Understanding and Leading Change: Strategy and Operations Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of change management, focusing on its impact on organizational strategy and operations within the retail industry, specifically examining Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury. It compares different organizational examples, evaluating internal and external drivers of change, such as technological advancements, economic shifts, and evolving consumer behaviors. The report utilizes PEST and SWOT analyses to assess the business environment and strategic positioning of the organizations. Furthermore, it evaluates measures to minimize negative impacts of change on organizational behavior, considering reactive and proactive change models, system theory, and continuous improvement models. The analysis covers leadership decision-making processes, team dynamics, and individual behaviors in response to change, providing insights into how organizations can effectively manage and lead change initiatives.

Understanding and Leading Change
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: Managing the Impact of Change...................................................................................4
Task 2: Leadership Decision Making......................................................................................13
Task 3: Leading Change...........................................................................................................15
Conclusion................................................................................................................................17
Reference List..........................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
Change management is the process incorporated by an organization to manage the impacts of
changes in an organization. The management takes care of the changes and its
implementation according to which the decisions are made. This study has various change
management models and how change affects both organisation Marks and Spencer and
Sainsbury. Various methods to encounter the changes and its affect will been studied in the
study. The measures taken by the management form both Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury
have been illustrated. The SWOT and PEST analysis has also been conducted that would help
in determining the business environment of the organisation.
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Task 1: Managing the Impact of Change
P1: Compare different organisational examples where there has been an impact of
change on an organisation’s strategy and operations.
Change management is the process that helps an organization in managing any changes that
occurs in an organization (Cameron and Green, 2015). Change management is important to
stabilize any effect that occurs due to changes in the organization. It is also referred to as the
approach that deals changes in an organization systematically. The changes in an
organization mainly occur in organizational structure, business strategies, policies,
management etc.
Various changes that affect an organization:
Strategic changes: Strategic changes are the changes involved within an organization (Zhang
and Rajagopalan, 2010). These changes are mainly done to deal with the current challenges
that come in front of the organization. If there are changes in current market trends then
strategic change takes place. Strategic changes include any operation, market strategy or any
activity related to business strategy.
Process Change: Process change is mainly done to enhance the activities related to work
(Trkman, 2010). It is the change mainly conducted by the project leader or anyone from the
management to drive transitions of an individual and make sure that the organisation meets
its objectives.
Structural Change: Structural change is done when there is a change in the management
structure or any division of an organisation is dissolved or to enhance any other division of
the organisation. The change mainly occurs in the hierarchical structure or authority.
Structural changes may occur in case of merger and acquisition as well.
Attitudinal Change: These changes mainly take place in attitude of the employees.
Attitudinal change is done to manage behavioural related issues that affect the performance
of the employees in an organization.
In recent time, the retail industry has gone through some significant changes. The changes are
as follows (Assets.kpmg.com. 2018):
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Technology: Technology is continuously evolving and making an impact not only on the
retail industry but also to other industries as well. It is growing at a very fast pace.
Augmented reality and virtual reality is need of the hour.
Mobile shopping: Growth of e-commerce is also affecting the retail industry in a huge way.
Mobile shopping is a part of e-commerce that has been trending recently (Yang and Kim,
2012). The shopping experiences of customers are changing on a regular basis. Customers
now prefer shopping through mobile rather going down the stores to purchase products.
Personalization: Meeting the current trends is very important for an organisation. The latest
technologies are giving a tough time to the retailers. To meet the expectations of the customer
behaviour will have an advantage over their competitors.
Impact of changes on Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer is a big name in the retail industry. The organization has gone through
several changes in the tenure of their operations. For the past eight years, Marks and Spencer
have seen changes in both strategy and operations. The changes in the organization took
place due to major economic and organizational changes (Hayes, 2014). Drop in sales has
also been a reason of some changes that occurred in Marks and Spencer. Due to drop in sales
Marks and Spencer had to bring retrenchment in the organization. Retrenchment is a process
of cutting down employees. This change had a heavy impact on Marks and Spencer, as the
employees were restless to understand the reason of retrenchment. Employees were lacking
security in the organization and the efficiency of the work may have affected
Continuous change in technology has also raised eyebrows of the management of Marks and
Spencer. Evolution of technology is a major concern for them. To encounter this frequent
evolution of technology Marks and Spencer has decided to cut cost from their back office
technology. They have planned for a new technology transformational change and given the
responsibility to an Indian IT company named Tata Consulting Services. This would help in
decreasing the expensive non-performing shops and make Marks and Spencer more agile,
flexible and responsive.
Marks and Spencer has their own online stores. People can shop online from their own
websites and experience mobile shopping. Their website is mobile optimized and can be
accessed from mobile phones of customers.
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The frequent changes in the shopping habits of the customers are a reckoning challenge for
Marks and Spenser. To deal with this Marks and Spencer are giving their best to encounter
these issues. Modern shopping style has also changed by the introduction of latest
technologies. Customer’s expectations are high on the retailers to adopt the changes.
Impact of changes on Sainsbury
Sainsbury is recorded to be the third largest retailer in the food section in the retail industry.
Sainsbury has also been affected by the recent trends in retail industry. They had to go
through various changes including strategy and operations. Sainsbury has actually seen more
changes in the past few years than they have in past thirty years.
Changes in technology have become frequent and as discussed it has affected the retail
industry in a great way. Sainsbury is encountering this issue of technology by focusing on
few areas. Sainsbury has implemented new technology in supply chain to decrease the time
taken for the products to reach the shelves and self-service checkout is being used by
Sainsbury to reduce queuing time.
Rise of e-commerce has also affected Sainsbury but they have encountered the problem
efficiently. They have introduced their own online shopping site from where customers can
by their products. The website can be accessed in mobile as well and shopping can be done
through it.
Changes in the shopping behaviour have made Sainsbury thinking all the time to personalize
according to the need of the customers. The incorporation of new technology and in supply
chain as well as self-service has helped Sainsbury in preconisation according to the customer
needs.
P2: Evaluate the ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect
leadership, team and individual behaviours within an organisation.
PEST analysis is conducted to find out the different external factors that influences the
business operations of any organisation (Team, F.M.E., 2013).
Factors` Marks and Spencer Sainsbury
Political  The trade policy has reduced
the sourcing costs. The
introduction of free trade
 Brexit has also impacted
Sainsbury and made them
change some certain
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agreements have been a boon
for Marks and Spencer.
 Brexit has also made Marks
and Spencer implement
different strategies in order to
reduce negative effect
 Lack of clarity in energy
efficiency scheme has also
been a problem for Marks and
Spencer.
changes.
Economic  After Brexit, the economy took
a hit. The devaluation in
pounds has raised the price of
the products and conflicts
started with the small retailers.
 The rising price of the fuels
due to Brexit has affected
Sainsbury the most. The
supply chain was affected
and had a negative impact.
Socio-
Cultural
 M&S takes initiative in
supporting the surrounding
communities that helps them in
cut down internal costs as well
 The tendency of the society
in eating healthier nutrients
is a good chance for
Sainsbury to meet the
demand for organic food.
Technology  Marks and Spencer
strengthened their security by
incorporating technology
partnership.
 Wide presence of Marks and
Spencer in social media and
online has helped Marks and
Spencer in spreading
awareness.
 Sainsbury uses data driven
analytics to gather customer
insights. To maintain large
data of the customers good
analytics needs to be used
and Sainsbury very
efficiently does that.
Table 1: PEST Analysis of M&S and Sainsbury
(Source: Created by the learner)
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SWOT analysis is conducted to find out the different internal factors that influences the
business operations of any organisation (Helms et al., 2011).
Factors Marks and Spencer Sainsbury
Strength  Strong e-commerce
presence
 “Plan A 2020” of
Marks and Spencer,
which deals with the
Corporate Social
responsibility is very
effective as it
concentrates on
different aspects
(Marksandspencer.co
m. (2018).
 Diversity and strong
market share gives a
competitive
advantage to the
company
 Quality with wide
product portfolio is
another strength of
Sainsbury
Weakness  The performance of
Marks and Spencer
financially is poor
and needs to rise up
 Dependence on only
UK market has made
the organisation
vulnerable to market
conditions.
 Single market
operation is a
weakness of
Sainsbury and needs
to be overcome soon.
 The food section
business of Sainsbury
is having low margin.
Opportunities  Expansion in regions
developing
economies like Asia,
Africa, etc
 Continuous
development in
clothing section
 Online collaboration
and making global
presence
 Incorporating
technology for better
customer insights that
would help in better
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customer relationship
Threats  High Competition in
UK food sector
 Very high
competition in
grocery section
Table 1: SWOT Analysis
(Source: Created by the learner)
The impact of the external and internal factors on the decision making process of the
leaders, team and individuals of Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s organization
The management of both M&S and Sainsbury must be aware of all the factors that affect an
organization. They must be aware of the mission, vision, goals and objectives of the
organization so that they can manage it a well organized way.
The management and the leaders can use Change Impact Analysis to identify the potential
consequences of change. The model of Change Impact Analysis was discovered by Bohner
and Arnold.. . This analysis model can be used in order to deal with the needs of bringing
suitable changes.
The management and leaders of both the companies have the responsibility of identifying
both the internal and external factors and its impact on the business. This would help them to
communicate the advantages and drawbacks of these factors on the organization and
communicate the same to the workforce of the organization.
The impact of all the factors on decision-making has been discussed above. The leaders or the
management has to incorporate different policies and make decisions accordingly.
P3: Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on
organisational behaviour.
Changes are divided in two types, reactive and proactive change:
Reactive change is that change which an organisation enforces because of an external factor
(Pardo-del-Val et al., 2012).
Proactive change is the change made by an organisation, as it is desirable to do so. It is done
beforehand based on the goals and objectives of the organisation (Benn et al., 2014).
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System theory: System theory is the study of abstract activities that occur in an organization
(Hofmann-Wellenhof et al., 2012). It also helps in understanding the systems of the
organizations. System theory mainly investigates and helps in differentiating the active
system and the dynamic system. This theory helps the management to stable the potential
dynamic changes in an organization.
Continuous Improvement Model: It is the continuous effort by an organisation to improve
their processes or services through breakthrough improvements (Brown and Harvey, 2011).
Continuous improvement is mainly done on products, services and processes.
Figure1: Continuous Improvement Model
(Source: Fryer et al., 2013)
The following are the steps in Continuous Improvement Model that should be followed by
the management and leaders of the organizations:
Plan: The management of M&S and Sainsbury finds out any opportunity and plan for the
same
Do: Using the plan in small scale is the next step followed by the management of M&S and
Sainsbury.
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Check: The data is then used by M&S and Sainsbury to analyze the results of the change and
identify the difference it made after the implementation of the change.
Act: If M&S and Sainsbury have implemented the change successfully in smaller scale then
it is moved to be implemented in wider scale.
Apart from this model, the management and leaders of Sainsbury’s and M&S also apply the
Burke Litwin Model. This helps them to implement new changed in the organisation in an
effective and efficient way. There are mainly 12 steps that are followed in this model
(Appelbaum et al., 2012)
Figure 2: Burke Litwin Change Model
(Source: Boone, 2012)
External Environment: The analysis of the external environments is done so that it helps the
management of both the organisations understand the different environments that can affect
the operations of the organization.
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Mission and strategy: The employees of the organization need to be involved by both M&S
and Sainsbury. The employees must be aware of the mission strategy of the organisation.
Leadership: The leaders of M&S and Sainsbury must be conscious about the responsibilities
they bear on themselves. One of their vital responsibilities is to motivate and influence the
employees.
Organisational culture: Healthy organisational culture is an important aspect of workforce.
The employee and employer relationship must be well maintained for smooth business
operations.
Structure: The hierarchical structure of the organisation must be well designed for both
M&S and Sainsbury so that no confusion occurs among the employees in terms of reporting.
System: The system in an organization must be optimized in order to work in a proper way.
Both M&S and Sainsbury must incorporate a proper system for enhanced performance.
Management practices: Healthy management practices must be incorporated in order to
manage the daily activities.
Work unit climate: It is analysing of the recent trends and a look into the future. Both M&S
and Sainsbury has to identify the recent trends in work and look into the future.
Tasks and skills: The tasks allocated to the employees must be allocated according to the
skills of the employees’.
Individual Values and needs: The needs and values of every single person associated with
M&S and Sainsbury must be respected.
Motivation level: Motivation level in M&S and Sainsbury must be diagnosed on a regular
basis by the management of both the companies.
Individual and Overall performance: The overall and individual performance must be
assessed so that they can be recognized and appreciated. This would help the employees of
M&S and Sainsbury gain motivation.
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