Report on Understanding and Leading Change: Charbonnel & Walker

This report analyzes the impact of change on business operations and strategies, using Charbonnel & Walker and Whitaker's as case studies. It explores internal and external drivers of change, such as customer preferences and substitute products, and their influence on leadership, team, and individual behaviors. The report examines strategic and operational changes made by the companies, including the introduction of sugar-free chocolates and nutrient-rich alternatives. It further delves into measures to minimize the negative impacts of change, such as market research and employee training, and analyzes barriers to change through SWOT and PEST analyses. The report provides a comprehensive overview of managing and leading change within a dynamic business environment.

Understanding and
Leading Change

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1: Managing the Impact of Changes.....................................................................................1
Part A: Responding to Change .................................................................................................1
Part B: The Impact of Change ...................................................................................................3
1) The ways in which the internal and external drivers of change may affect the leadership
behaviour, and the behaviour of the teams and individuals........................................................3
2) Measures that can be taken to minimise the negative impacts of change on organisational
behaviour.....................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2: Leadership Decision Making............................................................................................7
Different barriers for change and analyse the driving and resisting forces.................................7
TASK 3: Leading Change................................................................................................................8
Covered in PPT...........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Changes are defined as some events or activities that happen within the business
environment and affect the operations performed by a company in both positive or negative
manner. These changes can be in term of policies, system, technology etc. which support
company to achieve success (Beycioglu, Jones and Harris, 2014). The Charbonnel and walker is
a British chocolate manufacturing company which was founded in 1875 and offer products such
as chocolate bars, candy etc. This report contains a detailed description regarding changes impact
over operation and strategies of company along with internal and external drivers of change. It
also includes description regarding measures to minimize negative impact along with different
barrier to change and leadership approaches that are used to deal with these changes.
TASK 1: Managing the Impact of Changes
Part A: Responding to Change
Changes are unavoidable in nature and every organisation is required to get adaptable
with the changes that get anticipated within the environment in which they work as avoidance of
this may affect the overall performance of the company. The main cause of changes that a
company is experience is due to fluctuations in trends as well as customer expectations. Hence to
implement such changes become very crucial as avoidance of this may affect the sustainability of
business (Bin Taher, Krotov and Silva, 2015). For determining the impact as well as manner in
which changes get adjusted two medium sized organisations has been considered that are named
as Charbonnel and walker and Whitaker's that are UK based organisation and offer confectionery
products. Both the organisations are operating in market from more than 120 years which is not
an easy task and this become possible as they are flexible in term of their operations and easy get
acceptable to changes.
As the time changes the lifestyle of people also get changes and result of which people
now a days become more health conscious and started quieting the chocolates as it affect their
health and well being. Hence in order to deal with such issues both the companies have decide to
manufacture such chocolate that doesn't have any negative influence over the health of
consumers. For this Whitaker's has decided to add dry fruits like walnut, almond etc. to enhance
the nutrient level and on other side the Charbonnel and walker has decided to offer sugar free
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chocolates. These changes has also affected the operations as well as strategies used by both the
organisations that can be better understood using following table:
Companies Charbonnier and walker Whitaker's
Strategic changes In order to bring sugar free
chocolate and position it in
market place, Charbonnier and
walker company is required to
change its marketing strategies
(Daft and Marcic, 2016). For
offering sugar free chocolate
company will adopt market
penetration strategy where the
price of product kept lower
until and unless it get accepted
by customers and later it will
gradually increase price with
the increase in demand.
For dealing with the market
changes Whitaker's has
decided to launch its new
nutrient rich chocolate which it
offered at premium price as the
ingredients added for nutrition
will enhance the production
cost of the company.
Operational changes These changes are basically
related with the operations
performed within the
organisation. In order to offer
these new sugar free
chocolates the Charbonnel
and walker is required to
modify its operations. For this
company will hire new
nutrition guide and also bring
new technologies through
which these sugar free
chocolate can be produced
Operational changes are very
crucial for the company that
want to bring changes. For
developing this nutritious and
healthier chocolate the
Whitaker's will hire Nutrition
experts who have through
knowledge and can support in
forming a recipe for new
healthier chocolate so that a
better quality product can be
formed which ensure market
sustainability(Diaz-Rainey,
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without losing the taste. Robertson and Wilson, 2017)
Drivers of changes:-
There are some factors which forces an organisation to bring changes that can be both
internal as well as external. The drivers of change for both the organisation are mentioned below: Customers:- The driver behind brining the change in chocolates are customer as they
become more health conscious and more focused toward purchasing products that offer
them health benefits (Doppelt, 2017). As normal chocolates include processed sugar that
create health issues such as obesity, diabetes etc.
 Substitute products:- These are consider as another major drivers that foster both the
organisation to bring chocolates with health benefits in marketplace as substitutes has
already entered in market in form of healthy bars, fibre chocolates etc. which is offered
by Mars under the brand name snickers.
Part B: The Impact of Change
1) The ways in which the internal and external drivers of change may affect the leadership
behaviour, and the behaviour of the teams and individuals
Change drivers are considered as those factors which foster an organisation to bring
changes within its operations to achieve higher success at marketplace. These change drivers can
be both internal and external drivers that are present in environment in which business operates
and strong influence the individual, team and leadership behaviours. The change drivers for the
Charbonnel and walker are mentioned below:
Internal driver for changes:- Organisational culture:- It refers to the underlying beliefs, value and assumptions that
the people working in organisation holds and manner in which it influence their working
pattern (Espedal, 2017). For implementing change of brining sugar free chocolate the
Charbonnel and walker must try to implement task culture where roles and
responsibilities are delegated as per the capability of individual along with proper
leadership which support in ensuring the quality work and successful launch of chocolate.
 Financial Management:- Finance is considered as most crucial aspect in a business as it
ensure effective flow of activities. This the major driver of changes as financial condition
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of Charbonnel and walker allow it top invest more in its production and marketing
process to offer sugar free chocolate as per the demand of customers.
External drivers:-
Swot Analysis
Strength Weakness
Key strength of Charbonnel and walker is high
skilled and competent staff.
Change drivers: This strength will act as a
change driver for Charbonnel and walker as
changes can be easily implemented by the
workforce efficiently.
The major weakness is that some product of
Charbonnel and walker have complaints that
products are lack in taste.
Change drivers: This weakness will act as a
change driver for Charbonnel and walker as
for enhancing brand image they work over
improving products.
Threat Opportunity
Increasing number of substitute product that
offer health benefits.
Change driver:- It will act as change driver
for Charbonnel and walker as it try to bring
new product like sugar free chocolate that
holds health benefits.
The biggest opportunity for Charbonnel and
walker company is to expand business over
several geographical regions.
Change drivers:- This will be a change driver
for Charbonnel and walker as it can expand
business with the launch of sugar free
chocolate.
PEST Analysis
 Political:- The political condition of UK is stable which is greater advantage for
Charbonnel and walker as it act as a change driver because the policies of company will
not change frequently (Komives, 2016). Under the political stability the individual
behaviour will remain constant as their working condition will not get changed. The
behaviour of team members will remain positive as their working conditions will not get
changes with operational changes. The leader would be able to guide its employees more
effectively as policies will remain same despite of any change.
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 Economic:- The economy of UK is considered as fifth largest economy as it contain
continuous flow of FDI. Hence the economical condition is good which help an
individual to earn their livings as per their expectations for which they put more efforts.
In addition to this team members of Charbonnel and walker behaviour also get changed
as they get more incentives when they work effectively because the economical condition
of company will be better (Lawrence, 2015). On other side leaders have enough found to
direct their team members toward the accomplishment of organisational goals.
 Social:- The social factors involve demand and expectation of customers toward
company, by conducting investigation over this it has been found that customers want
such product that have healthier benefit which will act as change agent. Individual
behaviour also get changed with social environment as their personal demand get
changed. On other side the team members will be able to learn new things as their work
changes constantly as per customer demand. The leaders will be able to enhance their
skills as they have to deal with several changes anticipated in market to make product as
per demand.
 Technological:- The technological condition of UK is very much good which support
company to bring changes in operations quickly as they have technical assistance. The
individual behaviour get changed in positive manner as they become able to learn new
aspects. On other side team members will get changes as their work get simplified with
the implementation of technology. Here the role of leaders is to behave as a motivator
and try to motivate and guide its employees toward right direction.
2) Measures that can be taken to minimise the negative impacts of change on organisational
behaviour
The business environment is dynamic in nature and because of which several changes get
anticipated that left a huge impact over the performance of a company in marketplace (NHS
England, 2016). These changes may have both positive as well as negative influence over the
organisation, but for achieving sustainability in marketplace and strengthening the position
among the rivalries companies must try to bring changes as per the requirement of market. In
addition to this it also try to minimize the negative impact of changes for achieve desired
objectives. Charbonnel and walker always focuses on offering products as per the expectation of
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customers so that they can maintain their sustainability in marketplace by keeping customers
satisfied with their efforts. But in order to avoide the negative influence of these changes
following measures can be undertaken by Charbonnel and walker:-
 Charbonnel and walker must perform a deep study over the market regarding the
customer expectations, growth opportunity for change implementation and challenges
that may found while anticipating changes (Rodd, 2015). This will support in forming an
effective strategic plan that help in directing the work toward the accomplishment of set
objectives.
 Company must provide training regarding the production and marketing of sugar free
chocolates before starting working over it which support in gaining understanding
regarding the manner in which operations must be performed. By getting training
employees will be able to understand the effective implementation of new technology
that reduces the chances of error.
These all are the methods that can be adopted by Charbonnel and walker to reduce the
negative impact of changes over business operations. In addition to this the Charbonnel and
walker company can also implement changes model which bringing changes which support in
minimizing the negative impact of changes.
PDCA model:- This framework is basically used by a company for managing, controlling
and improving the operations performed by them as it put more emphases over the
standardization and minimising the errors by taking effective decision. This model consists of
four major elements such as plan, do, check and action. The Charbonnel and walker company
can use this model to minimize the negative impact of changes. The first step in this model will
be plan where all the information gathered will be evaluated for forming up an effective plan
over which operations can perform (Rogers and Marres, 2016). The next step is Do in which the
planned activities will be performed by employees and the result from Do stage will be compare
with planned one in Check phase to determine the gap between the two outcomes. At last,
strategies will be formulated to to fix those gap and put into Action within last phase.
Kurt Lewin's Change Management Model: This framework is considered to be the most
effective model for bringing changes in operations and minimizing the negative impact. The
Charbonnel and walker company can use this model while implementing changes effectively.
This model contains three stages such as Unfreeze, Change and Refreeze. In stage one the
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Charbonnel and walker company can organise team meeting with key persons to identify the
changes for implementation. After which next step 'Change' involve the implementing the
changes that has been planned by providing required training. At last, when employees get clear
about the work as well as changes in 'Refreeze' stage people get engaged with new system and
get proper guidance regarding the errors.
TASK 2: Leadership Decision Making
Different barriers for change and analyse the driving and resisting forces
The changes are considered to be the major part of every organisation and its functioning
because it support a company to offer their services as per the expectation of customers that
support in dealing with competition (Rothwell, Stavros and Sullivan, 2015). But there are
number of barrier that are present in business environment which a company have to face while
implementing changes within their operations or system. These barriers affect an organisation in
term of their growth and other operations. Therefore it is crucial for the organisation to overcome
these barriers for improving tehir business practices. The barriers that may be faced by
Charbonnel and walker are mentioned below: Lack of employees involvement:- One of the most commonly issue that may be faced by
Charbonnel and walker while working over sugar free chocolate is lack of employees
involvement. This is because sometimes employees get use to with their current
operations as well as working process and feel comfortable to work in same manner, as a
result of which they pay less attention and interest in new way of performing operations.
 Governmental regulations:- The another major barrier for Charbonnel and walker in
implementing changes within business operations are government regulations and
standards (vander Voet, Kuipers and Groeneveld, 2015). This is because there are some
ingredients whose quantity has been fixed by government that are required to be adjusted
by the company in its product for getting permission to serve it in market.
With the increase in customer focus toward healthy food, Charbonnel and walker also
become conscious to improve their product for making it healthier as number of substitute has
already arrived in marketplace and trying to shrinking the market size of company. Hence to deal
with this challenges the Charbonnel and walker has decided to bring changes in its product and
offer a “sugar free chocolate”. This chocolate will be launched by targeting people who want
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some healthier benefit without losing the taste of chocolate. This product will include high
protein as sugar get replaced by fibre that provide great taste along with simple ingredients
without any extra preservatives. But for achieving success, company must use Force Field Model
which help in identifying the forces that are against or in favour of changes so that proper action
can be take to deal with this. The forces are mentioned below:
Forces against changes:- Increasing cost:- The ingredients that will be used for producing this sugar free
chocolate are unique and harder to arrange as a result of which transportation and other
activities enhance the cost of production.
 Lack of employees involvement:- For producing the sugar free chocolate the production
process get changes as a result of which employees are finding difficulty in operations as
they not exert much interest toward performing operations effectively (White and
Robinson, 2014).
Forces in favour of changes:- Customer demand new product:- The consumers are expecting such kind of product to
being offered which doesn't harm health and also saves taste. So it act as a positive factor
that help Charbonnel and walker in launching its new sugar free chocolate. Product category increment:- As Charbonnel and walker is planning to bring sugar free
chocolate then it will support them in increasing tehir product category that in turn
support company in enhancing brand image.
 Government support:- The government basically encourage and support companies
when they bring healthy products. This will be beneficial for Charbonnel and walker as
they get full support for marketing its product from government (Yoder-Wise, 2014).
Hence, through force field model evaluation it has been found that marketing of sugar
free product will be helpful as there is demand for such product and government is also
supporting.
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TASK 3: Leading Change
Covered in PPT
CONCLUSION
From the above gathered information it has been found that changes are essential for the
growth and success as they help in improving the business processes. This is because the change
drivers foster an organisation to bring changes in its operation for improving efficiency and offer
it as per the customer expectations. But to implement changes effectively company must identify
the forces in against and favour of changes for effective strategy formation. In addition to this for
brining changes company can adopt models live PDCA and Kurt Lewin's Change Management
Model which ensure minimisation of negative impact.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
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Diaz-Rainey, I., Robertson, B. and Wilson, C., 2017. Stranded research? Leading finance
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Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for
business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Espedal, B., 2017. Understanding how balancing autonomy and power might occur in leading
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Komives, S.R., 2016. Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of
leadership development. John Wiley & Sons.
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change in a complex public sector environment. Journal of Organizational Change
Management. 28(2). pp.290-300.
White, V. and Robinson, S., 2014. Leading change in policing: police culture and the
psychological contract. The Police Journal. 87(4). pp.258-269.
Yoder-Wise, P. S., 2014. Leading and managing in nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
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