MNG91215 Organisational Change: Examining People Issues at Bing Lee

This report discusses organisational structural and technological changes at Bing Lee, an Australian retailing company, and the people issues that arose. It examines the pressures faced by management, employee resistance to technology, and the themes of power politics and communication during change. The report highlights the impact of a business partnership with Ralphs on employee perceptions and the implementation of blockchain technology, exploring how these changes affected power dynamics, employee commitment, and overall organizational culture. The analysis emphasizes the importance of effective communication and addressing employee concerns to ensure successful organizational change.

Running head: ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Organisational Change Management
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The primary purpose of this report is to discuss about the organisational structural changes in
Bing Lee and the people issue pressures that were faced by the management. It also
elaborates on the changes pertaining to technology brought about in the organization and the
resistance offered by the employees. It also throws light on the two themes- power politics
and communicating changes in relation to the changes in the organization.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Changes in Organisational Structure and people issue pressure................................................3
Technology Changes and people issue pressure........................................................................5
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................8
References:.................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Organizational Change Management refers to a framework that can help in managing
change pertaining to the business process or the organizational structure. It helps in
addressing the issues of the people in relation to change management (Carnall 2018). The
organizations in the present age have to respond to the external changes taking place in the
environment and they can achieve this by bringing about changes in the workplace process
along with system. The organisational change management necessitates that people learn new
behaviour along with skills in the organization. The changes in the structure of the
organization helps an organization in coping with the change pertaining to the business
process. This report focusses on the organisational structural changes and technology changes
in Bing Lee which is a retailing company of Australia. It also elaborates on the two themes of
politics and communicative change that underlies the changes taking place in the
organization.
Changes in Organisational Structure and people issue pressure
A retail company sells out the products and the manner of functioning of a retail
company in the present age vary to a great extent from the way it used to function around a
decade ago. Changes in the manner of shopping and the preferences of the people necessitate
that organisational structural changes take place so that it can stay relevant in the competitive
market. The retail company has a hierarchical structure and the people with more
responsibilities are in the top position whereas people having entry level duty lie towards the
bottom of the hierarchy. The organisational structure of Bing Lee had to be changed owing to
the fact of the changing market conditions (Lozano, Nummert and Ceulemans 2016). The
execution of new strategy necessitated the fact that changes are brought about in the structure
of Bing Lee so that its business can be successful. Changes in relation to the product demand

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necessitated that changes are brought about in the structure of Bing Lee. Bing Lee entered
into a business partnership with Ralphs which is a supermarket chain based in South
California. Bing Lee entered into the business partnership so that it can expand in other
countries that can help it in earning more profit (Doppelt 2017).
The people issues that the managers had to face relates to limited vision of the
employees of the organization that caused some of the employees of Bing Lee to protest
against the business partnership. I think that the employees were sceptical about the progress
that can be brought about with the help of the partnership. They thought that entering into a
partnership with create more amount of competition between the partners. According to me,
the employees could not view the structural changes in a positive note that caused the
employees to revolt against the step taken by the management of the company (Eason 2014).
The partnership can shift the balance of the power which caused the employees to be
pessimistic about the changes. There was the dearth of commitment on the part of the
employees of the company. The failure of communication created a barrier pertaining to
partnership of Bing Lee. The employees of Bing Lee felt that this will lead to the loss of the
status of the employees in the organization that caused the employees to resist the
organizational change. The employees of Bing Lee were thinking that this would reduce the
role of the employees that provoked them to be resistant to the decision taken by the
management. I feel that the employees of the organization were resistant to the change
because they felt that it would not bring any rewards for the organization. According to me,
the fear of unknown also made the employees to be fearful of the structural changes taking
place in the organization. The absence of two-way communication made it difficult for the
employees to understand the implications of the structural changes taking place in Bing Lee.
Ongoing communication can prove to be an effective tool that can reduce the conflict
between the management between the employees and the management in an organisation.

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The entering into partnership with Ralphs by Bing Lee created a change in relation to the
dynamics of the power. Ralphs received capital funds for the purpose of expansion as they
had been able to develop an innovative marketing approach (Pollack and Pollack 2015). This
created resentment among the employees of Bing Lee as they could not accept the provision
of the diminishing of power. The flow of the capital funds was a pertinent factor that caused
the employees to be disgruntled and created rift with the management of the organization.
The employees of Bing Lee felt that the structural change taking place in the
organization would shift the balance in relation to power in the organization. I think that an
organization is a political structure and it operates by taking recourse to distribution of
authority that can set the stage for the exercise for exercise in relation to power. The
partnership of Bing Lee aroused suspicion among the employees. The merger caused the
senior manager of the acquired company to resign from his post instead of accepting the
relative displacement pertaining to the rank that occurred as he was not able function in the
role of the senior manager. According to me, he resigned because he could not consolidate
the workable definition in relation to his responsibilities (Burrell and Morgan 2017). There is
a strong desire among the able people in the organization for the top position and this created
complication among the employees of Bing Lee. Some of the employees are left with
unfulfilled ambition on account of the partnership and this created grievance among the
employees of Bing Lee. Some of the superiors in Bing Lee were satisfied with the allocating
of the resources but there were some subordinates who were unhappy with the organizational
structural changes at Bing Lee. Some of the subordinates who had on previous occasions
supported the boss withdrew the affirmation and isolated the superior that led to the people
issues within the organization. I think that it is important that the subordinates affirm the
positions that can otherwise created resentment within the organization.

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Technology Changes and people issue pressure
The use of new technology can help in reshaping the retail industry in ways that are
unexpected. The market demands of the present age will cause the companies to spend more
on the aspect of customer experience team that can help them in understanding the customers
at deeper level. The retailers have to make significant investment in the arena of technology
so that they can meet expectations of digital customer base. Bing Lee have started using
Blockchain which is a shared ledgering technology that can help the employees in tracking
complex digital transaction. The change have been brought about in Bing Lee as it can help
in storing digital values or the objects that are involved in the transaction (Berry and Green
2016). The block chain can help in the creation of trust along with transparency and hence
this was the reason why this technology was taken recourse to by Bing Lee. It can help in
creating collaboration across that of different constituencies. I think that block chain was used
by Bing Lee as it can help in driving efficiency with the help of greater collaboration between
the different constituencies (Waddell et al. 2016). According to me, it can help in knowing
about things in the real time like the location along with the source of the inventories.
The employees of Bing Lee felt that block chain can act as a disruptive technology
because the cryptographic feature of block chain can create hindrance for the employees of
the organization. I saw that the employees of Bing Lee were averse to the implementation of
block chain as they were sceptical about the changes that would be brought about with the
implementation of this technology. The unfamiliar technology seemed to be scary for the
employees and the management had to face resistance from the employees of Bing Lee as
they were not comfortable about the technology changes in the organization. I think that the
employees did not want to change the established routine that caused them to create obstacles
for the mangers in the path of implementation of the block chain (Orlikowski et al. 2016).
The implementation of the block chain technology requires a great deal of technical expertise

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and the employees were not willing to go forward with the decision of the management
pertaining to the implementation of block chain technology as it would require education on
the part of the employees (Gabor 2017). According to me, the people issues were created in
the organization because most of the employees were of the opinion that it can drive the
clients away. Block chain can help in offering myriads of opportunities but it would be
difficult to keep track of the rapid evolution from the side lines that caused most of the
employees to revolt against the management.
The implementation of new technology in Bing Lee was primarily aimed at changing
the behaviour of the employees. The employees of Bing Lee were not comfortable with the
decision of the management regarding the implementation of block chain because the
different epistemic community can form their own ideas regarding the block chain that can
create confusion in the organizations. The proliferation pertaining to legal definitions can
complicate the process of application of the technology that can create a barrier for the
employees (Bloom et al. 2014). I think that the difficulties in relation to communication that
would be brought about by implementing block chain can create hassles in the path of the
employees. The market participants have to reach agreement around the policy for the
implementation of block chain technology. I think that the employees of Bing Lee were
resistant to block chain as it can pave the path for the encoding of the rules in the form of
contracts that can execute the business in the automatic manner. The organization not being
governed by people can lead to confusion in the organization. The pre-programmed rules can
take note of different kinds of possibilities along with situations but the employees of Bing
Lee were sceptical regarding these kinds of automated rules. According to me, block chain
technology can build accountability into the system of an organization and help in
transforming the nature of a business (Goldin and Katz 2018). The block chain technology
will pave the way for the contracts to be stored within the shared data base but the usage of

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this innovative technology would require learning on the part of the employees in an
organization. The potential of the block chain can be utilised in the right manner if the
employees are eager to learn about the new technology but the employees of Bing Lee were
sceptical about the usage of the block chain technology.
Conclusion:
The organizations in the current age have to bring about changes in their business so
that they adapt well to the changes taking place in external environment. The market
conditions that were changing led to organisational structural changes of Bing Lee. It was
necessary that new strategy was devised so that their business can emerge to become
successful. The employees of Bing Lee had a limited vision and so they protested against the
business partnership with Ralphs of Bing Lee. The employees were in doubt about the
advantages of partnership and they felt that it would change the power dynamics in the
organization. New technology can revolutionise the retail industry and it can help in catering
to the demands of the modern day consumer. The companies in the current age spend more
amount on the aspect of customer experience that can help the companies in understanding
deeply the consumers. The employees of Bing Lee were not familiar with the new technology
and hence they resisted against the decision of the management. The employees of Bing Lee
were apprehensive of the organisational changes as they wanted to stick to their usual routine
that they had been used to in the earlier time.

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References:
Berry, D.F. and Green, S., 2016. Cultural, structural and strategic change in management
buyouts. Springer.
Bloom, N., Garicano, L., Sadun, R. and Van Reenen, J., 2014. The distinct effects of
information technology and communication technology on firm organization. Management
Science, 60(12), pp.2859-2885.
Burrell, G. and Morgan, G., 2017. Sociological paradigms and organisational analysis:
Elements of the sociology of corporate life. Routledge.
Carnall, C., 2018. Managing change. Routledge.
Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for
business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Eason, K.D., 2014. Information technology and organisational change. CRC Press.
Gabor, T., 2017. The impacts of technology and work organization innovations on the
automotive industry's spatial structure: empirical evidence from Volkswagen. TER ES
TARSADALOM, 31(2), pp.44-67.
Goldin, C. and Katz, L.F., 2018. The race between education and technology. In Inequality in
the 21st Century (pp. 49-54). Routledge.
Lozano, R., Nummert, B. and Ceulemans, K., 2016. Elucidating the relationship between
sustainability reporting and organisational change management for sustainability. Journal of
cleaner production, 125, pp.168-188.
Orlikowski, W.J., Walsham, G., Jones, M.R. and DeGross, J.I. eds., 2016. Information
technology and changes in organizational work. Springer.

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Pollack, J. and Pollack, R., 2015. Using Kotter’s eight stage process to manage an
organisational change program: Presentation and practice. Systemic Practice and Action
Research, 28(1), pp.51-66.
Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, T. and Worley, C., 2016. Organisational change:
Development and transformation. Cengage AU.