Leading Change: Strategies of Victoria's Secret and Ann Summers Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of change management within the context of Victoria's Secret and Ann Summers, two prominent companies in the women's apparel and beauty industry. The report begins by comparing the strategic and operational impacts of change on both organizations, considering social factors, competition, and business growth. It then delves into the internal and external drivers of change, examining their influence on individual employees, teams, and leadership. The report further explores various barriers to change and their effects on leadership decision-making, discussing leadership approaches to initiate change within the organization. The analysis utilizes the Impact Analysis model proposed by Bohner and Arnold to assess the impact of change, covering traceability, dependence, and experiential aspects. Overall, the report provides insights into effectively leading change, offering frameworks and tools for understanding and implementing changes within organizations.

Understanding and leading change

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK1.............................................................................................................................................3
P1. Comparing different organisations where there has been an impact on organisations
strategy and operations...........................................................................................................3
P2. Internal and external drivers of change............................................................................7
P3. Measures required to minimise the negative impact of change behaviour in an
organisation. ..........................................................................................................................9
TASK2...........................................................................................................................................11
P4. Different barriers for change and determine their influence on leadership decision making.
..............................................................................................................................................11
TASK3...........................................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................22
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................23

INTRODUCTION
Understanding and leading change prepares participants to overcome the obstacles that
come with initiating and implementing change. Leading other through change effectively is an
essential leadership capability because it allows organisations to accelerate change initiatives and
involves entire organisation in identifying and implementing changes. Organisations undertaken
in this report is Victoria secret which was founded in 1977 and deals in women clothing and
beauty products. Another organisation taken for comparing changes is Ann Summers which was
founded in 1970 which deals in women clothing. In this report, impact of change on
organisations strategy and operations is explained by comparing two organisations. It further
evaluates the drivers of change on organisational behaviour. This also determines the various
barriers of change which influences leadership decision making. For initiative change in an
organisation, it uses various leadership approaches.
TASK1
P1. Comparing different organisations where there has been an impact on organisations strategy
and operations.
Understanding and leading change has become permanent characteristic of business
organisation. To overcome the challenges of change management, organisations have become
more sophisticated in the practice of the changes (Aguirre and Alpern, 2014). The main benefits
of understanding and leading changes are that it gives greater awareness of change in the life of
an organisation and provides frameworks and tools to initiate and implement changes.
Organisation taken for comparison are Victoria secret and Ann summers and both deals in
women apparels. Women's taste and preferences changes very rapidly and fashion industry is
very dynamic and must have the ability to deal with such changes. In this, drivers for change is:
 Social: This is concerned with the needs and wants of customers as their taste changes
very quickly and organisation must have the ability to deal with such changes. Also these
changes are uncontrollable as they are external to the business organisation.
 Competition and Business growth: To increase the profitability, goodwill, etc. which
will contribute in overall business growth, organisation will focus on minimising cost of
production, adopt strategies which will increase their customer base. Due to increase in
competition in retail sector has forced organisations to adopt innovative techniques.

The women fashion and apparel industry has significantly evolved and the pervasive
dynamics have forced retailers to hope for low cost and flexibility in design, quality and speed of
market, to maintain profitable stability in the increasing market demand. With this change in
fashion industry of women, it impacted both the organisation to deal with such changes
effectively and efficiently. Retailers will have to produce quickly innovative clothes with unique
designs so that they can meet the changing demands of customers. Today's fashion market is
highly competitive and the continual need to refresh the stock means that there is inevitable
move by many retailers to extend the number of seasons which means the frequency with which
the entire merchandise in store is changed. These changes will have impact on strategies as they
are made for long term durations so instead this short-term strategies are to be made (Alvesson
and Sveningsson, 2015). They must be like sense and respond strategy which will be useful in
forecasting and immediately accepting the changes. Similarly, operation management of the
organisation will be affected by the changes and they will have impact on various policies and
programs set by them. Therefore, Victoria secret and Ann summers will implement changes in its
strategies and operations in the following manner discussed below:
Driver for changes Victoria secret Ann summers
Impact of social , competetion
and business growth drivers of
changes in organisations
strategies
For coping up with the
changes, this company will use
various strategies like:
Promotional strategies:
Every organisation uses
promotional strategies for
promoting their products and
changed services. Earlier the
company used mass media
promotional strategy which
means it advertises itself on
television, magazines, radio,
films, etc. but now because
Victoria secret is a premium
brand so uses another
Various strategies used by this
company to overcome the
problem of dealing with
changes are:
Promotional strategies:
Earlier the organisation uses
traditional form of advertising
to grab customer attention but
with the changes in the
strategies for implementing
changes quickly they will use
promotional techniques like
digital marketing which will be
beneficial in targeting people
by promoting its changed

technique to deal with changes
like online advertising and
social media as they are the
great way to communicate
about the changes in fashion
trends to the public. Adverting
online through banner ads,
keywords, social media, etc.
Also, by using social networks
like Facebook, twitter, etc. will
be very useful technique in
promoting the company.
Pricing strategies: Before
implementing changes, the
company used the premium
pricing strategies but with
changes, have effect on prices
as well and retailers are forced
to keep cost low so for this
purpose organisation will use
penetration pricing strategies
to capture large market share.
services and products through
company websites, mobile
promotions, using you tube
channels, etc.
Pricing strategies: This
organisation used pricing
strategies like skimming
pricing methods but due to
highly competitive
environment and overcome the
challenges, it adopted the
psychology and bundling
strategies so that they can sells
its products and deals with
changing fashion industry.
Impact of changes in business
growth, competetion driver
and social drivers for change
influences the operations of
the company
Before implementing changes,
the organisation used
traditional methods of
productions but for
accomplishing successful
execution of changes, it uses
various innovative methods for
quick production of women
Earlier company focussed
more on labour intensive
techniques but implementing
changes with minimum time
required the company to adopt
capital intensive techniques
because labour techniques are
time consuming. Apart from

apparels. Apart from this, they
will hire specialised fashion
designers who can design
unique clothes for women at
affordable prices.
this, it also focussed more on
providing training and
guidance to the people to
implement change effectively.
Bohner and Arnold change impact analysis
Impact Analysis model for changes was proposed by Bohner and Arnold which is a
quantitative research method which is concerned with the impact of an error have on other parts
of the plan. This deals with investigating the possible consequences of a change within a
complex product development (Anderson, 2016). This will result in the improvements of the
requirements. The various types of impact analysis are discussed below:Traceability: This
variant established connection between requirements, specifications, design, elements and test. In
this people understand the impact of changes and enables teams to respond more rapidly and
accurately. For instance, organisation will asses and trace the demands of the market which will
be useful for them in identifying which techniques to be used, what kind of products are to be
manufactured, etc.Dependence: In this, links and connections between parts and variables
become clear. When it is understood in advance that who and what are dependent then it gives
clear picture of effects on changes. For instance, after analysing and tracing the demands and
needs of people, organisation will focus on factors which are dependent on one another. This will
help them in maintaining the balance between the supply and demand, also increasing sale is
dependent on promotions to attract customers by using various techniques like advertisements.
Experiential: Its emphasis on the fact that impacts of changes are strongly connected to how
experts will experience this. Therefore, a team will be able to predict and determine the
consequences of changes. For instance, organisation will experiment the product before finally
publishing it into the market. For this purpose they can conduct market testing and through
survey and feedback forms can analyse whether the customers liked their new designs or not.
P2. Internal and external drivers of change.
Driver for change are those factors which brings change in the whole industry. These
forces induce industry players to modify their actions due to which industry changes (Bascia and
Hargreaves, 2014). Victoria secret will face various drivers for change while implementing

changes. They investigate the important worldwide issues and trends which are responsible for
driving changes in society and market. Victoria secret will have both internal and external
drivers which will have influence on individual, team and leadership.
Internal drivers of changes
 Employee morale: The level of confidence and strength of a person is crucial for the
Victoria Secret. If they will not be motivated towards their company then it will lead the
organisation in reducing sales. So, companies must initiate in programs which will
motivate people which will be useful for accomplishing goals and objectives.
 Organisational culture: This defines the systematic study of behaviour and attitude of
individual and group towards the Victoria secret. For forward looking companies, they
must focus on individual and group behaviours, listen to their issues and always embrace
change.
 Poor delivery: Ineffective or poor service of delivery is the main problem in every
organisation and it impacts the bottom line and profit margins of the company.
External drivers for changeEconomy: There is a direct relationship between economic
environment and business of Victoria secret (Coghlan and Shani, 2015). The fluctuations in
deflation, inflation, recession will impact the financial stability and profitability of the
company.Political: These forces are linked with the stability of the country and government. If
government is unstable then it will become difficult for the Victoria secret to implement change
effectively because the policies of the country will fluctuate rapidly. Technology: It is one of the
most important external driver for change because it includes innovations and better techniques
of converting the resources into final product. It also helps in performing the functions
effectively and cost efficiently (Doppelt, 2017).
These drivers of changes have a significant effect on individual, team and leadership in
an organisations which are discussed below:
Drivers for change
(Social, business
growth and
competition)
Individual Team Leadership
Internal These drivers for
change affect the
These forces if
properly handled then
In case of internal
drivers, leaders will

psychological aspects
of the individual. It
helps them to think
deeper and provide
various solutions for
overcoming the
changes. They will be
able to think according
to the perspective of
the customers and
their needs.
have a favourable
impact on the team. It
includes effective
communications,
conflict resolutions,
etc.
opt for democratic
leadership style which
will be useful to them
in taking suggestions
and ideas from the
people and they will
also feel positive and
attentive. For instance,
leader will take
suggestions based on
which methods of
production are most
appropriate while
working.
External It will have negative
impact on individual
as they alone cannot
deal with the forces of
external environment
and it also needs high
level of knowledge
and abilities (Yoder-
Wise, 2014). it is very
difficult for single
person to deal with
competition and
maintain business
growth all alone
because it will create
burden and pressure.
It will give an
opportunity to the
members of team to
deal with the changes
through external
drivers. For instance,
implementing
innovative production
methods of production
will help in
maximising the
efficiency and
reducing the cost of
production. This in
turn will be useful in
competing and
contributes in overall
In this, leader will opt
for autocratic
leadership style. This
is because changes in
external environment
requires quick
responses and so
leaders will take
decisions on their own
without taking
suggestions and
advices from the
people. For instance,
rapid changes in social
trends requires quick
modification in styles
and designs and leader

business growth. can hire specialist
designers without
taking peoples advice.
P3. Measures required to minimise the negative impact of change behaviour in an organisation.
Generally, people resist changes because they become flexible with the ongoing working
practices and methods (Espedal, 2017). It becomes very important to make them understand
about the importance of accepting changes and relevant measures will be taken by Victoria secret
to minimise the negative impact of change behaviour in an organisation. Following are the
measures discussed below:
 Creating a culture of learning: Leaders and managers of organisation must focus on
creating and developing a culture of learning (Glass and Cook, 2016). In this individual
will be able to take challenges by learning effective training and leadership skills.
 Effective communication: Developing effective communication strategies such that it
will make clear vision and mission to the people. Employees will be known about what
has to do for accomplishing goals (Hillson and Murray-Webster, 2017). Leaders act as a
link between communicating subordinated problems to the top management and vision
and mission of top management to the sub ordinates.Training: Leaders must provide
training and guidance to the people so that they can work for accomplishing
organisational goals and objectives.Motivation: It is very important to motivate people
either financially or non-financially. Every individual need motivation either in form of
rewards, incentives, bonuses, etc. or appraisal, transfer, recognition, etc. When people
will be motivated then they will work with full zeal and confidence for accomplishing
organisational goals and objectives.
Lewin's change model
This is a model of change management created in 1950 by Kurtz Lewin. It is one of the
most popular approach of change management and Lewin recognised that people prefer the safe
and secure zone to work (Iveroth and Hallencreutz, 2015). There are 3 stages in this model which
are discussed below:Unfreeze: Under this stage, organisation realises the need for implementing
change. It identifies people who resist changes and in order to overcome this situation is unfreeze

by providing effective motivation to the people so that they can accept the change. For instance,
using innovative methods in production so that business growth can be enhanced can put
pressure on people about how to use technical and innovative equipments and they may resist to
accept the changes. This requires effective training so that they feel the importance of
implementing changes and using equipments effectively. Change: This is the stage, in which
change is enforced with effective leadership and support is required for the process to be
successful. Apart from this, it also necessitates the regular communication and training to the
people. At this stage, change is actually implemented and executed in the company. People in
organisation will be able to learn the effective impact of changes and accepts it. Refreeze: After
people understands the needs for change and it has implemented successfully then individuals
working in an organisation refreezes the situation as they now work under new guidelines. And
this stage, will adopt the new ways of working in the company by accepting the new methods of
production for enhancing business growth and dealing with competition (Lewin’s Change Model,
2018).
Source : Kurtz Lewin Change Model. 2018
Illustration 1: Kurtz Lewin Change Model. 2018

TASK2
P4. Different barriers for change and determine their influence on leadership decision making.
Every organisation is concerned with implementing changes in the system because this
will bring improvement and maintenance in the operation and production department of the
Victoria secret on regular basis (Lawrence, 2015). No matter how much important the change is
but it will be difficult for an organisation to implement the planned strategic changes
successfully if there are barriers or obstacles of changes exist.
Force Field Analysis
This method was developed by Kurtz Lewin in which a team or on organisation can
analyse in advance what the expected resistance will be to the proposed change. For instance,
change implemented in Victoria secret is related to fashion and people may resist because it
includes lot of time and effort to think and research about the people’s needs and demand to
make unique designs so that they can compete in the market. Using this process will help in
identifying various methods for resisting changes like inoperative process and structures,
negative attitudes, insufficient knowledge and skills (Wagner, 2016). It helps in identifying
possible obstacles, driving and restraining forces and analysing preconditions.
Factors against change Factors in favour of change
Some times for implementing change in the
company can be difficult as they may have to
bear heavy cost like new machine for better
production can incur heavy cost .
Customers are pervasive in nature and want
new and unique products continuously. This is
the social driver for change which forces
companies to understand the need and
requirement of changes.
Environmental impact on new techniques and
equipments can be negative because sometimes
the implemented technique may pollute
environment, wild life or natural resources.
It also raises the volume of output which
contributes in increasing sales by minimising
cost. As organisation will use new methods of
production and manufacturing which will helps
in minimising the cost and contributes in
business growth by maximising the
profitability.
There may be disruption due to lack of skilled With improvement in speed of production,

workers, inability of leader to provide effective
training, etc. because people resist to accept the
changes and if leader is not able to provide
them adequate guidance than the company will
not be able to compete in the market and in
turn this will hamper the business growth.
sales also increase which contributes in
maximising the profit and is advantageous in
the overall growth of the business.
Source : Force Field Analysis. 2018
The most common barrier which Victoria secret will face are discussed below:
 Lack of employee involvement: Employees always fear and resist to accept changes
until and unless they are involved in the change process. When organisation fails to
involve employees in the change process then this rise the feeling of unknown threat, lack
of desire to appreciate new culture and becomes a strong obstacle in barrier to change.
This will also influence the decisions of leadership as they will have to create
environment of employee involvement by encouraging people to understand the
importance of change.
Illustration 2: Force Field Analysis. 2018

 Lack of effective communication strategy: It is very important that before
implementing change, Victoria secret must communicate the policies, procedures,
methods and importance of change to the people (NHS England, 2016). If leaders directly
inform the employees to accept the change without communicating them that how this
will affect them and organisation then this will become a barrier in the company.
 Unknown current state: Introducing and implementing change without organising an
assessment and understanding the programme of the organisation is a common tradition
of organisations. Leaders of such organisation does not realize that the non-
accomplishment to examine the present organisations pattern will cause barrier to the
change that they want to implement.
 Organisations complexity: When Victoria secret develops complexities like complex
processes, products and systems which contributes to barrier for change because they are
difficult to understand for the members of the organisation. In such cases leader will be
responsible for implementing such process which will diligent, high quality approaches,
etc. which will be useful in managing complexities (Van der Voet and et. al., 2015).
 High cost : Many times organisation resist to accpet changes because results will be
uncertain and installing new machines for production needs heavy cost.
 Environmental impact : If installed equipments are not used properly and leaders lack
to provide effective training to the people relating to the use of machines than this can
harm the environment which can further leads to destruction of the operations.
 Lack of skilled worker : If organisation fails to hire the qualified and skilled workforce
than unskilled workers may not be able to work according to the business objectives
which will stop the company in achieving business objectives effectively.

TASK3

CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that understanding and leading change is
very important in the business context. It focuses on making people understand the importance of
change as they resist to accept change. It has explained the impact of change in an organisation
by taking two organisation which results in that changes not only occurs in products or services
but in whole organisation including strategies and operation systems. It has evaluated various
drivers for change internally and externally which affects the individual, teams and leadership
behaviour in a significant manner. It also has done detailed analysis on various measures that can
minimise the negative impact of change on organisation behaviour. It further explains the various
barrier for change and different leadership approaches and models which determines behaviour
of leadership.