GSB019 Strategic Change: Analysis of Change Triggers at Algorithm SAL

This report examines the strategic change initiatives at Algorithm SAL, a regional pharmaceutical distributor, focusing on its restructuring efforts to improve agility and growth after acquiring Merck & Co. The analysis utilizes Kotter’s eight-step change model to evaluate the methods for successfully implementing the decentralization of franchises and developing suitable processes. The report details each step of Kotter's model, including creating urgency, building a coalition, formulating a clear vision, and removing obstacles to change. It emphasizes the importance of transformational teams in developing communication plans and reforming organizational processes. The report concludes with recommendations for implementing change within the business entity, such as developing effective vision, aligning change management policies with core values, and continuously evaluating short-term success to identify areas for improvement. This analysis contributes to understanding the challenges and strategies involved in organizational change within a dynamic business environment, and students can find similar resources and solved assignments on Desklib.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF CHANGE TRIGGERS
Analysis of change triggers
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Purpose.......................................................................................................................................2
Methods......................................................................................................................................3
Kotter’s eight step change model...........................................................................................3
Results........................................................................................................................................7
Diagram......................................................................................................................................8
Recommendation........................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
This report has aimed to examine a strategic change initiative in the given
organization in the case study. In this given report, Algorithm Sal has been chosen as the
organization, which is a regional distributor of pharmaceutical products in Middle East, Near
East, east Europe and North Africa. The organization had acquired Merck& Co. in an attempt
to become the manufacture of products by establishing manufacturing units in Lebanon. The
company is one of the largest regional pharmaceutical manufacturer and has gone through
series of changes throughout the years. The company restructured the organization in the year
of 2017 which was focused on agility and growth of the business entity. The restructuring
started at the senior level and moved down to the bottom levels. The organization wanted to
segregate the operations into five franchises where different managers would head operations
in different countries. The decentralization of the overall operation has proved to be one of
the major challenges for the managers. The first phase of the overall structure has been
completed and the next phase will develop processes to match up the new structure.
Purpose
The organization has grown substantially in the past decades and this new change
initiatives were taken to improve the agility and growth. The organization has been aiming to
transform their business so that they can compete more effectively in the global market. The
company had expanded their business by acquiring smaller companies and forming
partnerships with various other global brands. This has provided them with the knowledge,
expertise and resources to enter into the territory of complementary products. The company
had become one of the top local companies. However, in order to make their mark in the
global context, a significant change in the structure of the organizations is required. The
business entity has started the restructuring process which started at the managerial level and

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moved down to the lower levels. The company has been successful in decentralising the
operations in different countries by developing franchises. However, transformation of the
overall organization procedure is a step by step process. The major change that would be
carried out in the current project is development of transformational teams that would
develop communication plan, reform organizational processes, articulate objective and vision
of the franchise. It is essential to develop organizational processes that would meet the new
structure of the organization. The operations of all the processes will run out smoothly, only
if all processes are effectively supported and developed.
Methods
In order to develop processes and support the execution of the franchise processes in
different countries, Kotter’s eight step change model had been used. The eight step model
developed by Kotter facilitates in evaluating the methods and approach that needs to be taken
in order to successful achieve the change objectives of organizations.
Kotter’s eight step change model
The eight step change model developed by Kotter has provided the effective methods
used to successfully implement the change within the organization (Chappell et al. 2016).
The eight step for successful implementation of decentralization of the franchise and
developing suitable processes have been explained in the research. The eight step model is as
follows:
 Creating Urgency within the organization is the first step towards effective change
implementation. The change can be driven in a better way, only if the overall
company feels the same way about the change. This will help in providing motivation
to the workforce so that things get moving with pace (Calegari, Sibley and Turner
2015). In order to achieve change, the transformational team will have to

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communicate with everyone regarding the purpose of change. The change in market
conditions, need for flexible organizational structure and effective growth to remain
competitive in the market would have to be communicated with the employees.
Therefore, the transformational team should examine the external market to identify
the potential opportunities and threats so that its future impact can be portrayed
effectively to the whole organization. The transformational team would motivate the
workforce to provide innovative ideas and suggestions for developing effective
processes that would fit into the operation of the organization. In order to support
these arguments, the transformative team needs to provide relevant statistics that
would depict the issues faced by the organization and the future growth opportunities.
The first step is the most critical step so as to avoid short term losses and develop a
plan that is feasible.
 The next step is developing coalition within the organization by convincing the
internal stakeholders that change in necessary. The key stakeholders need to provide
strong support and have to lead from the front as managing and leading the change
initiative effectively is critical for sustainability of the organization (Burden 2016).
The transformational team will act as the leading team and should consist of
influential people having expertise and organizational status to create a strong
coalition. This transformation team should include people from different departments
so that all weaknesses can be addressed effectively.
 The change initiative will result in evaluation of varied options and ideas. These ideas
would have to be linked together to form a vision which could be understood easily
and provide a clear path for the long run implementation (Chowthi-Williams, Curzio
and Lerman 2016). This clear vision would facilitate in formulating strategy needed
for achieving the objective of the change management plan. This means that value

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should be created that is fundamental to the change which depicts the position, the
organization wants to reach in the next five years. The strategy has to be formulated
based on the vision.
 The fourth step is effectively communicating the vision of the new change
management plan. The execution of the developed vision effectively would
determine the success of the restricting plan. There are multiple aspects that are being
communicated within the organization so in terms of change management initiatives,
the plan of action needs to be communicated within the organization on a regular
basis (Issah and Zimmerman 2016). This would facilitate in solving the issues more
effectively and address the different kinds of challenges in moving towards the
objectives. Moreover, the implementation of the change in vision has to be
implemented top every sphere starting from performance reviews to training of
employees.
 The process would start flowing effectively by this time where buy-ins would be
developed from different departments and levels within the organization. Moreover,
the staffs have been motivated to follow the strategies developed by the organization.
However, there will be still people and structures that would act as a hindrance for the
new change management initiative. These structures that are outdated or redundant
have to be removed to make the change process smooth (Hackman 2017). This would
require continuous evaluation of the change management processes and the
obstructions to the change so that obstructions coming from personnel and processes
can be removed immediately. The organization would also have to provide rewards
to people that are promoting the change initiative and supporting it effectively.
Therefore, the business entity would have to examine the job descriptions,
performance and structure of the organization to keep them in alignment with the

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vision. The personnel resisting the change would have to be made to understand the
significance and purpose of executing the change or would have to be removed
quickly to progress onto the next step of the change management process.
 The next step is gaining short term wins. The employees and other stakeholders
would definitely would like to identify some results from the work done by them so
developing short-terms of some sort is essential. In case of Algorithm, the
organization should able to increase their market share by 2% within the next year.
This would provide motivation to the employees and negative thoughts among the
critics will be reduced. Instead of setting only one long term goal of growth and
agility, it would be beneficial to develop short term achievable goals within the
organization (Al-Haddad and Kotnour 2015). However, it would be difficult to
develop short term goals and targets that are achievable and provide knowledge about
the progress of the change management initiative. In this case, the transformational
team would have to set smaller target regarding decentralization of the whole
structure, effective operation of franchise, increase in market share and productivity.
However, early targets should not be chosen as it would be more expensive. The
positives and negatives of each target has to be evaluated so that the short term goals
are reasonable.
 Building the change is a continuous process and generally projects fail when extra
precautions are not taken during the execution phase. It is easier to get reluctant after
short term positive results are obtained. Therefore, the transformational team needs to
be evaluate the successful results to highlight the areas that needs improvement
(Leavy 2019). This would facilitate in developing a culture that promotes continuous
improvement. Suppose, the organization is able to launch one new product, then it is a

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short term achievement but if the organization is able to introduce 5 products in a
year, it would reflect that the new structure is effective in promoting growth.
 Finally, it is essential to adapt these changes into the core values of the organization.
This would facilitate in making changes to the existing corporate culture and
incorporate these changes. The basic values also needs to be modified based on the
new changes management processes. Moreover, it is essential to incorporate the
change in every aspect of the organization so that change fits into the organizational
culture. The transformational team should make sure to appreciate the efforts and
contribution made by the old and new employees. Recognition is another key aspect
in keeping the employees motivated and the way they can effectively contribute to the
growth of the organization.
Results
The case study has already reflected the fact the organization needs to improve their
growth and flexibility. The eight step change is a suitable model to implement the change
initiatives with the organization. The implementation of the model would provide positive
results for the organization if executed effectively. It has been seen that the organization has
completed the first step towards the change where they have been able to decentralize the
overall operation of the organization by dividing into five franchises that work independently.
The application of the change management initiatives based on the requirement of the new
structure would provide high growth within the organization. This could also be understood
by the fact that the organization is one of the top pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in
the region in the year of 2017. The implantation of the overall restructuring would take time
and the organization would face various barriers to changes. However, this could be
effectively managed by following the eight step model mentioned above. The role of

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transformational teams are highly significant in this scenario as it would support the
development of necessary processes for new vision, objective and goals of the organization.
Diagram
Chart 1: Kotter’s eight step model
Source:
Recommendation
The analysis of the case study has provided following recommendations for
implementing change within the business entity:
 Effective vision, mission and objective have to be developed in each of the franchise
 Change management policies have to be aligned with the current core values of the
organization

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 The organization would have to follow continuous evaluation of their short term
success and results to identify the improvements possible within the business model.
This would facilitate in improving the efficiency of the model and achieve the long
term objective set by the organization.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the report that the use of eight step change model is critical
for successful implementation of the change management initiative. The organization has
proceeded through the first step of decentralization and franchising. However, the main issues
would be faced while developing suitable organizational processes in respect to each of the
franchise. These franchise would be decentralized so there would be some distinction among
the diverse franchises in different countries. However, the core values have to be kept intact
to facilitate effective knowledge transfer between franchises.

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References
Al-Haddad, S. and Kotnour, T., 2015. Integrating the organizational change literature: a
model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), pp.234-
262.
Burden, M., 2016. Using a change model to reduce the risk of surgical site infection. British
Journal of Nursing, 25(17), pp.949-955.
Calegari, M.F., Sibley, R.E. and Turner, M.E., 2015. A ROADMAP FOR USING
KOTTER'S ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MODEL TO BUILD FACULTY
ENGAGEMENT IN ACCREDITATION. Academy of Educational Leadership
Journal, 19(3).
Chappell, S., Pescud, M., Waterworth, P., Shilton, T., Roche, D., Ledger, M., Slevin, T. and
Rosenberg, M., 2016. Exploring the process of implementing healthy workplace initiatives:
mapping to Kotter's leading change model. Journal of occupational and environmental
medicine, 58(10), pp.e341-e348.
Chowthi-Williams, A., Curzio, J. and Lerman, S., 2016. Evaluation of how a curriculum
change in nurse education was managed through the application of a business change
management model: A qualitative case study. Nurse education today, 36, pp.133-138.
Hackman, T., 2017. Leading Change in Action: Reorganizing an Academic Library
Department Using Kotter’s Eight Stage Change Model.
Issah, M. and Zimmerman, J.A., 2016. A change model for 21st century leaders: The
essentials. International Journal of Pedagogical Innovations, 4(01).
Leavy, B., 2019. Nathan Furr: Leading transformation, empowered by behavioral science
models. Strategy & Leadership.

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