Leadership Strategies for Change Management: United Products

This case study analyzes leadership's role in change management at United Products, focusing on addressing employee resistance and negotiating with stakeholders. It identifies dysfunctional, emotional, and sociological forms of resistance and remedial actions taken, such as competitive intelligence and stress reduction. The report highlights CEO Jack Nickolson's delegation, intelligence, responsiveness and analytical skills. It assesses negotiation techniques, including CSR initiatives, stakeholder engagement, and cross-cultural communication, alongside persuasion methodologies like appealing to trust and offering rewards. The case study also contrasts leadership styles of Apple and Google, emphasizing the critical role of leadership in successful organizational change. Desklib is a platform where you can find this and other solved assignments to help you in your studies.

Running Head: LEADERSHIP 1
Leadership in Change Management

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Executive Summary
Change management is one of the most significant processes that can be implemented by any
organization in any industry. Before implementing this program, the companies need to ensure
that employees will not resist changes in processes and systems. There may be various reasons
behind employee change resistance like psychological issues of anxiety, fear and insecurity. The
organization should make efforts to make the employees comfortable regarding the change
implementation. The major objective of this report is to provide the solution to the give case
study titled as “United Products Undergoing Change Management”. The report is divided into
three sections. Task one of this report includes the change management issues which are faced by
United Products organization and how the leaders are trying to overcome them. Task two is
focused on the negotiation techniques used by the leaders so that they can resolve the conflicts
and maintain better relationships with both internal and external stakeholders. The company is

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using effective strategies to pacify the employees who are very dissatisfied with the organization.
These techniques of leader can assist the organization to overcome the issues and increase the
satisfaction level of employees. At the end, last section covers the data about two major leaders
of organizations i.e. Apple and Google. The leadership styles and changes made by both the
leaders are compared and contrasted. It can be stated that leadership plays a significant role in
the change management which can enhance the satisfaction of both external and internal
stakeholders of organization.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Task 1: Negotiation and Influencing skills in resistance in change management.........................................4
a. Three Forms of Change Resistance..................................................................................................4
b. Three Remedial Actions...................................................................................................................5
c. Four Change Management Skills......................................................................................................6
Task 2: Task 2: Negotiation and influencing techniques for optimal outcomes...........................................6
a. Four Areas.......................................................................................................................................6
b. Negotiation with External Stakeholders..........................................................................................7
c. Persuasion Methodologies..............................................................................................................8
d. Four Communication Skills..............................................................................................................9
Task 3: Leadership styles and ethical perspective.....................................................................................10
a. Names of the two business leaders who instigated changes.........................................................10
b. Similarity and differences between the leadership styles of the leader and the change
implemented by them...........................................................................................................................11
c. Evaluations of the success or results of the changes.....................................................................13
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................14
References.................................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
Change Management is a systematic way to deal with the transformation of processes, objectives
and technologies. Each and every company makes these changes for some specific reason or
objective. To become more effective, the change management process needs to take into
consideration that how the change or replacement will affect the systems, processes and
members within the organization (Cameron & Green, 2015). This report is focused on solving
the case study of United Products Organization that is undergoing the change management. It
indicates how the transformation in business is very appropriate to link and align with the
mission and goals of organization. The given case study covers the issues which are faced by
United Products’ management and how the leaders have taken actions to manage the issues. The
below report includes the various aspects of leadership in change management. It examines the
abilities of leader to assist the company so that it can meet the expectations of stakeholders.
Task 1: Negotiation and Influencing skills in resistance in change
management
a. Three Forms of Change Resistance
When any company plans to implement change in its systems and processes, some of its
employees resist the change due to some reasons. Same as other organizations, United Products
Company is also facing the situations of change resistance. The major three forms of change
resistance at United Products are stated below:
 Leaders at United Products have confronted a higher extent of employee change
resistance. One of the major forms of change resistance in this company is dysfunctional
type of resistance under which United’s employees ignored to deal with the key issues
and pressure of urgent work. Due to changes in the system, the employees affected their
performance and they did not do enough work that was required to enhance company’s
productivity (Forbes Coaches Council, 2017). The employees showed their
dissatisfaction and resistance by leaving the firm that has increased organization’s

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employee turnover rate. It has affected the overall performance and productivity of
United Products.
 Another type of employee change resistance at United Products is emotional resistance
that includes the psychological issues of anxiety, fear and insecurity. The senior
management of United Products Company changed its CEO who threatened the
employees. He closed its human relations training program for supervisors. It led them to
resist the decisions made by New CEO Jack Nickolson. At initial stage, this form was
showed by the opposition to work hard at United’s workplace. It had also increased the
employee turnover at the company (DuBrin, 2015).
 In addition to above forms, internal and external stakeholders had expressed the
sociological form of change resistance. Under this form, shareholders, community and
employees opposed the change because of trust and loyalty issues. It had an adverse
impact on the overall position of the case study firm.
b. Three Remedial Actions
To deal with the above employee change resistance issues and to pacify the staff, the leaders at
United Products had taken various remedial actions which are discussed below:
 Firstly, the top management of United used the competitive intelligence approach through
which they spied on its rivalry brands and union. It assisted the organization to get the
information about the processes which other competing brands are using to pacify and
satisfy their employees (Chen & Rybak, 2017). The leaders of company thought to adopt
competitors’ employee engagement and satisfaction techniques.
 Secondly, United Products made decision to reduce the work pressure and stress among
the employees. Ultimately, it helped them to retain the employees in the company’s
workplace and work with full dedication.
 Additionally, the managers also focused on increasing the trust and loyalty level of its
staff. In order to do this, company has provided different benefits and perks as per their
job. It aided the company to increase employee morale and satisfaction among
employees. They made efforts to develop trust among its stakeholders so that they can
operate the business successfully (Carnall, 2018).

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c. Four Change Management Skills
The given case study shows that CEO Jack Nickolson demonstrated different skills which
assisted him to retain the employees and to regain the trust of stakeholders. The major skills of
Jack are:
 Delegation skills
 Intelligence skills
 Responsive leadership skills
 Analytical skills
As a new leader at United Products, Jack Nickolson demonstrated the above skills which can be
analyzed from his actions towards employees. He showed responsive leadership skills by looking
at the results of his strictness and taken immediate actions. Furthermore, he made efforts to
develop trust and support among stakeholders by demonstrating his delegation skills (Hayes,
2018).
Task 2: Task 2: Negotiation and influencing techniques for optimal
outcomes
a. Four Areas
The top management of United Products had focused on various areas to handle the situations
with external stakeholders. The major areas are explained below:
1. United Products is a large manufacturing organization that is engaged to produce the
cleaning products using chemical that has an adverse impact on environment. Analysing
its impact on environment and natural resources, the firm started to make investment in
corporate social responsibility activities. These activities helped the organization to gain
the trust of community and other stakeholders. It enabled United to sustain the
environment and resources. It eliminated the utilization of chemicals in the products and
initiated to dispose the wastage into landfills. Moreover, the company aimed to make
better relationships with community and external stakeholders. It started to comply with
the societal and institutional standards. By doing this, United Products was able to regain
the trust of community (Doppelt, 2017).

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2. Secondly, company’s management made efforts to understand the importance of
stakeholders. By understanding this, it handled all the situations very professionally so
that they can increase their interest level towards company. Management adopted several
methods to analyse the performance of its staff members and lead them to perform better.
The company issues a statement that the shareholders will be able to generate more
profits with the future development of company. In order to enhance the quality and
behaviour of employees, United Products conducted a training and development program
for them. They were trained to develop effective communication with the external people
of company and resolving their issues.
3. Third area of focus is social expectations on which management of United Products
worked (Van der Voet, 2014). Social expectations are the key aspects which enhance the
commitment and satisfaction level of community people and enhance environment as
well. For this organization, it is significant to follow all the social regulations and norms
so that they can effectively run their business among targeted audiences. The handle the
situations with stakeholders, the organization targeted to meet the social expectations of
the people. The company started to invest in corporate social responsibility and
community programs.
4. As mentioned in the given case study, United Products is operating its business in Asian
culture but it has connected with the people coming from different cultural backgrounds
all over the world. Company has complied with the both domestic and international
norms and managed diversity in the workplace. Additionally, it started cross cultural
communication activities which assisted all the stakeholders to make conversation with
each other.
b. Negotiation with External Stakeholders
United Products had used various aspects to negotiate with the external stakeholders so that it
can generate an amiable result competitor’s eyes. Under this, the major emphasis of the company
was on the culture and diversity. The diversity process affects the working and operations of
team as well as the individual candidates. United Products Company focused on these two
aspects which allow the organization to understand the significance of different cultures and
diversity. The organization provided training to its employees regarding different cultures and
language so that they can communicate with the external stakeholders from diverse cultural

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backgrounds. The firm can grow in targeted market segment by expanding their operational
scope. By using these aspects, the company can spread its business operations in different
countries. Additionally, business expansion strategies are the most appropriate ways for the
development of stakeholders because it assists them to earn more in strong economic
environment (Holten & Brenner, 2015).
c. Persuasion Methodologies
In addition to above negotiation techniques, The United Products Organization has adopted some
persuasion methodologies, which are given below:
 Appeal to Trust
The company used this type of persuasion methodology to retain its external and internal
stakeholders. The management of company understood that if the people trust or believe in you,
you can persuade them more (Lussier & Achua, 2015). Under its moral appeal method, United
Products made an appeal to the people with an objective to overcome the adverse impacts due to
their business operations.
 Focusing on possible loss
As discussed in the given case, United Products confronted the issue of increasing employee
turnover. It was one of the major losses to the company as most of its employees and supervisors
left the company due to work pressure and stress. As a result of this, the company made efforts to
win the trust of public. Now, they are trying to correct their actions and adopting new business
activities.
 Gifts and Rewards
Furthermore, this organization has used gifts and rewards to persuade its employees and
stakeholders. It assisted the company to develop better relationships with the external
stakeholders and society people. Thus, these three persuasion methodologies had supported the
United Products to communicate and develop good relationship with the society.

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d. Four Communication Skills
As mentioned in the task 1 (c), CEO of United Products, Jack Nickolson has various change
management skills. In addition to this, Jack has some communication skills which are stated
below:
 Motivating skills
Motivation is one of the significant skills which a leader must have while communicating with
his/her followers and employees. It is very important to implement a change program. This is the
reason that Jack inspired the employees to adapt the changes. On the contrast, John has
conducted human relations training program to motivate and engage the employees in their work.
 Leadership skills
Leadership is a fundamental skill which Jack used effectively. By improving his leading skills,
Jack forced the employees to work hard so that it can enhance company’s productivity. Also, he
trained the employees towards attaining organizational objectives. Along with the employees,
supervisors has also provided with the training and development program so they can increase
the performance of organization among the competitors (Goswami, Nair, Beehr &
Grossenbacher, 2016).
 Attentiveness and ready to listen
In order to communicate with thee employees and other stakeholders, it is very important for
leaders to become very attentive and responsive. In the workplace of United Products, Jack
demonstrated effective attentive skills that assisted him to understand the changes in the working
environment. He put very much pressure on his employees and supervisors but then he found
that his strictness has increased the employee turnover. As compared to Jack, John was more
attentive towards employees and their benefits. His attentiveness supported him to analyze the
issues and he had taken the immediate actions by using his responsive skills.
 Good understanding

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It can be stated that understanding is one of the most important ingredients in establishing
effective communication with the people. Like John, Jack was able to understand the needs and
demands of employees in the organization. This is the reason that he provided different benefits
to the employees. It assisted the management team to increase the future productivity of United
Products.
Thus, it can be stated that both leaders at United Products have different skills and abilities. For
example, John did not possess the competitive knowledge while Jack lacked integrity (Renko, El
Tarabishy, Carsrud & Brännback, 2015). Both the leaders made efforts to manage the
organizational processes by using their different skills.
Task 3: Leadership styles and ethical perspective
a. Names of the two business leaders who instigated changes
Name of the Leader Organization Name Justification
Tim Cook Apple  Apple is the organization that is
operating business in
information technology and
smart phone industry. This field
needs continuous use of
creativity and innovation.
 The leader at Apple makes
changes in its processes and
products considering the needs
and demands of customers.
 It is one of the most innovative
firms and Tim Cook does not
fear to implement changes in
workplace (Heracleous &

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Papachroni, 2016).
Sundar Pichai Google  Google is the biggest search
engine worldwide so company
needs to make various changes in
its technologies and processes.
 Despite several pressures on
Google, it is dominating other
search engines.
 Still, it is highly profitable and
competitive.
 CEO of Google is able to
manage its all the activities and
gaining competitive edge.
b. Similarity and differences between the leadership styles of the leader
and the change implemented by them
Tim Cook Sundar Pichai Similarity/ Differences
The CEO of Apple is creative
and innovative thinker who is
very much involved in the
business activities of Apple.
One of the best examples of
his innovation is iPhone 5
model that is headed by this
leader of Apple. It was the
most successful product of this
company. This CEO believes
Same as Tim Cook, Sundar
Pichai is also an innovative
leader who believes to make
creative changes as per the
needs and demands of targeted
audiences. For instance, Pichai
assisted the company to
develop Chrome operating
system for laptops that stores
information in cloud. He is very
Similarity in implementing
creativity and innovation

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that innovation is the most
appropriate way to gain
competitive edge over
competing brands.
much concerned towards
society and environment.
This leader of Apple has
practiced its operations and
business processes in an
effective way so it is able to
gain more competitive
advantage and market share
in the smart phone industry.
Despite of higher prices of
products, company is able to
manage its brand image
among others (Lashinsky,
2012).
The leader of Google aims to
generate more profits and
revenues. The business function
of Google is different from
Apple as it earns money from
display advertisement of other
firms. Individuals can use the
services of Google free of cost.
Difference in business
operation approach
The leader of Apple, Tim
Cook is using democratic
leadership style in its
operations. He is very
transparent to its employees
and followers. He has
adopted some famous
entrepreneur’s practices and
provided a unique
leadership style (Kane &
Patapan, 2014).
This leader is empathetic, self-
deprecating and graceful.
Sundar Pichai believes in team
building and work together in
implementation of innovation.
Generally, he ignores the
conflict, instead focusing in
cooperation.
Differences in leadership styles

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Tim Cook has started the
changes by including
innovation in its products.
Considering the products of
competitors and market trends,
the leader has made changes
in its processes and products.
Sundar Pichai always makes
the changes at workplace
considering the employee
welfare. While making
changes, it always engages the
employees so that they can
accept the changes easily
(Yarow, 2014).
Difference in change
management styles
c. Evaluations of the success or results of the changes
Tim Cook Sundar Pichai Success/ Failure
This leader provided various
opportunities and innovative
products to customers.
Primarily, he aimed to develop
an effective workplace
environment for the
employees. He provided a
comfortable working
environment to them (Strom,
Sears & Kelly, 2014).
Cook and Pichai both
succeeded in their objectives
but in diverse way. Cook
focused on customers and
Pichai emphasized on its
employees.
In last five years, Time Cook
made a significant
contribution to company’s
success. Being an innovative
leader, he encouraged the
manufacturing team to make
more technological innovative
products. It has improved
company’s position.
Pichai is working with Google
for last 11 years. He had
played an important role in
developing Google drive,
Gmail, Google Chrome,
Google Maps etc. Android is
one of the most revenue
generator inventions of
Google.
Both of the leaders are very
much successful in their
business activities and
operations. They are able to
implement innovations
successfully (Jones & Van de
Ven, 2016).

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In his duration as Apple’s
CEO, the company is not able
to implement effective
marketing and advertising
strategies.
While Google has adopted the
most effective promotion and
marketing strategies (Mishra,
2018).
In this area, Tim Cook is
successful while Sundar
Pichain has faced failure.
The leader is using a creative
management approach so that
it can improve its business
practices.
The leader is planning to
introduce smart phones also.
Tim Cook is successful but
Google smart phones have not
more brand presence.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be stated that leadership plays an important role in the process of
change management. It is very significant to maintain the interest of both internal and external
stakeholders so that it can attain its objectives. The above report concludes that case study
organization i.e. United Products is using various techniques and systems to improve the
conditions. The employees have resisted the change and left the organization. The company is
focusing on the issues related to change management and adopted new skills to manage the
employees.

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