Organizational Change: Strategy, Leadership & Decision-Making

This report analyzes the impact of change on Marks & Spencer's strategy and operations, comparing it with TESCO. It evaluates how internal and external drivers of change influence organizational behavior, including individual, team, and leadership aspects. The report also examines barriers to change and their influence on leadership decision-making, applying various leadership approaches to change initiatives. It uses the PDCA model to minimize negative impacts of changes, emphasizing the importance of continuous improvement in response to technological advancements and increased competition. The analysis covers internal factors like organizational structure and communication, as well as external factors through PEST analysis, highlighting political, economic, social, and technological influences. This document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide array of study resources for students.

Understanding and
Leading Change

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Compare ways in which change impacts on an organisation’s strategy and operations.3
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................6
LO2 Evaluate the influences that drivers of change have on organizational behavior..........6
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................9
LO3 Determine how barriers to change influence leadership decision-making....................9
TASK 4 .......................................................................................................................................13
LO4 Apply a range of leadership approaches to a change initiative....................................13
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Change is a process under which something is done in a different manner. In present market,
because of changes in trends, fashion and lifestyle, it is very important to move with a flow. This
report is based upon Marks & Spencer which is a British luxurious fashion house (Dawson,
2019). It deals with fashionable clothes, fragrances, accessories, cosmetics, sunglasses, home
and food products. This report covers comparison between the ways in which changes affect
company's operations and strategies. It also evaluates the way under which external and internal
drivers of changes have an impact over team, leadership and individual behaviours within an
enterprise. It also includes measures that can be taken for minimising negative impacts of
changes upon organisational behaviour. This report also covers the ways in which barriers to
change can influence decision making of leadership. Different approaches of leadership are
applied to deal with organisational changes is also covered in this report.
TASK 1
LO1 Compare ways in which change impacts on an organisation’s strategy and operations.
Organisational change is a kind of alteration that takes place in a total working environment
(Huesing, Johnson and Ludema, 2019). Changes like technological change, political, changes in
competition, and so on have large impact over strategies and operations of an organisation. Here
is the comparison between two large organisations that deals in a same sector named, Marks &
Spencer and TESCO. Both these business entities deals in retail sector and the impact of changes
are explained in detail as follows-
Changes Marks & Spencer TESCO
Technological Change
Need
Changes in technology and
innovation have largely affected
the retail industry. Marks &
Spencer is affected to a large
extent by this change and for
lasting in a market for a long run,
it has to change its strategy and
operations in accordance. It has to
change its functioning for
Retail giant like TESCO is
highly affected by changes
taking place in technology and
innovation. These changes
affect this organisation by
decreasing its sales and revenue
and increase in number of
competitors. It is cooperating
with these changes for the

Strategy
Impact on Operations
increasing revenues and overall
efficiency of an organisation
(Marks and Spencer, 2019).
purpose of increasing sales,
revenues and to be more
competitive.
This organisation has adopted a
strategy to speed up its plan for
digital transformation. It is setting
out plans for improving its
website and in eliminating legacy
IT system with the help of
technology partnership with TCS,
which is a digital firm of
consultancy.
TESCO is using RFID tags for
the purpose of tracking
customers in its Cambridge
stores. Such electronic tags are
tested on the Gillette razor
blades and than send a message
to CCTV camera whenever a
shopper picks up a packet.
Due to changes in technology, the
business operations of this
enterprise has also changed like
the digital marketing team is
trained with latest technical skills.
It has also affected HR team as
training and development
programmes are also provided to
employees for effective
performance.
It has affected overall business
operations as these
technological changes required
trained technical team. For this
purpose, it had provided
training programmes to its
workers which helped them to
use latest techniques
appropriately (Dawson, 2019).
Structural Change
Need
These changes occur due to
changes prevailing in internal and
external environment. M&S has to
change their structure for the
purpose of becoming more
responsive to external forces
existing.
TESCO has been affected from
internal and external forces. It is
very important for retail
industry like TESCO to become
responsive to external and
internal forces and to enhance
competitive advantage.
Marks & Spencer has restructure This organisation has simplified

Strategy
Impact on Operations
its executive home and clothing
team in its UK departmental
stores. It has bought efficient
workers in sales and marketing
team to increase sales and to
improve its overall efficiency
(Huesing, Johnson, and Ludema,
2019).
its operational structure for
improving its efficiency. It has
removed its the role of people,
compliance and customer
compliance manager and 900
new roles are developed. This
new structure has removed any
kind of complexity existing and
helps in delivering simple and
helpful experience to workers
and customer.
The structural changes has
affected the operations of M&S to
a large extent. For facing the
structural changes, this
organisation has started giving
discounts and offers to attract
large number of customers.
This structural change has
affected the TESCO and its
operations. This enterprise is
recruiting new employees and
conducting training and
development programmes for its
employees.
Assess the different drivers for change.
Change creates and develops the company into a learning organization that helps in
expanding its capacity to create better future as well as learning new ways of doing things. This
will help to adopt and survive in changing environments and accomplish the potential of business
(Bucciarelli, 2015). Change drivers are of two kinds such as internal and external. Internal
change factors are difficult but have more control over the changes, it includes the resources,
capabilities, desire, inventions. Whereas, external changes are not easy to manage which
includes competition, technology, customers, government etc.
Types of organizational change:-

Transformational change: A firm change in underlying strategies and processes that has used in
the past for alteration in the business culture of a company. In the context of M&S, company
plan a sustainable living to achieve change through brand, innovation, operations and sourcing.
Remedial change: It can be knowing to remedy actual problems to improve the poor performance
or deficiency (Fitzgerald, and et.al., 2021). For example financial distress. The M&S, focused
on training in a proper manner to reduce the deficiencies and poor performance.
TASK 2
LO2 Evaluate the influences that drivers of change have on organizational behavior.
Changes in internal and external factors has affected the functioning of Marks and Spencer and
TESCO to a large extent. Organisations need to go with a flow in accordance with a changes
prevailing in market in order to stay competitive. These forces has affected working of an
individual alone and in team and it also facilitates leadership.
Internal Factors:
Organisational Structure- Changes in organisational structure affect the organisation to a large
extent and on the basis of these changes, an enterprise operates its activities. The organisation
structure followed by M&S and TESCO is simple and easy to understand by employees of these
retail enterprises. Because of this, individuals perform in an appropriate manner and it also
enhances the performance of team (Bastin, 2019). It also reduces the burden of leaders as they
need not to explain organisation structure again and again.
Communication- For an effective overall performance of an organisation, it is important that
there is proper flow of communication between workers and managers. The communication
between leaders and subordinates in M&S and TESCO is appropriate which helps in exchanging
ideas and opinions. It facilitates performance of individuals working in a team in a more proper
manner and they can openly express their ideas without any hesitation (Cheung, and et.al.,
2021). It also helps leaders in putting their point of view in front of workers in a more
appropriate manner.
External Factors
PEST Analysis
PEST Analysis is referred as a framework which is utilised for analysing and monitoring
external forces that affect organisational functions and operations. It consists of four factors

Political, economical, social and technological that has impact over leadership, team and
individual behaviours which is explained in detail as follows-
Political- These factors are the degree up to which government intervenes in an economy or a
particular industry. Political conditions of UK is stable and it has positive impact over
functioning of retail sector (Loi, Lei, and Lourenço, 2021). Due to stable political factors, there
is less government interferences in Marks & Spencer and TESCO which facilitates smooth
functioning of organisation. As individuals are made aware about political policies than they
have knowledge regarding code of conduct which helps them in achieving organisational
objectives (Grossman, 2019). It also reduces the burden of leaders as they do not need to
formulate these policies again and again.
Economical- The impact of fluctuation in foreign currency over export and import aspect of
trade is managed by company's awareness and knowledge. The current economic condition of
UK is good which has positive impact over productivity and efficiency of both M&S and
TESCO. Because of this, individual working in both of these organisations are paid good salary
which motivates them towards achieving business objectives (Curran and Hesmondhalgh,
2019). The workers working in a team are able to execute a task on time within a given budget
due to good conditions of an economy. Moreover, leaders are also able to motivate employees
towards achieving their goals by rewarding them which results in improved leadership and
positive outcome.
Social- M&S and TESCO understands the changes in tastes, preferences and trends of customers
and produce products accordingly. Rapid changes in fashion has affected the functioning of retail
organisations like TESCO and M&S. It has increased the burden of team and individuals itself as
they have to indulge themselves into an appropriate market research to identify the needs and
preferences of customers. It has also increased the role of a leader as proper guidance is needed
to guide employees regarding new trends and fashion.
Technological- Changes in technology has affected retail industry of United Kingdom to a large
extent. Technological changes are taking place in UK on rapid basis and M&S and TESCO is
implementing these changes and producing goods in accordance (Harvey, and Kayes, 2021).
With increased technology, leaders of these organisations motivates its workers to work in a
dynamic environment with latest techniques and tools. Leaders have to develop training and
development programmes to enhance the technical skills of employees to cope with changing

technology. Behaviour of individuals is positively affected by changes in technology as they are
getting an opportunity to learn new set of skills. Overall performance of team is also improved
by implementing new techniques and it also reduces possibility of errors.
Measures to minimise negative impact of change
When any kind of changes takes place in a market, it affects the functioning of an organisation in
both negative as well as positive ways. There are various measures that can be taken to reduce
negative impact of changes taken place on organisational behaviour. It is explained more
appropriately with the help of PDCA model.
PDCA Model- This model is a project planning tool that is used to minimise the negative affect
of changes upon organisation structure and behaviour (What is plan-do-check-act cycle, 2019). It
is a four stages model which is utilised for continuous improvement and for carrying out changes
within an business enterprise (Waterhouse, and Mann, 2021). It is needed to bring again and
again for improving the functioning continuously. Currently, technological changes are taking
place on rapid basis in United Kingdom which is creating problem to Marks & Spencer as it is
not able to properly cope with changing environment. Moreover, there is increase in number of
competitors who are using latest innovation and techniques for its goods and services which is
acting as a threat for this organisation.
Plan- It means recognizing an opportunity and planning a change accordingly. In order to face
any kind of changes prevailing in market, Marks & Spencer can evaluate information which is
relevant for planning for changes that are needed to bought into action for current technical
changes prevailing in market (Green and Daniels, 2019).
Do- After preparing an adequate plan, the next step needed for continuous improvement is Do
phase in which an effective solution towards a specific problem is implemented and its result is
than compared with planned performance. Marks & Spencer can develop a solution to a current
technical changes existing in market and than implement it.
Check- After planning and implementing an effective solution to a specific problem, the next
step is to confirm results and outcome by comparing between before and after data. Here the
actual result is compared with the planned outcome in order to find out appropriate measures that
can be taken to improve technology and innovation while producing goods and services
(Winmill, Kasper, and Koyama, 2021).

Act- This process includes documenting results, informing others about changes in process and
making recommendations for a specific problem needed to be addressed. In this last stage, plans
and strategies for technical changes are executed in an appropriate manner to execute a plan in an
effective manner.
Marks & Spencer can utilise PDCA model to improve the overall performance of an
organisation and brought necessary changes in a business enterprise as per changes prevailing in
external and internal environment (Hoang, and et.al., 2021). It can make an appropriate plan to
cope with changing technical environment and than effective solution is implemented for that
change. After that it is compared with with performance that plans are executed in a proper
manner.
Evaluate the organizational change response apply appropriate theories and models.
To identifying the response of change the company use Lewin's change management
model. It is the most effective model that used to understand the organizational and structural
change. Lewin noted that majority of people who tend to prefer and operates the changes within
safety zones. Splitting the change process into three categories i.e. unfreezing, change and
refreezing (Hayes, 2018). M&S used this model in the following way by unfreezing the change it
includes the preparation of change process. This should be initiated through motivation. After
that for successfully change, adequate leadership and reassurance is must as well as
communicating with all members of team regularly. This will helps in providing right direction.
At last changes has been accepted successfully the company become stable again and staff get
confidence and comfortable of the acquired changes. The negative aspects of this model is
difficult to change the directions of process and it is time consuming also because steps cannot
be ignored. Sometimes, it leads to wrong assumptions also.
Conclusion and recommendations with valid justification.
Planning for change management is essential, it helps in determining the reasons, impacts
on strategies and operations as well as studied the change drivers. Internal drivers will help
M&S to manage their resources, capital etc. that is used to more control over the business
activities (Du, and et.al., 2021). External drivers like competitors, technology, governments etc.
will help in knowing the outside environment. To provide recommendations in favour of M&S’s
are: company puts their efforts to reducing or removing the negative impacts and barriers for
implementing the changes. Although the company effectively convey the changes to their

members and discuss their impacts along with benefits, it helps in motivating team to achieve
desirable goals.
TASK 3
LO3 Determine how barriers to change influence leadership decision-making.
While working in a wide market, each organisation faces various barriers such as lack of
financial resources, resistance in employees, etc. to implement any change effectively. (Nagorny-
Koring, 2019) Technological changes are taking place on rapid basis which has large impact
over functioning of retail giant like Marks & Spencer. In order to cope with technical changes
prevailing in market, this organisation is adopting significant measures to face changes by
indulging in technical programmes. It has recently announced technology transformation
programmes which will help it to stay in market for a longer period and increase its competitive
advantage (Kotlar and Chrisman, 2019). This will enable this retail enterprise to be a digital first
business and in delivering an improvement in customer's experience. For evaluating factors
which can influence strategies and plans that are adopted to make changes, Force field analysis is
developed to provide description regarding restraining forces and driving factors. It can be utilise
by M&S to analyse requirements needed to make changes.
Driving Factors: Such factors provides a force to a business enterprise to adopt a change for
achieving goals and targets easily. In this case, technical advancement and UK's social culture
can be considered as a driving factor that prefers using latest innovative techniques. Because of
these technological changes existing in UK market provides a basis for Marks & Spencer to
adopt such changes for achieving overall objectives of this organisation. Due to increase in
demand of technical products and services, Marks & Spencer had recently announced technology
transformation programme which will help in improving customers experience. This
organisation has also developed its management structure for providing maximum customer
satisfaction (Colori, and et.al., 2021). Here, leadership plays a significant role to analyse attitude
and behaviour of workers so that there is proper implementation for new change is done. Leaders
are responsible to motivate employees and make them understand clearly about changes existing
in a organisational structure. It is the responsibility of leaders to provide guidelines to workers
and train them effectively to implement the necessary changes.

Restraining Forces: This creates certain restrictions for adopting and implementing changes.
Restraining forces are basically related with difficulties created by external and internal forces
such as unskilled workers, limited resources, lack of employee engagement, complex laws, and
so on. These factors either results in resist or hinder changes (Janfada and Beckett, 2019). In this,
leaders plays a significant part to deal with restraining forces by maintaining coordination
between activities of business which creates a balance between organisational objectives and
individual. Leaders of Marks & Spencer always motivates its workers towards benefits of new
change and changes made are always after the consent of workers of this organisation for the
purpose of implementing tasks effectively.
Adopting a change is a complex procedure as it is not possible for each individual to
accept the changes in a positive way. Thus, it become essential for leaders to take such decision
that limits the chances of creating any kind of conflicts among workforce. The main barriers
which are faced while implementation of a change and its affect upon decision making of
leadership are discussed as follows-
Negative Attitude of employees: Lack of understanding about positive aspects of changes may
create negative attitude among workforce that can make them ineffective (Saleh, 2019). So, it is
essential that decision regarding changes taken place after knowing the consent of workers. Here,
leaders should play a significant role in putting efforts for making employees aware regarding
positive aspects of changes (Terlouw, and et.al.,2021). For dealing with barriers and problems of
negative attitude of employees, an appropriate decision making procedure has applied by Marks
& Spencer's leaders that includes appropriate strategies for providing relevant information about
changes taken place to employees.
Improper Communication Strategy: Lack of adequate communication strategy can create a
negative situation and conflicts between employees which makes it difficult to apply any
changes through managers. For formulating an adequate decision making procedure, it is
important for an organisation to have effective leadership and for this it is very important to
maintain a proper communication between superiors and subordinates. Leaders are responsible to
provide timely information to employees about changes made. Leaders of Marks & Spencer can
use proper channel of communication for reducing conflicts among employees and to make them
understand about benefits of changes in a better way.

These barriers faced by leaders of every organisation at time of implementing changes
can be reduced with the help of appropriate decision making process and proper communication.
Review of change
All barriers that restrict the implementation of changes are handles by Marks & Spencer
from time to time which results in successfully implementation of technical and organisational
changes (Wang and et. al., 2019). The technology transformation programme which is about to
launch by this organisation will simplify technology supplier base and enhance customer
satisfaction.
Analysing the influences use force field analysis.
Force field analysis:- It provides the framework for identifying the forces which
influence a situation. This model is used when an issue is assist in equilibrium by the interaction
between two anti sets of forces those attempt to driving and restraining forces (NHS England,
2016). Driving change means promote changes and restraining forces attempts to maintain the
position.
In the context of M&S, force field analysis can adopt to changes in appropriate manner.
This model will help manager of a company in defining the benefits of identifying and
implementing changes. There are two type of forces:- driving and restraining force. For M&S, if