company, the company has set strategies to enhance the support to the employees over time as
they communicate directly with the customers on behalf of them (Auspost.com.au, 2018).
What lessons have you learnt after analyzing the Australia Post case study?
The major lesson that can be learnt from the case study of Australia Post is how
management plays a crucial role in implementing a change in the business process of a company.
The company sets a true example of how several factors were taken under consideration before
implementing a change. For example, the company rightly addressed the need of adopting
digitization in the era of technological advancement which has been considered as the major
driving force behind implementing change. On the other hand, the case study briefs that the
company gave special attention on providing support to the employees so that they will be able

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acquire the essential attributes in the process of transformation from a postal business to
ecommerce delivery service.
Conclusion
Hence, in order to conclude it can be said that the case study of Australia gives a clear
picture of organizational change management. The paper addressed the five major areas in regard
to the discussion of change management. The five major aspects are key changes that have been
implemented, the driving force behind the change, the employee development program by the
company to provide support to the employees so that they would be able to adapt with the
change successfully, the future strategies to sustain in the change process and the lessons learnt
from the case study. Thus, it can be said that the case study is an ideal example of successful
change management.

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