Strategic Management Report: Change Management at EnQuest PLC

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of strategic management practices within EnQuest PLC, a UK-based oil and gas company. It begins by identifying the required changes within the organization, particularly in human resource management and technological advancements. The report then explores change implementation models, emphasizing the importance of diagnosing human resistance and considering leadership styles. It examines the contemporary role of leadership and management in driving successful change, highlighting the significance of leadership support, communication, and motivation. The report also discusses the challenges encountered during change management, including planning, lack of consensus, employee resistance, and communication breakdowns. Furthermore, it presents problem-solving techniques, such as Osborn's creative problem-solving method, to address these challenges. Finally, the report recommends the adoption of Kotter's 8-Step Change Model for effective change implementation within EnQuest PLC.

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Strategic Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Identification of required change.....................................................................................................3
Change implementation model........................................................................................................4
The contemporary role of leadership and management...................................................................5
Challenges in change management..................................................................................................6
Problem solving techniques.............................................................................................................8
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Managing change can be identified as one of the most important management tasks to
meet the organisational goals and objectives to attain long-term sustainability in a target market
(Have, 2017). In this particular study, the change management practice of EnQuest PLC, a
United Kingdom-based oil and gas producing company, has been described identifying the
required changes to achieve the corporate objectives (Enquest.com, 2017). The study also
elaborates the criteria that will be useful to draw the most appropriate change implementation
model for EnQuest PLC. Furthermore, the study examines the contemporary role of leadership
and management in case of performing successful change management.
Besides, the paper discusses the challenges that have been dealt by the modern leadership
regarding issues of sustainability, ethics, and corporate social responsibility. By evaluating the
challenges in the business environment, the study further describes the problem-solving
techniques that must be taken into account by the management of EnQuest PLC in order to
implement the change management process swiftly. After illustrating the problem-solving
techniques, some recommendations have been lined up in the study to be followed by the
management of EnQuest PLC to address the change models.
Identification of required change
In the contemporary business environment of EnQuest PLC, identification of changes
required and the change solutions to be utilised by the corporation have been presented in the
study. In order to meet the organisational objectives of EnQuest PLC, changes in the human
resource management can be identified as one of the leading aspects accelerating the process of

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organisational change management. Precisely, EnQuest PLC is going through a transition in
terms of human resources (Enquest.com, 2017). Most of the senior engineers have to be replaced
as they are going to retire sooner. Therefore, in order to fill the boots of the senior engineers, the
management must identify best recruitment strategies to perform the transition within the
company.
Furthermore, over the last decade or so, technological advancement has fuelled the
foundation of technological changes. In the recent time, the entire oil and gas exploration
projects can be monitored via using VSAT technology and internet. In 2017, the total work
orders of EnQuest PLC have to be reviewed and the production levels must be monitored using
modern satellite monitoring techniques and the internet. Therefore, the management of EnQuest
PLC must implement the change instead of remaining static (Enquest.com, 2017). Moreover,
inhospitable environment and evolving drivers in the businesses must be reviewed time to time
by the management of EnQuest PLC to avoid any market-related risks.
Change implementation model
Before applying the change implementation model, identifying of the criteria must be
taken into account. First of all, diagnosing human resistance towards the change can be identified
as one of the vital points. Most of the cases, the efforts to change have been diluted due to
employee resistance. Although managers are aware of the importance of analysing the change
resistance, they have ignored to assess the circumstances (Greener and Hughes, 2016). Instead of
thorough assessment, the managers have preferred to tackle the scenario by following previous
experience and guidelines. As a matter of the fact, the implementation of change model has to
deal with significant challenges in the form of employee resistance. Hence, to identify the reason

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behind the human resistance, an adequate analysis must be required. According to the research,
some of the basic reasons for change resistance are parochial self-interest, a misunderstanding
with the management, low set of change tolerance, and wrong assessments (Griffith, 2011).
Other than the change resistance, the style of leadership and management can be termed
as other criteria to be overviewed before selecting the change implementation model. Different
leadership styles such as autocratic, transactional, transformational, participative, and Laissez-
Faire create different types of impact on the human resources (Graetz, 2010). Depending on the
organisational infrastructure and business environment, leaders have followed distinct leadership
style and management techniques to influence and motivate the employees. Clearly, the outcome
of different leadership approaches will be different as well (Pollack, 2015). Hence, it is one of
the most formidable factors to be considered before choosing best change implementation model
out of the three i.e. Lewin’s Change Management Model, Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model, and
McKinsey 7-S Model. Each of the models follows different change management theories to
implement the best change model according to the need (Czichos, 2014).
The contemporary role of leadership and management
Change management is primarily driven by the top management and leadership of a firm.
Hence, change management implies that organisational leadership and management are
convinced about the inevitability of transformation. Precisely, successful change management
relies on the leadership as the organisational leaders have got the authority to implement and
execute change (Gill, 2012). In a contemporary business environment, support of the leaders is
mandatory to drive change in a successful order. First, leaders can be termed as the major
sponsor of a change management process. Therefore, by using their political capital leadership

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can advocate the change. In addition, leadership acts as a role model influencing the change
instruments. By demonstrating right behaviour and attitude towards change, leaders and
management have set the platform (Bush, 2015). Thus, self-awareness and deliberate approach
of leadership set examples to the rest of the human resources participating in the change
management process.
On the other hand, organisational leadership has to take the final call regarding change
management resources i.e. budget, equipment, and human resources to be involved. Invariably,
by selecting the best options supportive for the change initiative can increase the strength of the
process (Smid, van Hout and Burger, 2016). In the meanwhile, setting communication with the
rest of the change agents must be controlled by the leadership of a firm (Abbasi, 2017). Thus, the
ethics, corporate social responsibility, and primary targets to change management have been
retained during the process of change implementation. In terms of sharing change related
information, communication with the rest of the employees can determine the fate of the process.
Decisively, transparent and to the point, messages must be delivered to the human resources so
that relevancy of the process can be maintained (Gharehbaghi, 2012). Most importantly, the
leadership and management must deliver the motivation to change so that the organisational
human resource can fluently get involved in the change process. The engagement of leaders has
been essential to show the commitment and intent.
Challenges in change management
It is important to note that the change management team of an organisation needs to face
different challenges while planning, implementing and communicating the changes (Kirton,

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2013). On the basis of the change management principles, the four major challenges that will be
faced by the management of EnQuest PLC are discussed in details herein below:
 Planning: The step by step planning is a major challenge for initiating the identified
changes. It is important to note that a change in the organisation may lead to more
problems as compared to the benefits. The risk related to the changes must be identified
during the planning phase. There are several uncertainties that are unknown is nature and
cannot be forecasted (Have, 2017). For example, the change in the price of using
innovative technology and hiring new employees may lead to financial risk or failure of
budget for initiating the changed (Kirton, 2013). Hence, it is important for the
management to understand what exact changes are required and how to initiate those
changes after considering the major uncertainties in order to effectively plan the changes.
 Lack of Consensus: It is important for the change agent to note that failure of
convincing everyone in the organisation to corporate change may lead to the failure of
implementing the change. The decision of implementing the changes must come from the
top level executives of the organisation. Furthermore, the resistance of the top level
management may create problem during the planning phase (Diefenbach, 2017).
Therefore, it is important for the change management team to develop the mission and
vision that are to be attained by the identified changes to convince the top level
executives with the change process.
 Resistance of the employees: Resistance of the employees is another major problem for
the change management process. The employees feel comfortable with the ongoing
process of the business and new changes initiated by the management become difficult
for the employee to take up (Murthy, 2017). Furthermore, any major changes may disrupt

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the motivation level of the current workers and impact the organisational commitment.
Introduction of new employees and innovative technology will change the current
operations strategy that may create resistance among the old employees. Hence, it is
important for the top level management to involve the employees in the change process to
effectively initiate the changes.
 Communication: The failure of communicating the changes with the workers leads to
fear and rumours among the workforce. The rumours and fears mainly occur during the
time of major changes such as merger or downsizing (Murthy, 2017). Employees would
like to know what’s going on and whether the new change is beneficial or negative for
the workers (Alas and Vadi, 2016). Hence, it is important for the change management
team to effectively communicate the changes with the employees and make them aware
of the benefits of the proposed changes. The supportive of the employees is the key factor
for the successful implementation of the planned changes.
Problem solving techniques
Different problem solving techniques can be used by the management of EnQuest PLC to
identify and mitigate the issues of change process in the organisation. For instance, the Osborn’s
method of creative problem solving has been presented in the paper to solve the issues of change
process in EnQuest PLC (Shaw, 2015). The framework suggests the use of brainstorming and
creative thinking in solving the problems of change process. Hence, the Osborn method of
creative problem solving has been presented in details herein below:

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Figure: Creative Problem Solving Process: Osborn
Source: (Greef and Reinecke, 2013)
 Fact Finding
o Problem Definition: The problems related to the changes must be identified and
discussed with the higher level executives. Interviews and surveys can be
conducted to collect the feedback of the employees to effectively identify the
problems (Greef and Reinecke, 2013).
o Preparation: The collected data regarding the challenges of change management
must be analysed in order to know the current status of the proposed changes.
 Idea Finding

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o Idea Production: During the second phase, the change management team needs
to think up the ideas of mitigating the problems.
o Idea Development: During this phase, the change management team need to
select the most appropriate ideas to mitigate the problems of change process
(Greef and Reinecke, 2013).
 Solution Finding
o Evaluation: The identified ideas must be verified by discussing with the higher
level executives and taking the feedback of the lower level managers.
o Adoption: Finally, the problem solving strategies must be developed on the basis
of the evaluation of the identified solutions (Greef and Reinecke, 2013).
Recommendation
The management of EnQuest PLC is suggested to use the Kotter’s 8 Step Change
management model to implement the changes effectively. The explanation of the 8 steps of
Kotter’s change model has been presented herein below:
 Create urgency: Firstly, the management must focus on effectively planning the
identified changes and communicate the idea of change with the top level management to
get their approval (Campbell, 2014).
 Form powerful coalition: In the second phase, the management must focus on
developing a powerful change management team that can proceed with the planned
strategies (Lawrence, 2015).

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 Develop vision for change: In the third step, the change management team must develop
vision statement that portrays the future benefits of the changing the technology used by
the organisation and employing new workers (Lawrence, 2015).
 Communicate the vision: The fourth step is to communicate the vision with the different
level of employees. The benefits and drawbacks of the planned changes must be
communicated with the employees in order to motivate them towards the change
(Campbell, 2014). Effective communication of the changes will increase the employees’
participation in the change process that will ensure the success of the initiative.
 Remove obstacles: The fifth step is to identify the obstacles and remove them by
effective involvement of the stakeholders. The management must consider the
uncertainties and resistance to change process while planning the change. The
involvement of the primary stakeholders such as higher level executives, board of
directors and lower level employees can be helpful in mitigate the resistance among the
stakeholders towards the change (Campbell, 2014). Finally, it is recommended to the
management of EnQuest PLC to use effective problem solving techniques such as
brainstorming and critical thinking methods to mitigate the challenges of change process.
 Create short term wins: The management must set short term goals and objectives and
the short term progress must be evaluated to know whether the change management
system is going towards the right direction or not (Lawrence, 2015). If the changes are
found to be successful, the team must celebrate it with the entire organisation.
 Build on the change: In the next step, any drawbacks in the change management process
must be checked and rectified to avoid occurrence of such mistake in the future

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(Campbell, 2014). The change management team must set long term goals and continue
with the change process.
 Make the change permanent: In the final stage, the management must communicate the
outcomes of the change process with all members of the firm (Lawrence, 2015). Finally,
the management must develop long term plans to make the changes permanent.
Conclusion
By considering the above analysis, EnQuest PLC needs to make changes in the workforce
in order to solve the issue of retirement of well aged and experience engineers in the firm.
Additionally, the company needs to introduce innovative technology to improve its efficiency
and productivity. The implementation of the identified changes may lead to several challenges
that need to be met by using various change management models and effective problem solving
techniques. Conclusively, the management of EnQuest PLC must focus on stakeholder’s
involvement in the transformation process and better communication of the proposed changes in
order to successfully implement the alterations.