Analysing Change: ASDA and Sainsbury's Response to Market Dynamics

This report provides a comparative analysis of ASDA and Sainsbury's, focusing on their approaches to organizational change. It discusses the types of changes experienced by each organization, including unplanned and organization-wide changes, and examines the impact of external drivers of change through PESTLE and SWOT analyses. The report evaluates the long-term implications of these changes, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers recommendations for effective planning and application of change management strategies. It concludes that while both organizations faced similar challenges, their responses and leadership behaviors differed significantly, impacting their operations and market positions.

Understanding and
Leading change

Table of Contents
INTRDOUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Organisational change basically refers to the actions and activities which are initiated by
the company for the purpose to alter its main components that basically includes infrastructure,
culture and underlying technology in its business operations. For the purpose to deal with the
change happening in the business it is important to focus on the management of the organisation
that basically involves various methods that help the company to implement the changes in order
to ensure success in the organisation. In this report the organisation chosen is ASDA and Tesco.
The report involves the overview of the organisation and also involves discussion regarding the
overall impact on the operations and strategies. Moreover, the report involves the evaluation of
the various drivers of change that can impact and influence the behaviour of the organisation.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
Discussing overview of each organisation and the type of change they went through.
Organisational change can impact or influence the organisation and there are various
types of changes that a business or company has to implement in relation to the various scenarios
and situations. It is important to implement change in business for the purpose to ensure long
term growth and to achieve competitive advantage in the market. Mentioned below are various
type of changes that are adopted by the organisation for the purpose to implement change ion the
company(Boyle and Wilkinson, 2018).
Unplanned change: There are various type of changes and such type of change plays a very
significant role in the organisation and such type of changes need to be handled by the company
for the purpose to deal with uncertain changes and sudden situations. Such changes basically
involves the steps which are basically influenced by the various events(Leavy, 2019).
Transformational change: Such type of changes basically focuses on a particular organisational
strategy. In context to organisations, those who are capable to deal with rapid changes can easily
prepare themselves and can adapt their overall business operations as per the change.
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Organization wide change: Under such changes, it involves the companies who are
implementing large scale changes in the company which can basically affect the overall working
of the company. The major changes basically involves the implementation of new technology,
alteration in the business strategies and introduction of new policies(Kennedy,2021).
Overview of ASDA:
Asda is a British supermarket chain founded in the year 1949 and headquartered in Leeds,
England. The organisation is considered to be one of the largest retailer. The organisation was
the second-largest supermarket chain between the year 2003 and 2014 as per the market share.
The organisation has its various supermarket and superstores and faces tough competition with
organisations such as Tesco, Sainsbury's and various other strong organisations. In context to
ASDA, the organisation gone through the change type of organisational wide change that lead to
implementation of the new policies along with advanced technology for the purpose to keep the
company's product and its prices as low as possible in order to gain a competitive advantage in
themarketplace(Bryson and et.al, 2021).
Overview of Sainsbury's
Sainsbury's is considered to be one of the second largest chain when it comes to supermarkets in
the United Kingdom. The organisation was founded in the year 1869 and headquartered in
London,United Kingdom. The organisation has it stores in all parts of the UK and offers a
variety of products that involves home décor, groceries, food items and various other products. In
context to Sainsbury's, the company focuses to implement change in its business operations
keeping in mind the COVID-19 and its impact on the employees and workforce of the company.
In context to Sainsbury's, the company had unplanned type of change because of COVID-19
pandemic and had to implement changes in the culture of the company and organisational
strategies for the purpose to achieve competitive advantage and to survive in the
situations(Najjoum, 2020).
Discussing PESTLE and SWOT analysis to identify the external and internal drivers of change.
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It is important for a company to gain understanding about external and internal business
environment as it has direct impact on the performance and productivity of company. It also
allows an organisation to develop effective strategies and maintain its performance which is
important to deal with this competitive business environment. For this, Pestle and SWOT
analysis is taken into consideration. Pestle analysis is defined as a strategic tool that is used by an
organisation to gain insight about the macro environmental facts and its impact on business
activities and operations. The Pestle and Swot analysis of Asda and Sainsbury’s is given below:
PESTLE analysis:
Political: It is analysed that Asda is highly affected through political driver because of Brexit,
COVID-19 situation, new trade tariffs and so on. Along with this, the new tariffs also disrupt the
supply chain of company. In relation to Sainsbury’s, the political factor that has affected it is
government rules & regulations which result into loss of customer and negatively impact on the
performance of company(Brazer, Bauer and Johnson,2018).
Economical: The key driver for change related to economical factor for Asda was raise in the
price of product that decline the performance and profitability level of company. On the other
hand, the rise in inflation rate decline the buying power of customers because of which sales and
revenue level of Sainsbury’s is declined.
Social: It is analysed that the taste and preferences of customers prevail within the society has
change due to change in trends. The consumption of quality and organic product is increased and
is arise issue for Asda. Moreover, the restrictions due to COVID-19 has changed and customer
prefer door-to-door step which affect negatively on its supply chain and performance of an
organisation.
Technological: One of the key technological change for Asda was to develop an effective and
efficient supply chain so that the overall process is executed timely. In relation to Sainsbury’s,
the key drover to change associated to technological factor is ineffective communication with
employees while working remotely. It is important for Sainsbury’s to bring new technology that
allow easy and proper communication with employees as it assist in implementing activities in a
timely and proper manner.
Legal: Asda has faced many changes because of legal factors that is development of new policies
and change in rules and regulations due to Brexit and ensuring laws are executed. For the
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company Sainsbury’s, one of the key driver of change is to emphasis on all the requirements are
being met mainly employee safety and welfare within the situation of COVID-19 pandemic.
Environmental: In context to Asda, the key aspect of change within the environmental factor is
arise because of situation of COVID-19 s company needs to ensure execution of environmental
law as it help to run the business activities and operations in a proper manner. With reference to
Sainsbury’s, the key driver to change is ensuring the safety and health of employees that is
important in order to maintain performance and productivity level.
SWOT analysis
ASDA
Strengths
In context to ASDA, the organisation has a
very effective supply change that helps in
enhancing the productivity.
The organisation has a strong brand image that
helps in attracting new customers.
Weakness
In context to ASDA, the organisation has weak
communication channel that results in
ineffective and miscommunication among the
employees of the organisation.
In context to ASDA, the organisation has a
very weak human resource function which
results in lack of effectiveness in the
performance of the organization.
Opportunity
In context to ASDA, the organisation focuses
on using advanced technology for the purpose
to increase profitability and enhance better
communication among the employees.
The company focuses on enhancing its market
presence on the online platforms.
Threats
The unsatisfied customers can result in big
threat for the company and its turnover.
The organisation's competitors are resulting in
a constant threat for the organisation.
Sainsbury's
Strength Weakness
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In context to Sainsbury's, the organisation has
a large market share that helps them to deal
with uncertain situations.
The company has a strong brand image and has
loyal customers that allows the organisation to
attract new customers.
In context to Sainsbury's, the organisation has a
weaker supply chain which is highly affected
by its external environment.
The company's services and products are
highly affected due to unseen situations that
results in reducing the company's profitability.
Opportunities
The organisation has a scope to establish new
relations with its suppliers.
The company constantly focuses on
implementing new technology for the purpose
to reduce cost and to enhance the production
level.
Threats
The organization's competitors are a big threat
for the company.
The company can be highly impacted by the
various external factors and dynamic external
environment.
Comparison of The Drivers of Change Affecting Each Organisation and Its Leadership and
Behaviours
Due to covid 19 pandemic, the spread of virus and lock down situation has majorly
affected the company and it also affected the operations of the organisations such as ASDA and
Sainsbury's. Due to covid 19, the situation made it tough for the owners and business in order to
implement change in the organisation. The quick and the unpredictable situation made it tough
for the employees of the organisation and also the company's owners and leaders to deal. In
context to ASDA, the organisation's behaviour was changed leading to adoption of the new
policies that also involves adoption of various tools and policies including “Work from Home” in
order to deal with the situation. In context to Sainsbury's, there was no option left for the
management teams but to innovate their supply chains. The organisation leaders need to manage
the change. The major challenge for the leaders was to understand the habits and trends and
consumer's preferences. The organisations had to keep in mind various factors that involves
change in competitor prices, trade policies, fluctuation in demand and consumer behaviour. The
main challenge for the organisation's leaders is to keep up with the prices. In context to
sainsbury's, the organisation carefully adopted the new changes for the purpose to negotiate with
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the suppliers. The organisation focused on increasing its in store promotions which resulted in
persuading the consumers to buy products(Smart, 2018).
Evaluation of Long Term Implications of Drivers of Change
Due to pandemic situation, there was a need for immediate changes in the retail industry.
These changes resulted in creating a major impact on the business both in positive and negative
aspects.
The negative impact basically involves the decline in flexibility of operations, hindrance in
regular activities, employee turnover, lowering of supply chain efficiency, fall in overall profits
and outputs and various other negative factors. On the other hand, the positive impacts includes
improvement in the consumer services, effective management, swiftness in decision making,
reinvented shopping and advantages of strategic relationship. Moreover, the manager delegated
the responsibility and authority among the various teams for the purpose to create better
decisions and bigger actions for the aim to delegate work accordingly. The strategic relations and
effective planning helped in providing a support to the organisation and social distancing resulted
in change in shopping manner and also increasing the turnover.
Recommendations to Aid Effective Planning For Change and Its Application
In context to ASDA, the organisation could use various change management approaches
that can help in handling the uncertain situations and addressing the short term needs. In context
to leaders, they need to boost the morale of their employees and increasing employee's
productivity at the time of pandemic. The company need to practice and implement such changes
in order to develop plans for the changing scenario. The managers and leaders need to implement
changes in order to deal with the situations which involves communicating in a frequent manner,
bringing innovations which involves digitalisation, partnering with strategic alliances and
bringing resilient leadership in action.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that there is a massive change and difference
in two organisations when it comes to leading change. Both the organisations faced a lot of
challenges at the time of covid which could be analysed with the help of various analysis. In
context to organisations, both were affected due to various challenges and problems. The report
also helps in understanding the management and leadership of the company. In addition to that it
helps in understanding the organisation's needs and leading to change in behaviour and policies
for the purpose to handle and deal with these situations. In order to solve the issues and increase
the productivity, wholistic approach and Kotter's Change model is used.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Boyle, T. and Wilkinson, J., 2018. Two worlds, one site: leading practices and transitions to
school. Journal of educational administration and history, 50(4), pp.325-342.
Brazer, S.D., Bauer, S.C. and Johnson, B.L., 2018. Leading schools to learn, grow, and thrive:
Using theory to strengthen practice. Routledge.
Bryson, J.M., Barberg, B., Crosby, B.C. and Patton, M.Q., 2021. Leading social transformations:
Creating public value and advancing the common good. Journal of Change Management, 21(2),
pp.180-202.
Kennedy, K.J., 2021. ‘Leading for Civic Learning’: Principals and Teachers Preparing Students
for Civic Engagement. In Civic Engagement in Changing Contexts (pp. 83-96). Springer,
Singapore.
Leavy, B., 2019. Nathan Furr: Leading transformation, empowered by behavioral science
models. Strategy & Leadership.
Najjoum, G.H., 2020. Bank managers and technological advancement: case of a leading bank in
the Lebanese market.
Smart, S., 2018. Leading through change. Australian Ageing Agenda, (May/June 2018), p.33.
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Introduction
Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of people by making them strive
voluntarily towards attainment of organisational goals and objectives. Leadership plays a very
important part in any company or industry and while implementing changes, effective leadership
allows the company to reduce the impact of the factors that can create a negative impact on the
operations of the company. In this report it will focus on the case study of ASDA. Moreover, it
involves the various barriers for change and how the leadership helps in utilization of the force
field analysis and to analyse the resisting and forces and drivers.
MAIN BODY
PART – 2
Brief introduction of the case study of the organisation
In context to ASDA, the organisation had to implement various changes in the company
due to the COVID-19 situation and pandemic. The changes impacted and influenced the overall
working of the company and created a impact in modifying the various activities. Moreover, the
pandemic situation created a negative impact resulted in decrease in customer base(Grootenboer,
2018).
Discussing and implementing force field analysis to determine both drivers and resistance forces
and how they influence decision making.
There are various challenges and barriers to change that a company had to deal. All these
challenges created a barrier between achievement of objectives. These issues impacted the
overall decision making of leadership(Pettit, Croxton and Fiksel, 2019).In context to ASDA, the
covid pandemic resulted in various barriers. Some of these issues involved the following:
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Lack of Experience: In context to organisation, the managers and leaders were not experienced
in order to tackle the uncertain situations. This resulted in causing a disruption in the process of
communication which lead to delay in implementation of the necessary changes. This also
resulted in influencing the overall decision making process leading to ineffective implementation
of plans and low productivity.
Negative employee attitude: In context to ASDA, the managers of the company faced the
situation of negative employee attitude while developing strategies and procedures to work from
home in order to follow the protocols of COVID-19. This resulted in creating a negative impact
on the decision making process and developing various strategies for the objective to enhance the
engagement of employees(Grice, 2021).
Lack of involvement by employees in change process: In context to ASDA, the leaders and
managers faced major issues in involving the employees in the decision making process at the
time of COVID-19 situation. This resulted in making the process of decision making tough and
leading to creating hurdles in the communication and productivity with employees of the
company.
Ineffective Communication: Communication is the process of exchange of information and
ideas among people. In context to ASDA, the organisation had to face problems in the
communication process while implementing change in the company. This resulted in reducing
efficiency and miscommunication of the valuable data and information. Such issues results in
impacting the overall decision making process of the leaders.
Implementing force field analysis:
The force field analysis helps in providing the company assistance while making business
decisions. In context to organisations, the analysis works in relation to the change management,
strategic planning and implementation of management. In context to ASDA, the organisation's
framework allows the company to identify the forces which are in against or favour of the
decisions.
Force Field Analysis of ASDA:
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