Leading and Managing Organizational Change: Coles Supermarket Report

This report focuses on the change management strategy for Coles Supermarket, addressing the need for technological advancements to maintain market competitiveness. It begins with an external environmental analysis, considering government regulations, economic factors, and technological trends. The report outlines a change management plan, including stakeholder consultation, policy research, and resource allocation. Key elements include a cost-benefit analysis, risk mitigation strategies, and a detailed timeline. The analysis incorporates a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The implementation strategy involves modifications to the plan and addresses change opportunities, SMART objectives, business information analysis, and cost-benefit analysis. The report also covers risk identification, external obstacles, and strategies for effective implementation and communication. The aim is to improve the efficiency and sustainability of Coles Supermarket through strategic change management.

Running head: CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Leading and managing changes
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Conduction of an organizational environment scanning........................................................4
Consultation of stakeholders including managers..................................................................5
Research on policies and procedures.....................................................................................5
Trends associated with the change.........................................................................................5
Performance gaps that may relate to changes........................................................................6
Change Management Strategy...................................................................................................6
A change management plan...................................................................................................6
Resources required for the change.........................................................................................7
Communication and consultation tools and strategies...........................................................7
Cost Benefit Analysis.............................................................................................................7
Risk analysis strategies to mitigate risks................................................................................8
Approvals required.................................................................................................................8
Timelines................................................................................................................................9
Table No 1: Timeline for the change management process...................................................9
Identification of the barriers to change using problems.........................................................9
SWOT Analysis...................................................................................................................10
Table No 2: SWOT Analysis...............................................................................................10
Implementation Strategy......................................................................................................10
Modification needed in the change management plan.........................................................10

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Assessment Task 3...................................................................................................................11
1. Process for identifying change opportunity.....................................................................11
2. SMART objectives and strategic planning......................................................................11
3. Analysis of business information and listing various sources.........................................12
4. Experiences of changes in workplace and outline of benefits or problems.....................12
5. Cost benefit analysis definition and usage.......................................................................13
6. Risk identification steps and management.......................................................................13
7. 4 External obstacles of change. Listing and description..................................................13
8. Sections to be completed in change management plan....................................................14
9. Need for assigning resources to changes.........................................................................14
10. Things to do for effective implementation of change management strategies...............15
11. Change management strategies process and cycle for communicating and embedding
change..................................................................................................................................15
12. Change barriers, overcoming barriers and organizational behaviour and external
behaviour..............................................................................................................................16
References................................................................................................................................17

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Introduction
The following report is based on the change management strategy of Coles Supermarket.
The management of Coles Supermarket has decided to appoint change management
consultants in order to ensure the implementation of a number of changes that can be helpful
for the sustainability of the business organization (www.coles.com.au, 2019). The report has
three different parts. The first part is the introductory part where the external analysis of
Coles as well as the purpose of the changes have been discussed. The second part of the
report has discussed about the plan that will be formulated by the organization in order to
ensure the success of the organization. The third or the last part of the assignment deals in the
strategy for the proper implementation of the action plan related to the change management
process.
Conduction of an organizational environment scanning
The external environmental analysis of the business organization can ensure the
success of the business in a proper and effective manner. The identification of the external
analysis of the organization can help in the proper determination of the problems and gaps
that currently exists in the path to the change management analysis of the organization. The
different kinds of the government regulations of Australia have been considered during the
implementation of the rules and regulations against the different kinds of the duopolistic
nature of the business market (www.coles.com.au, 2019). The management of the Coles
supermarket has won the Fairtrade Retail Chain of the year. The management of the company
has also contributed a certain amount of money in different kind of the social causes
including the likes of cancer care, food security and also some other kinds of such different
causes (www.coles.com.au, 2019). The economic analysis of the organization will ensure the
low spending of the Australian customers while the bargaining power of the suppliers have
reduced in a drastic manner. Lastly the change management analysts has noticed that the

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management of the company has not been able to keep pace with the development of
technology and it has been seen that the customers of Coles has drastically started the use of
technology. The management of the company has implemented just a few measures to keep
up with the technological revolution. This includes the use of the cloud infrastructure, self-
check out facilities and some similar activities as such.
Consultation of stakeholders including managers
The management of the business organization needs to present a detailed plan to the
stakeholders after the analysis of the external environment of Coles (www.coles.com.au,
2019). It is important for the management of the business organization to consult with the
stakeholders of the organization to discuss the identified gaps of the company and to frame a
plan in order to ensure the closure of the gaps (Ellickson, 2016). The stakeholders must be
informed about the decision of the change management consultants to ensure success in the
business.
Research on policies and procedures
Coles Supermarket has been in the Australian retail sector for a long time and it has
been successful in the market because of the proper implementation of the different rules and
regulations that are in line with the trade rules and regulations of the federal Government of
Australia. However, the consultant group appointed by the change management group has
identified a number of faults in some of the new systems (de Waal, van Nierop & Sloot
2017). These gaps must be addressed by the management and strategies must be formulated
to tackle them in a proper manner.
Trends associated with the change
The change management process is based on the changes to be made in the
technological aspects of the Coles Supermarket. The consultants group of the change

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management process has identified a number of problems in the application of some of the
most important trending technologies. The absence of the implementation of such game
changing technologies has led to the loss of the valuable market share of the company to
rivals like Woolworths and Aldi.
Performance gaps that may relate to changes
The business consultants of Coles Supermarket were appointed to identify the
different gaps in the current process of the organization. The consultants mainly highlighted
the performance gaps due to the absence of the proper technology in the business
organization. The performance gap analysis helped the management of the company to
determine the gaps that exist in the company with the overall staff and the individual staffers
of the company. The performance gap analysis of the company in this case has found out the
major areas of the technological aspects which have led to the loss of market competitiveness
for the company. The loss of the market competitiveness in Australia will lead to the
reduction of the sustainability of the business organization.
Change Management Strategy
A change management plan
The management of Cole’s supermarket has to ensure the implementation of the best
technology in order to implement the changes in the proper and effective manner. The
recommendations provided by the consultants group must be taken into consideration to
ensure the success of the business in a proper and effective manner (Ellickson, 2016). The
major changes that have been suggested are the changes in the traditional technological
aspects. This technological aspects includes a number of proper steps. This includes;
a. Selection of the proper technology
b. References checklist

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c. Involvement of the employees
d. The selection of the best management team to implement the technological changes
e. Implementation of the training methods for the new technology
f. Documentation
g. Demonstration and proper monitoring of the change management policies
Resources required for the change
The major resources required for the changes are the Human resources which will be
basically the consultant team, the project management team, the technical experts, the
suppliers and the vendors of the project. Financial resource will be one of the most important
resource for the changes as because all the different tasks that needs to be covered under the
change management process will require a strong investment. Lastly the technological
expertise of the employees will serve as a major resource for the following project.
Communication and consultation tools and strategies
Communication forms an important basis for the different changes in the
organization. The presence of proper communication helps the management of the change
process in a proper and efficient manner. The use of a common communicative tool to
properly communicate with the other employees of the change project for Coles Supermarket
can be seen as a major step towards the success of the project. On the other hand, the
consultation tools of the organization can further help in the success of the business in a
proper and effective manner.
Cost Benefit Analysis
The consultants of the change management process of the organization will provide a
detailed plan to assess the benefits of the changes to be analysed in the organization. The
major changes of the organization that will be undertaken will all be based on the

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technological aspects of the company (Hornstein, 2015). This will include the start of the e-
commerce facilities of the company, the start of the machine based buying and selling
activities and the use of the cloud computing in all the business processes of the organization.
The consultants group has provided a detailed plan that compares the total cost of the
programme with the benefits of the changes. The following report has helped the
management of Coles to properly calculate the net cost or benefit associated with the
programme.
Risk analysis strategies to mitigate risks
According to, Piercy (2016) the management of Cole’s supermarket along with the
consultants have to sketch out a risk management strategy to counter the risks that they may
face during the implementation of the change management. The risk analysis will consider
the likes of the financial risks, the risks based in the implementation of the strategies and
many more as such.
Approvals required
The approval of the management and the stakeholders is needed to implement the
change management process in a smooth manner.

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Timelines
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Project CHANGE
MANAGEMENT
187 days Thu 01-
08-19
Fri 17-
04-20
Appointment of
the Executives
10 days Thu 01-
08-19
Wed 14-
08-19
Identification of
the Problems
20 days Thu 15-
08-19
Wed 11-
09-19
Recommendations
by the Executives
22 days Thu 12-
09-19
Fri 11-10-
19
Selection of the
Suppliers
30 days Mon 14-
10-19
Fri 22-11-
19
Implementation
of the
Recommendations
45 days Mon 25-
11-19
Fri 24-01-
20
Monitoring the
Change
60 days Mon 27-
01-20
Fri 17-04-
20
Table No 1: Timeline for the change management process
Source: (As Created by the Author)
Identification of the barriers to change using problems
The identification of the barriers to the change management process can be a real help
as it can help in the proper success of the change management plan. The identification of the

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barriers much earlier can ensure the success of the change management plan in a proper and
effective manner.
SWOT Analysis
STRENGTH OPPORTUNITIES Has the largest share of the domestic food
and liquor market of Australia Best advertising and promotion The management has created an attractive
line of the pricing strategies More than 800 stores
 Large market in Australia for retail chains
 International expansion can be an
opportunity
 Use of new technologies like cloud
computing
WEAKNESSESS THREATS Hard line negotiation failure Use of traditional technological aspects Lower margin of profit
 Presence of competitors like Woolworths
 Consumers are confused with the presence
of large number of substitute brands
 Evolution of large competitors with the
passage of time
Table No 2: SWOT Analysis
Source: (As created by the Author)
Implementation Strategy
The management of Cole’s supermarket must implement the plan after discussion
with the stakeholders, the consultants and the employees. The discussion of the plan can help
in the success of the business in a proper and efficient manner.

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Modification needed in the change management plan
The management must give special care to the success of the change management
plan and thus a proper monitoring policy must be implemented to get a review of the change
management process of the organization.

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Assessment Task 3
1. Process for identifying change opportunity
Change opportunities can be identified through the various situational requirements
that are present in any given organizational context. Identification of the change factors can
take place when there are opportunities that can be utilized for gaining essential profitability.
Opportunities can be areas of improvement or limitations that can be identified in a given
organization. Moreover, at times change opportunities can be identified through observing
the changing times within which various organizations operate. The requirements for
maintaining effective productivity levels even when the facilities for the same are changing
can be used for identifying change opportunities. Identification of opportunities need
innovative and evolving thinking processes. Generally organizational business environments
keep changing necessitating the utilization of change opportunity. The process involves
analysis of the organizational environment, gathering information concerning the changing
views of people and making room for innovation.
2. SMART objectives and strategic planning
Smart principles are made up of some important aspects. In order to create a strong
strategic plan these specific aspects need to be essentially considered. SMART consists of
strategic decision making that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.
The goals are effective in determining the effectiveness of the strategies that are made.
Firstly, specific principles means that strategy need to be simple, significant and sensible.
Secondly, they need to be measurable as there is a need to measure their value. They need to
be achievable as very high expectations can sometimes not be met due to resource, skills or
various other constraints. They need to be relevant, meaning that they are reasonable,
resourced and realistic in nature. Without relevance, strategies can become ineffective. It