(PDF) Understanding and Leading Change in Business | Assignment

Understanding and Leading
Change

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Different organisations in which change impacts on business strategy and operations....1
P2 Evaluation of ways in which internal and external change drivers affect leadership, team
and individual behaviours within an organisation..................................................................2
P3 Evaluation of measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on
organisational behaviour........................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Different barriers for change and their impact on leadership decision making within firm..6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Application of different leadership approaches to dealing with change..........................8
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
In today's competitive world, the process of change is very essential for every business
entity in order to grow and maintain its sustainability in market. Business environment is
dynamic as changes occurs frequently and it directly impact on operations and functions of
company (Aslan and Reigeluth, 2013). Therefore, managers of firm requires to keep aware of
these changes and adapt with them as it helps in providing competitive advantage over
competitors. In the present assignment, chosen organisation is Vodafone Group plc which is one
of the well known British multinational telecommunication company, headquarters in London,
United Kingdom. This report discusses about influence of change in business operations and
strategies, internal and external change drivers that affect leadership and different measures to
minimize its negative impact. Apart from this, it also covers barriers to change and application of
leadership approaches to deal with it effectively.
TASK 1
P1 Different organisations in which change impacts on business strategy and operations
Organisational change is defined as the process that is related with reviewing and
changing management structures as well as business processes. Every firm requires to adopt the
process of change in order to ensure its long term sustainability in market. Leadership,
technology, culture market trends etc. are the factors that influence strategies and operations of
business. So, managers and leaders needs to understand change and implement it in effective
way to attain business objectives (Clarke and Persaud, 2011).
Vodafone Group plc:
Vodafone is a British telecommunications conglomerate company which is headquartered
in London, UK. The firm predominately operates its services in different regions of Europe,
Asia, Africa and Oceania. It owns and operates networks in around 25 countries and in 47 further
countries, the firm has partner networks. Vodafone Global Enterprise division of company
administer IT and telecommunication service to corporate customers.
EE Limited:
EE is one of the British mobile network operator and internet service provider. It was
established as joint venture in year 2010 and is a division of BT group. In United Kingdom, the
company is one the largest network operator. The organisation is go through technological and
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structural changes and in order to cope of with these changes, firm execute different strategies
which impacts on its operations.
Each organisation react differently in context of change incurred within business
environment according which their formulation of operations and strategy is done. of Vodafone
and EE Limited, both the companies are going through technological and Organisation structure
changes. Due to emergence of new mobile technologies, i.e., increasing 4G network coverage,
firms face many challenges. Complexity in their organisational structure is also one of the
change that companies are going through. In order to adopt these changes, various strategies are
used by company that impacts on business operations of firm which differ from each other. Here
is discussed and compared different strategies and operations of organisations:
Change in strategies and operations:
Change Vodafone Group plc EE Limited
Technological
change
In order to cope up with these changes,
various strategies are used by firm.
Because of availability of other networks,
sales of Vodafone starts to decline in last 4
years. In order to cope up with this
situation, Vodafone has adopted merger
strategy and integrate its technology with
idea.
In case of EE Limited, firm starts
to provide 4G services to
customers in order to cope up
with technologies. These
strategies helps both the
companies in improving its
operations as well as business
profitability.
Organisational
structure
Structure of an organisation highly affects
on business operations and productivity.
Vodafone simplify its organisational
structure by reducing layers and altering
managerial governance. It helps company
in delivering its strategic goals effectively
to employees.
In order to cope up with changes,
EE announce new organisational
structure under which, there are
six business lines which are
focusing on different aspects.
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P2 Evaluation of ways in which internal and external change drivers affect leadership, team and
individual behaviours within an organisation
Leadership, team and individual behaviour is highly impacted by internal and external
change drivers. It put direct impact on decision making of managers and leaders. These drivers
may impact firm positively or adversely so, manager of Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited
requires to considers these change drivers at the time of formulating strategies and policies.
These internal and external drivers include:
Customer led drivers: In every business enterprise, customers are the vital part as they
contributes in its success and growth (Fullan, 2014). They assist firm in increasing its sales and
profits ratio. A direct relation is exists between customer's preferences and company's profit as if
any change occurs in consumer's taste, it will affect sales and profits of organisation. So,
manager of Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited needs to consider this driver before developing
strategies for firm.
Competitors led drivers: This change driver directly impacts on profits and revenues of
company. In today's competitive market, various competitors exist that impacts sales of
Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited. Managers and leaders of firm requires to keep an eye on its
competitors so that effective strategies can be formulate and competitive advantage can be gain
over rivals.
Government led drivers: This driver involves various laws and legislations made by
government that directly impacts on business operations and strategies. These legal policies
influence leadership, group and individual behaviour as it influence firm's operations. So, leader
of Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited needs to adhere all the government laws and regulations,
so that employees enables to effectively cope up with changes and run operations successfully.
Political driver: It involves legal policies, trade restrictions, tariffs, political stability of
country etc. All these variables impacts on operations, functions, strategies and policies of
company. Ignorance of such factors influence on working of business which ultimately affects
behaviours of teams and individuals and firm's leadership. Thus, manager and leader of EE
Limited and Vodafone Group plc requires to consider this aspect as it assists in running
operations effectively (Gupta, 2011).
Economic driver: Business enterprise and economic environment are strongly interlinked
with each other as performance of company rely on economic surroundings. Any variation in
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financial aspect like interest rate, inflation and deflation rate, growth etc. may affect adversely
on business operations as well as leadership and team behaviour. So, it is essential for leaders of
Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited to consider this variable and frame strategies accordingly.
Social driver: Population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes, cultural aspects
etc. are the variables that impacts on business performance and leadership and individual
behaviour. High trend in such variables impacts demand of Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited
products and services. So, managers and leaders of both firms require to consider this change
driver as it helps them in leading change effectively within organisation.
Technology drivers: It is the crucial that must be taken into consideration by manager
and leader of Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited. This helps them in gaining high competitive
advantage in marketplace. Technological alteration affects leadership, individual and team
behaviour as any change takes place in technology may influence their working. So, for
providing high quality products and services to customers, it is very essential for manager and
leader to keep aware with technological changes and adopt them successfully (Fyke and
Buzzanell, 2013).
SWOT Analysis:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Massive distribution and market
coverage.
 Legendary marketing of Vodafone.
 High brand valuation and brand recall.
 Poor performance in Europe.
 Decline in market share in UK.
 Decline in subscriber base in last 4
years.
Opportunities Threats
 Diversification into other areas.
 More dependency of people on cellular
networks.
 Fierce market competition.
 Increasing mobile number portability.
Above discussed are different change drivers that impacts on leadership, individual and
team behaviour. So, manager and leader of both firms requires to consider this as it helps them in
effectively dealing with change that takes place in business environment.
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P3 Evaluation of measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on
organisational behaviour
Change is a continuous process and every firm requires to adapt with it for ensuring its
success in market. But, it is not easy for company to adopt change and cope up with it. This is
very difficult for leader and manager to manage change and minimize its negative impact as it is
sometimes harmful for company. Application of several models and approaches allows firms to
determine change and manage consequences accordingly. Implementation of different theories
assists leader of Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited to take appropriate actions for minimizing
negative impact of change. Some approaches are defined below:
Continuous improvement model:
This model assists in making constant improvement in processes and operations of
business. Application of this approach helps leader and manager of Vodafone Group plc and EE
Limited in reducing adverse impact of change and making continuous improvements in
operations (Keppel and et. al., 2012). This model focuses on minimizing waste and improving
product's and service quality. These ongoing efforts can seek “breakthrough” enhancements all at
once or “incremental” improvement over time. It is a 4 step quality model which includes plan,
do, check, act (PDCA Cycle). These phases are defined below:
Plan: This is the very first step in which manager and leader of both companies
determine opportunities and made alterations or plan for change.
Do: This is the second phase under which manager of Vodafone Group plc and EE
Limited execute change at small level. This change is implemented for trial basis only.
Check: In this phase, manager of EE Limited and Vodafone Group plc use data to
examine the outcomes of change and identify whether it make a difference or not.
Act: This is the final phase in which if implemented change was successful then manager
execute it on large scale and assess results continuously and if change didn't work, then begins
the cycle again (Malenfant, 2010).
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(Source: Continuous Improvement Model, 2016)
System theory:
This theory focuses on increasing motivation of manpower and supports in encouraging
them to work effectively and perform their duties well. Application of this approach enables
leader and manager of Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited to develop such conditions where
individuals or employees at all levels allow to work productively to their full potential. It helps
manager in creating teams, promoting collective working as well as enhancing performance of
employees and organisation as well. It results in increasing productivity and profitability of
company.
Bohner and Arnold change impact analysis:
This theory emphasize on determining the potential outcomes of change or figuring out
that what requires to be altered to accomplish change. It is a framework that helps leader and
manager of Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited in analysing the influence of change on
business operations, leadership and behaviour of individuals and teams. By applying this
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Illustration 1: Continuous Improvement Model, 2016

approach, managers of firm enable to determine consequences of change (Mukherjee, and et. al.,
2012). Vodafone's manager first measure actual performance against set standards before
executing change. Application of change effect analysis assists manager of both firms in
devicing appropriate plans and strategies that gives direction to manpower for adopting change
effectively and minimizing adverse influence of change on firm and manpower's behaviour. It
also help leaders in risk associated with change.
Above mentioned are all the theories, application of which can help manager or leader of
Vodafone Group plc and EE Limited in minimizing the adverse impact of change on behaviour
of individual or organisation.
TASK 2
P4 Different barriers for change and their impact on leadership decision making within firm
Vodafone Group plc is one of the well known telecommunication service provider firm.
It face different challenges in terms of technology and organisational structure. In order to
overcome these challenges, firm require to identify the cause behind change. Force field analysis
is the tool that can be utilized by company in determining the cause.
Force field analysis:
This is the framework that supports manager and leader in determining those variables
that are the major reason behind change (Parsons and Cornett, 2011). This analysis helps in
establishing a balance among change driving factors and change resisting variables. In this
assessment, five stages are involved which are defined below:
Stage 1: Proposal for change
The main cause of change, objectives and goals are determined by managers in this
phase. For instance, Vodafone wants to provide high quality network services to customers. For
this, company requires to implement change within organisation to make its services more
effective.
Stage 2: Determine change forces
Operations and functioning of business is influenced by various internal and external
factors. These forces exist in business surroundings which are required by manager to identify
components that driving change. These factors include:
Internal factors:
 Outdated services or machinery
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 Need to increase profitability. Declining morale of team.
External factors:
 Disruptive technologies.
 Uncertain and volatile operating environment. Changing trends of demography (Suchman, Sluyter and Williamson, 2011).
Stage 3: Identify force against change
In this stage, Vodafone Group plc needs to determine those drivers of change that
restricts the company to apply change. There are some internal and external resistors which
includes:
Internal resistors:
 Existing structure of company.
 Fear of unknown. Attitude like “that is not how we do it”.
External resistors:
 Legislations made by government
 Commitments to partner firm. Obligations towards customers.
Stage 4: Assign sources
At this stage, the process of rating is applied by manager and leader of Vodafone Group
plc in which each variable is rated on the scale of one to five as per the strengths and weaknesses
(Thomas and et. al., 2013). It facilitates manager of Vodafone in identifying those forces that
impacts highly on its performance and working at the time when any change is implemented
within firm.
Stage 5: Analyse and apply
This is the final stage where manager of Vodafone Group plc assessed those factors
which impacts on working of business. Leaders or managers can utilize force field analysis in 2
ways which are mentioned below:
 To decide about whether to move forward or not with change or decision. To think regarding those supportive forces that manager can strengthen and which change
resisting driver can weaken and the way to make change more successful.
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Barriers to change:
There are various barriers to change that resist employees or firm to adopt and cope up
with these. Some of the barriers are defined below:
Government: If any change takes place in legislations and regulations of government, it
directly influence business operations and decisions of managers and leaders. It affects Vodafone
manager's decision related to formulation of policies and strategies (van der Voet, Kuipers and
Groeneveld, 2015). So, government acts as one of the huge barrier that resists Vodafone Group
plc to adopt change.
Lack of effective communication: Ineffective communication may leads to create several
misunderstandings and conflicts at workplace as workforce is not able to get proper information.
Because of lack of communication, decisions taken by leader can not convey to each member
effectively due to which restricts manager of Vodafone Group plc to implement change
appropriately. Therefore, lack of effective communication is one of the main barrier to change.
Organisational complexity: Complex structure of organisation restricts workforce to
adopt change as due to organisational complexity, employees are unable to interact with other
members. Due to this, work can not be perform with proper coordination and that impacts
decisions of leaders. Increasing complexity impacts on decision making of leaders strategies and
policies framing. So, it acts as a barrier for Vodafone Group plc to introduce change within it
(Yoder-Wise, 2014).
Above mentioned are the different barriers to change. Firm can overcome these barriers
by making use of appropriate communication tools. They should require to compliance with laws
and legislations made by government in order to run their operations effectively. They must
emphasize on making their organisational structure simple as it assists Vodafone in overcoming
the barrier of organisational complexity. By this, employees are enable to communicate with
each other effectively.
TASK 3
P5 Application of different leadership approaches to dealing with change
Leadership refers to the ability of management to set and attain challenging goals, take
decisive action, outperform competition and inspire team members to perform well. This is the
ability of leader of firm to influence other people or team members with their thoughts and
actions. As Vodafone Group plc is facing technological changes, manager is require to apply
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appropriate leadership theory as it helps them in dealing with change in effective way. Some of
the leadership approaches that can be applied by manager and leader of Vodafone Group plc are
defined below:
Situational leadership:
This theory states that leaders utilize different styles of leadership according to the
environment and situation. Factors like complexity of tasks, worker seniority, process of
business being performed etc. all play vital role in determining which leadership style is best
suitable to the given situation (Different type of leadership styles, 2017). For instance: leader of
Vodafone Group plc may adopt democratic style while discussing commercial directions with
manager or senior executives. Application of this theory helps leader in selecting appropriate
leadership style as per the situation that helps them in dealing with change in an effective way.
Contingency leadership:
This theory states that effective leadership linked not only with the style utilized by
leader but on that control held on situation. This specific theory fits only on the situations in
which groups are not team based and are supervised closely. In this approach, least preferred co-
worker scale is utilized that help leaders in determining the type of co-worker that they least like
to work with. This theory focuses the deposition of leaders as the primary trait depicts about their
ability to lead (Yoder-Wise, 2014).
Autocratic leadership:
It is a boss centred leadership approach in which all the responsibilities are in the hands
of leader. In this leadership, all the decisions are taken by leaders on their own and they do not
need opinions of others. Leaders takes decisions, convey those to team members and expects
their immediate implementation. This approach is less applied in organisation because of its
inflexibility. It sometimes leads to employee demotivation due to which employees are not able
to perform well that results in decreasing productivity of organisation.
Democratic leadership:
This leadership approach ensures engagement of employees in decision making process
of firm. In this, leaders of firm involved their subordinates in making decisions as this approach
is centred on contribution of subordinates. Leaders delegate their authorities to those people who
identify work projects and themselves holds the final responsibility (van der Voet, Kuipers and
Groeneveld, 2015). Under democratic leadership approach, active communication takes place
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upward and downward. It is one of the most preferred leadership that entails creativity,
competence, fairness, intelligence, honesty and courage. Application of this approach helps
leader of Vodafone Group plc to deal with change effectively by increasing motivation of
workforce and delegation of authorities.
From the above mentioned leadership approaches, democratic leadership is the best
suitable approach for company as it helps manager Vodafone in motivating employees by
engaging them in process of decision making. It helps them in knowing opinions of employees
regarding change process. Suggestions from workforce assists manager in taking effective
decisions and dealing with change effectively.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that change is essential that
require to be undertake by every business firm as it helps in maintaining its growth and
sustainability in market. Any change takes place in business surroundings pose direct impact on
its operations and strategies. Several drivers of change includes customers, competitors,
government, economy etc. which impacts on leadership and behaviour of employees. Managers
should undertake various measures such as continuous improvement model, system theory etc. to
minimize the negative impact of change. In business firm, there many barriers that resist
employees to adopt change so it is required by leader to apply different leadership theories for
motivating and encouraging employees in order to adapt with changes and work towards
achieving business objectives.
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REFERENCES
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<http://www.newcenturyeducation.org/continuous-improvement/>
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