Understanding and Leading Change

This report discusses the impact of change on an organization's strategy and operations, drivers of change, and measures to minimize negative impacts of change. It focuses on the examples of Amazon and Ebay, and explores the internal and external drivers of change and their effects on leadership, team, and individual behaviors. The report also suggests measures to minimize negative impacts of change using the PDCA cycle theory.

Understanding and
Leading Change

Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
Comparison of different organisational examples where there has been an impact of change on
an organisation's strategy and operations....................................................................................1
Assessment of different drivers for change in each of the given examples and the types of
organisational change they have affected....................................................................................3
Evaluation of how external and internal drivers of change affect leadership, team and
individual behaviours within the organisation.............................................................................4
Evaluation of measures which can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change in
organisation behaviour with the help of a theory........................................................................5
Drawing conclusion and recommendations with valid justifications..........................................7
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
Barriers for change and determining the way in which they are influencing the leadership
decision making in the organisational context.............................................................................7
Use of force field analysis to analyse the driving and resisting forces and the way in which
these are influencing decision making.........................................................................................8
Critical evaluation of the use of force field analysis in the context of meeting organisational
objectives.....................................................................................................................................8
Application of different leadership approaches to deal with the change in the range of
organisational contexts................................................................................................................9
Evaluation of the extent to which leadership approaches can deliver organisational change
effectively applying appropriate models and frameworks.........................................................10
Critical evaluation of the effectiveness of leadership approaches and models of change
management...............................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10

REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Understanding and leading change can be defined as the process of analysing the factors
which are affecting performance of business and then making proper improvements in the
business by implementing change so that possibility of long term losses could be reduced. Main
purpose of it is to decrease the chances of happening such events which may result in bad market
image. Main aim of this report is to developing understanding regarding the need of change at
workplace and successful implementation of it within the organisation (A. Dellana and Kros,
2014) . The companies which are selected for this report are Amazon and Ebay. Both of them are
online retailers which are executing business all around the world. This report covers various
topics which are comparison of the way in which change impacts on the organisation's strategy
and operations, evaluation and influences that drivers of change have on the organisational
behaviour. Additionally, application of range of leadership approached to a change initiative and
the way in which barriers to change influence leadership decision making are also covered in this
project.
PART 1
Comparison of different organisational examples where there has been an impact of change on
an organisation's strategy and operations
Overview of Amazon: It is one of the largest retailers all around the world which
delivers its services in different countries. The founder of it is Jeff Bezos who founded the
company in year 1996. There are various subsidiaries of this organisation which are Abe Books,
Audible, Book Depository and Zappos. There are various types of items which could be bought
by customers from its websites. These are clothing, footwear, electronic appliences etc.
Overview of Ebay: It also an e-commerce multinational organisation which is operating
its business all around the world. It was founded in year 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. The subsidiary
companies of it are StubHub, Shutl, mobile.de, Gitti Gidiyor Auction Co. etc. It allows
customers to order different products online and get it delivered at their door step.
Change is the process of making modification or improvement in the business
processes so that organisation's strategy won’t get affected. By making changes in the
policies or procedures of business execution some of the companies may have to face issues.
In order to ignoire the possibility of the challenges it is very important for all the
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enterprises to make sure that proper steps are followed while implementation. Ebay and
Amazon are two major companies which have gone through change (Ali and Shukran,
2016). Both of them are offering effective services to the clients for the purpose of becoming
their first choice to order different things such as cloths, footwear etc. online. These
organisations have faced changes which have affected the strategies and operations of it.
Description with the comparison of them could be understood with the help of following
table:
Change Ebay Amazon
Technological modification or
development
The changes which are made
in the technology lead the
companies towards growth and
in some of the circumstances it
may lead towards failure. It is
possible when the management
within the company is not able
to follow specific process to
implement the change. Ebay
has an objective of attracting
large number of customers so
that it can become the market
leader (Basnet, 2013) . In order
to reach this objective manager
made change in the technology
and renewed it. Ebay has
planned to open offline stores
which are managed by
Artificial Intelligence. It has
affected strategy and
operations which are as
follows:
Operations: For the purpose
Technological changes are
important for businesses as it
can help to increase the overall
efficiency of the organisation.
Amazon have planned to
launch effective transaction
system for its website so the an
effective buying experience
could be provided to the
customers. Organisation's
operations and strategy will be
affected due to the new
technology and the impacts are
as follows:
Operation: The operational
activities of Amazon are being
affected due to the change
because the management have
to provide training to the staff
members regarding the new
system so that they can work
on it effectively. It will also
affect the efficiency of
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of implementing the new
technology management of
Ebay are required to recruit
new employee who are having
experience and knowledge for
working with new technique. It
will hamper the operations
because work of managers will
be increased for future.
Strategy: The technological
change which was planned by
the organisation is opening
offline stores which are
managed with the help of
artificial intelligence. It will
affect the strategy of the
company because the
organisation will require to
form new strategies for
marketing, promotions,
advertising etc.
operations because the
managers will not be able to
pay proper attention towards
operational activities which
may lead the organisation
towards failure (Chesbrough
and Bogers, 2014).
Strategy: For the purpose of
implementing the new
transaction system the
management of Amazon have
decided to formulate new
strategies as it is not possible
to operate business with older
ones.
Assessment of different drivers for change in each of the given examples and the types of
organisational change they have affected
There are various types of changes and when an organisation implements it then it could
be functional or structural. Whether it is positive or negative it will definitely affect the strategy
and operations of the company which has implemented change. Amazon and Ebay are two
different organisations which has gone under major technological changes which has impacted
their business. On the other hand, the changes has facilitated the company to manage the work
effectively and improve the market image.
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Evaluation of how external and internal drivers of change affect leadership, team and individual
behaviours within the organisation
For all the business entities it is very important to make sure that they are considering all
the internal as well as external drivers of change which may leave negative or positive impact
upon leadership, teams and behaviour of employees working within the organisation (Daghfous,
Belkhodja and Angell, 2013). Description of all of them for Ebay are as follows:
Internal drivers: All the drivers which are promoting the changes internally are known
as internal drivers. Some of them for Ebay are as follows:
 Resources: There are various resources which are used by organisations to run
operations these are people, process, finance, technology etc. In order to maintain them
managers of Ebay attention towards them which helps to enhance performance. It drive
change because if the company is not having sufficient resources then it will create issues
for business execution. In order to ignore this situation change is made by the
management in business processes.
 Organisational culture: It is the belief, attitude or value which is focused by managers
to manage all the staff members properly. In Ebay it is considered as the change driver
because it is required to be changes according to the behaviour of employees. Leadership
and teams get affected due to this factor because when it is changes then it may result in
decreased satisfaction level of employees or conflicts among managers (Dasaklis and
Pappis, 2013).
External drivers: The extrinsic factors which are leading the organisation towards
change are known as external drivers. Some of them that are driving change for Ebay are as
follows:
 Political: All the factors such as political instability, Brexit, governmental policies etc.
are the components of this elements. It drive change in the organisational strategy of
Ebay because the management of the company will be required to change the policies
according to the laws imposed by political parties. It may leave impact upon team,
individual behaviour and leadership because it will be very difficult for all the employees
and leaders working within the organisation to adapt all the sudden changes in the
strategy of the company. In order to motivate and retain employees it is very important
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for the manager to implement such strategies which are easy to adapt (Dubey and
Gunasekaran, 2015).
 Economic: Exchange rates, pay scale, inflation deflation, economic growth etc. are
external drivers of change which are required to be focused by all the companies such as
Ebay. Sudden fluctuation in them may result in the changes in pay scale of employees
which will create difficulties for the management of teams, leadership and individual
behaviour. It may result in decreased or increased wages of employees which will lead
affect the key element of the organisation. In order to deal with them the top authority of
the company will be required to make sure that the changes which are made by them
according to economic factors are appropriate or not.
 Social: Trends in market and social preferences are the drivers of change for Ebay
because it leads the company towards change. Currently individuals are preferring online
shopping so the organisation will be required to formulate the strategy according to it and
if these are not formed by paying attention towards them then it may affect the company.
In order to ignore such situations proper changes in the policies are required which may
influence teams, individual behaviour and leadership as continuous changes in
organisational strategies may lead the company towards failure (Fearne, Garcia Martinez
and Dent, 2012).
 Technological: The advancement and enhancement in technology is known as
technological drivers of change. These are driving changes for Ebay because it changes
frequently and the company is required to make modifications in its system according to
it. If these are not made then it may affect the market demand of Ebay. Due to such
changes leadership, individuals behaviour and teams may get affected because for leaders
it will be very difficult to manage the groups and individuals properly. When
technological changes are made then managers have to pay attention towards
organisational processes rather than subordinates which affect teams and workforce.
Evaluation of measures which can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change in
organisation behaviour with the help of a theory
Changes are very important for all the organisations for the purpose of attaining different
benefits such as profit maximisation, improved market image etc. On the other side changes may
also result in negative impacts. As Ebay has implemented change within the organisation so it is
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very important for the company to focus some of the measures which may help to deal with
adverse implications. For the purpose of decreasing the unfavourable effects of change measures
such as effective techniques are required to be taken in to consideration by management of Ebay.
One of them is PDCA cycle which is a theory that helps business entities deal with all the
negative impacts of changes that are taken in to consideration. It is a continuous development
plan which can help the management to get proper direction to accomplish their long term goals
(Gonzalez-Loureiro, Dabic and Kiessling, 2015). With the help of it, certain mistakes in the
process of implementing change could be ignored. There are four different stages of it which are
as follows:
Plan: Under this element all the activities which will be performed in future are planned
by management so that the problem could be estimated. At this stage the managers in Ebay will
be able to analyse the technological changes which will be implemented by them within the
organisation. Afterwards, effective plan for future could be developed by them for the purpose of
ignoring negative impacts of changes.
Do: This stage is related to the formulation of solution for the problem which is identified
at plan stage of PDCA cycle. While implementing the technological change in at the company
the managers of Ebay will be required to formulate and implement effective plans to deal with
the issues which may take place. It will be beneficial to respond the negative impacts of change
such as lack of employee engagement due to lower knowledge of them regarding the change.
Check: When changes are implemented at workplace then the top level executives are
required to check that these are resulting positively or negatively. While making changes in the
technological aspects of Ebay the managers will be responsible to check all the activities which
are performed by them so that it could be analysed that plan are going well or not (Gualandris
and Kalchschmidt, 2014).
Act: It is last stage of PDCA cycle in which the management of the organisation are
required to take appropriate actions according to the changes implemented within the
organisation. It is one of the main measures which is required to be taken in to consideration by
managers of Ebay to reduce the negative impacts of change. It guides managers to take effective
actions to reduce the possibility of unfavourable conditions which may take place in future as
proper actions for them are taken appropriately.
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Drawing conclusion and recommendations with valid justifications
The above discussion concludes that for all the business entities it is very important to
implement changes which are taking place in the business environment so that performance of
operational activities could be enhanced. Ebay has planned to implement technological change
by opening offline stores which will be managed with the help of artificial intelligence. For the
purpose of implementing it the company is recommended to adopt the PDCA cycle as it will be
beneficial for it to deal with all the challenges which may take place in future.
PART 2
Barriers for change and determining the way in which they are influencing the leadership
decision making in the organisational context
The current era is related with the change at organisational policies and systems. For all
the organisations it is very important to adapt the changes taking place in the business
environment so that possibility of decreased performance could be ignored. When organisations
decide to implement change at workplace then it is very important for management to analyse
the barriers which may affect leadership decision making. As Ebay has planned to implement
technological change within the company therefore it is vital for the managers of the company to
analyse all the barriers which may influence it. Some of them which may influence leadership
decision making of Ebay are as follows:
Organisational complexity: It takes place due to complex organisational structure
therefore for managers it is very important to make sure that the chain of command which is
followed by them is not complex. Due to matrix structure employees of Ebay get confused which
affect the leadership decision making because in this situation for leaders it will be very difficult
to lead workers. The staff members will also not able to work properly because of number of
commands of multiple supervisors (Kabra, Ramesh and Arshinder, 2015).
Adverse attitude of employees: Sometimes employees do not want to adapt the change
as they are not comfortable with increased functions of them. If technological change will be
adopted by Ebay then it will create the possibility of negative behaviour of staff members as they
may do not want to work according to it. This problem will be a huge barrier for the change and
it will influence leadership decision making as leaders will not be able to formulate effective
strategies without the support of workforce.
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Improper communication strategy: It is considered as the budget barriers in the change
as it may result in misguided staff members because the change will not be communicated with
them due to weak communication strategy. When Ebay will implement the technological change
within the organisation then it is very important for top level executives to provide detailed
information of it to the employees. If they are not able to communicate the change with
employees due to improper communication strategy then it may influence leadership decision
making. In this situation the management will not be able to guide workforce as they are not
having proper information about the change which will be implemented by the company
(Plambeck, Lee and Yatsko, 2012).
Use of force field analysis to analyse the driving and resisting forces and the way in which these
are influencing decision making
Force field analysis can be defined as a technique which is used by business entities for
the purpose of maintaining balance between driving and resisting forces of change. It will be
beneficial for the mangers in Ebay to implement the technological change at workplace. There
are two main elements of it which are discussed below in the context of Ebay:
Driving forces: These are the factors which are driving and assisting the changes for the
organisation. If technological changes will be implemented by Ebay then it may result in
modified working style of managers. The driving forces for the change will be culture, policies,
support of staff etc. All of them may influence the decision making because with the help of
them effective decisions could be formed for future (Thai, 2012).
Restraining forces: The elements which do not support change which will be
implemented by the organisation are restraining forces. The implementation of technological
change for Ebay could be restrained by lack of training for staff, continuous changes in
technology etc. Due to all of them decision making will also be influenced the leaders will not be
able to pay attention towards strategy formulation because they have to consider these forces
(Ponis and Koronis, 2012).
Critical evaluation of the use of force field analysis in the context of meeting organisational
objectives
By analysing the restraining and driving forces of change it has been analysed that due to
all of them organisational objectives may get affected. Currently the main goals of Ebay is to
implement the technological change properly so that large market share could be acquired and
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profit could be maximised. The factors such as lack of training, frequent modification in
technology may affect the objectives because due to all of them it will be very difficult for the
management to reach the goals. The forces such as support of employees can help to formulate
effective strategies for future and achieve long term business goals (Song and Yao, 2013).
Application of different leadership approaches to deal with the change in the range of
organisational contexts
Leadership can be defined as the process of guiding a group of people so that they can
work productively. Main objective of it is to motivate staff members so that they can perform all
the tasks appropriately. It will be beneficial for an organisation to reach its long term goals and
attaining sustainability for business. As Ebay is planning to implement technological change so it
is very important for the management to make sure that they focusing upon leadership so that
leaders can inspire staff to perform operations appropriately. There are various types of
leadership approaches which could be used to deal with change. Description of some of them is
as follows:
Transformational leadership: Under this style of leadership the eaders try to motivate,
inspire and encourage all the subordinates so that they can perform all the tasks appropriately. It
will be beneficial for the leaders in Ebay for implementing the change and dealing with it
properly. With the help of it they will be able to motivate employees to work effectively so that
they can contribute in the attainment of organizational goals (Rogers, Braziotis and Pawar,
2017).
Transactional leadership: Under this leadership style leaders pay attention towards
increment in the employee engagement and they try to make it possible with the help of
punishment or reward. It provides the positive as well as negative motivation to perform the jobs
properly. With the help of this leadership approach leaders in Ebay can pay attention towards
performance, supervision and proper organization of resources so that changes could be dealt
properly.
Situational leadership: It was developed by two individuals who are Paul Hersey and
Ken Blanchard in year 1969 for the purpose of facilitating leaders to change their behavior
according to the situations. With the help of it, leaders in Ebay will be able to mold their attitude
on the basis of situation which is faced by the organization while implementing technological
change. It could be dealt properly with the help of this approach as it guides all the leaders to
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make sure that they have modified their behavior according to the change so that all the issues
could be resolved properly (Seethamraju, 2014).
From all the above described leadership approaches the best suitable approach for Ebay is
transformation as it can help the managers to make sure that all the staff members perform the
tasks properly.
Evaluation of the extent to which leadership approaches can deliver organisational change
effectively applying appropriate models and frameworks
For all the leaders in business entities it is very important to implement appropriate
leadership approach so that change could be dealt properly. There are various types of them
which are transformation, transactional and situational. With the help of them Ebay will be able
to deliver the organisational change effectively as the appropriate leadership results in proper
execution of operational as well as executional activities of enterprise. For the purpose of
reaching long term business goals it will be very important for the company to make sure that
effective leadership approach is implemented.
Critical evaluation of the effectiveness of leadership approaches and models of change
management
There are various leadership approaches which could be implemented by Ebay while
applying technological change. These are situational, transactional, transformational etc. In
order to execute all the business activities, it is very important for the leaders to implement
the changes properly with the help of appropriate leadership approaches. In order to make
sure that all the processes related to the change are performed properly it is essential for
managers in the company to analyse that effective leadership is implemented. With the help
of situational leadership, the leaders will be able to modify their behaviour according to the
situations. In transactional way of supervision, leaders can influence the employees to work
hard with the help of reward or punishments and by using transformation leadership they
can inspire employees to work productively.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that change is the process of making
modification or replacing current policies or systems of the organisation so that possibilities of
reaching to long term business goals could be increased. PEST analysis is a technique which can
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help to determine the external factors which may affect the changes. In order to implement such
leaders which may help to deal with negative impact of change PDCA cycle could be implement.
It will be beneficial to respond the unfavourable implications properly. In order to apply the
change properly it is very important for leaders to analyse the barriers such as organisational
complexity, adverse attitude of staff etc. There are various types of leadership approaches such
as transformation, transactional and situational which could be used by business entities for the
purpose of dealing with organisational change.
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(2013) (Thai, 2012)
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