Understanding and Leading Change

This report examines the impact of change on an organization's strategy and operations, using AEGON as a case study. It analyzes internal and external drivers of change, their effects on leadership, team, and individual behaviors, and methods to mitigate negative impacts. The report also analyzes barriers to change and evaluates different leadership approaches for dealing with change.

Understanding and Leading
Change

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Compare firms where there has been an impact of changes on an organisation's strategy
and operations.........................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P2 Determine ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team
and individual behaviours.......................................................................................................5
P3 Explain various methods that can be taken to reduce negative impact of change............8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P4 Determine different barriers of changes and how they affect leadership decision.........10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P5 Evaluate different leadership approaches for dealing with change.................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
If an organisation wants to enhance or increasing their business operations they need to
understand and evaluate changes within the firm and market so that they make strategies
accordingly. It also help an organisation to understand and identify issues and problems that
they can face in future and by it they can develop strategies which help in overcoming and
avoiding issues in appropriate manner (Alavi and Gill, 2017). The organisation taken for this
report is AEGON which is established in 1983 and its headquarter is in Hague, Netherlands. It is
life insurance, pensions and assets management company which is conducting its operation
worldwide. The numbers of employees in respective company are approximate 28,300. Topics
explained in this report are example of organisations and how its operation and strategies
affected, internal and external drivers of changes that influences leadership and steps through
which a firm can minimise negative effect. At it will explain various leadership approaches
which help company in dealing with problems in effective manner.
TASK 1
P1 Compare firms where there has been an impact of changes on an organisation's strategy and
operations
In today time the major reason behind conducting business operation and function is to
earn profit and grow market shares or for well being of social group. According to respective
case of AEGON which is a multinational life insurance, pension and assets management
company that is planning to become a well known brand at the worldwide level (Anderson,
2016). But government of United State impose certain barriers that directly and indirectly
affecting negatively to the respective company profitability and market shares. For understanding
the appropriate situation of changes that affecting function and operation AEGON conduct
comparison analysis with its competitor The Hartford financial service group. Comparison of
both companies are given below:-
Changes AEGON The Hartford

Structure In AEGON is conducting their
business in hierarchical
organisation structure in which
there are different stages or
level such as upper level,
middle level and lower level.
Information and guidelines
which is given by upper level
reach to lower level while
following various other stages
which is time taking. So the
respective company decide to
change their organisational
structure into flat. Main
reason behind changing the
organizational structure is to
improve performance and
productivity of employees.
Along with this they want to
reduce time duration which is
taken for making any decision.
By this they able to taking
decision become easy as well
as employees feel satisfy
because they are treating at the
same level according to
department and grading
(Fragouli and Ibidapo, 2015).
Strategy: The major strategy
to implement flat structure at
organisation is leads to
The Hartford is conducting
their operations and function in
hierarchical organisational
structure in which they are
facing some problems so they
decide to change their
organisational structure from
hierarchical to flat structure.
Through with their employees
able to communicate with each
other in effective manner
which motivate and develop
feeling of connection in them
towards the respective
organization. When staff of
The Hartford feel motivated
they conduct there work in
appropriate manner which
reduce manufacturing and
operational cost (Doppelt,
2017). Along with this they
able to reduce wastage during
process. Through this they able
to earn more profitability ratio
and enhance market share.
Employees turnover will also
get reduce.
Strategy: The respective
company create plan and
strategies through which they
reduce wastage and conduct

motivate employees which
directly help them in
improving their productivity in
effective manner. By this
employees are treated as same
level and there is also
reduction in conflict.
Operation: By adopting flat
structure at workplace there is
certain positive changes occur
at firm such as now they
required less time in decision
making process which save
their precious time (Fullan,
2014). Through this
completion timing of
production or task get reduce,
now employees complete their
work within the given time or
at time.
their operations in appropriate
manner. For this they provide
training and development
sessions to their employees so
they conduct their work in
appropriate manner.
Operation: By developing
respective changes in the The
Hartford they able to reduce
wastage and operational and
manufacturing cost. It become
possible for respective
company by using several
functions such as develop rules
reduce wastage, train
employees how to conduct
particular work in appropriate
manner, compare cost of
different suppliers and many
others.
TASK 2
P2 Determine ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team and
individual behaviours
Drivers of changes refers to the element through which change is occur in the operation
function of an organisation. It is a disruptive force which present in almost all scenarios and it
has different impact or influence on particular scenario. The drivers of changes is divided into
two type that is internal driver and external driver, that affect operation of a business operations.
Internal drivers of changes in this process had been identified through SWOT analysis. Some
major change drivers which affect AEGON operations are explain below:-

Internal Drivers- Internal drivers of changes refers to the forces which are present inside
an organisation and which control and affect the management of a work-place (Gupta, 2011).
Internal factors that affect AEGON operations and functions are- Organizational culture: It represent the believes, values, attitude and behaviours of an
individual as well as group at a work-place. The improper behaviour of a staff or
employees will affect performance and productivity of whole team in AEGON company
which also affect on company's profit. Such as in AEGON some peoples behave weirdly
to other employees, so to prevent or overcome from this situation the management of
respective company develop policies and rules regarding discrimination. Such as if there
is improper organizational culture in respective company this will affect behaviour of
individual through which conflict arise in team. Which directly influence productivity of
employees and decision making of leader.
 Employees moral: It refers to the confidence and strength level of a person or employee
and it is very important for a company. If employees have low moral or less committed
toward job they will affect company operations and functions. So to avoid this type of
situation the respective company develop various programmes to motivate employees.
Some of activities are they provide training, organize motivational session, organise
activities and parties and many others. Such as if leader of AEGON done effective
planing for developing employees moral it will enhance productivity of employees which
leads to affective team work. By this organisation able to achieve goal and objective in
effective and appropriate manner.
External Drivers- These refers to the factors or situations which present outside of an
organisation and it can't be controlled by an organisation itself they can only develop strategies
accordingly (Hillson and Murray-Webster, 2017). Which help an organisation in conducting
their operations and functions in effective and appropriate manner. External drivers in respect of
AEGON are explained below- Political- If there is occurrence of political factor it will directly and indirectly influences
the funding and priorities of an organisation. Company has to develop strategies and
action plan according to political factors. Such as AEGON has to follow various rules
and policies for conducting their business and if government changes or modify their
policies and rules the respective company leader has to develop strategies and plans

accordingly. When there is change occur in political conduction it will affect policies of
respective company. When AEGON adopt changed policies it will directly and indirectly
affect the behaviour and working of leader, employees and team and employer has to
develop policies according to changes. Economical- There are various change factors which are included in economical factors
such as employment rate, interest rate, customer behaviours, inflation rate and many
other (Jones and Harris, 2014). These all factors directly influence decision making
process of leader in AEGON company such as if there is reduction in buying power of
respective company. This will influence the production process and effectiveness of
employees at AEGON company. For example if change occur in economic condition of
customers it will affect their buying power and respective company leader has to design
and manufacture products according to demand and economic condition of consumers.
When change will occur in economic condition of country, it will directly affect
company's economy and managers has to develop strategies accordingly. Which leads to
change in behaviour of team as well as individual. Such as if economic condition get of
company get decrease then it will directly impact on employees salary and resources
funding. This will affect production and productivity of employees in respective
company. Social- The factors which is include in social is need and demand of target customers at
market place of an organization. So if there is any change occur in customers need and
demand AEGON Company leader develop and design plans and strategies accordingly
but some it will leads to wastage of old products. Sometime this will directly affect
employees motivation and productivity of group or team. So to avoid this situation the
leader of respective company do regular market trends analysis and then develop new
strategies and plans according to trends.
 Technological- This factor enhance the productivity and quality of a production process
of an organisation by improving and updating technology which is using for production.
In AEGON Company they use advance technology which make employee's work easy
and they able to do more work in less time. Through innovate of technology respective
company able to improve employees work quality and quantity. Along with this, there is
increment in employees motivation and productivity of staff at AEGON Company. The

leader of AEGON conduct regular market analysis and then develop strategies and plan
according to new technology and consumer demand.
P3 Explain various methods that can be taken to reduce negative impact of change
In an organisation change plays a essential part in conducting business life cycle in
smooth manner because by it they able to adopt new technology and other things from
environment able to enhance their market position (Komives, 2016). In AEGON impact of
change drivers is positive in following manner it help leaders to enhance their staff moral, help in
conducting operations in appropriate manner, conduct process in effective ways and many other.
Along with this there is some negative effect of change drivers in respective company such as
leader has to make new strategies and plans according to situation which is time taking and
increase mental stress of leader, sometime management has to do cost cutting that affect directly
to employees salary and other benefits and so on (Lawrence, 2015). It will also reduce
employees motivation and satisfaction towards an organisation. For avoiding these type of
negative outcome of changes AEGON use PDCA model for measuring factors, which is describe
below:-

Plan- In this stage a company conduct market analysis and identify issues, opportunity
and according to that they develop strategies to solve issue and grab opportunity (Lloyd, Boer
and Voelpel, 2017). Such as at this step AEGON conduct market analysis at regular basis to
identify issues, problems, opportunity and new trends. Through this they able to reduce affect of
changes by developing plans and strategies in effective and proper manner. For example
respective company facing problem in attracting customer and by analysing situation and market
they able to know that they are lacking in promotion stage. So they plan to improve their
promotional technology by using digital and social media techniques.
Do- At this stage an organisation evaluate strategies which they develop in above stage as
a potential solution (Painter and Clark, 2015). They do evaluation on small scale and identify
effectiveness of the result. Such as in AEGON evaluate plans and strategies which they develop
at plan stage and identify the effectiveness of the strategies. So to improve their promotional
technology by digitalisation and social media. They plan to train their employees that how they
can promote their business effectively through social media such as twitter, face book, Instagram
and so on and digital media like email marking, pop up advertising and many others.
Check- In this stage an organisation measure the effectiveness of plan which they made
and identify whether plan is effective or not (Van der Voet, Kuipers and Groeneveld, 2015).
Such as at this stage respective company compare their expected outcome from actual outcome
and identify whether plan is effective for them or not and if their is any changes required they
conduct respectively. For example they conduct check whether their selected promotional
Illustration 1: PDCA Model
(Source: PDCA Model,2019)

channel is effective for them or not. If they identify any issues they update or conduct changes
accordingly. If plan seem inappropriate they will drop respective channel and identify new one
which is more effective and appropriate.
Act- It is the last stage of PDCA model at this stage if an organisation find that plan is
appropriate they will implement it successfully. Such as if AEGON identify that their plan or
strategies which they make above they will try to implement it an organisation. Then accordingly
train their employees so that they didn't face any problems and issues while working in
respective condition.
TASK 3
P4 Determine different barriers of changes and how they affect leadership decision
While conducting changes in an organisation, sometime barriers may occur that create
gap in among actual practice and standard practices which develop negative effect on daily
production activities at workplace (Anderson, 2016). So it responsibilities of managers and
leaders of an organization to evaluate market and identify barriers and then develop strategies
accordingly to solve problems respectively. AEGON company use force field model to analysis
the changes, which is describe below:-
Force Field Analysis Model:
This consider as model a company can do evaluation and analysis changes which occur in
an organisation, it is consist of two forces that is driving force and resisting force. Driving force
help a firm in identifying and conducting changes and adopt it within a work-place. Whereas
resisting force is a kind of barriers which is come up in between while adopting and
implementing changes. It is consider as one of the effective and essential technique for decision
making procedures. Evaluation of force field analysis in context of AEGON are explain below-
Driving force: This refers to changes in forces while changing in customers needs and
demand of an organisation, their leader has to develop strategies accordingly. Such as in respect
of AEGON their customers are demanding new life insurance, pension records and so on. Along
with this employees and customers are demanding new innovative techniques for storing data
and information in effective manner. Do now the leader of respective company plan new
strategies and plan to fulfil demand and need of employees as well as customers and implement
it in an organisation.

Resisting force: This refers to several restriction or barriers which a company face when
they plan to implement change their organisation (Doppelt, 2017). Such as implementing change
at work-place required huge cost or funding, lack of employees support because they didn't want
to adopt or accept change and they are restrict to current techniques and technology. This type of
employees behaviours affect profitability and production of a respective organisation. So leader
of AEGON decide to motivate and encourage their employees so that they will conduct work in
effective and appropriate manner.
Their are some barriers which a firm face they plan to adopt changes and it also affect
decision making process:-
 Lack of staff involvement- It is a some common barriers which a firm face when they
adopt any new change or innovation (Fragouli and Ibidapo, 2015). Same think
management of AEGON is facing when they implement change at their workplace
employees didn't show any involvement and interest. It occur because they have a fear
that new technology will reduce their responsibility, values and importance at respective
workplace. So the leader of AEGON plan to conduct meeting and insure them that their
values and importance will not reduce and only reason behind adopting change is making
their work easy and they able to do effectively.
 Lack of Finance and investment- For conducting any kind of change finance or funding
is required by which they able to implement changes in effective manner at the
workplace. Such as when AEGON Company plan to adopt new technology for
preventing data and information form getting misuse they select several application and
technology. After that they do analysis of funding and budget which they made for
adopting new techniques they get to know that they didn't have very budget. They can
adopt application which is of middle range. So leader of respective company select
application and technology which required middle funding.
TASK 4
P5 Evaluate different leadership approaches for dealing with change
Their are various leadership style which AEGON use for dealing with changes, some
major of them are explain below:-

System Leadership Style: In this approach, leaders creates condition that helps their
team members to work efficiently in accordance with their potential (Fullan, 2014). In this
regard, it will help leaders of AEGON in predicting behaviour of their team members in
according to the assigned task. This will help a business organisation in sustaining its
productivity for a longer duration by implementing changes. This style will help a respective
business entity in bringing effective organisational change, which leads in improving their
overall growth. The advantages which respective organisation gain by implementing this is they
can adopt frequent changes which arises in a business environment and by it employees of a
respective business can achieve organisational as well as individual aims and objectives in
effective manner. But there are limitation like this is not profitable for smaller organisations and
it delays decision making process of a business organisation.
Lewin's Change Model:- It is a theory which is based on three step model that is
unfreeze, change and refreeze which help an organization to conduct effective change. The
AEGON Company conduct Lewin's change model to design frameworks that help their
managers or leaders to develop strategies respectively on the basis of situation. Explanation of
respective model is explain below:-
 Unfreeze- In this step leader or managers of AEGON Company identify changes and
take approval from their management that certain change is required in an organisation.
For example respective company identify need of changing their promotional technique
which they are currently using. They are using only print media for the promotional
program but now they are deciding to use digital and social media for which they take
approval from senior employer.
 Change- In this manager and leaders communicate change plan to other peoples of a
company and try to resolve rumours related to change (Gupta, 2011). After that they
develop plan and strategies according to need by involving employees in change process.
In this respective company develop accurate plan to develop strategy.
 Refreeze- in this respective company develop ways by which they implement changes
and sustain it for long term in an organisation. For this they design develop and training
programmes and explain to employees that how to use this technology and why it is
beneficial for them. By this employees know effectiveness of new promotional
technology and how to use it.

CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned point it can be conclude that for changes play an important
role in an organisation operations and functions. Implementing change in an organisation
resulted in both positive impact as well as negative. If a company want to check effectiveness of
changes they can compare their strategies and operation to their competitors or other companies.
Their are two type of drivers of changes which affect leadership, team and individual behaviours
at a workplace. These drivers are internal and external drivers of change. Their are some
negative impact of changes and to overcome it company takes various majors or steps. Their are
several barriers of changes which an organisation face and there are different leadership
approaches for dealing changes.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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change. Sage Publications.
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business, government and civil society. Routledge.
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development. International Journal of Information, Business and Management. 7(3).
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Fullan, M., 2014. Leading in a culture of change personal action guide and workbook. John
Wiley & Sons.
Gupta, P., 2011. Leading innovation change-The Kotter way. International Journal of Innovation
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Hillson, D. and Murray-Webster, R., 2017. Understanding and managing risk attitude.
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Jones, M. and Harris, A., 2014. Principals leading successful organisational change: Building
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Komives, S. R., 2016. Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of
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Lawrence, P., 2015. Leading change–Insights into how leaders actually approach the challenge
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understanding of supervisor listening within the framework of leader-member exchange
theory. International Journal of Business Communication, 54(4), pp.431-451.
Painter, S. and Clark, C. M., 2015. Leading change: Faculty development through structured
collaboration. International Journal of Doctoral Studies. 10. pp.187-198.
Van der Voet, J., Kuipers, B. and Groeneveld, S., 2015. Held back and pushed forward: leading
change in a complex public sector environment. Journal of Organizational Change
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Online
PDCA Model. 2019. [Online] Available through: <https://www.quantumdiaries.org/tag/pdca-
cycle/>