Understanding and Leading Change

Understanding
and
Leading Change
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INTRODUCTION
An organization adopt change when they want to transform their business by adopting
new strategies, technology or idea. Normally organization change take place when a business
plan for reorganizing, turnaround or restructuring. For a firm implementation of change is
important because it allow staff to enhance their skills, explore new opportunity, adopt creativity,
implement new strategies and many more (Al-Haddad and Kotnour, 2015). If a company is
adopting change they need to analyse situations because impact of change can be positive or
negative. Organization chosen for respective assignment is Marks and Spencer that is a public
firm conducting business at retail industry. This firm is introduced by Michael Marks as well as
Thomas Spencer in 1884 and its head office is located in London, United Kingdom. Marks and
Spencer offer their huge range of food, clothing and home products at worldwide level.
The main aim of conducting respective report is to know importance of change at a
business. Topics included in report are examples of various organizations related to how its
operation as well as strategies impacted as well as this will also consider internal as well as
external drivers of change which may influence leadership. It will also describe about factors
which can adopt for minimising negative affect as well as it explain several leadership
approaches that aid an organisation in resolving issues related to change effectively.
TASK 1
P1
In present era, main aim of a company is to grow business by attaining huge profit as well
as market shares in order to which they need to adopt change in respect of their operations as
well as functions. In respect of respective case of M&S, they are conducting its business
operations in retail industry along with this they want to compare their strategies with competitor
in order to understand their similarities as well as difference among the firm in respect of dealing
with change (Caton and Mistriner, 2016). For this Marks and Spencer activities or strategies are
compare with its competitor example John Lewis Partnership. Explanation of difference are
given below:-
Basis Marks and Spencer John Lewis Partnership
M&S is conducting their Organisation structure according
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Structure
business operations and functions
in hierarchical organisation
structure. In which there is
numbers of stages including
upper, middle and lower due to
which decision making process
of firm get slow. In order to
resolve this issue respective
company management decide to
change their organisation
structure from hierarchical to
flat. In this structure there will be
less departments which help
Marks and Spencer management
to minimise time of decision
making procedure.
to which John Lewis Partnership
is conducting their business is
hierarchical due to which there is
occurrence of communication
gap among the members of
company (Chappell and et. al.,
2016). So in order to resolve this
issues respective company
management is developing
strategies to change their
organisation structure from
hierarchical to flat. This is so
because in this structure all
employees are consider as same
because there is no stages.
Through this respective company
able to minimise communication
gap at their workplace.
Strategies
In order to implement change
M&S develop strategies or action
plan so that they can adopt
change activities related to
implementation of flat structure
in effective manner (Doppelt,
2017). In order to implement flat
structure respective company
develop strategy according to
which they will encourage their
employees so that they get ready
to implement strategies and
enhance their productivity in
In context of implementation of
change related to adoption flat
structure from hierarchical John
Lewis Partnership management
develop strategies related to
training and developing session
because it will help them in
understanding working situation
or culture in effective manner.
Along with this it will also help
respective company in ensuring
that business operations and
functions are conducted in
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effective manner. It will also aid
in minimising conflict that may
arise due to implementation of
change.
effectual way.
Operations
Through the implementation of
flat structure Marks and Spencer
go through some major change in
operations which help them in
attaining their desire goal
effectively and successful. Such
as through that they able to
minimise time for decision
making as well as it will also
help in minimising or avoiding
situation related to conflict.
Moreover it will also help
respective company employees
to conduct their projects in
timely manner by conducting all
activities effectively and
properly.
By implementing flat structure
instead of hierarchical structure
John Lewis Partnership
management go through some
changes in operation which help
them in attaining their
predetermined objective properly
(Espedal, 2017). Change take in
operations are improvement in
communication, employees
productivity get enhanced,
minimise in wastage, work are
conducted properly and many
more. Along with this, respective
company management also
develop strategies related to
rules as well as regulations
related to implementation of flat
structure.
Furthermore, there are several similarities in Marks and Spencer as well as John Lewis
Partnership in respect of implementing change at workplace such as both companies conduct all
activities in transparent manner so that employees feel valuable as well as encouraged for
adopting change. Along with this both retail organisations also create proper roadmap and invite
participations so that all activities related to implementation of change will conduct effectively as
well as successfully.
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TASK 2
P2
Drivers of Change is considered as an elements by that change may occur in the business
operational and functional activities of a company. It is a disruptive unit which are exist at
almost all situation and it also impact differently on the specific situation. There are generally
two kinds of change drivers such as internal as well as external drivers and these also affect
business operations in positive and negative manner (Head and et. al., 2018). There are also
several internal and external factors that affect on M&S operations, from all factors some are
given below:-
Internal factor- It is considered as that force which are exist within an organisation as well as
these are in control of management, they generally impact on the management at workplace. This
factor will include plans, design, services, products, strategies as well as operations. There are
numbers of internal factors which impact on the M&S operation, from which some are given
below:- Organizational culture: It is defined as several aspects such as value, assumptions,
beliefs and style of interacting which contributes to specific psychological and social
environment of an organization. For M&S, this is necessary to develop as well as
maintain effective organisation culture and for that they can develop strategies such as
create rules and regulation. This is so because if there is no proper organisational culture
then individuals behaviour get impacted that lead to conflict situation which impact
productivity of team as well as decision making of leader.
 Employees moral: It is determined as overall attitude, outlook, satisfaction as well as
confidence that is feel by employee at workplace. It is necessary for respective company
management develop several strategies in order to enhance their employees moral
because if moral is low performance of staff get reduce which lead to decrease in
productivity (Hughes, 2016). For which this firm need to organize training session,
parties, get together, motivational session so that individual moral get high because it
lead to increase in team productively. Along with this high moral of employee's also help
in leadership in decision making process.
External factor- It is defined as that factor which affect a company from the outside as well as
these force are not being controlled by a management. In respect of external driver firm need to
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develop strategies or action plan accordingly. This will factors like rules and regulation,
economic change and so on. There are numbers of external drivers of change which affect M&S,
from which some are given below:- Political factors: In an organisation political factor directly impact on the funding as well
as priorities as well as it is essential for management to create proper plan of action or
strategies related to political factors (Iles, 2017). In respect of Marks and Spencer it is
essential for them them to develop proper rules and regulations related to change in
political factors because if they not do so they may face legal action which impact on
their individuals behaviour in respect of their workplace. In addition to this, that will also
directly affect on the team working or productivity as well as it will also affect on the
decision creating process of leader. Economic factor: This external factor will include tax rate, interest rate, wage, law,
policies as well as government activities. These factors directly impact on the business
activities and decision making of leaders at Marks and Spencer. This is so because leader
need to change their strategies according to economy of country, company and customers
and according to which individual need to conduct activities which shows economy also
affect individual at workplace. Along with this when individual behaviour get impact
then performance of team also get affected. Social factor: Through this factors company able to under need as well as demand of
their potential customers according to which they can develop decision. This will include
factors like religion, buying habit, wealth, education level, structure, family size and
population (Komives and Wagner, 2016). In context of M&S they are conducting
operations in retail clothing sector, in which trends are changing on continuous basis due
to which sometime old design and products get waste. This will directly impact on
employees moral because their hard work get waste as well as due to which team
performance get also decreased. This may also directly affect on the decision making of
leader because they need to develop decision according to new trends on regular basis.
 Technological factor: According to this factor by adopting new and advance technology
company able to increase its productivity and work quality because all activities will
conduct properly and it will also help in minimising wastage. So in respect of Marks and
Spencer by adopting advance technology individual or employees able to conduct their
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work properly as well as it will also help them in minimising wastage (Lawrence, 2015).
Along with this it will also help a team in conducting their work in effective manner as
well as in proper time. This will also help leader in developing new strategies according
to implementation of new technology and demand of customers.
P3
At a company change is consider as necessary portion because it lead them in conducting
business life cycle smoothly as in order to this firm adopt new technology and other related
factor. This is so because through it an organization able to enhance its profitability as well as
market shares. At Marks and Spencer, different drivers of change impact positively because
through it leaders able to improve their staffs performance and increase employees moral. Along
with this, it will also help in conducting all business operational activities properly as well as it
also aid in conducting procedures effectively (Metcalf and Morelli, 2015). On other hand, there
are some negative impact of change drivers because due to that leader need to develop new
strategies which is time taking and stressful. Moreover, due to negative impact of change
management need to do cost cutting which directly impact on staff's salary and other benefits
provided to them as well as it will also reduce motivation and satisfaction level of employees. So
in order to avoid these issues Marks and Spencer adopt PDCA model, that is explained below:-
 Plan: At respective stage company do analysis of market in order to identify opportunity
and issues, so that accordingly they can develop appropriate strategies in order to grab
opportunity and resolve issues. Such as in this stage Marks and Spencer will do market
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Illustration 1: PDCA Model
(Source: PDCA Cycle: 4 steps to improve processes, 2018)

analysis in order to identify new trends, opportunities and issues. By this they able to
develop strategies which help in minimising negative impact of change in successful
manner (Painter and Clark, 2015). For example respective retail company is facing issue
in attracting customers and reason is this there is lack of promotional activities. So
management is planning to adopt digital and social media in order to improve their
promotional activities. Do: At this stage firm's management will evaluate potential solution which they will
develop at above stage. In respect of Marks and Spencer, management will conduct
evaluation of strategy that they develop at above stage i.e. plan. For example in respect to
improve their promotional activities they will conduct training and development session
so that they can use different media in effective manner. Such as social media like
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and many more as well as digital platform
similar to pop up advertising, e mail marketing and so on. Check: In this phase company management will analyse whether the selected or
developed strategy is effective or not. Moreover on this stage they will analyse that their
expected outcome is similar to actual or not, if not then required modification will be
done effectively (Salman and Broten, 2017). In respect of Marks and Spencer, they will
analyse that the usage of digital and social media will be impressive for them or not. If
management will identify any issue then they will conduct improvement activities as well
as if they identify that strategy is inappropriate then they will drop idea and again analyse
situation for developing proper strategy related to resolving issue of promotional activity.
 Act: It is the last stage of PDCA model in which an organisation will implement the
strategy if that will be appropriate in respect of issue or situation. In respect of Marks and
Spencer, if management find strategy of adopting social and digital media effective then
they will implement it. Along with this management will also develop training and
development activities in order to avoid future issues that may occur while implementing
digital and social media for conduct promotional activities.
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TASK 3
P4
During the implementation of change a company faced numbers of barriers which
develop gap between standard and actual practices and that impact negatively on daily basis
practices at workplace (Smith, 2015). So in this respect it will be responsibilities of manager as
well as leader to develop strategies in order to overcome issues as well as it will also essential for
them to create plan for resolving issues. In respect of Marks and Spencer, they adopt force field
analysis model in order to identify barriers which impact on leadership decision making,
explanation of respective model is given below:-
Force Field Analysis Model
The respective model is consist of two factors i.e. driving force and resistance force of a
company. These are generally used to evaluate as well as analyse change that may occur at
workplace. Driving force: It is consider as power because through this force company able to adopt
change according to need and requirement of customers as well as it also help leader in
developing effective strategy according to situation (Soehner, 2015). Such as customers
of Marks and Spencer is demanding for new innovative design cloths for which they are
adopt new technology which help them in designing new innovative cloths such as one
size cloths, back support cloths for old age peoples and so on. By doing this respective
company can plan innovative strategies in order to fulfil need as well as demand of
customers in effective manner.
 Resisting force: This force is considered as threat for a company because it develop
barrier which hinder company in implementing change at workplace. Implementation of
change incurred numbers of barriers such as requirement of huge funds, less employees
support, less skilled employees and so on. In respect of Marks and Spencer similar
barriers may arise so it is essential for firm to develop proper strategies in order to
motivate their employees so that they can conduct work effectively for attaining desire
goal.
There are several barriers through which a company face by adopting change at their
workplace. From which some major barriers are given below that may faced by Marks and
Spencer while implementing change:-
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 Less employee involvement or support: It is one of the most common issues or barrier
which a company face when they implement change at their workplace (Tombetti and
Mason, 2019). According to this staff of firm not show appropriate interest or
involvement in adopting change. At Marks and Spencer it occur because they think their
work will get increase or their importance get reduced. In order to resolve this issues
respective company management may conduct meeting in which they motivate their
staffs so that they get ready to adopt change in effective manner.
 Lack of source of finance or investment: At workplace for conducting any activity or
implement change management required funds. Such as when Marks and Spencer adopt
new technology or innovation they need to funds and investment so that they can provide
proper resources to their staffs. So it is essential for respective company management to
develop proper strategies or budget as that will help in planning other activities
accordingly for implementing change.
TASK 4
P5
When there is implementation of organisational change, it is necessary for the company
to have appropriate and effective leadership so that all the management activities as well as
business activities are done effectively (Weston, Ferris and Finkelstein, 2017). There are some
leadership approaches used by Marks and Spencer and these are described below -
 Transformational approach: This is a leadership approach which is used by managers
and leaders when there is any type of change within the organisation. This type of
leadership approach is able to cause change in individuals and social systems. This can
create positive and valuable change in the subordinates.
 Autocratic approach: This is also known as authoritarian leadership. According to this
type of approach, the managers and leaders make decisions on their own and all other
subordinates have to follow this decision. Marks and Spencer leaders do not consider the
thoughts of their subordinates while making decisions.
 Situational approach: This type of leadership approach is defined as an approach which
includes set of values, behaviours and belief. This leadership approach is used for
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managing different business situations by following different beliefs, values and
behaviours.
Lewin's change model
This is a model that is analysed when there is any kind of organisational change within
the organisation. This model was given by Kurt Lewins. There are three stages in this model of
change – unfreeze, changes and refreeze (Salman and Broten, 2017). When there is any kind of
change occur in the company, the stages of this model are considered. Thus, Marks and Spencer
is using this model of change for developing strategies and plans. This model in context of M&S
is mentioned below- Unfreeze: This stage is the unfreezing stage and according to this stage, when there is
need of any organisational change within the company, the first thing is to analyse all
regulations and rules of the company. It is recognised by managers of Marks and Spencer
that it is important to have change in the organisation. Thus, at this stage it is seen that
there is need for considering new rules and regulations followed by this company. Changes: In this stage, there is need for developing strategies and plans for implementing
the change discussed in the above step. There is need for developing effective and strong
strategies that will help in engaging employees towards the new idea of organisational
change. The managers and leaders of Marks and Spencer have to demonstrate strategies
and plans to staff in an effective manner.
 Refreeze: As per this step, Marks and Spencer managers have to find a way for becoming
competent and implementing changes that can survive within market for long time. The
managers of M&S organises few sessions which help in communicating about the change
to staff and workers (Tombetti and Mason, 2019). They have to do work accordingly.
This is responsibility of managers to effectively explain all the strategies and planning
used for implementing new change within the company.
It is concluded from the above discussion that there are various types of leadership
including transformational leadership, situational and autocratic. The best strategy for M&S is
transformational leadership when experiencing organisational change.
CONCLUSION
From above mentioned points this can be summarise that for all company this is
necessary to implement change in their business operations and functions because through that
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they able to attain numbers of growth opportunity. While implementing change at the workplace
it is primary activity for a company management to analyse the situation because through it they
able to analyse negative and positive impact of change in effectual manner. Along with this, a
firm also need to compare their strategies and operation from its competitors because through
this they can understand power of change related activities. There are primarily two change
drivers i.e. internal as well as external, these change drivers directly or indirectly impact on
company's leadership, individual and team behaviour. During the implementation of change,
negative impact may occur so in order to overcome impact a company can adopt several
strategies. Moreover there are also numbers of barriers that occur while the implementation of
change and for dealing these change issues there are different leadership approaches. Along with
this, a firm also need to compare their strategies and operation from its competitors because
through this they can understand power of change related activities.
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