Organizational Change and Leadership

This assignment provides an in-depth examination of organizational change and its significance for growth. It highlights the potential positive and negative impacts of change and emphasizes the importance of adapting organizational processes to add benefits and success. The document also focuses on the role of leadership in facilitating change, making employees adapt, and addressing barriers to ensure a smooth transition.

Understanding
and
Leading Change

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1. Comparison of change on an organization's strategy and operations ..................................3
P2. Evaluation of internal and external drivers of change affecting leadership, team and
individual behaviours..................................................................................................................5
P3. Remedies to minimise negative impact of change on organizational behaviour..................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................9
P4. Different barriers for change and their impact on leadership decision-making....................9
TASK 3 .........................................................................................................................................10
P5 Covered in PPT....................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Organizational change refers to any alteration in total work environment. In other words,
when an organization is disturbed by some internal or external force. It is inevitable in a
progressive and competitive culture. It may be good or bad. It affect the functioning of a
corporation. An entity must develop adaptability to change by changing its structural
relationships, strategies, policies, procedures and working climate. Moreover, modern
organizations are highly dynamic, versatile and adaptive to the multiplicity of changes. A
business should consider such changes as opportunities and work its ways to grow and become
more successful (Kaufman, 2017). The chosen companies in this report are ZARA and
PRIMARK. Further, the report exhibits comparison of different drivers for change by
considering similarities and differences, impact of such changes on the leadership behaviour and
behaviour of individuals, different barriers for change and their influence on leadership decision-
making, application of various leadership approached to deal with change and recommendations
and conclusions.
TASK 1
P1. Comparison of change on an organization's strategy and operations
Organizational structure is the system that defines ways in which business activities are
to be carried to achieve organizational goals. The assigns roles, responsibility and supervision.
Along with this, flow of information within the company is also included in this.
ZARA and PRIMARK have been considered for this case. ZARA is a Spanish fast
fashion retailer based in Arterio in Galicia. It was founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and
Rosalia Mera. It operates with lean organizational structure, which focuses high performance. On
the other hand, PRIMARK is an Irish fast fashion retailer headquartered in Dublin and a
subsidiary of ABF. The first store was founded by Arthur Ryan in June 1969. It adapts the tall
structure due to its various level of hierarchy. It is follows decentralized system.
A comparison between both the brands on the basis of different drivers of change is as
follows:
Basis ZARA PRIMARK
Technological Change It uses point-of-sale (POS) The management of the

system in stores for
maintaining tight links
between vendors to improve
ordering process. Further, its
has implemented personal
digital assistant to check the
availability of new designs on
daily basis. Also, it use human
intelligence and information
technology as hybrid model
for better flow of information
from stores to headquarters.
This enable the company have
control over less-desirable
products. Further, it has
launched online market to
make it easy for its customers
to shop.
company uses latest
technology for making dresses
at less time and comfort with
high quality and less defects
with it. In order to sustain in
the competitive environment, it
upgrade its technology with
the changing environment.
Also, its sales have not been
reduced even without
launching an online site as its
rivals did. However, it has
started using technologies
which eco-friendly to reduce
the emission.
Structural Change It has gone for vertical
integration with manufacturers
to introduce new products in
no time. The online website
has boosted the sales
especially in Europe. Control
policy has been implemented
for to make product with
higher quality and easy to
manipulate. Also, it has
collaborate with a California-
based Fetch Robotics to use
artificial intelligence for
It has expanded its business in
US and Bangladesh to improve
its sales and its annual sales
has indeed increased by 17%.
It was the biggest expansion
with the motive to keep the
prices low. Further, it has
constituted “Ethical Trade and
Environmental Sustainability”
team to assess the performance
with the standard. It has 350
stores and plans to open more

managing the stock inventory. stores in the coming years.
Technology Adopted It has adopted mobile
augmented reality app in 120
stores as a promotional
packaging. It has also used
“location intelligence”
technology to track footfall in
stores and for providing virtual
assistants to help customers.
Primark have implemented
BSI Management systems to
web-based supply chain audit,
compliance and performance
management software to
support compliance with
ethical standards.
Differences in Organizational Approaches to Change
The above-mentioned companies operates in same sector but have many noticeable
differences in organizational structure. ZARA have strategic agreements with local
manufacturers for time delivery and service , also, it maintains flexibility in design. It conducts
market research and store trends. Whereas, PRIMARK, target consumers below 35 age group,
and adopts “cost leadership” for providing products at lower prices than competitors. Also, it a
separate team to travel all over the world for analysing new fashion trends.
Similarities in Organizational Approaches to Change
It is obvious to have similarities as these companies belong to same industry. Both of
them functions in retail sector. Also, the trends and approaches followed by them are happens to
be similar. Also, the aim is same, i.e. long-term survival in the competitive environment and to
fulfil customer's demands by providing quality products.
P2. Evaluation of internal and external drivers of change affecting leadership, team and
individual behaviours
Change in the organizational environment is inevitable. A company can anticipate such
changes and make arrangements accordingly. It is crucial to the success of an entity to remain
competitive worldwide (Jones, 2013). Opportunities are created when an organization adapt such
changes. However, it may also affect the working of a company in a negative way. Policies,
strategies and processes of business are required to be modified as per the pressure from various
factors.

Drivers of change- It refers to those aspect or factors of an industry, that affect the
organizational activities. Alterations within the organization are required to cope up with such
changes. These influences the behaviours of leaders, individuals and teams working in an entity.
Leaders take decision which would be in favour of company. For this, he makes appropriate
policies and procedures to help personnels achieve their goals. External and internal factors are
responsible for bringing such changes in an organization. These are as follows:
Internal factors and their impact:
These forces are the situations or events occurred within the business and can be
controlled by the company. Some of main internal forces are:
Organizational culture- It is the beliefs, values and perception of the people working in
the organization. Their behaviour influence internal policies and strategies and other activities. It
negatively affects production, employee turnover etc. (Huczynski and et. al., 2013). In the year
2015, ZARA has been accused of Corporate Culture Favouritism based on skin colour. It shows
that employees have been discriminated. On the other hand, PRIMARK, has been doing quite
well as its employees are happy and satisfied working in the company.
Poor Delivery- Companies often face problem with customer service or delivery
which affect profits margins and services across all the outlets. Moreover, entities should manage
time for effective delivery of the products demanded by customers. The products purchased from
online site of ZARA has been facing delivery issues due to poor supply chain management. On
the other hand, PRIMARK has been providing better services also fulfilling customer
satisfaction by selling quality products.
Financial Management- Management of the funds are necessary for the success of a
company. Management make decisions regarding appropriation of finance to purchase raw
material, new assets etc. In this also, PRIMARK is better than ZARA as without taking help of
online site, it has managed to increase its sales.
External forces and their impact
Such forces occurs by external parties outside the company (Anderson, D.L., 2016).
These can not be controlled by company, hence, entities should make changes according to
external pressure.
Technological Change- Rapid changes in technological innovation is a core reason for
change in organizations. An entity must keep pace with the up-gradation and advancement to

gain competitive advantage. Both ZARA and PRIMARK have adopted technologies to overcome
the deficiencies and improve existing techniques used by these entities.
Globalization- This occurs when companies opt for expanding its business in the
international markets. More and more entrants of MNCs make the industry environment more
competitive. To fight this competition, organizations have to use resources efficiently. ZARA is
a multinational company having its branches in almost all the major countries. This has gained it
a competitive advantage, due to which it has become a famous brand which is recognized by all.
On the other hand, PRIMARK is limited to UK market only, hence, not recognized by large
population.
Impact on leader, individual and team
Leader
A leader should analyse and
understand the changes and
their impact on the workforce.
He will change his policies by
adopting a suitable leadership
style as required by situation.
Individual
Employees have individual
tasks. When changes occur,
they are the first to resist. They
must be motivated by the
leader accept changes and
work for increasing their
productivity.
Team
Team manager is responsible
for providing direction. Hence,
he should rearrange his
guidelines for team members
which would be accepted by
all.
P3. Remedies to minimise negative impact of change on organizational behaviour
Organizational factors influence business environment. Such factors may be internal as
well as external. Organization should make changes to work according to the changes occurred
in business processes (Palmer and et. al., 2016). Also, the impact of these changes can be both
positive and negative. Further, these affect the overall activities of the company, including
growth and profitability. ZARA and PRIMARK may use Bruke Litwin Model to change the
negative impact on its business due to various environmental changes.
Bruke Litwin developed this model in 1992, to understand organization's various parts
and their interdependencies during time of change. To know what areas are affected and their
interrelation, this model can be used. It is predominantly concerned with external forces (Cullen
and et. al., 2014).

1. External environment- It takes into account factors like markets, legislation,
competition and the economy. The manager of both the companies should understand the
impact of such issues on the team and company. ZARA and PRIMARK aims at
providing best quality products at low prices should analyse strategies implemented by its
competitors.
2. Mission and Strategy- Every business has its mission, for which it has been incorporated
(Mowday and et. al., 2013). It formulates strategies to achieve its gaols. Also, an entity
should modify its plans and strategies to have significant impact on the work of the
organization (Azanza and et. al., 2013). ZARA and PRIMARK are operating in same
industry, also have similar objective, i.e. to fulfil customer's demands and increase their
satisfaction. Therefore, a change that can impact its core business and objectives, it
should communicate the implications to its staff.
3. Leadership- Behaviour of a leader influence the attitudes and behaviours of its sub-
ordinates. Being the prime member of the team, a leader is expected to motivate its

employees and make them believe on him. ZARA and PRIMARK are big companies,
also the leading, therefore, they should set examples for its rivals and small companies.
For this, leadership policies should be amended in order to survive to gain competitive
advantage.
4. Organizational Culture- It means the beliefs, values and conventions exist in the
organization. Cultural change does not happen overnight. It evolves over time as a result
of many other changes in the organization. The manager of both the companies should
understand and keep in mind the desired state for the organization, in terms of how they
expect employees to behave and what their organization values as important.
5. Structure- There may be strong external forces that can make the company change its
structure. Restructure may affect relationships, responsibilities and other factors as well
(McShane and Von Glinow, 2013). The manager of ZARA and PRIMARK should
analyse and understand various forces affecting its core business so that strategies can be
modified to meet customer's demand along with employees expectations.
6. Task and individual abilities- Changes at higher level in the entity will often require
changes in the work carried out and skills of the team. The manager of respective
companies should assess, whether right person has been employed in right place and the
recruitment and selection has to be done internally or externally.
7. Employee Motivation- A leader should make efforts to keep employees motivated so
that work can be done with complete dedication and improved results can be achieved.
Therefore, manager of both the companies should conduct motivation session at regular
intervals. Also, employees should be rewarded for their good performance.
TASK 2
P4. Different barriers for change and their impact on leadership decision-making
Force Field Analysis has been developed by American psychologist Kurt Lewin to
research the factors that influence a particular event or situations. Such forces may be a
movement toward a goal or blocking movement toward a goal. This is done in three stages viz.
Unfreeze then change and lastly, refreeze the situation. It has been seen that employees are
resistant to change, they fear to adapt new situations and work according to changes.

Barriers of change management- These are the obstacles that a company face while
carrying out its business activities (Cummings and Worley, 2014). It may occur due to any
reason ranging from individual's resistance to change to other major changes. It impact the
business in a negative way and has to be managed in order to make the operations stable. Core
barriers of change management occurred in ZARA are as follows:
1. Lack of employee involvement- Employees always have the fear of change, thus, resist
to change. The mistake that some organization make is failure to involve employees in
the change process. This shows fear of unknown, lack of desire to adapt a new culture. A
company can get over this hurdle by involving employees by listening their opinion and
taking actions to minimize their doubts and encourage them. However, ZARA keep its
employees motivated to adapt such change and give their best. Therefore, company
should make them understand the implications of such change and benefits that it can get
from such changes.
2. Lack of effective communication strategy- Communication plays a very important role
in implementing various strategies in the organization (Yılmaz and Kılıçoğlu, 2013).
Leader should develop effective strategy which will make employees adjust according to
changes as and when the changes occur. Leader should tell them how such changes going
to affect them so that they can make adjustments accordingly. ZARA conducts training
session for making them aware about the changes and update their knowledge, even then,
they fear to such change.
3. Organization complexity- Organizations often develop complex processes. It becomes
difficult to understand planning and implement change in the system. When changes
occur, it make the process more complex which become a big barrier. To overcome this,
barrier, ZARA should use skilful approach to manage organizational complexity.
4. Unknown Current Sate- Before making alterations in the existing policies and
strategies, companies should do an assessment. For this, blueprints of entities need to be
understand and plan accordingly. ZARA should assess the current strategies it is
following before making any changes in plans and strategies.
5. Bad culture shift planning- Culture of an organization is crucial to success of it.
Company should take care the interest of employees and the impact such modification

will leave on them. ZARA should remove this barrier by assigning job responsibilities as
per the current structure so that right person has been assigned the right job.
Conclusion: The barriers will make the job of leader very difficult. For once, However, such
hurdles may be reduced or removed by applying this model. Therefore, the leader should
motivate them to accept the change and work with the ever changing environment. After that,
make changes and finally make such changes as a routine job. For this purpose, ZARA has been
taken.
TASK 3

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that organizational changes are unavoidable
and are indeed important for growth. Its depends on the organizations how it reacts to such
changes. It may have positive as well as negative impact, hence company should modify its
processes in a way, by which it can add more benefits and success. Also, organizational structure
should be kept in mind while formulating strategies. A wrong decision regarding change can cost
the organization a hefty cost. Moreover, leader should take care of employees and make them
adapt the changes to improve growth and productivity. Also, the barriers should be take care so
that policies can be modified.

REFERENCES
Books and journals:
Kaufman, H., 2017. The limits of organizational change. Routledge.
Jones, G.R., 2013. Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson,.
Huczynski and et. al., 2013. Organizational behaviour (p. 82). London: Pearson.
Palmer and et. al., 2016. Managing organizational change. McGraw-Hill Education.
Azanza and et. al., 2013. Authentic leadership and organizational culture as drivers of
employees’ job satisfaction. Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones.
29(2).
McShane, S. and Von Glinow, M., 2013. M Organizational Behavior. New York, New York:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Yılmaz, D. and Kılıçoğlu, G., 2013. Resistance to change and ways of reducing resistance in
educational organizations. European journal of research on education. 1(1). pp.14-21.
Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage
learning.
Mowday and et. al., 2013. Employee—organization linkages: The psychology of commitment,
absenteeism, and turnover. Academic press.
Cullen and et. al., 2014. Employees’ adaptability and perceptions of change-related uncertainty:
Implications for perceived organizational support, job satisfaction, and
performance. Journal of Business and Psychology. 29(2). pp.269-280.
Anderson, D.L., 2016. Organization development: The process of leading organizational change.
Sage Publications.
Online:
Marketing strategy of ZARA. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-zara/>.