Analysis of Change Management at Walmart: Recommendations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of change management within Walmart, focusing on its customer service challenges. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the need for organizational change to improve Walmart's market positioning, followed by a definition and discussion of organizational change, and why Walmart was chosen as a case study due to its customer service issues. The report identifies and applies two key change management models: Lewin's three-step model (unfreezing, changing, refreezing) and Kotter's eight-step model, detailing their application to Walmart's specific context. It outlines a change management plan, emphasizing the importance of employee training, and monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) like customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. The report concludes by recommending a 2-3 month implementation period for the proposed changes, supported by a comprehensive list of references.

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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
Change management is an integral part of the dynamic business environment and is taken up by
all the companies at large at one point of time in order to improve their positioning in the market.
Hence, the aim of the given report is to highlight the case of one such company named Walmart
which has been facing customer service problems and used the change management models in
order to recommend the organization on how to improve their positioning. The change
management plan and measures of monitoring have also been discussed.

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Table of Contents
Definition and discussion of Organizational Change......................................................................3
Why this organization was chosen..................................................................................................3
Identification of Organizational Change Models............................................................................4
The 2 Change Models and application to Walmart.........................................................................5
Overview of a Change Management Plan.......................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Definition and discussion of Organizational Change
Organizational change can be stated to be a process whereby an organization undergoes
an extensive change with respect to the structure of the firm, the methods in which the operations
are carried out, the different technologies used or the particular culture of the firm at large
(Aladwani, 2001). These changes which are generally made in a firm possess the power to
impact the overall working of the organization which often tends to lead to a sense of resistance
from the employees. According to Todnem (2005), Organizational change is an important
procedure which all the companies go through at one point of time and it thereby becomes
important for the firm to ensure that their change either takes place continuously or at distinct
time periods. However, the organizational change in an organization cannot be absurd in nature
and is expected to be quite processed and aligned which can be done with the help of different
models. The organizational models can be rightfully stated to be the guiding paths which assist
the organization in achieving overall success for the firm. Cummings, Bridgman and Brown
(2016) state that although there are a large number of models available which a firm can
successfully make use of like the Kotter`s model, ADKAR, Bridges transition model, Lewin`s
Change models and others. It is recommended by the authors that in order to find success at the
workplace, the company needs to adopt one model using which it can become successful.
Why this organization was chosen
Recently, the organization Walmart has been facing a large number of problems with
respect to the customer service issues. The customer satisfaction index of the firm has dropped
considerably and with respect to this, the departmental store`s rank has gone down considerably
which means that the American consumers are greatly disappointed with the different
departmental stores of Walmart (Forbes.com. ,2018). The customer satisfaction can be

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considered to be of utmost importance and if Walmart fails to perform that function well then it
means that the organization is performing in a poor manner. Hence, it is for this reason that the
organization has been chosen for analysis. The change management will take place in the manner
the customers are served and the way in which the different employees treat the different
organizational members at large (Forbes.com. , 2018). The employee training will be provided
along with ensuring that an innovative practice is bought around when the employees treat and
greet the different customers at large. In this manner, the customer service at Walmart would
improve considerably and this would also assist the firm in fairing up in the index and be able to
successfully the organizations other goals as well like the revenue goals, employee satisfaction
goals, market share and others (Businessinsider.in. , 2018).
Identification of Organizational Change Models
As stated earlier, the management of change is not an easy task and in order to ensure
success in the long run it is important for a firm to adopt a good change model. For the purpose
of the given report, two models have been identified which can be effectively used by Walmart
in order to go through the particular change transition. The first model which has been chosen is
the Kurt Lewin Model whereby the change procedure can be understood successfully and the
organization can move towards the new change in a good manner so that the new behavior
becomes the norm of the firm at large. The model is widely used and often serves as the basis for
the different change models at large (Aladwani, 2001). The Kurt Lewin`s model of change
involves three different steps of unfreezing, changing and freezing.
The other change management model which is available at large is the Kotter’s 8 step
change model. The 8 step change model has laid down 8 different processes through which
change can be easily carried out in a firm. These are as follows:

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 Creation of Urgency
 Forming a coalition
 Creation of a vision
 Communication of the vision
 Removing obstacles
 Creation of short term wins
 Build on the change
There are other change models which are also available like the ADKAR model. The
ADKAR model can be described as a change management model which is largely focused on the
organizational goals and seeks to bring about a change in the firm at large (Kuipers et al., 2014).
The ADKAR model stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement.
Moreover, there also exists a model named the Kubler Ross Five stage model whereby the
change management guidance has been provided which states that there are five different steps to
a change procedure named Denial, Anger, Depression, Bargaining and Acceptance.
The 2 Change Models and application to Walmart
Out of these given models, the two different models which have been chosen for
implementation for Walmart have been discussed as follows:
Lewin`s Model of Change
The steps in reference to the Walmart have been described as follows:
Unfreezing: In this stage, the awareness about the change is required to be created and
the older ways in which the organization functions need to be changed accordingly. Moreover,
communication tends to play a key role in this aspect. Hence, in this step, Walmart can associate

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a large scale training with the employees whereby they need to be shown where they are going
wrong and what measures can they adopt so as to improve the performance at large.
Changing: This is the change when the transition is done and the entire procedure of
change is implemented for the organization at large. The firm needs to be considerably aware of
the change which is to be taking place (Cameron & Green, 2015). Hence, in this period, the new
ways of customer service can be taught to them and their performance in real life situations can
be measured accordingly. In this way, they can be taught how to treat the different customers in
the right manner.
Refreezing: This is the final change whereby the new implementation has to be refreeze
and the new norms are required to be solidified. This step is crucial in order to ensure that the
older ways and processes are not repeated again. In this manner, their performance needs to be
measured against the right indicator whereby it needs to be ensured that they take the right
actions at the right time and fulfill customer demands.
Kotter’s 8-step change model
If the Kotter Model has to be applied, the steps would be required to be carried out in the
following manner:
a. Creation of Urgency: The Walmart management would be required to create a certain
level of urgency (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).
b. Forming a coalition: This can be followed by the formation of a coalition, whereby the
chief volunteers who will lead the change at Walmart would be required to be
identified.

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c. Creation of a vision: A vision for the improved customer service plan would be
required to be created.
d. Communication of the vision: The vision would be required to be clearly
communicated among the different members of the firm.
e. Removing obstacles: The different obstacles are required to be removed at large which
may come in form of barriers.
f. Creation of short term wins: Lastly, short term wins and successful implementation
should be celebrated by the firm (Hayes, 2018).
g. Build on the change: The pace of the change is required to be built upon by the
management and the employees together.
h. Lastly, the change must be implemented by all and the results need to be witnessed.
Overview of a Change Management Plan
The change management plan forms a crucial aspect of any firm whereby the company
and in this case Walmart would require to ensure that they are successfully able to implement the
change which has been planned. Hence, at first the change and its need must be clearly
communicated to the employees and then the different aspects of both the models need to be
followed (Carnall, 2018). After the change has been implemented, steps to monitor the
performance need to be formed.
These steps may include steps like measuring through Key Performance Indicators,
outcomes of the firm and other related monitoring measures. The KPIs of Customer satisfaction

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Index, Sales per square foot, Net sales and employee satisfaction index may be used. It is also
recommended that Walmart implements the plan in a period of approximately 2-3 months.

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References
Aladwani, A. M. (2001). Change management strategies for successful ERP
implementation. Business Process management journal, 7(3), 266-275.
Businessinsider.in. (2018). Walmart employees dish on what its like to work at the retail giant .
[online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/Walmart-employees-dish-on-what-
its-actually-like-to-work-at-the-retail-giant/articleshow/65246732.cms(Accessed on: 17
Nov. 2018).
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to
the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Carnall, C. (2018). Managing change. Routledge.
Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps:
Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. human relations, 69(1), 33-60.
Forbes.com. (2018). Walmart`s customer service problem. [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2018/03/18/minimum-wage-hikes-
wont-solve-walmarts-customer-service-problem/#5b6db9e11e09 (Accessed on: 17 Nov.
2018).
Forbes.com. (2018). Walmart`s outdated management style. [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2016/01/30/walmarts-outdated-
management-style-is-failing-customers/ (Accessed on: 17 Nov. 2018).
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.

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Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. Pearson.
Kuipers, B. S., Higgs, M., Kickert, W., Tummers, L., Grandia, J., & Van der Voet, J. (2014). The
management of change in public organizations: A literature review. Public
administration, 92(1), 1-20.
Todnem By, R. (2005). Organisational change management: A critical review. Journal of
change management, 5(4), 369-380.