Understanding and Leading Change - UK

UNDERSTANDING AND
LEADING CHANGE

Table of Contents
P1 Comparison of different organisation and their impact of change on an organisation's
Strategies and operations.................................................................................................................4
LO2.......................................................................................................................................................6
P2 External and Internal drivers of change affect the behaviour in an organisation.......................6
P3 Measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on organisational
behaviour..........................................................................................................................................7
LO3.......................................................................................................................................................8
P3 Different barriers of change and how they affect the leadership decision-making:...................8
LO4 ....................................................................................................................................................10
P5 Different types of leadership approaches to dealing with change in a range of organisational
contexts..........................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................13
Books and journals.........................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Change management refers to managing and preparing the individuals in order to adopt and
realize the modification according to the driving and restraining forces achieving the company's
objectives effectively and efficiently. Marks and Spencer is the multinational company which is
situated in UK. It has its headquarters situated in Westminster, London. The company was
established in 1884 and founder of the company was Michael Marks Thomas Spencer. The
company deals in selling high quality products like clothes, home products as well as food products.
Marks and Spencer is listed under London stock exchange and the area served is worldwide. It has
around 80,787 employees with operating income of 601.0 million pound. This report includes the
topic understanding and leading change. It will include assessing different drivers of change by
giving various examples and the change types that will have the impact in organizational structure.
This study will also state the ways in which internal and external forces of change affects the
leadership as well as the measures are taken to minimize the destructive impact of modification on
organizational structure. It will also explain the different kinds of barriers of change and its
influence as well as the approaches to deal with the changes.
MAIN BODY

P1 Comparison of different organisation and their impact of change on an organisation's Strategies
and operations.
Every company follows different organisation strategies and the impact of these strategies
are varied from company to company. Here is the comparison of the organisational strategies of
Marks & Spencer and Tesco with their impacts on their organisation.
BASIS MARKS AND SPENCER TESCO
Organisational Structure The firm started following the
flat structure. The impact of this
structure was it reduced the
middle management and which
help in cost reduction moreover
it boosts the confidence of the
employees as they are involved
in decision-making
The firm follows hierarchical
system. The impact of
hierarchical on Tesco are the
organisation have systematic
follow of power and it helps to
form uniformity in the firm.
Technology The impact of technology on
Marks and Spencer are that the
company is closing their 100
stores and focusing more on
online sales. That reduce the
cost of company and increase
the profitably
Technological impact on Tesco
is that Tesco has changed their
tradition methods of production
to modern technological
machine for production. This
decrease the cost of production
of the product
Leadership The company recently adopted
the democratic leadership style,
in this all the employees have
right to speak and participate in
management active that had a
positive impact in motivating
the employees.
The company is still following
he autocratic leadership style in
this the employees have to
finish the work according to the
orders of employers, they can't
take decisions on their own.
The impact of this leadership
style is negative on the
employees.
Cultural Structure Marks and Spencer has
diversified culture in employees
with different skills and culture
Tesco follow hierarchy culture,
in this the leader and manager
tells the people what to work.

work together for a common
organisation goal. The major
impact of this stature on
organisation is that it increased
the efficiently and effectiveness
of employees.
The impact of this is it create a
uniformity in the organisation.
Training Modern training method has a
very positively impact on M&S
as all the training is given
through computer, this increase
the knowledge level of
employees in various sectors.
Training in Tesco in given
manually by the trainer this
increase the understanding level
of the employees this method
has a positive impact on the
employees of Tesco.
Working hours As the trend in the market
Marks and Spencer also
adopted flexible working hours'
method in this method the
employee can work in any hour
of day. This had a positive
impact on the firm that the
retention rate of the company is
increased.
Tesco is still using the old
method, in this method the
employees have to serve in
particular time of the day as
they are allotted. Following the
old method had a negative
impact as other companies are
providing the flexible working
hours option to the employees.
LO2
P2 External and Internal drivers of change affect the behaviour in an organisation
INTERNAL
 Lack of Communication : If the Marks and Spencer want to achieve their goals and be
successful then their must be a healthy communication between the top management and the
employees, where they can easily communicate with each other this will also improve the
relation of top management with the employees whereas if there is one sided communication
between the top management and the employees it can cause many problems in the
organisation such as confusion among employees, lack of trust between the employees and
top management, this will ultimately affect the behaviours of the leader, team and individual
of the M&S(Canterino, Cirella and Shani, 2018).

 Values and Cultural difference : There is a difference in the values and culture of every
person in an organisation. The understanding of work and the though process to complete
that work differ form individual to individual. Marks and Spencer hire their employees from
different part of world. The culture and value of employees are different in the firm. This
increase the irresponsibility, dishonestly and the lack of trust that affect the leader, the teams
as well as the individual in Marks and Spencer.
 Organisation Structure : Improper organisational structure can have an impact on the
behaviours of leader, teams and individual of Marks and Spencer. If the flow of power in the
organisation is from top to bottom it can decrease the chances of confusion among the
employees, increase the responsibility factor as well as increase economical growth and
many more things (Lopez and Wise, 2015).
External Factors
 Technological factor : The rapid change of technology in market affects the organisational
structure of Marks and Spencer. The regularity and in technological innovation also change
the customers choices as nowadays the information about the products are easily available to
the customer. The regular change in technology had impacts on the decision-making process
of the leaders, team and the individual employee because they need to work according to the
technology provide them. Some people adopt it some can't. Adopting the change is among
the key factors which leads to success.
 Political Factor : Political factor of the company affects the business activity whether it is
within the country or internationally. Due to Brexit the sourcing price of Marks and Spencer
had increased. The political factor are not in favour of the company that is a big problem
that can affect the decision-making and the behaviours of leaders, teams and individual.
 Competitor : This is among the biggest external factor which affects the behaviours of
leaders, team and Individual of Marks and Spencer. In recent year the competition between
the companies is at its peak, that has made decision-making very difficult. The management
of Marks and Spencer had to observe every strategies of competitor very thoroughly
moreover the company had to react accordingly. So many efforts of the employees and
leader are needed to compete against the competitors in this engaged market (Al
Barwani,Flores and Imig, 2018).
P3 Measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on organisational behaviour.
Rapid changes in the organisational structural can irritate and demotivate the employees of

Marks and Spencer as well as it can increase the production rate. From the help of continuously
improvement model Marks and Spencer can minimise the negative impact of change on
organisation behaviours.
Continuously improvement model :
This model helps organisation to outcome the problems cause by change. These are the steps
of continuously improvement model :
 Identify : The first step of the model. This is the most important step of the model because
it is the base building step. In this step Marks and Spencer will first identify the change and
the factor related to change such as whether it is minor change or major change, the change
is necessary for the organisation, what is the profit of adopting the change. After all this the
company will analysis and then identify about the opportunities for the company as well as
the threats that Marks and Spencer can face due to implementation and non implementation
of the change.
 Planning : After identifying all the factors that are related to the change Marks and Spencer
will move to the next step, where the top management will plan strategies that how can they
improve the current model according to the change or there is need of need model for
organisational structure in Marks and Spencer. After going through various strategies that
helps them to cope up with the change. The board of director of Marks and Spencer will
select the best strategy.
 Executing : When the selection of the strategy is done to adopt the new market trends.
Marks and Spencer will implement the change in the organisation structural. The company
will train the employees on regular bases to learn about the change and the employee can
easily adopt the change and implement it in there working process. They company will also
motivate the employees so that the retention rate of the employee stays high (Edwards-
Groves and et.al., 2019).
 Review : After going through every steps Marks and Spencer will collect the review about
the change such as whether the employees are facing any problem in adopting the change,
the process of work in more easily or the change just complicated the process, what are the
results of the change. After collecting all the reviews Marks and Spencer will create more
strategies if the change is not helpful or causing any problems.
Marks and Spencer can also motivate their employees, arrange training and development programs,
regularly communicate with them to decrease the negative impacts of change on organisational
behaviours.

LO3
P3 Different barriers of change and how they affect the leadership decision-making:
There are different barriers of change which affect the working of the organization. Some barriers of
change are described in the Lewin's Force field model. This model was described by Kurt Lewin. It
provides an overview of the problems that needs to be solved by the business which are divided into
forces for and against. These are:
 Forces for change: These are those changes which need to be done in the organization.
Theses are necessary changes which will increase the profits of the company. Various
changes that can be done are like a company can do better. Many time leaders have a feeling
that the company can do better. It happens when all the employees are not working at their
full potential. The desire to increase the profits of the company by the owner can also result
in changes. Changes are not easily done in any organization. It needs the hard-work of
leaders and managers. The need to increase the efficiency of the company and to become
more competitive over other firms. Marks and Spencer is incurring losses in its product
mainly the women fashion. The clothes are of old fashion and new generation does not like
it. The company need to change its product line so that it can attract the customers again. It
needs to change its machinery and should employ innovative employees in the company
who can share ideas for new products. Change can be also due to the less flexibility n the
organization.
 Forces restraining change:There are different forces outside the organization that restrain
changes. External changes are those which are out of the control of the company. Some
changes can be like increased demand for higher quality goods, changes in economic
conditions, changes in government policy. The leaders of Marks and Spencer are affected by
the external competition. They are not able to cope up with the market. Their design were
old and not of good quality as compared to other brands. People change brand very easily
nowadays as there are various options available to them. Globalization has also affected the
business very much as many brands have come into markets which provide good quality
product at low cost. The competition online also has increased and which is affecting the
sale of Marks and Spencer (Neumann, James, and Vince, 2019)). The company has
launched a new food-line and is getting loss in that. The reason for loss is the high price of
goods. There are other stores in the market selling the same product at cheaper price. To

stand in the competitive market, Marks and Spencer must bring new clothing range for
women and sell the food items at low price.
LO4
P5 Different types of leadership approaches to dealing with change in a range of organisational
contexts.
Leadership approach is among the key factors for Marks and Spencer achieve their goals.
The motivation technique of the employees is decided by the leadership approach, so the selection
of proper leadership is necessary. These all the following leadership approaches which is used by
Marks and Spencer
Path Goal Theory :
In this style of leadership approach the leader of the company leads the employees by
keeping their capabilities, which helps the leader to motive them in completing any other task for
the organisation. Marks and Spencer motivate their employees at very high level and it is important
for such company to regularly motivate their employees. So the employees of Marks and Spencer
deals with work-stress easily. Marks and Spencer also ensure to provide a healthy business to their
employees so they can easily deal with their work stress and it also helps the employees in
motivation, growth and many more. The Path Goal Theory deals with some styles (Yrjölä and
et.al., 2019).
 The Achievement : Goal achievement is the Solo focus of this leadership style, no matter
which method the employees choose or which path the employee walks. Finishing the task
provided is the main motive of this leadership styles. In case of Marks and Spencer the
company provide targets to sell their products in a particular time period. The organisational
structure of Marks and Spencer allow the employees to choose their own paths (NHS
England, 2016).
 The Supportive : In this style the main aim of the leader is to support the employees in
every possible aspect related to the work and business environment. In Marks and Spencer if
the employees are having any work related problem or having any issues with their fellow
employees, then it the job of the leader to resolve the problems faced by the employees and
make sure such problem doesn't arise in the future. This gives a Psychological support to the
employees.
 Directive Style : In this style of leadership the leader direct the employees of the company
to work in proper way and also to follow some particular instructions. In Marks and Spencer
the leaders direct and help their employees to work and achieve their goals in less time.

Transaction Leadership :
This is a type of leadership approach which deals in goals which are for short period. Marks
and Spencer deals with clothing, home products and food products. So in this type of the business
there are also short terms goals. Short terms goals in this company will be sales of month, reducing
the customer complain and many more. So these types of short term goals are under Transaction
leadership approach. Transaction leadership involve some dimensions which are as follows
 Laissez-faire : In this the leader of the Marks and Spencer provides the employees a healthy
and friendly environment where the employees can work easily and they can take decision
accordingly to the situation. In this the leaders are responsible for taking decisions and risk
but they are not at all responsible for giving direction to the employees
 Contingent Rewards : In this the leaders of Marks and Spencer follows the SMART
techniques to achieve the goals of the business, SMART means Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Realistic and timely (Glass and Cook, 2016).
Situational leadership :
Situational leadership define as the approach which is used by the leaders of the company to
best fit the goals of the company. This leadership used to develop the people and also the workplace
and bring out he best from the employee for the company. Marks and Spencer use Situational
leadership for improve the work of the employee and make the good workplace as well. Situational
leadership includes telling, selling, participation and delegating. In the telling phase leader make
decision about the organisation and also discuss to the supervisor and manger. In the selling phase
leader of the company will involve in the day by day process which help the leader to make the
decision. In the supporting phase leader involve with the employee and make the responsibility of
the work for the employees. In the last phase leader will take less involvement with the employee
and employee are take responsibility of the work. It helps to involve the all company to make the
decision. Leader of marks and Spencer include the all authorized person in the decision making
which help to share the whole information to the employee in the company and also leader involve
with the employee at the time of the starring (Nelson‐Brantley and Ford, 2017) . Leader of the
marks and Spencer take part with the employees in the responsibilities and after some it handover
the responsibilities to the employee which make them strong. Leader of Marks and Spencer use the
situational leadership to improve the business and also improve the working ability of the
employees.

CONCLUSION
From the above study it is concluded that for understanding and leading change this study
helped Marks and Spencer by comparing the two organization in terms of impact of changes in the
company's strategy and organizational structure. The study explained internal and external drivers
of change like lack of communication, improper organizational structure, political factors and
technological factors that affect the behaviour in the organization by applying appropriate models to
critically evaluate. The study has also given the measures to reduce the negative impact on
organizational structure by motivating employees, by proper training and development, by effective
communication. It also explained the different barriers for change like poor communication, lack of
employee involvement, insufficient benefits given to employees and its negative impact on
leadership decision-making with using Lewin force field analysis to analyse the driving and
resisting forces and its influence on decision-making.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Al Barwani, T., Flores, M.A. and Imig, D. eds., 2018. Leading Change in Teacher Education:
Lessons from Countries and Education Leaders Around the Globe. Routledge.
Canterino, F., Cirella, S. and Shani, A.B., 2018. Leading organizational transformation: an action
research study. Journal of Managerial Psychology.33(1). pp.15-28.
Edwards-Groves, C. and et.al., 2019. Driving change from ‘the middle’: middle leading for site
based educational development. School Leadership & Management;. 39(3-4). pp.315-333.
Glass, C. and Cook, A., 2016. Leading at the top: Understanding women's challenges above the
glass ceiling. The Leadership Quarterly. 27(1).pp.51-63.
Lopez, P. and Wise, D., 2015. Leading Change for the Implementation of Common Core State
Standards in Rural School Districts. Education Leadership Review of Doctoral
Research.2(1).pp.47-56.
Nelson‐Brantley, H.V. and Ford, D.J., 2017. Leading change: a concept analysis. Journal of
advanced nursing.73(4).pp.834-846.
Neumann, J.E., James, K.T. and Vince, R., 2019. Key Tensions in Purposive Action by Middle
Managers Leading Change', Research in Organizational Change and Development
(Research in Organizational Change and Development, Volume 27).
NHS England, 2016. Leading change, adding value. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants.10(6).
pp.302-303.
Rossi, P., 2019. Conflicts in Leading and Managing Change: Towards a Reflexive Practice. Leading
Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives.
Yrjölä, M. and et.al., 2019. Leading Change: A Customer Value Framework. Leading Change in a
Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives.
Online
Situational leadership. 2015. [ONLINE] Available through: <https://www.verywellmind.com/what-
is-the-situational-theory-of-leadership-2795321>