Leading Change: Analyzing AEGON's Strategy and Organizational Behavior

This report analyzes the change management strategies of AEGON, a multinational life insurance, pensions, and asset management company, examining the impact of changes on its strategy and operations. It compares AEGON's approach to change with that of its competitor, AVIVA Plc, highlighti...Read More

Understanding and Leading
Change

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Activity 1 ........................................................................................................................................3
P1 Compare different organizational examples where there has been an impact of changes on
an organization's strategy and operations...............................................................................3
Activity 2.........................................................................................................................................5
P2 Evaluate the ways in which internal and external drives of change affects leadership, team
and individual behaviour in an organisation..........................................................................5
P3 Evaluate measure that can be taken to minimise negative impact of changes on
organisation behaviour...........................................................................................................7
Activity 3 ........................................................................................................................................8
P4 Explain different barriers for changes and determine how it influence leadership decision
making in AEGON.................................................................................................................8
Activity 4.........................................................................................................................................9
P5 Apply different leadership approaches to deal with change.............................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Managing an organisational change is the process of implementing and planning, change
in an organisations in such a way as to minimise employee resistance and cost to the organisation
, on the other hand at the same time maximising the effectiveness of the change efforts. The
change is crucial for every organisation as to allow employees of company to learn and get
trained about new technology and explore new opportunities through new ideas (Kotter, 2012) .
The present report is about Aegon, which is a multinational life insurance, pensions and asset
management company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands in 1983. the project emphasizes
on the different organisational examples where there has been impact of change on
organisation's strategy and operations, internal and external drivers of change which affects
leadership as well it also covers steps to minimise negative effects of change. Along with this,
barriers of change have been analysed with reference to their influence upon decision making.
Activity 1
P1 Compare different organizational examples where there has been an impact of changes on an
organization's strategy and operations
Many organisation perform their operations and functions with the purpose to achieve
aims and goals and to gain more profit , growth and welfare within the society. Every
organisation work in dynamic business environment which needs to adapt changes in order to
sustain (Doppelt, 2017) . Here, are some of the factors such as technological developments,
innovation and changes in taxation policy which have impacted the performance of several
companies and forced them to implement changes so that new ways of performing business
operations could accomplish the goals and objectives of organisation in a fixed period of time.

Here, Aegon is the multinational life insurance, pensions and asset management
company, in the same way there are many organisations which affect its profitability in the way
of rivals. So to be best from its competitors, let's introduce its changes to maintain its growth
and earn more profit.
In order to analyse the impact of changes, organisation AEGON and its competitor AVIVA Plc
has been considered and evaluation of both the companies is represented below-
Changes AEGON AVIVA Plc.
Structural change The structure change of Aegon
is to alter the structure of its
operation to separate
investment decision making
from dealing decisions
making, through this change
the impact on strategy is that
they came closer to financial
market and their
responsibilities are also
divided.
In present, Aviva has bring its
UK insurance business
together-life, health and
general insurance, as in to
spread their business on
international platform. From
this change the impact on
strategy is that, now the
customer can go at one place
and can complete their all
policies at one place only, this
structure change will be
convenient for the customers.
Technological factors Technology analysis involves
understanding the technology's
impact on product offerings
and impact on cost structure in
life insurance industry. Latest
technology based innovations
implemented by competitors of
Aegon ADR, this can provide
a good insight into what the
competitors are thinking and
Change in technological factor
is of investments data analytics
for customer insights and
digital first strategy in mobile,
online and tablet to enhance
customer experience (Force
field analysis, 2018) . The
impact of this change on
strategy is that now they are
performing well in the

where life Insurance business
model future is.
organisation.
Differences in Organisational Approaches to Change
AEGON approaches to change involves a structural process involving a series of steps to execute
the change. These include analysis of market gap, review of the variances between organisation's
current and desirable performance to fill the gap and then bringing alterations and modifications
in activities and processes (Yoder-Wise, 2014) . This is done so as to adapt itself as per customer
needs and requirements. On the other hand, AVIVA Plc focus upon continuously evaluating the
internal and external environment of organisation so as to ascertain any necessary changes that
need to be brought. These changes are then communicated to employees to gain their support and
then executed within the enterprise. This focuses on the modifications according to the customer
conveniences.
Activity 2
P2 Evaluate the ways in which internal and external drives of change affects leadership, team
and individual behaviour in an organisation
Aegon is a multinational life insurance, pensions and asset management company in
which their employees work to attain their organisational goals and set of objectives.
Every organization in today environment is looking to pace their changes, because
without change business would likely lose their competitive edge and fail to meet the need of
their customers. In that case there are many factors both in positive and negative aspects that an
organization have to face, as these factors affect the functioning of an organization. Any change
in these factors need to change in an organization (Salmela, Eriksson and Fagerström, 2012) . A
Driver's change is an internal and external force that shapes change to an organization. These are
those factors which bring change in overall industry, which includes change in products,
strategy, designs, services and operations. Changes occur because of a variety of internal and
external factors, over which leaders sometimes have very little or no control. There are some
common change drivers start with internal drivers and end to external forces and they are as
follows -

The SWOT analysis model has been used as an Internal drivers -These drivers are those
which occur within the organisation and basically under the organisation control. These are the
strength which influence leadership , team and individuals -
 Innovation – This is the basic aspect of every organisation which is used to increase the
sustainability in the marketplace. Aegon leaders also make some innovations to make
their technologies and other factors stronger, so they can improve and satisfied the
requirements and convenience of customers. Innovation leads to positive as well as
negative impacts on the individual and team behaviour. When most of the employees are
not able to fulfil the requirement and can't help organisation in the up gradation
requirement then they feel pressurized and then they choose the option to switch the job.
With respect to team and individuals, positive impact is that the group recognises that
company is making efforts to increase its market share. Thus, the chances of career
enhancement and appraisals of personnel increases (Hrebiniak, 2013) . In addition to this,
it gives a boost to group behaviour in Aegon as they feel motivated to increase their
productivity.
 Employee morale – To achieve the goal and objectives, the chosen organisation has to
work according to the changes takes place in market. So, in context to Aegon they make
changes in their organisation with time for the growth of their business. But the changes
in organisation also bring some negative impact. When it is concerned about the
weaknesses in changing environment, employee moral is one of the major challenge the
organisation have to face. Here the employee moral is getting down, so it is the
responsibility of the leader of Aegon to guide and motivate them. The leader should
encourage an individual by understanding their problem.
External drivers – The drivers which are outside influences that can impact a business
and organisation. To understand the impact of change happened through external drivers,
PESTEL analysis have been done and this is mentioned below :
PESTEL Analysis
Political factor - These are the outcomes when the government interfere in the economy.
Government policy, political condition in international market, labour law etc. are some political
factors. Aegon has implemented policy to maintain confidentiality of customer data to comply
Data Protection Act.

Economical factors - Such as economic growth, interest rates, inflation, disposable
income etc. Due to the financial crisis, Aegon has implemented policy to double its revenues and
attract the customers to plan their trips in UK.
Social factors - It includes belief and attitudes of population. It includes, population
growth, age distribution, career attitude etc. Aegon is liked by many people in UK. Though, it
gets mixed reviews from its customers. It uses social media to attract customers.
Technological factor – Aegon has seen growth since the time it has introduced life
insurance policies. It has become easy and understandable for customers to use these policies. It
enable them to see complete details which can be customised.
Environmental factors - Aegon has implemented various programs to become
sustainable. It has taken initiatives towards saving environment by using eco-friendly and
recycled things in its business.
Legal factors - Aegon has not faced any legal consequences because it always comply
with applicable rules and legislations.
Effect of change on leader, teams and individual
Leader Team Individual
The leaders of Aegon have to
follow some best approaches
for the growth of their
organization
The changes in organisation
brings the change in plans and
policies, so the team of Aegon
should adopt the new changes
and should guide and motivate
their subordinates about the
changes
An individual of Aegon should
follow the guidelines of their
superior and adopt the changes
occur in their organisation.
P3 Evaluate measure that can be taken to minimise negative impact of changes on organisation
behaviour
Business environment involves various activities that are executed in organisation in
order to maximise profitability of company. This execution of activities involves many changes
that are implemented by management team in organisation. It can be said that these changes have
positive as well as negative impact on company's profitability. In relation to Aegon, it can be said

that it is important for the manager as well as for the leaders of this company to analyse impact
of change before implementing it and also adopt few steps and policies for minimising negative
impact of change. They can also adopt relevant techniques with the help of changes can be
implemented in a positive manner. Some measures that Aegon can take to reduce negative
impact of changes are as follows -
 Involvement of employees in change process - As per this element, Aegon and Aviva its
competitor both has the opportunity to gain confidence level of their employees. Such as
company needs to implement their employees to take part in a change process by
expressing their opinions upon specific subject. As a result, it helps in maintaining clear
or transparent relations with management and employees and it will be beneficial for
company while implementing change (Aslan and Reigeluth, 2013) .
 Expansion of communication channels - Interaction between employees and all the
members who are available at workplace is really critical for minimizing the measures of
conflicts.
PDCA Model - In order to overcome the negative impacts of change, Aegon used PDCA model
to carry out changes in the organisation effectively. This model is a repetitive four-
stage model for continuous improvement in business process management, such as i.e. plan , do,
check, act. These four levels greatly help the managers to determine issues of changes and
appropriate actions can be taken to improve the level of performance. It also helps the leader in
decision making process of change. Planning - In this stage, leaders of Aegon determines the issues or the problems
regarding the change and plans appropriate strategy to implement the change. In context
to Aegon, it plans change for implementing innovative technology in its business
operation by working on updated software which would handle customer data efficiently. Do - In this leader develops and implements suitable solutions for overcoming the impact
of the issue effectively. In such case Aegon designs efficient training programmes for all
the team members and individuals to enhance their skills and knowledge to perform task
in a effective model. Check - In this managers compares the obtained results with the expected results to
measure the impact of the change in Aegon. Leader of Aegon should measure the
changes that it as benefited the organisation. After analysing the impact of the changes

leader develops plan strategies according to the requirements and take the benefit of
change accordingly (NHS England, 2016) .
 Act - In the last phase, effective ideas and suggestions are addressed for different types of
problems. If the change in Aegon is not benefiting the company as well as individuals,
then certain actions should be taken by conducting time to time market analysis. This
would solve the problem and better decisions could be taken.
Activity 3
P4 Explain different barriers for changes and determine how it influence leadership decision
making in AEGON
Barriers to change, management can help any business to create successful strategies for
identifying and implementing change. Change is an important aspect of all organizations, and it
targets shifting from one state to another for the good of the organization. Their are different
barriers of change which affects decision making of leadership in the Aegon. With the help of
force field analysis model also, the company analyse the driving as well as resisting forces of
change.
Force Field Analysis Model : Force field analysis model has been implemented for identifying
the study related to the change management. In analysing the implementation of change there are
two forces such as driving forces which helps in sustaining change and the other is resisting
forces which are the hampering factors and doesn't allow change to be implemented in Aegon. It
is also useful for the leaders in effective decision making.
 Driving forces of change in context to Aegon - Customer demand new services of
pension and life insurance. Also, use of advanced technology such as artificial
intelligence for competitive edge which will record data of several customers which
enables them to target more individuals. . It influences leadership decisions within the
Aegon to plan and apply different strategies and communicate to all the employees. It
influences leader to guide and motivate its followers properly for taking the advantage of
change . Resisting forces of change in context to Aegon - In context to Aegon, resisting forces of
change are high cost and lack of support of employees which influences leadership
decisions. Leader should involve employees during the decision related to change and

explain the benefits of change to them which would increase their satisfaction level and
helps in successful decision making. Lack of effective communication Strategy – Nowadays, each organisations is ready to
bring changes in their operations as this helps them to achieve more competitive
advantage. The lack of communication based on strategies creates chaos between
employer and employees, and this also impact on Aegon decision making process. Due to
lack of communication, the managers and leaders of Aegon are adopting rules and
policies at the time of implementing change.
 Lack of employee involvement – This is one of the major barrier which can stop any
organisation to bring changes at workplace. In context with Aegon, they have loyal
employees but then also they resist change because they have the fear that if they change
or modify any policies and plans and their employees can quit the job. Therefore, a sense
of fear among employees and they less support in formation and implementation of
policies could basically push back the organisation and would stop them from making
alterations (Brown, 2012) . This generally puts impact upon decision making of managers
as they may forget to involve employees.
Activity 4
P5 Apply different leadership approaches to deal with change
Leadership is the activity of leading and motivating a group of peoples in order to
achieve specific goal and objectives. This also directs workers and employees with a strategy to
meet the company's needs. This involves establishing clear vision, share that vision with others
so that they can follow willingly. In the similar way, a leader is the inspiration and director of the
action. They sets a clear vision for the organisation, guides and motivates employees through the
work process and builds morale. Situational Leadership- It is an adaptive leadership style in which leader of the
organisation adjust their style in order to influence the followers to behave and work
accordingly (Stanleigh, 2013) . This style of leadership is flexible and adapts the existing
work environment and the needs of the organisation. In context to AEGON, management
use situational approach to deal with change effectively. Such as in case of conflict
between the employees within the organisation regarding change in business operation

because of adoption of new technology. Leaders deals with the problems and find out the
solutions related to the problems and then resolve it. In such issue, leaders and managers
analyse the cause for the problem and develops various rules and regulations and
implement them which leads to reduction of conflicts.
 Democratic Leadership- This style of leadership also known as participative leadership
or shared leadership. In this type of leadership style, leader involves their followers in
decision making process. This makes the followers feel as an important part of the
organisation and it also helps the leaders in successfully implementing the change. When
employees are involved in taking decision regarding change in AEGON, it makes them
analyse the importance of change which helps in successful implementation (Hintz and
Bahia, 2013) .
Lewin's change model is used to implement the change effectively by AEGON -
Lewin's change model- It is a three step model which provides framework to leaders to
plan and implement strategies according to the situation. This model proposed three main stages
to move an organisation from its current state to a desired future state : “Unfreeze-Change-
Refreeze”
Unfreeze Change Refreeze
This means creating a sense
and a change is needed. In this
leaders of AEGON,
determines the need for change
for performing business
activities effectively. They
examined the need of
technology and communicate
to all the employees in order to
target more customers and to
enhance high productivity
(MacKian and Simons, 2013) .
This means moving towards a
new and desired behaviour. In
this, leaders start applying the
change and communicates
their employees which leads to
change in behaviour and
working process. In context to
Aegon, it will communicate
from people about the change
in technology to perform their
business activities in a better
way with the help of new and
innovative software.
In this, the managers of
AEGON develops the ways by
which they can continue with
the changes bring in the
organisation and make sure
that employees don't return
back to the old ways to
perform a task. In this step,
leaders of AEGON should
ensure that changes are
properly implemented in the
organisation and acceptable by
all the employees and provides
effective training to all its

employees in order to a
manage change (Foltin and
Keller, 2012) . It is also said
that freezing after the change
takes place runs the risk of the
organisation being inflexible
when the next change is
needed, which in fast-evolving
modern business environments
can be very soon after.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that, the change is crucial for every
organisation as to allow employees of company to learn and get trained about new technology
and explore new opportunities through new ideas and in order to achieve specific goals and
objectives. Managers and leaders of AEGON, analyse and evaluate internal and external factors
of changes which directly impacts the leadership style and individuals within the organisation.
They have also used various leadership theories and models to overcome the problems in
implementing changes which allows the company to increase their profitability and growth.
Aegon has also gone through some measures to minimise the negative impact of changes.
Certain models are also applied to deal with the changes. The barriers of change are also has
been discussed in the further report to create successful strategies for identifying and
implementing change.

REFERENCES
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ONLINE
Force field analysis, 2018. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.change-management-
coach.com/force-field-analysis.html>.