Change Management Strategies: Australian Pharmacy Chain Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of change management strategies applicable to an Australian pharmacy chain. It begins by emphasizing the importance of identifying areas needing change, suggesting the formation of a skilled team and engaging employees in the process. The report then explores two key strategies: the simulation game, adapted from a Canadian pharmacy model, to identify barriers and opportunities, and the pseudo-customer training method to prepare employees for changes. The simulation game involves engaging managers and employees in a negotiation-based format to identify resistances, while the pseudo-customer strategy utilizes trained individuals to assess employee performance and provide feedback. The report addresses potential resistances to these strategies, such as employee reluctance and privacy concerns, and suggests methods to overcome them, including rewards and counseling. The conclusion emphasizes the need for a tailored approach, selecting strategies based on the specific needs of the pharmacy chain, and highlights the effectiveness of the readiness and implementation wheels, simulation games, and review processes for successful change implementation. The report is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools.

Running head: CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Change Management Strategies: Australian Pharmacy Chain
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Introduction
Certain specific principles and rules run an organizational structure effectively (Burke
2017, p.60-62). In an organization like pharmacy, the comfortable environment, set by the
principles is required for the employees to work productively (Moullin et al. 2013, p.989-995).
However there are there are circumstances when changes are necessary to enhance the
productivity. An effective leader brings necessary changes successfully in the organizational
structure (Moawad and Jones 2015, p.11). As the employees generally prefer secured and
comfortable environment, implementing change appears to be a challenging task for the
responsible person (Cullen et al. 2014, p.269-280). He has to make the employees believe in the
same changes and implement them successfully by applying effective strategies.
Identifying the areas of change
Before implementing any changes in the Australian pharmacy chain, the areas of changes
need to be identified. A team to be formed of skilled and experienced professionals will be
identifying the areas of change (Lorenzi and Riley 2013, p.32). The consequences that the
changes are capable to bring along with the implementation must be identified in the primary
phase as well (Anderson 2016, p.253). The employees must be engaged in the identification
process to understand and evaluate their unwillingness related to the adoption of the new
changes. Ideally the board should consist of a government representative of the Australian
Healthcare system, representative from the pharmacy chain and a representative of the patients
and others (Willis, Reynolds and Keleher 2016, p.376). The board will make the employees
understand why the change is necessary for the organization and how they could contribute in
the materialization. The representative from the financial department will demonstrate how the

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pharmacy chain is going to benefit financially with the help of statistical data (Rousek et al.
2014, p.144-155). Once the areas are identified, the following strategies can be applied to
materialize changes in the Australian pharmacy chain.
Strategies for implementing changes
Simulation Game
Guerin et al. followed the steps of leading change developed by Kotter to build a
simulation game focusing on change management in pharmacies. The eight step model is
especially effective in bringing organizational change (Saulnier 2017, p.256). The game’s format
is negotiation based and played among different groups or individuals (Sitzmann 2011, p.489-
528). The groups are provided with differently colored construction blocks. The blocks are
segmented into pharmacy management, research, drug distribution and clinical services (Renet et
al. 2013, p.367-375). The participants face various challenges before reaching their desired ideal
state of the pharmacy. The authors have identifies 35 barriers in the change implementation
process (Guerin et al. 2015, p.439-446). This game helps the management to identify the
challenges related to the pharmacy agency and mark the opportunities that can be achieved
through the changes. Pharmacy leaders from 43 hospitals from different regions of Canada were
chosen to engage in the simulation game. The primary focus for the study was the how to
manage change in the Canadian pharmacy chain. In the Canadian healthcare the pharmacy
leaders got to know about the change barriers and improvement opportunities that can help the
Canadian pharmacy chain to implement positive changes successfully.

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Application of Simulation Game Strategy in Australia Pharmacy Chain
The authors had applied the game in the pharmacies of Canada but it can be modified and
effectively be used in Australia as well. The managers and employees can be engaged in the
primary phase of the change initiatives so that they can identify the change’s rank barriers. This
strategy can be applied by the Australian pharmacy chain management to successfully apply the
changes. The management leadership of the Australian pharmacy chain will select few
representatives of various store or departments. They will be participating in the game where
they will be provided with the blocks. Based on their responds the ranking for the resistances
will be decided. This will help the Australian pharmacy to identify the problems related to the
change implementation. Based on the results the pharmacy chain can decide upon the changes
and apply them in the required areas.
Overcoming the resistances
The primary resistance that the management might face during implementing this
strategy is the unwillingness of the employees to participate. The strategy requires employees’
time and complete involvement that the employees might not be interested to offer. The
company has to make them understand that this will enhance their performance and the change is
necessary for the company. In the implementation in Canadian pharmacy chain the investigation
resulted in 43 potential resistances in the change management. It also suggested that the
successful change is possible only when the approach is organized and systematic and Kotter’s
model serves as effective platform in the process. The management of Australian pharmacy
chain will offer the employees extra time to get involved in the game and the employee must be
suffering from any extra work or wages cut. Instead the Australia Pharmacy company might

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offer reward for the employees who will be participating and convince his fellow employees to
participate or convince them.
Training through pseudo customer
A seminar or workshop is not enough to ensure the sustainability of the practice of
changes among the employees. Particular training strategy can be adopted in order to prepare the
employees for the changes. The strategy of ‘pseudo-customer’ can be applied in the process to
coach the employees as part of the training focused on the changes (Curley et al. 2016, p.29). A
pseudo customer can be defined as a skilled individual who visits the pharmacy and presents and
specific scenario to the employees of the pharmacy (Berger, Eickhoff and Schulz 2005, p.45-57).
The employees who are to be assessed have already been identified and the pseudo customer is
instructed to engage them. However the intended employees are not aware of his purpose. The
pseudo customer acts as a real customer and observes the activities of the employees (Jabbur-
Lopes 2012, p.92). After the experience he leaves the pharmacy and reports to the educator about
how the sales took place. Then the educator visits the pharmacy within a short period of time and
provides feedbacks in non-confrontational manner to the employees through discussion. This is
different than the traditional training method which is getting popularity in Australia to prepare
the pharmacy before implementing changes (Noori et al. 2015, p.77-82).
Berger, Eickhoff and Schulz investigated the application in Germany’s pharmacy chain.
The pseudo customer method had been applied in order to evaluate the existing performance of
the employees of the pharmacy and suggest necessary changes. The trained pseudo customers
visited some selected pharmacies of Berlin (Berger, Eickhoff and Schulz 2005, p.45-57)..

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However the pseudo customers only gave the feedback to the employees directly not through the
educator. Total number of 49 community pharmacies participated in the study. Prior to this study
another study in Sydney demonstrated that a single seminar or workshop fails to bring
sustainable change in the pharmacy practice. The workshops enhanced the knowledge but the
realistic implementation to bring the changes was yet to achieve. The natural setting worked in
favor of this training method and made it effective. The pseudo customer process includes the
immediate visits by the pseudo customers; narrative performance feedback and written review
were provided. The feedback gave detail information about the waiting time, distracting factors
and possible changes.
Application of Pseudo Customer Strategy in Australia Pharmacy Chain
Pseudo customer strategy has already been proven to effectively bring about changes in
the pharmacy chains in other countries. Australian pharmacy chain can apply this safe and less
expensive strategy in order to evaluate the change requirements and apply them accordingly. In
Australian health care industry the community pharmacy chain is getting huge popularity and
this strategy is specifically designed for the community pharmacy chains (Guild.org.au 2017,
p.22). Pseudo customer method is practical and easily applicable by the management. The
strategy does not involve any outsider so the changes have high potential to get accepted by the
Australian pharmacy chain employees.
Overcoming the resistances
This strategy might directly affect the employees of the various stores from the
Australian pharmacy chain. The sudden visits, experiments and monitoring by the
representatives might appear to be intimidating for the employees and is capable of hampering

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their privacy. The stores are managed by the employees in various circumstances so they might
feel that the judgment that the company is taking based on the experiment is not right. However
the management representatives will initiate long counseling sessions for the employees resisting
the changes immediate after the process so that they understand it better. During the counseling
session the employees would be allowed to express their feeling and defend themselves. The
representatives will demonstrate the areas that require the changes so that the employees
understand and acknowledge those directly. The employees also might resist by presuming that
the changes will hamper their financial benefit and relationship with their customers, but the
management must ensure that the changes will provide better platform for the employees to earn
trust and benefit more.
Conclusion
The various strategies discussed above can be adapted by the responsible person but not all
together. The management must identify the problems first for the specific pharmacy chain
(Smith et al. 2017, p.229-235). After evaluating the areas that need to be changed the necessary
strategies should be selected. The board or committee of skilled professionals will execute the
initial phase of the change. In the training period by the pseudo customers can prove to be
effective in the preparation process of the employees (Kashour et al. 2016, p.321-328). The
readiness wheel and the implementation wheel can result successfully for materializing the
change. The simulation game, transformational model and review process can also be applied by
the Australian pharmacy chain for achieving the desired changes.

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