Lakeland Wonders Case Study: Leadership and Change Initiative

This case study analyzes the organizational change initiative at Lakeland Wonders, focusing on the CEO's plan to expand into offshore markets and enhance competitiveness. The analysis includes an examination of the change approach adopted by Cheryl Hailstrom, emphasizing aggressive advertising, new packaging ideas, supply chain optimization, and a shift in leadership style. The study applies the PEST framework to assess external factors influencing the company, including political, economic, social, and technological considerations. It also explores the organizational culture, identifying elements of both adhocracy and clan cultures. Furthermore, the case study maps stakeholders, categorizing them based on their influence and interest. Finally, it provides three major recommendations to the CEO for successful change implementation, justifying each with relevant insights and strategies to improve the change initiative.

Assessment item 2 Case
Study

Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
3. What type of organisational culture would you say is evident in the Lakeland Wonders
case? Justify your argument. (relates to Topic 4)........................................................................5
4. Prepare to map the stakeholders at Lakeland Wonders. Who are they and where do they
belong on the map as shown in figure 7.1 in your textbook? Justify each of the stakeholders’
position. (relates to Topic 5)........................................................................................................6
5. Discuss three major recommendations with justifications that you could provide to Cheryl
Hailstrom, the new CEO of Lakeland Wonders for the success of the change initiative............8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

Question1:
Describing the reasons for the organisational change project for Lake land wonders as well as
also analyse what change approach has been adopted by Cherry Hailstorm?
The CEO of Lakeland wonders company, Cheryl Hailstrom wants to initiate a change
with the company in order to enhance the operation capacity into offshore markets. The main
reason behind initiating this change is to enhance the competitive position of company by taking
advantage of manufacturing on large scales. This will allow the organisation to gain insight
about new technologies as well as cheap labour resources of the country like china. In addition to
this, the establishment of manufacturing units in the foreign countries like china will enable the
company to increase its market share which will directly leads to the greater generation of
profits. Moreover, the main reason for implementing this change by CEO of company is to
minimise the cost of its wooden toys products so that it can gather the attention of large number
of customer in the most effective manner. In order to implement the change within the firm, the
CEO Cherry Hailstrom has decided to invest more on adopting aggressive advertisement
strategies so that the the organisation can target the needs of customer present in foreign markets.
Apart from this, She also opined for building new packaging ideas in order to effectively draw
the attention of maximum number of customers.
The CEO has also said that optimising supply chain channels will allow the firm to make
faster deliveries to the customer even on holiday time and meeting their demands in most
appropriate manner. Most importantly, for initiating the change management initiatives, the CEO
will change her leadership style by putting more focus on persuading as well as motivating team
members to achieve change objectives in proper manner. In relation to this, she will also become
more open towards hearing the main problems of people and will also attentively listen the
diverse view points made by its team members. Moreover, she will also focus on linking the
objectives of team members with the vision of the firm by effectively meeting their expectations
and needs. Furthermore, the CEO will also lay its focus on improving motivation level of
workers by giving competitive salaries and rewards to the outstanding performers. She will also
makes sure to remove barriers of change by enabling team members to know what they loves the
most about their workplace. This approach will support the Cheryl to promote the feelings of
positiveness among the team members. For establishing the required change in Lakeland
wonders, the CEO needs to create the sense of urgency to the team members by telling them why

this change is critical for both the company and its team members. The construction of open
communication channels will be the useful tool for delivering the benefits of change to each
worker of the organisation. It will also allow team member to present their views in the form of
feedback leading to increase in their loyalty with vision of firm.
Q2. Critically apply either the PEST-based framework or the McKinsey 7S framework to
analyse the need for change in Lakeland Wonders case.
It is a tool which is used by the businesses to track the external factors of environment of the
market. This analysis provides information about the business direction, the position of the
brand, growth targets and risks which can arise in productivity of the organisation. The PEST
analysis on Lakeland Wonders is discussed below:
 Political Factors: These are the factors which are related to the influence of government
on the business. The political factors are tax policies, trade tariffs, Fiscal policy, etc.
Lakeland Wonders operates mainly in US which is a very political stable economy. The
company receives the benefit of not changing the strategies and policies at regular
intervals due to the stability of laws and regulations. This helps in focusing on a
particular aspect which leads to increase in the efficiency and quality of operations. The
organisation must examine all the political factors since every country possess different
political stability and laws. It should prepare for facing any situation outside the existing
market.
 Economic Factors: These factors are the identifiers of performance of economy and
directly impact the organisation on long term basis. These factors involves inflation rate,
interest rates, foreign exchange rates and economic growth patterns. These factors are
very essential for Lakeland Wonders since these make a direct impact on the demand,
profits, costs and prices. The company needs to take into consideration the economic
factors seriously in making planning to expand its business operations outside the
domestic market. The strategies are prepared after analysing the economic condition and
GDP of the nation where the business is thinking of expanding its operations.
 Social Factors: These are the factors which are related to changing trends, choices and
preferences of the customer's in the society. It has been seen that every business needs to
adapt to these changes in the tastes of consumers to be able to frame policies accordingly.
Lakeland Wonders realises the importance of innovation and diversification in wooden

toy products which helps in catering to a larger section of society. The company believes
in benefiting the society by hiring local workers and generates employment in the society.
There are different changes occur in customers of Lakeland Wonders which is consider
by business while operating in China. People of China is also increasing concern for their
cultural values.
 Technological Factors: It is related to the technology which plays an essential part in the
operations of business. Lakeland Wonders should adopt new and modern technology
along with other tools and equipment’s in order to enhance the quality of wooden toy
products and also to reduce the overall cost of production. This will assist the
organisation to reaching to large amount of customers and to be able to provide greater
experience to the consumers in the market. Technology is very important for Lakeland
Wonders since it will provide assistance in utilising the benefit of economies of scale in
the outside market. This way the business will be able to develop a strong and loyal base
of the customers.
3. What type of organisational culture would you say is evident
in the Lakeland Wonders case? Justify your argument. (relates to Topic 4)
Organisation culture can be described as expectations, practice and values which provide
guidance as well as information to action of people to different team members. It is a collection
of traist which makes a company about what it is. In situation of Lakeland wonders case, there
should be adhocracy and clan culture. Both of these cultures helps the company to create an
environment that will accept the differences and also allow company to accept different
challenges, change and point of view (Erthal and Marques, 2018).
According to adhocracy culture, businesses is accepting different new ideas from employees in
their organization and also give them rewards. It is a culture that is flexible in nature and it is not
inhibited through different policies and procedures. Focus and emphasis of the business is over
the improvement and innovation which allow them to get growth in less time.
Another culture is clan culture which is also important for business for the purpose of creating a
positive and friendly environment where all people collaborate with each other. It is a culture
that interrelation different groups of people by developing a strong interest and also by
attainment of small as well as family oriented businesses (Martínez-Caro, Cegarra-Navarro and

Alfonso-Ruiz, 2020). It is a culture that offers values to the employees and provides them
supportive environment.
Both of above mentioned organisation culture helps the business of Lakeland Wonders as it
allow them for purpose of accepting changes in the business. in order to get success, business
needs to adopt timely changes in their organisation. Both of these cultures will helps to increase
the success of change implementation in business and also for improving the satisfaction of
employees. It is important for the leaders of the company to focus on development of positive
culture in organisation which will helps them to increase the engagement of customers with the
business.
4. Prepare to map the stakeholders at Lakeland Wonders. Who are they and where do
they belong on the map as shown in figure 7.1 in your textbook? Justify each of the
stakeholders’ position. (relates to Topic 5)
Stakeholder analysis can be described as a visual process for laying out different stakeholders of
the product, idea or project present on a map. It is a visual presentation that consists of different
people to influence their project and the ways in which they connect. It is a map that is important
for business and consists of details for the stakeholders of the business. There are different
stakeholders in business including shareholders, competitors, suppliers, employees, customers,
government and other people (Elias, 2019). All these people have different interests and the
power to create an impact on the business. Stakeholder mapping is essential for the business of
Lakeland Wonders as it allows them for purpose of providing success for the project. There are
different stakeholders in business and all these stakeholders are an important part of the business.
Lakeland Wonders is making efforts in order to fulfill the expectations of different stakeholders
in their organisation. An explanation of this analysis in the context of Lakeland Wonders is
mentioned below:

 Observes: It is one of the categories that has a higher interest as well as higher influence
over the business. It is a category that includes shareholders as well as investors of
business who has an interest in the profitability of the business and other decision of the
company (Sperry and Jetter, 2019). These stakeholders are key people for business as
they invest their own money. These people also take participate in the management of the
company and can create an impact over the operation of the business.
 Players: It is one of the categories that has a higher interest as well as higher influence
over the business. It is a category that includes shareholders as well as investors of
business who has an interest in the profitability of the business and other decision of the
company. These stakeholders are key people for business as they invest their own money.
These people also take participate in the management of the company and can create an
impact over the operation of the business.
 Currently unengaged: These are the stakeholders categories that include a lower level
of influence over the business and also has a higher level of interest. It is one of the
important components for businesses to consider in the operation of the company.
 Latent players: It is one of the categories which consist of lower interest and higher
power in business. It is one of category which includes the government of the country
(Nataliia, Dmytro and Igor, 2018). The government of any country has higher level of

power that provides them opportunities for the purpose of business and also create impact
over the business. These government bodies have a power level of interest in business as
they main focus on the development of their country.
5. Discuss three major recommendations with justifications that you could provide to
Cheryl Hailstrom, the new CEO of Lakeland Wonders for the success of the change
initiative.
There are different types of recommendations to be offered to the CEO of the Lakeland Wonders
who is Cherly Hailstorm. All these recommendations are made to the CEO of the company in
order to increase the success of the change initiative. An explanation of these recommendations
to the company is mentioned below:
It is recommended to the Cherly Hailstorm to Ensure free flow of communication in their
organisation which is important for them in order to understand the problem of employees to be
worked in Lakeland Wonders. It allows the company to provide the solution to a problem faced
by the company and also to give them find solutions to the problems. It is also important for the
company CEO to explain in clear words that’s why it is important for the company to adopt the
changes in the organisation.
It is also recommended to the CEO of the company adopt different types of initiatives in the
company in order to make employees more involved in business. It is important for them in order
to increase the chances of the success of the company. It is also important for the CEO of the
company to ensure the development of strategies in order to create the changing mindset of
employees. It is important for Lakeland Wonders in order to meet the needs of employees
working in organisation.
It is also recommended to the CEO of Lakeland Wonders to adopt effective leadership styles in
their organisation. Leadership is one of the important components that is used by businesses for
purpose of influencing the action of people and also for purpose of motivating employees to give
their best. It provides guidance to different people to work in organisation towards the attainment
of the success and growth of the business. This leadership allows businesses to convince all
people of the company to accept the changes and also to follow the path of change.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals

Elias, A.A., 2019. Strategy development through stakeholder involvement: A New Zealand
study. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 20(4), pp.313-322.
Erthal, A. and Marques, L., 2018. National culture and organisational culture in lean
organisations: a systematic review. Production Planning & Control, 29(8), pp.668-687.
Martínez-Caro, E., Cegarra-Navarro, J.G. and Alfonso-Ruiz, F.J., 2020. Digital technologies and
firm performance: The role of digital organisational culture. Technological Forecasting
and Social Change, 154, p.119962.
Nataliia, D., Dmytro, C. and Igor, C., 2018, September. Modeling of the processes of stakeholder
involvement in command management in a multi-project environment. In 2018 IEEE
13th International Scientific and Technical Conference on Computer Sciences and
Information Technologies (CSIT) (Vol. 1, pp. 29-32). IEEE.
Sperry, R.C. and Jetter, A.J., 2019. A systems approach to project stakeholder management:
fuzzy cognitive map modeling. Project management journal, 50(6), pp.699-715.

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