Leading Organizational Change: A Case Study of Mulberry Japan Co. Ltd.

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Understanding and Leading Change
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: Managing the Impact of Change.........................................................................................4
P1: Compare different organizational examples where there has been an impact of change on
an organization’s strategy and operations....................................................................................4
P2: Evaluate the ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team
and individual behaviors within an organization.........................................................................5
P3: Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimize negative impacts of change on
organizational behavior...............................................................................................................6
M1: Assess the different drivers for change in each of the given examples and the types of
organizational change they have affected....................................................................................7
M2: Apply appropriate theories and models to critically evaluate organizational response to
change..........................................................................................................................................7
D1: Draw conclusions and recommendations with valid justifications for planning effectively
for change and applying change impact analysis........................................................................8
Task 2: Leadership Decision Making.............................................................................................9
P4: Explain different barriers for change and determine how they influence leadership
decision making in a given organizational context......................................................................9
M3: Use force field analysis to analyze the driving and resisting forces and show how they
influence decision-making.........................................................................................................10
D2: Critically evaluate the use of force field analysis in the context of meeting organizational
objectives...................................................................................................................................12
Task 3: Leading Change...............................................................................................................13
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P5: Apply different leadership approaches to dealing with change in a range of organizational
contexts......................................................................................................................................13
M4: Evaluate the extent to which leadership approaches can deliver organizational change
effectively applying appropriate models and frameworks.........................................................14
D3: Critically evaluate the effectiveness of leadership approaches and models of change
management...............................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
The complete assignment is about the effective management of change in the organization.
Change is very necessary to be implemented but it is more important to effectively respond to the
increasing changes in the business organization. The U.K. based luxury fashion company
“Mulberry” has established the business joint venture with the leading fashion company in the
country of Japan. The effective measures & the implementation of decisions are being introduced
in the assignment in order to respond to the changes in positive manner. Also the wide
approaches of the leadership are being introduced in the context of organizational change.
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Task 1: Managing the Impact of Change
P1: Compare different organizational examples where there has been an impact of
change on an organization’s strategy and operations.
The changes after forming as the new joint venture in Japan has impacted the business fashion
organization of “Mulberry” up to the large extent. The strategies & the management business
practices were used to be framed by the U.K. business organization according to the trends &
needs of the customers living in London, but now the new joint venture of “Mulberry Japan Co.
Limited” need to change all its strategic management policies and the effective managerial
decisions which are now to be implemented only according to the needs & current trends of the
people living in the country of Japan. Not only the managers, but all the employees of fashion
company “Mulberry” has to face the consequences of change in the strategic objectives & the
policies of business management. As the complete new structure of the joint venture has been
made & developed, the working operations of all the different levels of department have also
been defined which are to be performed by them (Yi, et.al. 2017).
The changes in the overall business organization had impacted the members working under in
both the negative & positive manner. The people with positive attitude & favorable behavior will
grab the changes in an effective manner such as they will learn about the trends & the living
standard of the people living in Japan & will get attracted towards the new environment. But
those organizational employees, who resist changes, carrying the negative & unfavorable
attitude, will not be able to implement the new structures & the business strategies in the
organization. Therefore, the business managers of the new joint venture “Mulberry Japan Co.
Limited” will have to conduct the effective training & the motivational sessions for their
employees who resist changes and provide them the proper learning along with sharing with
them the essential advantages about the organizational change in the new country. The
enhancement of coordination & communication process must be present in the organization (Yi,
et.al. 2017). It is their responsibility to increase the trust of their employees towards the
organization & try their best to retain all the skilled & experienced employees.
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P2: Evaluate the ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect
leadership, team and individual behaviors within an organization.
Those factors or the force which bring the change in the overall business organization is called as
the “Drivers of change”. All these drivers forces or pressurizes the members working in the
organization to modify their performances according to all the changes being implemented by
the business organization. These changing drivers get initiated in the macro environment and
sometimes in the micro or the internal environment also. The internal drivers of change includes
the effective strategies, pre-defined plans &objectives, designs, new products or the services and
the working operation in the business organization. The external factors are the “outside
influences” that can greatly impact the ability of the new joint venture of “Mulberry Japan Co.
Limited” in order to achieve the new defined goals & objectives (Pieterse, et.al. 2012). The
external driver of change includes the level of competition, customers, capital, the social, legal,
political, technological and the economic environmental factors which cannot be controlled by
the business organization, but the effective measures can be implemented in order to eliminate
all these threats with the grabbing of effective opportunities.
The business managerial leaders have the power to influence & provide the effective guidance to
all the people working in the organization. The various different styles of the leadership in the
organization are being affected by both the internal as well as the external drivers of change. The
process of leadership provides the clear vision & the effective direction to the employees in order
to achieve the goals & objectives of the organization. The change in the complete organizational
structure compels the effective leaders to change & provide the new guidelines & the direction to
its employees on which they can move. While, on the other hand, the coordination is to be
established among the different levels of department & the various teams so that the individual
behavior can be enhanced. Individuals & the multiple teams will have to face the variety of
problems as their team members get changed & they are provided with the new goals to be
achieved (Pieterse, et.al. 2012).
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P3: Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimize negative impacts of change on
organizational behavior.
Along with the effective positive points, there are various negative consequences which are to be
faced by the organizational members & the business managers, which are to be minimized very
soon so that the new joint venture of “Mulberry Japan Co. Limited” can continue to operate in an
effective & smooth manner. The key factor in order to minimize the negative impacts on the
employees & also to secure the increased morale in the business organization is to ensure the
effective separation of the employees at different levels who are necessarily to be treated with
“dignity & respect” during the complete process of enhancing change (Duxbury, 2012). The
following few ways are being described in order to reduce the negative impacts:-
 Ensuring Stability: The employees must not be given the surprise in the case of
organizational restructure or the multiple job eliminations. There must be transparency
and honesty in the process of effective communication among various levels of
department. All the employees must be physically & mentally prepared for the complete
organizational change.
 Increasing Participation: The business managers are required to motivate its
employees so that their participation level gets increased in the effective decision
making process. They must feel that they are also the important part of the overall
organization.
 Effective Culture of Learning: An effective culture must be enhanced in the
organization in which each & every employee must be enhanced towards the proper
learning about the new changes & the new environment.
 Conducting Effective Meetings: All the top level managers and the departmental
managers of the new joint venture “Mulberry Japan Co. Limited” must conduct the
meetings including all the employees of the business organization. And in all those
meetings they must be shared with the advantages of changing the complete structure in
the organization & also implementing the measures to lead the change (Duxbury, 2012).
All these effective measures can be applied by the business managers to gain the support of all
their employees & enhance the achievement of defined organizational goals & objectives.
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M1: Assess the different drivers for change in each of the given examples and the
types of organizational change they have affected.
There are two types of different drivers of change, “internal drivers & external drivers”. The
internal drivers of change get enhanced when there are the changes in the overall organizational
structure, internal policies & the strategies changing guidelines & the direction, deciding about
the new organizational objectives & goals, establishing the new products & services & all the
other factors of internal environment in the business organization. The external drivers of change
are those which cannot be eliminated or diminished by the organization but they can enhance the
effective control over those external environmental factors with the implementation of effective
strategies & the policies. Both these drivers have impacted the working operations of the joint
venture of “Mulberry Japan Co. Limited” in the positive & the negative manner (Shvindina,
2017). But the company with the effective application of the business tactics & strategic policies,
it can gain the complete support of its employees & can retain the skilled or efficient employees.
M2: Apply appropriate theories and models to critically evaluate organizational
response to change.
Apart from implementing the various effective strategic policies & the business tactics, the joint
venture “Mulberry Japan Co. Limited” can also apply the efficient models & appropriate
business theories to properly responding towards the organizational change. There are various
models which can be applied by the organization, few of them includes: process based models,
content-based models and integrated models. The “Process based models” determine the actual
steps about how the organizational change will process. It involves the complete sequence to
effectively respond to the organizational change. The “Content based models” involves the
deep understanding & the analyzing of the reasons behind the change, enhancing the learning of
the new effective system and also those variables affecting the state of equilibrium (Shvindina,
2017). The “Integrated models” is the combination of both the process & content models,
which includes the factors of both the models.
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D1: Draw conclusions and recommendations with valid justifications for planning
effectively for change and applying change impact analysis.
Although, the organizational change is not easy but it is very necessary to adapt the changes in
the business organization, according to the changing trends & needs of the people, and also to
increase the higher profits in the business organization. The U.K. based luxury Fashion Company
“Mulberry” had been established as the joint venture & acquired the new name of “Mulberry
Japan Co. Limited” in order to expand its business & enhance the increased profitability in the
business. The joint venture need to identify, frame & implement the effective business strategies
& business practices and must also conduct the training sessions to increase the morale &
encouragement of all the employees. It has been recommended that all the employees working
for the organization must be informed about the reasons behind the changing organizational
structure (Albrecht, 2012). Their complete trust & support is necessary to be acquired to achieve
the new & changed goals or the objectives of the business organization.
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Task 2: Leadership Decision Making
P4: Explain different barriers for change and determine how they influence
leadership decision making in a given organizational context.
The large numbers of barriers are being faced by the joint venture & other business organizations
in the context of organizational change and which affect or greatly influence the efficient
leadership decision making process in the overall organization. Following are the few barriers to
the organizational change:-
 Fear of the Unknown: Many people resist changing because they have the fear of new
environment, and the fear of taking the risks. The people who are able to overcome their
fear can achieve their objectives in an effective manner by implementing the appropriate
business practices at their own level of taking risks.
 Ineffective Leadership: All the skilled employees working in the organization are the
lifeblood of that business organization. There are very few people who are able to handle
the changing situations in a positive manner. The role of the organizational leaders is to
embrace their employees’ performance & encourage them, providing them the
information to understand the benefits of change, conducting the effective trainings for
them and also giving them the ownership of change (HUSSEIN, 2016).
 Ineffective Communication: Without being communicating the essential information
related to the changes, the people will not be able to work on the new structures & new
strategic policies. Each & every person working in the business organization must be
treated as the key stakeholder to whom necessary information must be communicated in
an effective manner.
 Complexities: As the new joint venture “Mulberry Japan Co. Limited” is a large fashion
company, implementing the concept of organizational change in this organization would
have been very complicated & the lengthy process. Hence, it has to be ensured that the
change must be enhanced & managed properly to effectively achieve the organizational
goals.
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 These barriers of organizational change can greatly influence the effective decisions
implemented by the skilled leaders of the business organization, as because they need to
frame & enhance their new leadership decision & leadership strategies according to the
behavior of the employees & the new goals of the organization (HUSSEIN, 2016).
M3: Use force field analysis to analyze the driving and resisting forces and show
how they influence decision-making.
The force field analysis is the most effective tool which was established by “Kurt Lewin” in the
year 1940s. Under this analysis, the different situations are being balanced by maintaining the
equilibrium in between those forces that resist changes & those who drive out the changes. With
the help of this analysis, the driving factors can be strengthened and the resisting factors can be
weakened. This analysis enables the managers & decision makers to identify & differentiate
among both the factors & implement the effective decisions accordingly. With the help of below
diagram, the complete analysis can be illustrated with the help of the given example (Yukl,
2013). All the decisions can be effectively measured, analyzed & then implemented after driving
out the categorized factors of the organizational change, both the positive as well as the negative
ones.
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