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Understanding and Leading Change: A Comparative Analysis of H&M and Primark

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Added on 2024/06/28

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This report examines the drivers and impacts of change within the clothing retail sector, focusing on H&M and Primark. It analyzes internal and external forces driving change, explores the effects on organizational strategy and operations, and evaluates the impact on leadership, individuals, and team behavior. The report also investigates barriers to change, leadership approaches, and the application of models like force field analysis and Lewin's change model to minimize negative impacts and achieve successful change implementation.

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Understanding and Leading
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Assignment 1................................................................................................................................... 2
An introduction to the drivers and impacts of change and how it affects organizational strategy
..................................................................................................................................................... 2
An overview of the organisation case studies..............................................................................2
A PEST/SWOT analysis to be undertaken for each case study to identify drivers of change....3
Analysis for each organization on the impact of change and the effects it has upon the
organization’s strategy and operations........................................................................................ 4
Evaluation of how change will have affected leadership, individuals and team behavior..........5
Evaluate how the impact of change was minimized and the application of appropriate models
to process change efficiently....................................................................................................... 6
Assignment 2................................................................................................................................... 7
Application of force field analysis to determine opposition and support for change..................7
An explanation of the different barriers to change and how they influenced decision making
and leadership.............................................................................................................................. 8
How was change accomplished and how successful was it........................................................8
Advantages and disadvantages of different leadership approaches to dealing with change
Illustrated by application to a range of examples......................................................................10
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................... 13
References......................................................................................................................................14

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Force field analysis.......................................................................................................... 7
Figure 2: Lewin’s Change Model.................................................................................................. 10
Figure 3: Situational leadership theory..........................................................................................11

Introduction
Leading change can be defined as the introduction of new plan as well as identification of new
opportunities so that business can be expanded in much better manner. It has been identified that
changes affects each and every individual in day to day life and majorly it puts positive impact in
terms of growth and development. The current report will therefore compare organizational
changes within clothing sector organizations such as Primark and H&M. It will assess both
internal and external drivers of change that in turn influence organizational strategy and
operations. In addition to this, it will also highlight the barriers to change that influence decision
making of leaders. Range of leadership theories will also be illustrated in the following report.
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Assignment 1
An introduction to the drivers and impacts of change and how it affects organizational strategy
Organizational change can be referred to as modification and alterations to current business
process so that overall productivity and profitability of the organization can be improved. It is
therefore essential for the business to invest in adopting the changes because of internal and
external driving forces. For major of the business organizations there exist two types of forces
that include internal and external driving forces of change (Hornstein, 2015).
External Forces: Such type of forces is difficult to manage as it includes economies,
technologies, competition as well as legislations and politics. For an example, changing in
economic conditions might affect the business to decrease its supply and in such scenario
business is unable is to fulfil the demand of customers in the market. This result into decreasing
customer satisfaction and might restrict them in future to prefer the products or services from
similar organization. In addition to this, technology and competition are also important external
forces. New Business organizations adopt innovative technology so that something new can be
produced for the consumers. In this context, it is important to existing business to adopt changes
so that customers can be retained effectively.
Internal Forces: Such type of changes is also difficult to undertake however business can have
better control over internal forces of changes. It includes organizational restructuring or
implementation of new management (Harmon, P., 2019). Hiring of new employees can
successfully influence the existing strategies and culture of the organization. Organizational
restructuring might influence corporate policies and this will help the organization to conduct
business within the budget constraints.
An overview of the organisation case studies
The report will compare organizational changes in both H&M and Primark that deals within
clothing industry. As per internal and external forces of change, both the organizations are
seeking to implement changes so that competitive position can be gained. Both the organizations
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are experiencing stiff competition along with risks and in such scenarios it is essential for both
organization to bring some changes in its strategies and planning so that barriers in terms of its
revenue generation can be improved.
In this context, H&M is planning to bring changes in its existing E commerce portal that support
selling of clothes online. This can be considered as external forces of change in terms of
technology that will support the business to increase customer satisfaction. Changes are related
to the use of data analytics as well as Artificial intelligence to enhance the efficiency of the
business and this will contribute towards customer satisfaction. Primark on the other hand aims
at retention of employees and to fulfil the purpose the organization will bring changes in its HR
practices such as reward system, training and development, flexibility practices, etc (Doppelt,
2017). Such changes are internal forces that will help the business to increase the efficiency of
employees and overall productivity and revenue generation.
A PEST/SWOT analysis to be undertaken for each case study to identify drivers of change
PEST Analysis of H&M
Political: H&M operates at global level with number of physical stores across the globe and
therefore monitoring of political instability is important. The organization has franchised its
stored in countries that are politically unstable. Therefore it is important for H&M to develop
contingency plans for dealing with political unstable situations.
Economic: Inspite of negative impacts on economy because of Brexit, H&M managed to raise
its sales. There has been identified rise in sales from year 2016 to 2017 (H&M Pestle Analysis,
2019).
Socio cultural: Consumers now days are inclined towards transparency in terms of what they are
paying to business for. H&M pays attention towards demands of customers and in therefore the
organization has decided to release quarterly updates along with online CSR reports. With the
changing lifestyle and income level of consumer, H&M is experiencing increasing sales by
providing designer but expensive clothing products.
Technological: H&M has continuously evolved in terms of technology which can be observed
with the advancement of mobile applications, use of club function for collecting reward points,
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third-party logistics provider with the help of supply chain technology, etc. However there is
need of automating some of the process with the use of AI for gaining global recognition.
PEST Analysis of Primark
Political: Primark operates as a clothing retailer and it was largely influence with the negative
condition of Brexit. In such situation its parent organization ABF took the decision of leaving
EU and this has influenced the financial markets along with business environment.
Economical: Inspite of turnaround conditions because of Brexit that puts negative impact on
economical conditions of the country, Primark with the help of skilled force was able to maintain
the consistency of increasing revenue (Charlotte Austin, 2019).
Social: With the increasing population and inappropriate eating habits have encouraged the
Primark to design clothes with plus sizes and this has helped the organization to gain competitive
position over brand like Zara.
Technological: As per the changes in retail sector, Primark still lacks behind in terms of
adoption of technologies. The major reason identified was because of increasing turnover of
employees and this has restricted the business to implement new ideas for business profitability.
Analysis for each organization on the impact of change and the effects it has upon the
organization’s strategy and operations.
Organizational changes undertaken by both H&M and Primark have experienced both positive
and negative impact on various aspects of business.
Positive impact on H&M: For an example, adoption of technology in terms of data analytics as
well as artificial intelligence will help the business to seek the attention of consumers in the
market. Data analytics will help H&M to collect the information related to consumer preferences
and can appropriately fulfil their demand (Hayes, 2018). The use of artificial intelligence will
help the business organization to automate business operations and this will further help business
to save money that is being spent on recruitment and selection, training and development, etc.
Development of products as per the expectation of consumers will help the business to
experience customer satisfaction, brand recognition as well as competitive advantage.
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Positive impact on Primark: With the changes in HR practices, Primark has successfully
resolved the issues of employee turnover. For an example, the organization has set targets for
employees in terms of bringing new technologies by the end of financial year and has promised
for outrageous rewards. This has helped the employees to show interest towards the job and
issues of employee turnover has been reduced. In addition to this, the organization has changed
the procedures of training and development of employees and this has helped to raise the
efficiency of employees.
Therefore compatibility with industry trends, new business opportunities, improved efficiency,
and business innovation are some of the positive impacts on both the organization.
Negative impact on both Primark and H&M: Changes related to technology and HR practices
and policies has put negative impact on business organization in terms of increased investment
and employee morale. All the employees within the organization do not accept to changes in
readily manner and therefore business has to spend lot on their training and development
(Cameron and Green, 2015).
Organizational changes will also affect organizational strategy and operations. For an example
adoption of technology by H&M forces the organization to change its training and development
procedures so that employees can adopt the technology in an effective manner. In addition to
this, changes in HR practices will force the organization to change its HR strategies and the ways
of handling employees such that business can gain overall productivity.
Evaluation of how change will have affected leadership, individuals and team behavior
Leadership plays an important role in encouraging employees to work as per the organizational
changes. Leader is responsible for emphasizing on actions such that changes can be adopted by
employees in an easier and smooth manner. For an example, adoption of technology is resisted
by few employees and in this context leaders must deal directly with resistances. Leader is
responsible for setting of definite goals and objectives in clear and transparent manner so that
changes can be easily adopted by the employees. On the other hand adoption of technology in
H&M will reduce the work pressure of employees and changes in HR practices will help the
employees to raise their performance on the individual basis. Team behavior contributes largely
towards the organizational change and in this context managers must focus on involving team
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members while making decisions. For an example, changes in HR practices will motivate
employees and will encourage team working such that changes can be implemented in an
effective manner (Hornstein, 2015).
Evaluate how the impact of change was minimized and the application of appropriate models to
process change efficiently.
Negative impact of organizational changes was minimized by both H&M and Primark by
bringing changes in leadership skills, setting of realistic targets, as well as by developing
transparent organizational culture. This can be further explained with the application of Burke
Litwin's change management model:
Factors required changes Changes for minimizing negative impact
External environment Manager must focus on conducting marketing
research so that improvements can be implemented.
Leadership Leadership skills must be changed so that
employee resistance can be minimized while
adopting changes
Mission and strategy Setting of clear mission and strategy helps the
business to overcome employee retention
Organization culture Positive culture helps in improving learning
experience of employees
Structure Organizational structure must be changed such that
managers and employees can contribute effectively
towards adoption of changes
Individual values Ethical values and positive behavior support
influencing employee behavior while adopting
organizational changes.
Employee motivation This is essential for adopting the changes and in
this context leaders and manager plays an
important role.
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Assignment 2
Application of force field analysis to determine opposition and support for change
Force field analysis is a tool for analysis of various factors associated with complex issues. There
are two types of forces such as restraining factors that restrict the implementation of change as
well as driving forces that encourage changes in expected direction.
Figure 1: Force field analysis
The tool will be used by H&M to identify the factors that are in support or in opposition for the
changes related to technology. Forces for change (driving forces) in this context are related to
fulfilment of need of customers. Use of data analytics will help to identify the expectation of
customers in terms of design of clothes. In addition to this, use of technology in terms of
Artificial Intelligence will improve the overall speed of production process which in turn raises
the volume of overall output. On the other hand, there are several forces against change
(restraining factors) that restrict H&M to implement changes within the organization (Force
Field Analysis, 2019).
Forces against change (restraining factors) while implementing technology are resistance of
employees because of fear of decreased overtime. In addition to this, staff members are often
afraid of learning new technology because of its complexity. M&S in this context must focus on
training of employees so that learning related to new technology can be improved.
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Environmental influence of new techniques, cost as well as disruption is some other factors that
limit the implementation of new technology.
An explanation of the different barriers to change and how they influenced decision making and
leadership
There are several barriers to organizational change and they largely influence leadership and
decision making within H&M while implementing data analytics and AI technology. One of the
major barriers is related to lack of involvement of employee. Employees often exhibit fear of
change because they are involved in the process of change (Christopher Smith, 2015). In addition
to this, inappropriate communication strategies are considered as forceful resistance to the
change. For an example, if higher authorities of H&M assume that announcement about changes
will lead to people to adopt the changes is one of the major mistakes. In this context leader plays
an important role while making decisions related to strategies. Leader pro actively must focus on
explaining on how the current change will affect the business and employees and how employees
must adapt it.
Inappropriate planning puts negative impact on organizational culture. Planning team involved
in change management only focuses on work area responsibilities, planning administrative
structure, as well as job responsibilities and do not care about intuitions and feelings of
employees. This resists employees to adopt the changes. Leaders in this context must aims at
considering the thoughts and issues of employees and encourage them by providing satisfactory
solution so that they can readily adopt the organizational changes. All such barriers largely affect
the decision making while implementing essential organizational changes and therefore
leadership is being affected.
How was change accomplished and how successful was it
The change was accomplished by H&M by appropriate allocation of resources. Change
management process can be completed in a successful manner if resources are assigned the task
based on their capabilities. In addition to this, leaders provided adequate support as well as
incentives such that employees remain motivated towards putting their extra efforts towards
change management. It is the known fact that every project begins with some scope and with the
purpose of aligning the process of data analytics with business goals and objectives, leaders
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worked hard to re examine the existing sources and made adjustments as per the change in new
scope. This has reduced the risk while undertaking the process of change management.
Leaders within H&M also focused on actual goals of the organization. For adopting the changes
in terms of technology, leaders and managers used success metrics for identifying the status of
the process when success has not been attained (David, 2015). Training and development along
with appropriate communication strategies has helped the organization to accomplish the
changes.
Accomplished change was successful and it was identified in terms of increasing efforts of
employees to adapt the changes. Successful change management has helped he M&S to attain
business goals and objectives in terms of customer satisfaction.
Accomplishment of change can be further illustrated with the help of Lewin’s change
management model. It includes stages such as unfreeze, change and refreeze. Unfreeze stage has
helped H&M to identify the current trend of the industry. It has also helped the organization on why
that change is essential to take place. For an example, H&M recognizes the need of data analytics
and for this senior management was in great support. In addition to this, leaders and managers
focused on communicating the related strategies so that changes can be implemented in an effective
manner.
The ‘change’ stage is related to adequate communication that includes planning of changes,
explaining about the benefits, and influence of technology by H&M on employees as well as
customers. At this stage, Leaders and managers of H&M has also appropriately contributed towards
involvement of employees in the decision making process (Toves et.al.2016). At the refreeze stage,
adoption of technology was inhibited into the culture, and number of ways was developed for
successful sustainable change. For an example, appropriate leadership, reward system, training and
development and feedback system are the crucial aspects of refreeze stage that contributes towards
accomplishment of change.
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Figure 2: Lewin’s Change Model
(Source: Lewin’s Change Model, 2019)
Advantages and disadvantages of different leadership approaches to dealing with change
Illustrated by application to a range of examples
There are various approaches of leadership that supports dealing with changes. In context to
H&M where there is greater emphasis on implementing changes related to technology.
Situational leadership theory support leaders to pay attention of team members and evaluate
various variables that exist at the workplace. This will help the leaders to choose the best suited
leadership style as per business goals and objectives. As per the current change management
process in terms of improving data analytics as well as utilization of AI, situational leadership
various styles of leadership such as telling, selling, participating, and delegating (Martin, 2016).
For dealing with change, leaders at the telling stage will deal with specific and close supervision.
Leaders have higher focus over making decisions while communicating with each other. At
selling stage, leaders set objectives for others and encourage employees to give suggestions.
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Participating is the stage where leaders are liable to rely on employees for decision making.
Leaders at last stage provide assistance to employees while solving issues.
For an example, leaders within H&M focused on communicating the need of technology for the
betterment of employees and business and for this they bring changes in reward system and
undertake training and development so that changes can be adapt accordingly.
Advantages and disadvantages: Advantages of the theory includes development of effective and
comfortable working environment as well as it support boosting the motivation of employees. It
is also effective in creating awareness about the essential changes required within the business
organization. Disadvantages identified are related to demographic differences, and it majorly
focuses on developing short term strategies.
Figure 3: Situational leadership theory
(Source: Martin, 2016)
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Transactional theory: This theory emphasises on the evaluation of performance of employees
and accordingly the rewards must be provided to them. For example, the rewards for the hard
working and dedicated staff at Morrisons will be high while for others it may be low.
Advantages and disadvantages: The transactional theory is effective in motivating employees to
improve their performance so that they can earn better rewards, however, this theory does not
focuses on the provision of trainings to support the employees in improving their capabilities and
talent.
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Conclusion
The above report has identified that important and benefits of change management within the
business organization. Comparison of organizational examples has lead to identify that different
organization need different changes and that majorly depends upon some specific factors.
Drivers of change have been determined in the report and that largely affects the team behaviour
as well as leadership. Barriers for change has been overcome by appropriate leadership and
decision making and therefore various leadership approaches has been applied effectively that
support dealing with organizational changes.
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References
Books and Journals
 Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: A complete
guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page
Publishers.
 Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide
for business, government and civil society. Routledge.
 Harmon, P., 2019. Business process change: a business process management guide for
managers and process professionals. Morgan Kaufmann.
 Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
 Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2),
pp.291-298.
 Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2),
pp.291-298.
 Toves, P.R., Graf, L. and Gould, D.A., 2016. Innovative Use of Force Field Analysis:
Factors Influencing Technology-Enabled Change. Journal of Behavioral and Applied
Management, 17(2), p.1183.
Online references
 Charlotte Austin, 2019 [Online] [Assessed through] <
https://creately.com/diagram/example/hudu336o1/primark%20pest%20analysis>,
[Assessed on 11th June, 2019]
 Christopher Smith, 2015 [Online] [Assessed through] < https://change.walkme.com/5-
barriers-to-change-management-and-how-to-easily-overcome-them/>, [Assessed on 11th
June, 2019]
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 David A. Shore, 2015 [Online] [Assessed through] <
https://www.extension.harvard.edu/professional-development/blog/making-change-
happen-five-keys-driving-successful-change-initiatives>, [Assessed on 11th June, 2019]
 Force Field Analysis, 2019 [Online] [Assessed through] <
https://www.odi.org/publications/5218-management-techniques-force-field-analysis>,
[Assessed on 11th June, 2019]
 H&M Pestle Analysis, 2019 [Online] [Assessed through] <
https://businessteacher.org.uk/pestel/hm.php >, [Assessed on 11th June, 2019]
 Martin, 2016 [Online] [Assessed through] < https://www.cleverism.com/situational-
leadership-guide/>, [Assessed on 11th June, 2019]
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Understanding and Leading Change: A Comparative Analysis of H&M and Primark

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