Understanding and Leading Change in Organizations: A Comparative Analysis of Netflix and Coca-Cola

This report discusses the concept of organizational change and compares the changes implemented by Netflix and Coca-Cola. It explores the drivers of change, both internal and external, and their effects on teams and individual behaviors. The report also examines strategies to minimize negative impacts of change and the influence of leadership decision-making. Additionally, it highlights barriers that arise during change and provides insights into the application of models and frameworks for organizational change.

UNIT 17 – UNDERSTANDING
& LEADING CHANGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
P1. Change and comparison of changes in two organization......................................................1
P2. Drivers effecting the change externally and internally on teams and individual behaviours 3
M1. Examples of drivers of change.............................................................................................5
M2. Implication of drivers of change in long term......................................................................5
P3. Minimization of negative impacts of changes in behaviours of the organization.................5
P4. Influence of leadership decision-making and the barrier which arise in changes.................6
M3. Force field analysis influencing the decision-making of the organization...........................7
P5. Approaches to situational leadership for change in the organization....................................7
M4. Application of model and framework for applying organizational change..........................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Organizational change is the changes which occur in the policies, technology, process,
culture and strategy of a company. The chose organization in this report for discussing
organizational changes in Netflix. With the help of this project a comparison is going to be made
between two organization which bring changes in them. This project is going to evaluate the
different drivers which affects the team, leadership and behaviours of the individuals in an
organization. With the help of this project discussion of the negative impacts of the changes in
the organizational behaviour. In the project the barriers which arises in the change that
eventually influences leader decision-making in an organization. This project also discusses the
models and theories which are applicable in the different approaches of leadership and for better
understanding the change of the organization.
MAIN BODY
P1. Change and comparison of changes in two organization
Those activities which takes away the organizations comfortable position either directly
or indirectly are known as organizational changes. Some changes can either create negative or
positive in their impact and it also takes the organization some time to adjust with them. The
types of changes are as follows,
Structural changes :
These changes are those changes which affects the employees of the organization the
most as they are people centric in nature. These changes are caused by the company when the
company decides to change the shift of the management by changing department and team by
bring alteration in them (Erciyes, 2018).
Strategic changes :
These changes are seen in the strategies of the company that why they are known as
strategic changes. Such changes are notices mainly in the management style of the company
these changes are seen to have rapid effects on the company.
People change :
When a company makes changes in its personnels because of reasons like issues in
performance and behaviours of some individuals in the organization. Some of these changes are
some times are not in the control of the company. This happens when the employees resign from
their job and a change is forced upon the company.
1

Planned Changes :
Such changes are implemented in order to improve the ways of operations for achieving
desired goals. Some of these changes are calculated and analysation is made before the
implementation and thus do create any negative impacts in an organization.
In this project Netflix which is a media service provider is the chosen company. Netflix
made a signifiant change in 2007 when it used technology towards its advantage when it began
streaming of film and web series on its websites and application. Prior to this the company use to
deliver its products in DVDs to its customers which limited its business. This change which the
company made back then has brought it the place where it is now. The aim of this change for the
company was to innovate the companies strategy and develop its operations digitally (Profit&,
2019).
Coco-cola company has been one of those companies which has been through the change
management quite unlike any other company. This company produces soft carbonated drinks
which are quite famous all around the world. In the 1980s the company was being rivalled by
one of its biggest competitors Pepsi. For improving it positions in the competitive market the
company decided to change the product. The company developed a new coke which was a
sweeter version of the basic product (Profit&, 2019). This Coke failed in the market as the
customers did not prefer this drink over the products of Pespi. Comparison between the impacts
of the two changes are,
Organizational structure :
Organizational structure is the outline of those activities which are directed towards
certain goals in an organization. The change that Netflix implemented in its business made it
change its organizational structure of the company forces to form a team which manage its
applications and websites which it used for streaming. The change in the Coca-cola company's
structure was not too signifiant as the company just changed the production method of its
product.
Technological :
The change which was brought by Netflix was to completely switch from offline services
to online services. This meant that the change in the technology of the company was quite
signifiant. It would have taken some time for the company to implement this change but
2

eventually the company was successful in doing so. For the production of the new product the
Coca-cola company did not have to implement any new technology.
Employees :
The impact of the change which the Netflix implemented was pretty huge as the company
change its strategy completely by switching online streaming of its services. Thus, the company
had to hire individuals which can manage the new technologies which the company needed to
implement. The introduction of the new product by the Coca-cola made the employees work
little more complicated. This product was not successful thus the motivation of the employees
had to decrease.
P2. Drivers effecting the change externally and internally on teams and individual behaviours
Every change that occurs in an organization are driven due to some forces which are
known as the drivers of change. The two different types of drivers of change are internal and
external. The forces which are driven towards the factors including technology capacity,
organizational system and structure. When the external factors of the organization effects the
activities of the company.
Internal drivers of change :
These forces of change are those which influences the organization towards the internal
changes. These types of changes are internally driven and have its effects on the leadership, team
and also the individual behaviours.
Leadership-
The changes which occur in a company changes the culture in an organization which
affects the approach of the leaders due to change in belief and values. The technology change
also affects the leaders as they have to change their methods due to change in technological
capacity. The structure of the company which is the outline of the company needs the employees
to be well positioned due to the change which affects the leaders as well (Shadnam, 2020). The
organizational structure of a company is related to the outline on how the company's employees
are positioned. Changes in these affects the leadership due to required change in the approach of
leadership.
Team-
Changes in the structure of an organization means that there can be changes to the teams
and its members this gives the team a brand new identity. Due to the change in technologies the
3

teams needs to adaptation towards new technology and its use. Cultural changes in the
organization alters the behaviour of the team member which impacts the team itself. Cultural
changes in the organization also makes changes in the behaviours of team member to each other
which can have unknown impacts on the team.
Individual behaviours -
The behaviours of the individuals are directly impacted by the teams and leaders of the
company. However, when there is a structural change in the company the individuals are the one
which are either removed or added or shifted to other teams. The technological changes affect
the skills set of the individual which might influence their behaviour. The change in
organizational culture affects the behaviour of the individual which might affects their
performance.
External drivers of change :
These changes are driven by the external factors which affects the organization. The
external factors can be explained with the help of PESTEL analysis. These factors affect the
organization as a whole which eventually affects the leadership, team and the individual of the
company.
Political-
These factors generally occur due to the change in the policies of the government by
affecting the organization. These factors are known to force the company to make changes as
they are not in the control of the company (Strzelczyk and Chłąd, 2017). Some examples of these
factors are change in the policy of the government which can force the company to force a
change.
Economical-
The economic factors of the country of the organization are also the reason for changes.
Example - When the inflation increases or there is an increase in the exchange rate this forces the
company for making changes in the system.
Social-
Factors which can also act as the drivers of change are the society of the organization
which is responsible for the behaviours of the customers. For example when ever there is a
change that happens to the society and that change affects the business of the organization or
may change its operation.
4

Technological-
Technological factor is the introduction of a new technology in the world which may
affect the operations of the company or may make changes which affects the company
operations. For example when there is change in a technology which changes the organisation
and its culture.
Environmental-
The changes that occur in the laws and legislation regarding the environment of the
country of the organization this sometimes also forces the company to change its strategies.
Climatic changes and seasonal changes which affect the organisation is an example of
Environmental change.
Legal-
The legal factors are changes in the laws and legislation of the company which is made
by the government and the company has to change its system accordingly.
M1. Examples of drivers of change
The two types of drivers of change are internal and external. The internal drivers of
change are the driver which occur internally in the organization which influences the change.
Example of this type of change is, In a company which in on going smoothly and suddenly one
of the head managers decide to leave the company. This forces the company to make structural
changes in it, The external drivers are the changes which occur due to the external factors that
affect the business (Muñoz-Ulecia and et.al., 2021). For example when the inflation rate of the
company increases the company is forced to change it strategies for reducing its costs.
M2. Implication of drivers of change in long term
The drivers of change both internal and external have their implications on the
organization. The internal drivers of changes in the long term may not affect the company that
must as these changes do not take long time for the company to get adjusted with. However, the
external drivers of can change the entire system of the company. For example if certain law
which affects the company is changed by the government this change will be affecting the
company for a long term (Holloway, Romme and Demerouti, 2018).
P3. Minimizing negative impacts
The performance and activities of the group and individuals in the study of the
organization is known as organizational behaviour. The changes that occur in an organization
5

can have both positive and negative impact on the behaviour of the organization. Changes in the
organization either benefits it like seen in the example of Netflix or the changes can have a
negative impact which can be said about the example of Coca-cola as the new product failed in
the market (Wong, Zwar and Gharaie, 2017).
The negative impacts of the change can help in reduction of its impact by help with the
strategies and methods,
Leadership :
A company is managed and lead by responsible persons who are known as leaders. The
changes which occurs in the management of the company are mostly complex and hard to
implement for the company. In such scenarios leaders are very important as they are responsible
in managing teams and motivating them. Example of how the leader minimizes the impact of
change is that the leader increase the employee's motivation by neglecting failure and moving
ahead (Mitra, Gaur and Giacosa, 2019).
Setting Realistic timelines :
These scenarios of changes makes it very important for the managers to be realistic in
their thinking. The demand from the employees increase when the work load increase. The
organization should not impose pressure on the employees as it can get them stressed out, the
best practices is to keep the employees happy by properly managed work.
Do Not Hide :
The company should never hide any failure or a change that can affect the organization
negatively. When a company hides such information the morale of the employees deteriorates.
This will decrease the trust of the employees and create panic in the organization.
For minimization of impacts of then changes on the organization the system theory
approach can be used. This theory has its focus on the relations and arrangement of approach in
different parts of the organization. According to this theory the relations and arrangements in the
different parts or departments should be maintained by the organization. This theory specially
cover the changes which occur due to external drivers (Odijk and et.al., 2017). Relations between
the departments and the teams of a company is important to be good so that changes do not affect
the company. Example , during the implementation of a new policy in an organization that has
single department is aware of it becomes very easy for the company to get adopted to this change
and this develops the relationship between employees and department.
6

The continuous improvement model is that approach which states the organization that it
should keep itself indulge in the activities which will help it in influencing improvements
continuous in its management and practices. Continuous improvement means regular up-
gradation of strategies and activities of the business. Example of how the company can reduce
the negative impacts of the change with this model is, A company which is continuously making
improvement in its products for no reason at all just for the sake of continuous improvement,
when faces a issue regard the external drivers of change even if the sale of the product stops the
company will be capable enough to make innovative model of the product. This is how
continuous improvement model can be effective while management of the change in an
organisation.
P4. Influence of leadership decision-making and the barrier which arise in changes
The barrier that arised which influenced the decision-making of leaders in Netflix are,
Lack of employee involvement :
Whenever there is a change in an organization the involvement of the employees is very
necessary. The change which Netflix needed to make in the organization was to completely
change its services from offline to online. The employees of the company needed to work very
hard in this situation but there may be some employees which might have effected the company's
progress (Stouten, Rousseau and De Cremer, 2018).
Lack of effective communication strategy :
The communication between the departments, employees, teams and the leaders is very
important. For implementation of such huge change Netflix needed to make sure that all the
teams and departments are connected.
Complexity in organization :
The change which the company was planning to make was itself complex what made it
more difficult was the complex size of the company.
M3. Force field analysis influencing the decision-making of the organization
For identification of the barriers of change Lewin’s force field analysis is used,
According to the model firstly, The description of the change which Netflix was planning was
that the company introduced online streaming of its services which was previously offline. This
was a technological and strategic change (Setyaningsih, Kelle and Maretan, 2020). As per this
model the external driver may experience barriers from the government and may face obligations
7

towards the customers the commitment of the company to their partners. The commitment of the
partners become barrier in for the decision-making of the company.
P5. Approaches to situational leadership for change in the organization
The approaches of Situational leadership are of four different types such as,
Directing Approaches :
The main aim to this approach was to help those employees which are new to
organization from the leadership level. For the existing employees this approach is applicable
when one of the employees is showing potential of promotion.
Coaching Approach :
In this approach the employees of the company try understanding the roles but cannot
find them confident enough in their abilities. This approach requires the leader to provide them
with sufficient time and commitment. (Ferdianto, Tobing and Barokah, 2019).
Supporting Approach :
In such a situation the employees are already ready for competition for the job role but
might show some irregular-ism in the work. The situation become such in which the employees
may try to avoid work but the leaders should try to keep an eye on their activities.
Delegating Approach :
The goal of the leaders in this situation is to delegate the employees their work. Meaning
that the leader want the followers to be capable enough to do a task on their own. This happens
when the employees become highly competent, committed, motivated and empowered.
Kotter's step model of change
This model helps in application of change in the most powerful and successful way. In
this model Kotter introduced eight steps for changing a process which leads to a change. The
first step to this model is, creating urgency in process by highlighting threats and also look after
the consequences which are left unattended that can come up in the future. Requesting the people
of the industry and its stakeholders to get involved in the change and face the problems which
might arise. In the next step this model helps in guiding the team by the formation of powerful
team which can work on the change. It is also important to recognize the areas which require the
teams to include people form different levels in the company. Understanding the core values and
defining the vision is very important to adapt with the change. In the next step the
communication is prioritized for the vision and handling of issues in a proper ways (Shelygov,
8

Sharonin and Tretyak, 2019). This makes it important for the organization to align with the
vision and continuously check the possibility of threats, barriers and obstacles. When the
company is successful in doing so it can be considered as a small victory for leading to success.
The last step to this model is anchoring change in the organization with the help of corporate
culture. This model provides clear description in change process and leads the company to easy
implementation. This model's focus is on preparation of change without changing the actual
process. This model focus over the changes in an organization in the following term,
Create Urgency :
For an organizational change to be implemented it becomes very important whole of the
company to really want it. Development of sense of urgency helps the company to motivate
everyone.
Forming Powerful Coalition :
Convincing people about the need for the change is quite necessary for the leadership.
For leading a change in the company people are needed to be brought together for forming a
unstoppable force.
Creation of vision for change :
Its very important for the leaders to visualize about how the change would be, this will
bring more ideas and solutions. Creating such vision helps everyone for understanding the reason
of the change properly.
Communicating the vision :
After the creation of vision what is done the leader is important. The leader mush
increase its communication within the company about the vision of the change. Frequent
communication will remind everyone about the idea once again making it more clear.
Removing Obstacles :
Reaching this step in the process of change means the leaders vision is building in all
levels of the organization. Thus, it will develop some obstacles which are needed to be removed.
This will give power to your followers about the execution of the vision.
Short term wins :
The change process will definitely contain some vision of small victories which are
certain accomplishment before the actual change. This develops positivity and encourages
everyone regarding the change (Takamine, K., 2019).
9

Building on the change :
According to this model change should not be celebrated to early, till the very end it is
important for the leader to build on the change for achieving success.
Anchoring the changes in corporate culture :
Last but not the least after the change is successfully implemented it is important for the
leader to introduce this change to the corporate culture of the organization.
M4. Application of model and framework for applying organizational change
Lewin's change management model is applied for analysation of individual behaviours
that can be implemented in organisational change. The structure of the team of the organisation
effects the behaviours of the individual. This model consists of three stages, in the step one the of
unfreezing the determination of the things which are needed for the change is explained. These
things are good leadership and support for the change process. In the next step, refreeze is
explained which anchors changes in the culture and develops ways of sustainability in
organizational changes. This model is very easy and simple to understand for management of
change (Lines and Reddy Vardireddy, 2017).
10

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Erciyes, E., 2018. A new change management approach for a law enforcement
organization. International Journal of Police Science & Management. 20(1). pp.52-65.
Ferdianto, J.R., Tobing, D.S.K. and Barokah, I., 2019. The Role of Work Motivation as a
Mediation Influence of Situational Leadership Style and Change Management on
Performance of Employee in Bank Mandiri Jember. International Journal Of All Research
Writings. 1(12). pp.100-106.
Holloway, S.S., Romme, A.G.L. and Demerouti, E., 2018. Crafting values in organizational
change processes. International Journal of Social Sciences Perspectives. 3(1). pp.7-20.
Kennish, M.J., 2021. Drivers of Change in Estuarine and Coastal Marine Environments: An
Overview. Open Journal of Ecology. 11(3). pp.224-239.
Larsen, S. and Holmen, A., 2017. Towards more languages for more students at the University of
Copenhagen: The interplay between local and global drivers of change. Casalc Review. 2.
pp.132-144.
Lines, B.C. and Reddy Vardireddy, P.K., 2017. Drivers of organizational change within the AEC
industry: Linking change management practices with successful change adoption. Journal
of management in engineering. 33(6). p.04017031.
Mitra, A., Gaur, S.S. and Giacosa, E., 2019. Combining organizational change management and
organizational ambidexterity using data transformation. Management decision.
Muñoz-Ulecia, E., and et.al., 2021. Drivers of change in mountain agriculture: A thirty-year
analysis of trajectories of evolution of cattle farming systems in the Spanish
Pyrenees. Agricultural Systems. 186, p.102983.
Odijk, D., and et.al., 2017. PPP-RTK by means of S-system theory: Australian network and user
demonstration. Journal of Spatial Science. 62(1). pp.3-27.
Setyaningsih, S., Kelle, P. and Maretan, A.S., 2020. DRIVER AND BARRIER FACTORS OF
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED
ENTERPRISES: AN OVERVIEW. Economic and Social Development: Book of
Proceedings, pp.238-249.
Shadnam, M., 2020. New theories and organization research: from the eyes of change. Journal of
Organizational Change Management.
Shelygov, A.V., Sharonin, P.N. and Tretyak, E.B., 2019. The Early Fields of Thought in Change
Management. Экономика и предпринимательство. (7). pp.185-190.
Stouten, J., Rousseau, D.M. and De Cremer, D., 2018. Successful organizational change:
Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management
Annals. 12(2). pp.752-788.
Strzelczyk, M. and Chłąd, M., 2017. Use of PESTEL Analysis for Assessing the Situation of
Polish Transport Enterprises (Part I). Zeszyty Naukowe Politechniki Częstochowskiej
Zarządzanie. 27(2). pp.161-168.
Takamine, K., 2019. Failure to launch: Obstacles to developing a graduate executive leadership
degree in a competency‐based education format. The Journal of Competency‐Based
Education. 4(4). p.e01203.
Vong, S., Raven, J. and Newlands, D., 2018. Internal contracting of health services in Cambodia:
drivers for change and lessons learned after a decade of external contracting. BMC health
services research. 18(1). pp.1-13.
11

Wong, P.S., Zwar, C. and Gharaie, E., 2017. Examining the drivers and states of organizational
change for greater use of prefabrication in construction projects. Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management. 143(7). p.04017020.
Online
Profit&, 2019. 7 real-life examples of successful change management in business.[Online]
Available trough: <https://insights.profitand.com/blog/real-life-examples-of-successful-
change-management-in-business>
12