Understanding and Leading Change: A Leadership Report

This report delves into the intricacies of understanding and leading change within organizations, using Verdant Leisure and Bridge Leisure as case studies. It begins by comparing the impact of change on different organizational structures and strategies, examining how technological advancements, changes in organizational structure and culture, and process modifications affect operations. The report then evaluates the influence of internal and external drivers of change, such as organizational culture, financial management, business objectives, and innovation, on leadership, team dynamics, and individual behavior. Furthermore, it explores measures to mitigate the negative impacts of change on organizational behavior and identifies barriers to change, determining their influence on leadership decision-making. Finally, the report applies various leadership approaches to managing change, providing a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and strategies involved in leading organizations through transitions.

UNDERSTANDING
AND LEADING
CHANGE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 & M1. Comparison of different organisational examples where there has been an impact of
change.....................................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2. Evaluation of Ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership,
team and individual behaviour...............................................................................................4
P3 & M2. Measures that can be taken to minimise negative impact of change on
organisational behaviour........................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P4 & M3. Different barriers for change and determine how they impact Verdant Leisure
leadership decision making ...................................................................................................8
P5 & M4. Application of different leadership approaches to dealing with change.............12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Change refers to a state of transition from current state of an individual or organisation.
As per the current dynamic business environment, change is inevitable and several factors could
cause a company to modify, alter or completely transform their organisational practices and
procedures (Alavi and Gill, 2017). This change is a firm's constant requirement, so that, the
company could appropriately cope up with the changing business environment. Furthermore,
current business environment requires organisations of all the sectors to be adaptive, dynamic as
well as progressive in terms of understanding and leading change. The current report is based on
Verdant Leisure and Bridge Leisure operating in UK. Both the companies provide short stay
accommodation and holiday park facilities for its customers in the country. This report covers
comparison of different organisations in relation to impact of change on their strategies and
operations and evaluation of ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect
leadership, team and individual behaviour within an organisation. It also covers evaluation of
measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on organisational behaviour.
In addition, the report undertakes different barriers for change and how leadership decision-
making is influenced by the same and application of different leadership approach to dealing
with change.
TASK 1
P1 & M1. Comparison of different organisational examples where there has been an impact of
change
In a business context, change could be structural as well as functional and has a severe
impact on an organisation's strategy. There is a constant requirement of change and this could be
either on strategies and structure or on processes and people. All the aspects of changes in an
organisation affect and influence the overall functioning of a company and thus, it is essential
that appropriate and effective measures are adopted in relation to dealing with the change.
Furthermore, all the changes within an organisation are required to be perceived in ways that
enhance the scope of its adaptability towards that change and make it more flexible and efficient
in its implementation (MacKian and Simons, 2013).
Alongside this, there are several drivers of change which influences and induces change
within an organisation's strategies and processes. In addition, impact of these drivers could be
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quite evident and extensive for a company. However, in environment of constant change,
modifications and advancements, change is inevitable and constant for firms operating in the
business environment (Mukherjee and et. al., 2012).
The impact of these changes is witnessed effectively by organisations like Verdant
Leisure and Bridge Leisure. As for the former, the company provides accommodation as well as
holiday part facilities across areas like Ireland and Scotland. In addition, the company effectively
also provide catering facilities and excellent customer services for its service providers. It is
considered one of the most preferred tourism organisation of the country. The latter, Bridge
Leisure offers holiday services in their parks across the nation from Cornwall to Scottish Coast,
along with management, support and consultancy services.
However, there are various changes recently experienced by both the companies which
have different impacts on their strategies and operations. These changes as well as their impact
on both the companies are explained below:
TECHNOLOGICAL:
There has been a substantial change in technology in recent years which has had the
impact on businesses' strategies as well as its operations. For instance, Artificial Intelligence and
Automation technologies have quite an impact on the tourism industry as there are mobile
applications, along with in-house functions associated with the businesses.
As for Verdant Leisure, such change in technology has quite an impact on its strategies
as the firm is willing to associate itself with reputed technological companies to help develop a
unified system which will be handling all the functions of the tourism company. As for
operations, this factor would be having a positive impact on the operations of the firm as with
automation, there will be drastic reduction in any scope of error.
In case of Bridge Leisure, technology has its impact on its strategies and operations too.
This firm is planning to launch a mobile application for its customers which would help them in
conducting its operations online (Wagner, 2016). The impact which this element has on the
operations of Bridge Leisure is that the firm will be providing training to its staff in relation to
the enhancing the adaptability of the technology.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE:
Changes in organisational structure could have drastic impacts on the strategies and
operations of organisations. Verdant Leisure has expanded its business operations recently by
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acquiring more leisure parks in recent years. This has impacted its strategies and operations in
various ways. The impact which this had on strategies of the firm is that the company has
appropriately adopted product development strategy where the organisation would be presenting
new services within existing market. In case of operations, is that the company is hiring more
individuals and business analysts which would help Verdant leisure in developing and
implementing necessary plans to ensure proper and systematic expansion.
Bridge Leisure also has changed its organisational structure to ensure proper
communication within the overall organisational departments. This changes in structure has
effectively impacted the firm. The impact of this on the strategy is that as per the new
organisational structure is narrowing down departments for easy communication. As for
operations, organisational structure is being more horizontal which allows departments to
strengthen internal communication.
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE:
Changes in organisational culture have rather a negative impact related to acceptance of
this sort of change. Verdant Leisure too had this impact on itself as changes in its organisational
structure somewhat negatively impacted its strategies and operations due to resistance of
employees. Thus, the firm adopted communication as a strategy to ensure their acceptance
towards this change. Furthermore, educational programs were arranged by Verdant Leisure
which helped the firm in gaining employees' confidence.
In case of Bridge Leisure, the company too had negative impact on its strategies and
operations. The firm adopted several strategies such as it focused on well being of employees to
have a positive impact on the organisation. Employee welfare programs were implemented as
operations for this change.
PROCESS:
Changes in business processes could be challenging for a company seeing the vast
magnitude of impact. In case of Verdant Leisure, there are several ongoing concerns related to
preservation of environment and natural resources in the United Kingdom. This required the firm
to change its business process which had an impact on the strategies and operations. The
company has recently joined Keep Britain Tidy’s month-long spring-clean initiative (Spring
clean planned at Verdant Leisure parks, 2018). The impact this driver had on its strategy
influenced all the parks of this firm to effectively participate in this clean-up initiative (Salmela,
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Eriksson and Fagerström, 2012). This driver had a huge impact on its operations as the company
indulged its employees into taking part in this initiative. All its people and processes actively
participated and the company is taking initiative regarding environment safety.
In context with Bridge Leisure, the company has adopted mandatory procedures recently
about protecting natural resources through encouraging caravan owners of using recyclable
materials. In addition, the firm has also implemented waste management system to ensure
reduction in waste. As for operations, Bridge Leisure have witnessed a change, as the company
to ensure effective waste management is giving educational tours to caravan owners and tourists
about how best they could preserve the environment around them.
TASK 2
P2. Evaluation of Ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team
and individual behaviour
Drivers of change could be referred to internal as well as external pressure upon an
organisation which influences it to change. This change could be imposed on strategies, plans,
procedures, teams as well as on individuals of a company. However, there are several areas
where this impact is experienced the most. These areas are leadership, individual as well as team
behaviour (Stanleigh, 2013).
As for Verdant Leisure, the company operates in tourism industry and there are several
areas within its business environment which could induce this change in its structure and
procedures. Furthermore, it is crucial for the firm to deal with the same in order to appropriately
ensure utmost sustainability within the business market. Following are the internal as well as
external factors which have an impact on leadership, team and individual behaviour in the
organisation. These factors are described below:
Internal Factors: Organisational Culture: One of the most important and evident driver for change is
organisational culture. It encompasses of the belief systems, values and other morals
being followed by the company. As for Verdant Leisure, the organisational culture of the
company is dedicated towards providing best services to customers. Furthermore,
Verdant Leisure tends to work with skilled and talented staff which is supportive towards
the firm and its operations (We are Team Verdant, 2019). Their creative thinking and
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suggestions are considered important in the firm's decision making processes.
Furthermore, this driver assists the company in modifying its operations according to the
culture. The organisation culture of Verdant Leisure has a positive impact on leadership
as the managers and supervisors work together with the team to make their services more
valuable. Moreover, as for individual behaviour, each employee in the firm would be
optimistic and motivated in working towards the company. Furthermore, as for team
behaviour, such progressive organisational culture has resulted in rise in harmony and
effective teamwork within the groups in Verdant Leisure. Financial Management: Another major driver for change in Verdant Leisure is its
financial management. In undertakes all the management related to money within and
outside of an organisation. In addition to this, this management also includes
management of the company's acquisition of new resources as well as investment
decisions (Thomas and et. al., 2013). Despite of unstable political condition, this factor is
quite contributing in terms of perceiving change within the company. Moreover, changes
in this management might be challenging for leadership. This is because leaders would be
require to give more complex training to their employees in relation to the changed
financial management. As for individual and team behaviour, this change might induce a
feeling of resistance in the employees, because they would be required to adopt new ways
of working and managing finance. Business Objectives: Another effective factor which could be a major driver for change
is objectives of a business. Each goal of an organisation completely transforms its culture
as well as its functioning to make it aligning to the objectives. This factor effective
leadership as leaders are required to create a vision, which is essential in terms of
integrating personal and organisational goals of employees. As for team behaviour,
changes in business goals require each team to work together in relation to ensure success
in accomplishment of the objective. However, there might be a conflict of interest
observed in individual behaviour, which is required to be moulded to support
organisational objectives.
 Innovation: Another factor which is a driver for change is innovation. For instance,
where innovation is concerned, it is essential for organisation to ensure innovative
practices within their organisation. It would influence leadership as those entities within
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Verdant Leisure are required to train these individuals in terms of new and innovative
practices. Secondly, individual behaviour might cause ineffectiveness and resistance to
change. Moreover, with team behaviour, this resistance is likely to be reduced as new
teams might be formed with respect to deal with changes related to innovation that would
make it positive and determined for its success.
External Factors: Government: Changes induced by governments affect functioning of an organisation. In
Verdant Leisure's context, the company as well as the country have been suddenly
affected by Brexit (Anderson, 2016). The affect was quite evident on the organisation as
due to political instability, the policies and regulations of the nation changed completely.
Thus, it forced Verdant Leisure to change its organisational policies as well. It had a
negative impact on leadership as well as team and individual behaviour. The reason for
the same was that regular changing of policies within the firm induced feelings of stress
within the workforce. Furthermore, leaders and managers regularly modified the whole
organisational structure and systems which was a complex activity. Economical Factor: It covers the overall economic performance of nation. In case of
Verdant Leisure, the UK has suffered a major reduction in its economic environment.
This could be evident from the fact that the value of pound has been on an all time low.
Moreover, there has been a rise in unemployment and a major reduction in economic
growth. Thus, this driver would require the company to shift its prices lower, provide
more employment opportunities, etc. Leaders would be required to communicate
effectively with teams and individuals as their salaries might be cut, which is an essential
activity to ensure consistency in positive organisational behaviour. Customers: Awareness among customers are rising and people require more innovative
services and personalised attention. Moreover, their preferences and demands change
overtime and this perhaps makes this driver one of the most influencing one. Verdant
Leisure would be required to modify its operations in order to satisfy these demands. For
instance, the firm, according to current trends would be providing discounts to people to
raise their standard of living. Leaders would be required to set up standards for
subordinates about the changed practice. However, this might impact on individual and
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team behaviour due to fear of lesser income of the company. Thus, this might have a
moderate impact on the company (Doppelt, 2017).
 Technology: Another factor affecting leadership and organisational behaviour is
technology. With ongoing advancements and raised demands, Verdant Leisure is required
to bring in new technologies to satisfy the unmet demands of customers. For instance,
rise in Virtual Realty in tourism might affect the firm’s operations. This would affect
team and individual behaviour as they might resist this change. Thus, leadership role of
managers would require them to transit this behaviour into progressive one and provide
them with necessary training for adoption of new technologies.
P3 & M2. Measures that can be taken to minimise negative impact of change on organisational
behaviour
There are several measures which are essential to be undertaken in order to minimise the
negative impact of change (Fragouli and Ibidapo, 2015). These measures could effectively assist
an organisation in adopting methods, techniques and safety processes to safeguard itself from all
the adverse affects of change. Furthermore, taking these measures could also be beneficial for an
organisation in order to gain a sustainable growth in the business.
There are several measures which could be taken by organisation could take to ensure
that the negative impact of change are reduced. These measures are discussed below: Communication: The first and foremost measure which could be taken by the
organisation to reduce negative impact of change is communication. It is very important
that individuals within the organisations are effectively communicated regarding the
change and why introduction and implementation of the same could ensure benefits to
these employees in the long term. Determination of Impact: Another effective measure which must be adopted by Verdant
Leisure is determining the impact of change they plan to introduce on to the departments
and individuals who are most likely to be affected by it. This would allow the company in
formulating effective strategies as well as taking appropriate steps in relation to reduce
the positive impact of change on their situations. Training: It is perhaps one of the best and most crucial measures which could be adopted
by the organisation. Training employees with respect to change would allow them to
embrace it in their organisational culture as well as appropriately work towards its
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healthy and long-term establishment within the company. Moreover, training would also
help them to prepare themselves regarding the change which would further reduce its
negative impact.
Recommendation for Planning
As for minimising the negative impact, Verdant Leisure could undertake PDCA Model of
change management in order to effectively enhance the positive impacts of change and reduce
the negative ones. This model is effectively described as under: Plan: Verdant Leisure, at this stage would be performing a robust marketing research in
order to analyse the whole market and determining effective opportunities for the
company. The firm would then be developing several strategies to ensure that these
opportunities are rightfully addressed. For instance, Verdant Leisure could conduct
research as for the changing political and technological scenarios and developing
effective strategies against the same. Do: This step needs Verdant Leisure to evaluate these strategies set in the previous stage.
This aspect is very crucial in order to appropriately evaluate the effectiveness of these
strategies against the firm and its plans. For instance, the firm set up new strategies to
provide their services at a lower cost due to the events of Brexit. This requires the
company to conduct and in depth evaluation considering forecasts and all the possible
outcomes related to this (Fullan, 2014). Check: This stage requires Verdant Leisure to measure effectiveness of strategies which
the firm planned to implement in respect of change. For this, the firm is required to
compare the current outcome of its strategies from the expected outcome to find out any
scope of deviation. Thus, if standards of current outcomes are higher than expected, then
the company could carry on with their pre set strategy. However, deviated results might
require the firm to modify their plans in accordance with reaching the needed standards.
 Act: After determination of effectiveness, in this last stage, the company will be choosing
which plan to implement in the future as per the evaluation. Further, Verdant Leisure will
be providing training and development activities to its employees in order to
appropriately enhance the scope of success of strategies for a sustainable future (Gupta,
2011).
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TASK 3
P4 & M3. Different barriers for change and determine how they impact Verdant Leisure
leadership decision making
The term Change in an organisation is an essential concept to understand the complex
situation of company as it helps them to create successful strategies for achieving organisational
goal. In order to survive in competitive environment, organisation should adapt the change which
enables them to sustain for a longer period of time. But, at the same time it impact on company
positively and negatively which became a barrier for them to acquire change within an
organisation. In context to Verdant Leisure, one of the famous travel and tourism companies who
offers holiday homes and serves across the globe. Some of the barriers to change which is faced
by Verdant Leisure are described below: Resistance to Change: This is the act of opposing or struggling to acquire modification
or transformation within an organisation which become the major barrier to change.
Employees generally find it convenient to continue what they have been always doing
and because of this they resist to accept change. Along with this, it affects Verdant
Leisure's manager as they find difficulty to implement effective and productive decision
making. While change always face resistant and for this Verdant Leisure's managers
strive to help their employees by engaging those employees who opposed to change
which create positivity among them towards change. By this, company can attain high
productivity and profitability (Hillson and Murray-Webster, 2017). Ineffective Communication: The main element for the success of an organisation is
effective communication while at the same time poor communication leads to many
issues like conflicts, dissatisfaction among employees and impact on leader's decision
making. Along with this, it hampers whole working environment and reduces the Verdant
Leisure productivity and sales growth (Jones and Harris, 2014). In order to tackle with
these barriers, its leader provides all clear information about change which is introduced
within an organisation which builds a healthy working environment and enhance Verdant
Leisure profitability.
 Lack of Accurate Governance for Transformational Change: An improper structure or
administration becomes the barrier to adopt transformational change i.e., a continuous
change which represents a fundamental shift in the priorities, strategies and working
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culture of an organisation. However, in order to enrich the business, Verdant Leisure
manager clearly define or explains approaches or strategies as well as involving their
staff in all phase of change discussion which enhance their morale. By this, company can
attain pre determined goal in an effective and efficient manner.
From the above discussed, barriers to change which has great influence on the Verdant
Leisure leaders decision making as well as their achievement of organisational goal. With the
force field analysis, it enables Verdant Leisure to identify and examine the challenges and help
them to implement effective decision which enhances business growth. It is considered as an
important tool for making decisions by analysing the forces for and against a change as well as it
communicates the reason behind decisions (Komives, 2016).
Force Field analysis is classified into two categories driving force and restraining force
(Lawrence, 2015). In order for change to occur, the driving force must exceed the restraining
force. The stages of force field analysis are as follows:
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Illustration 1: Force Field Analysis