Organizational Change at Lakeland Wonders: Analysis and Solutions

This report analyzes the change management strategies implemented by Cheryl Hailstorm, the new CEO of Lakeland Wonders, focusing on the challenges she faces in implementing her vision. It examines the steps taken, the communication style employed, and the resulting issues faced by employees. The report includes an analysis of expert opinions on Cheryl's approach and provides recommendations for improving the change management process, referencing relevant scholarly literature to support its critique and suggestions. The analysis covers the CEO's plans for outsourcing, targeting new markets, and the resistance encountered from senior management, particularly concerning communication and the alignment of goals.

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The report is based on the change management plans that have been Cheryl Hailstorm, the
new CEO of Lakeland Wonders. The issues which have been faced by the CEO based
effective implementation of the changes have been analysed in the report. The change
implementation based process has been analysed with respect to the ways by which different
theories have been implemented within the organization. The report is also related to the
detailed analysis of different types of comments that have been provided by experts related to
the situation faced by Cheryl Hailstorm. The recommendations based on the improvement of
the situation is also a major part of the analysis.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Change management based steps that are taken by Cheryl Hailstorm...........................3
Change communication and behavioural style of Cheryl Hailstorm.............................4
Issues faced by the employees based on change management within the organization 6
Comments provided by experts based on change management by Cheryl Hailstorm...7
Conclusion......................................................................................................................8
Recommendations..........................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Change management is considered to be a systematic process which is helpful for the
organizations to deal with transformation or transition of the goals that are set by the
organization, technologies and the processes. The major purpose which is related to change
management is based on the proper implementation of the strategies which can be effective
for change, controlling the changes and further helping the people as well (Abrell-Vogel &
Rowold, 2014).
The strategies which are developed for change implementation are considered to be
structured procedures that can request the changes and the mechanisms that are required to
follow the changes. The change management based process thereby needs to be taken into
consideration for analysing the effects of a replacement or an adjustment that is made within
the organization. The organizations which implement change in different processes need to
be face high levels of challenges in order to adjust to the culture and organizational
environment as well (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015).
The report will be based on the analysis of change management based activities that
are performed by the new CEO of Lakeland Wonders, Cheryl Hailstorm. The issues which
have been faced by the CEO based on effective implementation of the changes in different
parts of the organization. The differences which have been developed between the vision
developed by the CEO and the goals of employees will be analysed in the report as well
(Worley & Mohrman, 2014).
Change management based steps that are taken by Cheryl Hailstorm
Cheryl Hailstorm had been appointed as the CEO of Lakeland Wonders six months
before. The CEO however had a long term relationship with the organization as she was the
merchandise manager and the COO of Lakeland Wonders as well. The levels of energy that
have been depicted by the CEO was considered to be a major reason behind the growth of the
organization (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015).
Cheryl Hailstorm has a major vision based on the ways by which the revenues of the
organization can be increased and profitability levels can be affected in a positive manner as
well. The most significant change that had been planned for implementation by Cheryl
Hailstorm was the outsourcing of production based facilities in order to reduce the costs
related to manufacture of goods. The new CEO wanted to speed up the production processes

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in order to gain the contracts which can provide the organization with high levels of
profitability in the industry (Andrew, 2017).
As discussed by Aslam et al. (2018), Cheryl had proposed the implementation of
outsourcing in different parts of the world like, China and Philippines. The CEO had not
planned for development of new factories in countries like China. On the other hand, Cheryl
proposed that the production process can be conducted with the help of factories and
organizations that already exist in the country. The trend of outsourcing that already exists in
the industry needs to be used in order to maintain the production of Lakeland Wonders and
fulfil the contracts in a cost effective manner.
Another major aim of the CEO was based on the ways by which the midmarket of toy
based industry can be targeted with the help of products that are manufactured by the
organization. The marketing head of Lakeland Wonders Elaine Spenser had also proposed the
development of a lower priced line of products that can be targeted towards the midmarket
based customers. The increase in levels of investment in promotions and advertising of
Lakeland Wonders was suggested by Elaine (Bailey et al., 2018). The marketing head also
proposed the proper development of new packaging based methods. The implementation of
aggressive changes within the organizational processes of Lakeland Wonders can be related
to some specific change management theories. The proper management of changes that can
be implemented by the management in Lakeland Wonders is based on proper action plans
that are related to a variety of theories (Belias & Koustelios, 2014).
Change communication and behavioural style of Cheryl Hailstorm
According to Benn, Edwards and Williams (2014), communication of change is
considered to be a major factor which has affected the ways by which the change process can
be implemented in an organization. The communication based process is considered to be an
important part of the implementation of change management plan in an effective way. Cheryl
Hailstorm has not been able to communicate the change effectively to the management team.
The lack of proper communication has led to distrust among the members of the
management as well. Proper change communication is thereby considered to be the most
important part of the implementation of a change management based program within the
organization. The management team and its members are considered to be important parts of
the proper implementation of change and operations of the organization as well (Binci,
Cerruti & Braganza, 2016).

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As discussed by Botha, Kourie and Snyman, (2014), the process of change
communication is based on different parts and aspects which need to be considered in order
to manage the internal and the external stakeholders as well. The change process which is to
be implemented by Cheryl Hailstorm is also based on internal stakeholders which include, the
members of the management team and the employees. On the other hand, the customers are
considered to be the external stakeholders. Message which needs to be provided to the
members of the management team is another part of the change process that needs to be
implemented by the CEO. The message of change communication process is related to the
ways by which the plan can increase levels of profitability and revenues.
According to Bratton and Gold, (2017), the stakeholders need to be communicated
effectively about the changes and their effects on the organization as well. The convinced
stakeholders are able to play the most important role in proper implementation of the change
process. The change can be introduced in the organization in order to implement the entire
process. This considered to be another major step that is considered to be a part of the change
communication process. The effective levels of communication are thereby considered to be
helpful for convincing the management and implementing the change in an effective manner
as well. Cheryl thereby needs to consider the development of proper change communication
plan in order to ensure that changes are implemented in a successful manner (Cummings &
Worley, 2014).
According to Burke (2017), the behavioural style which is depicted by a change based
leader is an important factor which affects the convincing capabilities related to the
stakeholders. The positive effects of effective behavioural style is important for the proper
communication with the team which exists within the organization. The change based
program which has been designed by Cheryl Hailstorm can be implemented in an effective
manner with the help of effective change leadership. The different behavioural styles which
are depicted by the change leaders include, analytical, amiable, driver and expressive. The
behavioural type plays ab important role in the ways by which the change management plan
can be implemented.
As discussed by Cameron and Green, (2015), the type of behavioural style which is
depicted by Cheryl Hailstorm in the process of change implementation is driver type. This
type of behaviour is considered to be highly results oriented in nature. The CEO acts as a
driver in this case and is able to have a major impact in the ways by which the change can be

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implemented. The high result orientation of the CEO has been able to affect the relationship
which has been developed with the members of the management. The support which is
required by the CEO also lacks in a huge manner due to the nature of leadership that has been
depicted. The behavioural style and change leadership based activities are considered to be
highly important for proper implementation of the change management based program
(Christin Jurisch et al., 2014).
The changes that take place in external environment are able to affect the ways by
which the leader is able to manage the team. Behavioural style which is depicted by the CEO
of Lakeland Wonders, Cheryl Hailstorm has been highly effective when she was in a
different position. The driver based behavioural style is not quite suitable for the proper
implementation of different changes within the organization. This is a major reason behind
the lack of proper support which is provided by the members of the management team (Van
der Voet, Groeneveld & Kuipers, 2014).
Issues faced by the employees based on change management within the organization
The most significant issue that has been faced by Chery Hailstorm in the process of
change implementation is related to the non-cooperative nature of the senior vice president of
Lakeland Wonders, Mark Dawson. The vice president was not sure of the changes that are
being planned by the CEO related to outsourcing of the production process. On the other
hand, the manufacturing head of the organization was also not interested in the
implementation of changes for the purpose of fulfilling the targets of the organization. The
contracts which were being targeted by the organization had not been considered to be
important by the manufacturing team of Lakeland Wonders (Deserti & Rizzo, 2014).
The other major members of the management team were also not ready to cooperate
with the new CEO and her vision. Cheryl had offered bonus for increasing the working hours
and production of the employees. Mark Dawson was not sure of the willingness of union
related to bonus and outsourcing of jobs to other locations. The development of a new
product line by the organization for targeting midmarket customers was also not considered
by the management of Lakeland Wonders (Fuchs & Prouska, 2014).
On the other hand, one of the major member of the board and the former CEO, Wally
Swensen favoured the work process which was shown by Mark Dawson. He suggested that
the Mark was able to take effective decisions as he has been working in the organizations for
many years. This had been considered to be a major setback and hindrance based on

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implementation of the changes which have been proposed by the new CEO. Cheryl had
started pushing for the implementation of changes within the organization so that it is able to
keep pace with the trends that exist within the market (Giussi et al., 2017).
Comments provided by experts based on change management by Cheryl Hailstorm
Some of the major commentators have also provided major opinions based on the
change management steps that have been taken by Cheryl Hailstorm related to operations of
Lakeland Wonders. Kathleen Calcidise, the COO of Apple Retail Stores in California has
commented based on the situation that has been developed in Lakeland Wonders. The time
when Cheryl Hailstorm had been signed as the CEO of Lakeland Wonders, the organization
had some major external investors who had high levels of expectations. The trends and
indicators in the industry had been quite supportive of midmarket based plans that had been
suggested by Cheryl (Klonek, Lehmann-Willenbrock & Kauffeld, 2014).
The customer base which had been targeted by the organization was related to the
levels of urgency which was shown by the organization to implement the changes. The CEO
however faced issues based on the ways by which the members of the management were not
willing to take part in the implementation of new methods and taking major risks as well. On
the other hand, some major suggestions have also been made by Debra Benton, the president
of Benton Management Resources. Debra had commented that the major problem related to
change implementation that was faced by Cheryl was based on the current management team
which has been developed in Lakeland Wonders (Maheshwari & Vohra, 2015).
The team can play an effective role in the proper implementation of changes in
different parts of the organizational processes. On the other hand, if Cheryl is not able to
work effectively with the team and the investors in order to implement the changes, she can
also choose to leave the post and the organization. Dan S. Cohen, has commented that it was
a failure from the side of Cheryl based on the levels of cooperation that needs to be
maintained with the members of the team. Major expectation of Cheryl was that the team
needs to follow her lead rather than providing their opinions (Matos Marques Simoes &
Esposito, 2014).
According to Dan, the CEO needs to create a sense based on urgency related to
implementation of the change strategies that have been developed by the new CEO. Nina
Aversano had held executive level positions in different organizations like, AT&T, Xerox
and IBM and commented on the work process of Cheryl Hailstorm. Nina commented that a

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major mistake which has been made by Cheryl was based on the pressure that she had created
on the team based on implementation of the plans that were made by her. The CEO needs to
take the opinions of different members of the management team in order to manage the
changes and reinforce them in various parts of the organization as well (Vaara, Sonenshein &
Boje, 2016).
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that Lakeland Wonders can improve its
position in the industry with the help of effective implementation of changes. The new CEO
of the organization has a major vision which can help in the future development of Lakeland
Wonders. The changes can also play a major role in the ways by which the organization can
keep up with the trends that exist in the market. However, the new CEO was not able to
manage the team in an effective manner with the help of proper leadership based qualities.
The nature of leadership which has been shown by the CEO has been a major reason behind
the lack of effective levels of collaboration.
Recommendations
The CEO of Lakeland Wonders can be suggested that she needs to communicate the
vision which she has developed based on the development of profitability of Lakeland
Wonders. The management of team by the CEO is considered to be highly important as
compared to the implementation of changes. Cheryl needs to include the members of
management in order to develop the change based strategies. The collaboration and
cooperation between the team members will be able to play a major role in the ways by
which the changes can be implemented in different organizational processes. The behavioural
style of Cheryl Hailstorm needs to be changed from driver to amiable style. This will help the
CEO in order to collaborate with the members of the management team. Cheryl Hailstorm
can also take the opinions that are provided by the members who are a part of the
organization for a longer amount of time as compared to the others. The opinions which are
provided by the members can play a key role in the ways by which the changes will be
implemented in different organizational processes in a practical manner. The effective
implementation of changes will be helpful in increasing the levels of profitability of the
organization and increase the customer base with respect to the base which was earlier
targeted by Lakeland Wonders.

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