Analyzing and Leading Change: Strategies and Operational Impact

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of understanding and leading change within organizations, focusing on Marks & Spencer as a case study. It compares different organizational structures and their impact on change implementation, identifying drivers for change and their effects on organizational strategies and operations. The report also examines how internal factors like organizational culture and employee morale, and external factors such as political and economic conditions, influence leadership, team dynamics, and individual behaviors. Furthermore, it evaluates measures to minimize the negative impacts of change on business operations, applies relevant theories and models to assess organizational responses to change, and draws conclusions with recommendations for effective change planning and impact analysis. The report also explores barriers to change and their influence on leadership decision-making, and applies different leadership theories in the process of dealing with changes in an organizational context.

Understanding and Leading Change
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Table of Contents
Understanding and Leading Change.......................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
P1 Compare different organisations and there impact on the change on organisation's strategy
and operations..............................................................................................................................4
M1 Determine the different drivers for changes and the types of organizational changes they
have affected................................................................................................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P2 Identify the ways in which internal and external factors affect the leadership, team and
individual behaviours within the organisation.............................................................................7
P3 Identify and evaluate the various measures which help the organisation in minimising the
negative impact on its business operations................................................................................10
M2 Apply appropriate theories and models to critically evaluate organisational response to
change........................................................................................................................................12
D1 Draw conclusions and recommendations with valid justifications for planning effectively
for change and applying change impact analysis......................................................................12
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................13
P4 Explain different barriers to change and determine how they influence leadership decision
making in a given organisational context..................................................................................13
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
P5 Application of different leadership theories in process of dealing with changes in
organisational context................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18
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INTRODUCTION
An organization identifies various strategies, techniques and tools in order to make
changes in its business operations according to the market trends and situations (Lawrence,
2015). Moreover these changes helps in enhancing the skills of its employees and provide new
opportunities to organisation in order to expand their business. The changes which are made in
the operations and functions of the business may has positive or negative impact on the position
of the company. The organisation taken for this report is Marks & Spencer. The company belong
to retail industry and is founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in year 1884. The
company has started its business from London, UK and is operating at global level. The topics
covered in the report are impact of change on organisation's strategy and operations, internal and
external factors which affect leadership, team and individual behaviour within the organisation,
negative impact of change on organisational behaviour, different barriers which effect the
decision making process and different leadership approaches.
TASK 1
P1 Compare different organisations and there impact on the change on organisation's strategy
and operations
In current business scenario, the main motive of business organisation is to achieve its
objectives and to attain strong position in the marketplace. In context of Marks & Spencer, they
are operating in retailer sector where they are facing tough competition in the marketplace
(LeMaster, 2017). It is important for them to compare and identify the business strategies of
competitors in order to identify the similarities and differences so that they can build their
strategies to take the competitive benefit and to increase its profit margins.
Basis Marks & Spencer John Lewis Partnership
Structure The company follow
hierarchical organisation
structure in carrying its
business operations and
activities. In this structure
various stages are been formed
in the organisation in order to
Whereas John Lewis
Partnership conduct its
business operations according
to hierarchical organisation
structure. The communication
take place according to
various levels due to which
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divide the work that is low,
middle and upper levels.
Moreover this has lead to
delay in decision making
process as the information is
been formulated from one
level to another which is a
time consuming process
(Maccoby, 2015). The
company is operating at global
level so its important for them
to change its structure from
hierarchical to flat
organisational structure as
there is requirement to take
fast decisions. In the flat
organisational structure where
the level of departments get
reduced and it help the
management in quick decision
making process.
there are chances of
misunderstanding can create
the gap among the employees
of the company. In order to
solve this problem company is
trying to improve its structure
that is to shift from
hierarchical structure to flat
organisational structure. In flat
structure the employees will
feel free to communicate with
other members and to put
their view points in the
decision making process.
Moreover it will help in
minimising the
communication gap at the
workplace.
Strategies In order to make changes in its
organisational structure the
company need to develop
plans and strategies in order to
make its new structure
effective and efficient so that
it provide better results. This
structure will help the
employees in increasing their
productivity as they get the
In context of John Lewis
Partnership, they focus on
providing training to its
employees that is want to
increase the efficiency of its
employees so that productivity
level can be improved. As
strategies related to training
helps in understanding
working culture and the
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opportunities to enhance their
skills and abilities. Moreover
it will help in reducing the
conflict and issues that take
place at the workplace due to
which productions process get
delayed.
process which drive effective
results to the business.
Moreover with the use of this
structure the company would
be able to manage and
regulate the operations of
business in effective manner.
Operations By implementing the flat
organisational structure the
company can regulate its
business activities and
operations in better and
effective manner which
contributes in achieving the
desire goals of the business.
This structure has helps in
saving the time of the business
as decision making process
requires less time. Moreover
the use of this structure also
helped in reducing the
situation of conflict and
helped the employees in
completing the task on desire
time which increases the
productivity of company
(Neumann, James and Vince,
2019).
In context of John Lewis
Partnership the use of flat
structure has helped them in
attaining its predetermined
business goals in desire time
period. The changes in the
business structure will provide
great support as it will help in
improving the communication,
establish strong relation with
workplace, reduce the wastage
and many other factors.
From the above study it has been concluded that there are many similarities in both the
organizations in its process of carrying business operations and functions such as transparency at
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workplace where employees feel to put forward their viewpoints and valuable asset of the
company. Both the organisation focus on developing the effective business strategy and roadmap
which provide effective results and increase the profit margins.
M1 Determine the different drivers for changes and the types of organizational changes they
have affected.
In context of Marks and Spencer the drivers of changes are the external factors which has a
impact on the performance of the company and they have to take step in order to deal with them.
The Political factors effect the business performance as company is operating across the globe so
they have to function according to the rules and regulations of countries in which they are
operating. The Economic factors too effect the function of the organization as the inflation rate,
changes in employment regulation and many related factors effect the business operations. The
Social factors refers to the taste and preferences of customers so in order to obtain the desire
results company need to produce products according to customers desires. The frequent changes
in the technology has both positive and negative impact on the performance of company as with
use of latest technology they would be able to increase its production whereas on the other side it
is time consuming process to train the employees according to new techniques and methods. The
company is taking steps in order to deal with these issues that is by spending time on research
and development they are studying the present trend in the marketplace in context of customers
as well as competitors. According to research study and knowledge they are formulating
strategies in order to hold its position in the marketplace.
TASK 2
P2 Identify the ways in which internal and external factors affect the leadership, team and
individual behaviours within the organisation.
Drivers of changes is defined as the factors due to which changes may take place within the
organisation in its operational and functional activities. These factors are present in the
marketplace and effect the business in different situations and for this companies need to be
prepared (Theodoulides, Kormancová and Cole, 2019). Mainly there are two type of drivers of
changes that are internal and external drivers which can affect the functions and activities of the
business in positive or negative way. In context of Marks and Spencer the impact of these factors
has been explained below-
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Internal factors- These are those factors which take place within the organisation and can
be controlled by management by implementing effective controlling and monitoring
activities in the operations of business. Internal factors which can impact the organisation
includes factors like plans, services, products, business strategy and many other. The
internal factors in context of Marks and Spencer are described below-
 Culture of organisation- Organisational culture with the company is dependent on
various factors such as values, beliefs, behaviour, assumptions, etc which helps in
determining the psychological and social environment. In context of Marks and
Spencer it is important for them to focus on culture of company and to maintain
that in the operations and other activities of business as it helps in driving better
results. In order to maintain and enhance its cultural values they should formulate
various strategies such as develop policies and rules so that employees consider it
important factor and function accordingly (Rodd, 2015). It is important because if
there is no culture then the individual behaviour and attitude will lead to the
situation of conflict and misunderstanding which will have negative impact on the
performance of company. Thus, lead to decrease in the productivity level of the
business.
 Employees moral- It refers to the attitude, behaviour, satisfaction level and other
related factors which related the feeling of the employees. It’s very crucial for
company to take necessary steps in order to increase the moral of its employees that
is by developing various strategy they can inform there working structure in order
to provide comfort to its employees. The low satisfaction among employees will
lead to low performance which will effect the business operations and productivity.
By providing proper training and guiding employees helps in enhancing their skills
and capabilities. Thus lead to high moral of employees and they focus on
improving their performance at workplace.
External factors- These factors effect the business operations and functions due to changes in the
external environment which are not under the control of management (Tombetti and Mason,
2019). The company need to study the market and analyse the various factors which may effect
the business in near future and should formulate strategies according in order to deal with. These
factors are political, economical, technological, legal, social and environmental. PEST Analysis
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can help an association in perceiving and in this way profiting by circumstances offered by
existing conditions in the business climate (van der Voet, Kuipers and Groeneveld, 2015). It can
likewise be utilized for distinguishing current or conceivable future difficulties, taking into
account successful arranging of how to best deal with these difficulties. In context of Marks &
Spenser these external factors are described below-
 Political factors- In an organisation these factors effect the business operations as
it has impact on the financial requirements so it is important to develop the
strategies in order to deal with such type of situations. These decide the degree to
which government and government strategy may affect on an association or a
particular industry. This would incorporate political arrangement and strength
just as exchange, monetary and tax collection approaches as well. In context of
Marks and spencer they focus on the factors related to political changes and
develop the strategies accordingly as these factors can impact the business due to
which they may face legal actions. Moreover it will effect the workplace
environment that is reduce the productivity level and leaders might face difficulty
in the decision making process.
 Economic factor- These factors refers to tax rate, interest rate, inflation rate and
many more which are control and regulated by the government. In context of
Marks & Spenser these factors have direct impact on the operations of business
and effect the decisions of the leaders and top authorities. The need to change the
decisions and strategies is because the according to changes in the economy they
need to change its strategies and decisions. Due to the continuous changes it
create confusion and frustration among employees which effect their
performance.
 Social factors- These factor are very important for the growth and development
of the company as they are related to the needs and preferences of customers.
These components center around the social climate and recognize rising patterns.
This encourages an advertiser to additionally comprehend their clients'
necessities and needs. These factor include the customer taste, needs, buying
behaviour and many more. In context of Marks and Spencer, the company is
dealing in clothing where it becomes important to function according to the needs
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and desires of customers. The leaders and management should formulate
strategies according to the taste of customers and on going marketing trend in
order to attract large number of customers.
 Technological factors- These factors helps in the growth of business as by using
new and advance technology company can make its operations simple and easy.
These elements consider the pace of mechanical advancement and improvement
that could influence a market or industry. In context of Marks and Spencer with
the help of new technology they can increase its production and can focus on
introducing new design cloths in marketplace in order to attract large number of
customers (Weston, Ferris and Finkelstein, 2017). Moreover it help in saving the
extra cost and expenses of business that is reduce the wastage. It will helps
various department to conduct their work in most desirable and effective manner
and help the teams in completing the task and activities on time.
These internal and external factors effect the leadership, team and the individual behaviour in the
Marks & Spenser that is according to frequent changes the strategies are changes by the
company due to which the leaders and team need to formulate new plans in order to accomplish
the task which is a time consuming process and involves lot of efforts which lead to frustration
and disappointment. Whereas it also influence the individual behaviour as for some employees
these changes are good as they come to learn many new facts and figures and they take it in
positive manner. For some employees these changes effect their work and they would be able to
perform well which leads to demotivation.
P3 Identify and evaluate the various measures which help the organisation in minimising the
negative impact on its business operations.
In the company changes play a major role in the business operations as proper creation of
strategies and proper implementation of strategies helps in carrying the business life cycle
in most efficient and smooth manner. As it helps the company in increasing its production
level and to increase sales volume. In context of Marks and Spencer, these changes have
positive impact on the business as it has helps the leaders in enhancing their decision
making power (Wilkinson and Kemmis, 2015). Leaders are able to take better decisions
according to different situations and able to provide better guidance to its team members
which lead to better performance of employees and increases moral of employees. There
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are some negative impact also which company has to face that is according to prevailing
situations leaders need to develop new business strategies which is a time consuming
process. Moreover due to these changes the budget of company get effected and they need
to decrease the perks and benfits of employees in order to balance the cost. Thus this action
reduce the motivation and employees are dissatisfied with the decisions of the
management. In order to deal with negative impact Marks and Spencer is using PDCA
model.
 Plan- The company need to identify and evaluate the performance of business at
each stage of its business process in order to understand the need and various
opportunities which may provide great results to company. In context of Marks and
spencer, the research and development department conduct market analysis in order
to identify the new opportunities, trends and the problems which they may face in
coming time. This helps the company in developing new strategy according to
different situations so that they would be able to minimise the negative impact of
these changes on the performance of business. They are facing problem in
attracting potential customers due to high competition. In order to solve this
problem the management should focus on increasing its promotional activities in
order to make its customer aware about its new collection.
 Do- In this phase the management focus on developing the appropriate solutions to
the issues and problems which they have recognised in the above stage. In context
of Marks and Spencer they would focus on evaluation process in order to drive
effective results. In order to improve their promotional activities they would
conduct training and development sessions to identify the various social platforms
which help in driving effective results.
 Check- In this stage organization the board will investigate if the chose or created
system is viable. Also on this stage they will examine that their normal result is like
real or not, in the event that not, at that point required adjustment will be done
viably . In regard of Marks and Spencer, they will dissect that the use of advanced
and web-based media will be amazing for them or not. In the event that
administration will distinguish any issue, at that point they will lead improvement
exercises just as on the off chance that they recognize that technique is unseemly, at
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that point they will drop thought and again dissect circumstance for creating
legitimate procedure identified with settling issue of special movement.
 Act- It is the last phase of PDCA model in which an association will actualize the
technique if that will be proper in regard of issue or circumstance. In regard of
Marks and Spencer, on the off chance that administration discover system of
embracing social and computerized media successful, at that point they will execute
it. Alongside this administration will likewise create preparing and advancement
exercises so as to evade future issues that may happen while executing
computerized and online media for lead special exercises.
M2 Apply appropriate theories and models to critically evaluate organisational response to
change.
 Lewin’s change management model: It is one of the most popular approaches, and it’s
easy to see why. By splitting the change process into three stages you can break a large,
unwieldy shift into bite size chunks which account for both the processes and people in
your company. It describes the process of change management in three stages: Unfreeze,
Make changes and Refreeze.
 Kotter’s theory: is the first in this list to focus less on the change itself and more on
the people behind it (albeit from a top-down point of view). By inspiring a sense of
urgency for change and maintaining that momentum, Kotter’s theory can be used to
great effect in adapting your business to the current climate.
D1 Draw conclusions and recommendations with valid justifications for planning effectively for
change and applying change impact analysis.
Smaller manufacturers play an important role in the competitiveness of United
Kingdoms industry. They comprise the bulk of manufacturing establishments, are
integral parts of the supply chain for both commercial and defense products, and
provide the vast majority of manufacturing employment. Many of these smaller
firms, however, are operating far below their potential. Their use of modern
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manufacturing equipment, methodologies, and management practices is inadequate
to ensure that United Kingdoms manufacturing will be globally competitive.
TASK 3
P4 Explain different barriers to change and determine how they influence leadership decision
making in a given organisational context
In the process of implementing changes in the company, management is confronted by
various issues that gives rise to difference between standard and actual practices and this gap
effects day to day operations with negative impact in workplace (Arnold, 2019). With this view,
it becomes the responsibility of manager and leader as well to develop appropriate strategies so
that issues can be solved and this process is also important to create plans for overcoming issues.
n respect of Marks and Spencer, they adopt force field analysis model in order to identify
barriers which impact on leadership decision making, explanation of respective model is given
below:-
Force Field Analysis Model:
This theory is divided in two parts, one part represents driving force and other is related
to resistance force of the company. These both elements are important in context of evaluating
and analysing changes that are being incorporated in the work place. Driving Force: It is basically the power or authority that enforces the company to adopt
change which is in accordance of needs and requirements of customers of the company.
These factors help the company to develop effective strategy which will help business to
achieve desired goals and objectives. To illustrate, Marks and Spencer is incoporating
changes in their design as per the demand of customers. For example, customers wants
innovative designs like one size cloths, back support cloths for old age peoples and so
on. With the help of these factors, company will be able to devise policies and strategies
that will ensure satisfaction of demand and wants both for customers.
 Resisting force: These are just the opposite of driving forces, as they pose a threat for the
company and creates barriers in the process of implementing changes. While
incorporating changes in the company, number of issues may occur, such as, requirement
of huge funds, less support from employees end, less skilled employees and many more.
In context of chosen company, there may be rise of similar sort of issues and therefore, it
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becomes important to develop appropriate strategies in order to develop motivation in
their employees so that they can work more efficiently and effectively (Benton and
Visbal, 2018).
There is a possibility of occurrence of several barriers at workplace. In context of Marks and
Spencer, some of the major issues are explained below:
 Less support from employee's end: It is one of the major and common barrier that
arises at almost every workplace. This is the issue that is created in process of
implementing change at the place. In this problem, staff members do not show enough
interest in the process of incorporating changes (Boyatzis and Cavanagh, 2018). At
Marks and Spencer it occur because they think their work will get increase or their
importance get reduced. In order to resolve this issues respective company management
may conduct meeting in which they motivate their staffs so that they get ready to adopt
change in effective manner.
 Lack of investment: To incorporate any changes or to start any new thing, the most
important thing is to have enough source of finance. In context of chosen organisation, if
the company is adopting some new technology or innovation in business operations, than
it is important that management provides all required resources to all employees.
TASK 4
P5 Application of different leadership theories in process of dealing with changes in
organisational context
To implement changes in company, it is important for management to adopt suitable and
effective leadership style so as to incorporate and mange these changes. Choice of leadership
style depends upon number of factors such as, work culture, workforce diversity, employee
relations, etc. These all factors are are important to be considered by management of an
organisation, so that an appropriate technique can be adopted. Leadership approaches adopted by
chosen company Marks and Spencer are described as follows:
 Transformational approach: This is a approach which has focus on establishing
employee relation and incorporating required changes by causing changes in individuals
and social systems. According to this approach, leaders of an organisation are not
making their sub-ordinate follow them. Instead, they cause a effect in their thought
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process and employees automatically works in the direction of aligning their
performance with expectations of administration. This is a suitable approach for
incorporating any type of changes in the company (Doppelt, 2017).
 Autocratic approach: This is often known as authoritarian leadership style. In this
style, there is no participation of employees in process of decision making and top level
management is making decisions on their own discretion. Furthermore, followers are
forced to follow all these policies and decisions formulated by top level management and
they can also not give their feedback. There is one way communication through out the
company. This communication flows from upper level to lower level of management.
Chosen company is following this approach in certain areas like investment decisions
and do not consider opinions of sub ordinate level while taking decisions (Henderson,
Gulati and Tushman, 2015).
 Situational approach: As the name suggests, this is a style which persuades leaders to
behave as per the situation. It is a set of beliefs, values, behaviours, etc. and they help
managers to behave as per the situations confronted by them. This is a very modern style
and do not limits leaders to behave as per any set procedures. Main idea behind this
concept is that it is depending largely on the personal judgement of leaders.
Lewin's change model:
This model is formulated by Kurt Lewins. This model is applied in an organisation when
the management wants to incorporate some changes. This model consists of three stages, namely,
Unfreeze, Changes and Refreeze. Management of company considers these stages in the model
in case when there is occurrence of any type of changes in the organisation. The chosen company
i.e., Marks and Spencer is using different stages of the model for the purpose of developing
strategies and plans. The way of adoption of above model in company is explained below:
 Unfreeze: The process carried out in this stage is termed as unfreezing and the main task
of this stage is to analyse all related rules and norms of the company at a time when
management wants to incorporate some changes. To analyse regulations and rules of the
company is the first thing that managers do at the time of change in environment. It is
recognised by managers of Marks and Spencer that it is important to have change in the
organisation. Thus, at this stage it is seen that there is need for considering new rules and
regulations followed by this company (Hughes, 2016).
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 Changes: In this stage, the main task is done, that is to formulate strategies and policies
in order to incorporate changes that are identified in above step. There is need for
developing effective and strong strategies that will help in engaging employees towards
the new idea of organisational change. The managers and leaders of Marks and Spencer
have to demonstrate strategies and plans to staff in an effective manner.
 Refreeze: In this stage, the main task is to implement the strategy that has been devised
in second step. This implementation is done in order to become competent and also
adopt the change. This whole process of formulation and implementation is done so that
business can survive in the market with more profitability mark. The managers of M&S
organises few sessions which help in communicating about the change to staff and
workers. They have to do work accordingly. This is responsibility of managers to
effectively explain all the strategies and planning used for implementing new change
within the company (Kuenkel, 2016).
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that an organisation can follow different
types of leadership style, such as, transformational, situational and autocratic. It is recommended
to the management of Marks and Spencer, that it should adop transformational leadership
approach so that it can establish good employee relations and can also incorporate required
organisational change.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be summarised that change is permanent in dynamic
external environment. It becomes essential for every company to adopt these changes so that
business operations and functions are not hindered and at the same time, company can exploit a
number of growth opportunities. Mere implementation is not enough, company needs to analyse
the impacts of these changes as well on operations and outcomes of business processes. Both
positive and negative impacts should be analysed so that changes can be monitored in an
efficient manner. A business exists in a surrounding where there are number of competitors and
hence, business needs to analyse and compare their formulated strategies with those of
competitors. This will help the management to identify which areas needs improvement in order
to gain competitive advantage in market. Changes in business are forced mainly by two drivers,
i.e., internal and external factors. These factors have direct or indirect impact over major
segments like company's leadership, individual and team behaviour, etc. furthermore, company
15

faces a number of hurdles in path of implementing changes in the company and these issues can
be resolved using different approaches of leadership styles.
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