IEG Assignment 1: Analyzing Organizational Change at Esprit

This essay examines organizational development and change within Esprit, a Malaysian fashion retailer. It begins with a description of Esprit's size, industry context, and business operations, highlighting its use of technology like the Internet of Things and retail analytics. The essay then details the internal and external forces driving change, such as inventory issues, communication obstacles, and technological advancements. It analyzes the language and conversations used by Esprit's management during the change process, emphasizing the importance of clear communication and strategic dialogue. Finally, the essay reflects on the author's personal response to these conversations, discussing the insights gained about the impact of technology and the importance of strategic approaches to organizational change. The essay concludes by emphasizing the role of organizational change in achieving a company's mission and adapting to a competitive environment.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
Organizational Development and Change
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
Organizational change refers to the process with the help of which a company
changes the structure, strategies and the operational models that can help an organization in
attaining the aims. It can be a continuous process or it can take place over a course of time.
Organizational Development is indicative of the planned process of the change within the
culture of an organization that utilizes the behavioural science and the technology (Carnevale,
2018). Organizational development can be said to be the objective-based methodology that
can initiate change in the systems within an entity. An organization develops itself by
changing the attitudes along with the behaviours that helps an organization in adapting to the
competitive environment. Esprit is a clothing retailer in Malaysia that sells clothing and the
accessories for the men and the women (Esprit.com.my., 2019). This essay focusses on the
size of the company and the industry context within which the company operates. The essay
discusses the change that is taking place in the retail company and the internal and the
external forces that have driven change for the company. The essay also talks about the kind
of the language and the conversation that has been used in the workplace for describing the
change process. The essay also elucidates on my personal response to such kinds of the
conversations.
Esprit is a fashion retailer within Malaysia that sells exclusive clothing for the men,
women and the kids. The company works on the basis of the creativity along with the
responsibility that caters to the needs of the modern day consumers. The positive values of
the company are created owing to the fact that it takes recourse to the natural materials and
the process of the responsible production. Esprit has around 6000 employees across the
world. The company operates in the retail competitive landscape in Malaysia and it has
competitors like Bonia and Padini Holdings Berhad.
The change that is taking place in Esprit is the changing of the traditional retail model
and the adoption of new technology (Lewis, Boston & Peterson, 2017) Internet of things

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refers to extension of the internet connectivity within the physical devices along with the
everyday objects. The evolving of the multiple technologies like the commodity sensors
along with the embedded systems have path the path for the usage of the internet-of-things in
the present age. Internet-of-things helps in the capturing of data from the electronic devices
that can help the retailers in understanding the preferences of the customers (Riggins &
Wamba, 2015). Esprit has taken recourse to the Internet-of-Things that has provided the
customers with the opportunity of enjoying the connected ecosystem of the devices which
can help in streamlining the purchase decision (Anderson, 2016). The company has made use
of facial recognition software and it has been integrated with that of retail shopping
experience so that it can serve the needs of the people of the modern age. The customers of
Esprit preregister the payment information before they enter store that has helped the
company in getting access to the personalized information of the customer (Gerasimov &
Gerasimov, 2015). In the event of the customers approaching the display case and choosing
the items the facial recognition software recognizes the face of the customer. The customers
can them proceed with the process of the transaction.
The data can help in building the profiles of the customer that can help the business in
understanding the behaviours of the customers. The data can be used by Esprit for boosting
effectiveness of the promotions (Kaivo-Oja et al., 2015). Esprit has also adopted the
counting system along with the retail analytics technology that has helped the company in
improving the operations. It has helped the executives of the company in enhancing the
process of the decision-making in various areas like the marketing, staffing along with the
customer service. The retail analytics technology has helped in showing to the retailers
staffing levels at the various dates and the times. Information has helped Esprit in taking the
strategic approach pertaining to administration of workforce that has been instrumental in

3ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
saving money on the element of labour (Henderson & Boje, 2015). This has helped Esprit in
saving the money and at the same time helped the managers in meeting the demand.
There are various internal along with the external forces that have driven the change
for Esprit. The company was facing inventory management problems that was causing the
loss for the company that made the company adopt the Internet-of-Things. The company was
previously facing problems in tracing the goods that have been purchased that made the
company take recourse to the Internet-of-Things. The employees of Esprit were facing
obstacles in the arena of communication that was causing damage to the products of the
company (Osland, Devine & Turner, 2015). The retailer could not locate the products across
the supply chain that acted as the force that made them undertake the innovative change. The
inventory tracking was proving to be inaccurate for Esprit and hence they adopted the new
model. The productivity of the workers had been lowered and so the company underwent the
process of the change.
The external force that has driven the change is the continuous evolution in relation to
the technology. The consumers in the present age stay online and they want to stay updated
with the technological developments of the recent age. The business in the modern age run on
the basis of demands of the customer and hence the business make use of internet-of-things
so that they can adjust to the changing demands of the time. The creative ways can help a
business in making profits and in surviving within the competitive environment. It can play a
crucial role in mitigating the risks that can improve the functional visibility of Esprit
(Corcoran & Datta, 2016). The engagement of the customers is an important element in the
present age and the change has been brought about owing to the increase in the connectivity
in the modern age of digital technology. The increase in the connectivity has increased
volume of the data that is available in the present age (Foster, 2016). Esprit has introduced

4ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
the new technology so that it can help in the reduction of the storage costs in the modern era
of technology.
There are specific kinds of language along with the conversations that have been used
in Esprit for describing the process of the change. The employees are made known about the
changes taking place in Esprit with the help of the meetings. The language that is used for
talking about the change by the higher level management is simple so that it can easily be
understood by the employees of company. The messaging strategy is also used by Esprit that
helps the directors and the managers in describing the process of change in a more elaborate
manner. The kind of conversation that has been used for describing process of change is the
two-way method that can promote the positive communication in Esprit. The language that is
used in the messages and in the meetings should be underlined by the honest intentions that
can help in bringing success to a company (Tidd & Bessant, 2018). The managers have
divulged the facts in the right manner that have helped in providing assurances to the
employees of the company. The top management of Esprit have used the posture along with
the body movements that can help in sending messages that are powerful. The perspectives of
the other people should be listened to and accepted that can help in bringing about the change
in the company.
The managers should ask instead of stating that can make other person feel himself to
be important in Esprit. The leaders of Esprit should evoke the feelings of the employees by
taking recourse to images, metaphors and the aphorisms (Wyer Jr, 2019). The managers in
Esprit have built the agreements with the employees that can create the bridge for the new
discoveries. Strategic dialogue can be employed as the conversation that have communicated
to the employees of the retailer the purpose of the organizational change (Lewis, 2019). The
language that have been made use of should be able to evoke the sensations that can help a
firm in achieving the strategic objectives. The dialogue should be structured with a purpose

5ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
that can be instrumental in communicating the element of change in Esprit. Skilful
manoeuvres have been used by the senior managers of Esprit that can be useful for the
organization in achieving the objectives (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015). The conversation
should focus on the principles that is behind the change that have helped the employees in
absorbing rest of information.
The conversations have helped me in understanding about the fact that in the event of
the IOT technology being used in right manner a form can get competitive differentiation.
The conversations have imbibed in me the idea that it can improve the business efficiency of
a company. It can enhance the experience of the customer that can work for the benefit of
Esprit. I have understood with the help of the strategic dialogue that IOT technology can
allow Esprit in innovating the in-store offering that can help the organization in the long run.
The exclusive offers that have been offered by Esprit can help the company in carrying out
competition against the other companies. I think that Esprit can embrace the innovations with
the help of the Internet-of-Things. I think that it would be help the executives of Esprit in
taking the strategic approach that can help them in administration of workforce. I have been
able to understand with the help of the conversation that it can help the managers in meeting
the element of the demand. The conversation have been able to elucidate on the aspect of the
predictive price analysis that can aid in the process of simplification of complex subject. The
conversation has helped me in understanding about product pricing and how the supply chain
tracking technology can help in viewing the condition of the shipped goods within the real-
time.
Organizational change is indicative of a process that can help a company in achieving
its mission. Esprit is a retailer of Malaysia that works on the principle of creativity so that it
can serve demands of people. Esprit has made use of Internet-of-Things that has helped the
people in enjoying facility of streamlining of purchase decision. Facial recognition software

6ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
has been used in the organization which can help it in making the profits. The meetings can
prove to be useful in helping employees understand regarding process of the change in Esprit.
Language used in the meeting can be said to be simple that can be comprehended by
employees. Strategic dialogue should be made use of during conversation that can
communicate in the right manner process of organizational change. The manoeuvers that is
used by the managers should be skilful that can add value to the organizational changes
taking place in Esprit.

7ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE
References
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