ATHE Level 7: Managing Continuous Improvement Report

This report focuses on managing continuous organisational improvement within the context of a retail chain, Laugfs Holdings Supermarket in Sri Lanka. The assignment addresses the need for change due to declining sales, poor customer service, and internal inefficiencies. It explores the benefits of change management, including improved corporate culture, enhanced productivity, and strengthened employee skills. The report evaluates factors driving the need for change, such as workforce nature, technological advancements, and market competitiveness. It proposes a plan for implementing improvements, including identifying issues, applying Lewin's change management model, fostering an innovation culture, integrating Total Quality Management, and utilizing the McKinsey 7S model. Additionally, the report suggests leveraging Big Data and cost leadership strategies to drive positive change and enhance business efficiency. The report concludes with a comprehensive bibliography of relevant sources.

Managing Continuous
Organisational Improvement

Introduction
 The topic presents an idea about the management of changes within the
organisation to ensure organisational improvement
 The company chosen as the case study is a supermarket retail chain named
Laugfs Holdings Supermarket in Sri Lanka
 With the change in market conditions and changing expectations and
demands of the customers, there is need to introduce and manage
acceptance of change for improving the organisational efficiency.
 The team A needs to manage the tasks properly for contributing to the
agenda and ensure continuous improvement in terms of operational
efficiency as well as the quality of services delivered

Requirement for change within the organisation
 The company experienced decline in sales and poor customers’ services
 There were also lack of coordination between the employees and the culture
was not appropriate as well
 Due to the emergence of these issues, the profit level was not satisfactory
and Laugfs Holdings Supermarket, Sri Lanka also was unable to achieve
competitiveness in business
 Due to this, change is required to facilitate improvements and also improve
the operational efficiency

Requirement for change within the organisation
 There is requirement of change to make the company gain a good position
within the competitive business environment
 The need for change is required to create a good corporate culture and also
foster good relationships among people within the workplace
 The management of change is required also for the purpose of strengthening
business relationships with the customers through facilitation of
communication process
 With the evolvement of change, new policies and procedures will be
integrated that should be followed by the employees to bring improvements
too.

Benefits of managing change at the organisation
 With the management of change process, a healthy corporate culture would
be created and this would result in enhancing the productivity and overall
business performance too
 It could allow for managing shared values, beliefs and organisational norms,
furthermore, ensure management of self organising activities for facilitating
cooperation and communication.
 The skills, knowledge and competencies of employees should improve, which
would help in dealing with complexities.
 The leader should become aware of making employees informed about the
necessity of change and thus implement positive behaviours among the
employees
 The change management should also bring innovation along with a learning
environment for the employees to make collaborative decisions and
strengthen workforce effectiveness.

Evaluation of factors for creating need for change
 The major factors for managing change at Laugfs Holdings Supermarket
include the workforce nature, technological implementation, social trends,
competitiveness and also due to sales revenue generated
 Due to sales decline and inappropriate customer services delivery, the
company needs to make changes and improve the organisational functioning
for meeting the needs of customers
 The lower productivity, high staff turnover and high competition within the
marketplace could also be the cause of introducing change at the
organisation
 The managerial implications and involvement are also essential aspects of
managing change and make employees informed about the process of
change management.

Evaluation of factors for creating need for change
 The ability to innovate is also based on the management of change at the
organisation
 For Laugfs Holdings Supermarket, change is needed also for strengthening
the skills and competencies of employees, furthermore keep them motivated
to perform to their potential.

Plan to implement the proposed improvements for
the organization
 At first, the issues including the sales decline and poor customers’ services
are identified
 The resistance to change factors experienced by Laugfs Holdings
Supermarket are also identified to ensure accurate information processing
and better allocation of resources
 The company could also implement the Lewin’s change management model
for making employees prepare for the change and ensure usage of resources
properly for strengthening the business effectiveness
 The change would be brought to facilitate innovation, bring in new product
line and meet the changing demands of the marketplace

Plan to implement the proposed improvements for
the organization
 At Laugfs Holdings Supermarket, there is need to form an invnoation
culture where employees can share their individuals thoughts,
behaviours, ideas and opinions
 With the creation of a learning and development platform, consistent
changes would be accepted and the organisation would hold a strong
position
 The integration of Total Quality Management approach or TQM
aligned with the business goals should assist in bringing continuous
quality improvement
 The use of Mckinsey’s 7 s model should be used at Laugfs Holdings
Supermarket should ensure improving the areas such as strategy,
structure, shared values, beliefs, systems, staffs and skills acqusitions

Plan to implement the proposed improvements for the
organization
 This would assist the company to arrange training sessions and understand
the development needs of employees, which could strengthen their skills and
abilities to improve organisational efficiency
 The use of Big Data could be the last option for capitalising on the scopes and
opportunities, furthermore, ensure effective decision making and improving
overall business efficiency
 Lastly, the changes should also be brought with the implementation of cost
leadership strategies to lower down prices and also prioritise on social media
marketing, which could bring change in the form of attracting more clients
and extending brand outreach too

Bibliography
 Doppelt, Bob. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society.
Routledge, 2017.
 Rao, T. Venkateswara. HRD audit: Evaluating the human resource function for business improvement. SAGE Publications India,
2014.
 Bradley, Gerald. Benefit Realisation Management: A practical guide to achieving benefits through change. Routledge, 2016.
 Harris, Alma, et al. Effective leadership for school improvement. Routledge, 2013.
 Benn, Suzanne, Melissa Edwards, and Tim Williams. Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge, 2014.
 Tidd, Joe, and John R. Bessant. Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and organizational change. John Wiley
& Sons, 2018.
 Hussain, Syed Talib, et al. "Kurt Lewin's change model: A critical review of the role of leadership and employee involvement in
organizational change." Journal of Innovation & Knowledge 3.3 (2018): 123-127.
 Jones, Gareth R. Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson,, 2013.
 Holt, Daniel T., and James M. Vardaman. "Toward a comprehensive understanding of readiness for change: The case for an
expanded conceptualization." Journal of Change Management 13.1 (2013): 9-18.
 Doppelt, Bob. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society.
Routledge, 2017.
 Lewis, William E. Software testing and continuous quality improvement. Auerbach publications, 2017.
 Cameron, Esther, and Mike Green. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and
techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers, 2015.
 Alshaher, Ali Abdul-Fattah. "The McKinsey 7S model framework for e-learning system readiness assessment." International
Journal of Advances in Engineering & Technology 6.5 (2013): 1948.
 Singh, Ashu. "A study of role of McKinsey's 7S framework in achieving organizational excellence." Organization Development
Journal 31.3 (2013): 39.

Thank You