UK College of Business and Computing - Unit 17: Leading Change

This report analyzes organizational change, focusing on a case study of the retail organization Dwell. It begins by defining organizational change and its importance in a competitive market, examining both internal and external drivers of change, such as customer awareness and technological advancements, using examples from Dwell and a wooden furniture store. The report then delves into how these drivers impact leadership, teams, and individuals, differentiating between internal factors like financial management and resources, and external factors such as political, economic, social, and technological influences. It further explores strategies to mitigate negative impacts of change, including reward systems, training, and the PDCA model (Plan, Do, Check, Act). The report also identifies barriers to change, such as poor employee participation and communication issues, and suggests methods to overcome them. Finally, the report discusses the importance of leadership approaches, change management models, and communication strategies to successfully navigate organizational change and presents a force field analysis to identify driving and resisting forces. In the end, the report concludes by using different leadership approaches for dealing with change.

Understanding and
Leading Change

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
Organizational change is the process of changing strategies, structure, operational
methods, culture etc. of an organisation. This change can be regular or for a small period of time.
Organisations needs to understand the change for determining its impact on the business and its
operations. The change is also beneficial for the organisations and employees to enhance the
efficiency, skills and knowledge of working. The taken organisation in this assignment report is
Dwell which is a medium sized retail organisation based in UK. This report will discuss the
change and its drivers along with the methods to manage the change. Further this report will
evaluate the ways in which the internal and external drivers of change can influence the working
and behaviour of leaders, teams and individuals. Also a force field analysis will be done for
identifying the driving and resisting forces of change. In the end, a presentation will be made by
using different leadership approaches for dealing with change.
TASK 1
P1:
Change is the only thing which is constant in the competitive market as different
companies are changing their strategies on a regular basis so to gain competitive advantage over
others. Company can bring change in their working operations from various means like
modifying mission, vision, goals, objectives to perform effectively or innovate new product in
the market so to acquire new market and customer share. Two companies have been taken for
consideration to bring and implement change which is Dwell and Wooden furniture store.
External and internal drivers affects the working of an organisation which is given below with
the help of functional example (Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2015). Drivers of change which is
considered is customer awareness towards product and technological advancement.
Basis Dwell Wooden furniture store
Customer awareness Strategy refers to step by step
action planned by the company
to launch their product in
market. Company was
investing more on marketing
Wooden furniture was getting
good sales and profitability in
the recent past but main
problem which was faced by
company is that existing
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activities like promotion and
advertising activities.
Meanwhile customer won't
buy product if it is not
satisfying their needs and
wants. After analysing this,
company have diverged their
part of funds to R&D
department so that product will
be made according to the
customers which resulting in
high sales for Dwell.
customers are not coming in
their company for more sales.
After analysing they find that
their customer services
department are not helping
customers who were facing
problems due to their
customers. So they have start
training to their employees so
that customer experience
engagement would be
increased to a certain level.
This results in high sales for
company.
Advancement in technology Operation is important for any
company when making new
product as price and quality is
directly affected by these.
Dwell will acquire latest
technology and systems like
just in time or Six sigma so
that even a single mistake
while making product would
be removed.
Wooden furniture prefers to
sell product on their physical
store but to cope up with the
changes now they are
launching their business on
online platform so that
customer and market share
would be increased.
P2:
There are various external and internal drivers of change which can influence the
leadership, team and individuals behaviour directly. Dwell is a supermarket chain having 30
stores with multiple number of employees who are working for achieving the shared goals of
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firm and them selves (Anderson, 2016). Some of the ways through which the different drivers
can effect the team, individuals and leadership are given below:
Internal Drivers: These drivers involves difference in culture, morale, beliefs of
employees and situations which are available in the firm. Some internal drivers are given below:
Financial management: Funds are very important for any business to run their processes
and functions in an effective manner. Lack of funds can negatively effect the working behaviour
of team and employees to complete their allotted work in the determined time period. By
improving their operational leadership, Dwell company can enhance the efficiency and
performance of their operations and processes in an effective manner.
Resources: Resources can also influence the working of team and individuals along with
behaviour of leaders as without proper resources leaders could not assign the work properly to
the team members (Foltin and Keller, 2012). Without assigning proper work, team and its
members also cannot execute the work on the required time due to which their performance will
get effected. Leader are responsible for providing the support and guidance to workers and
without proper resources, they are unable to provide their support to employees which will
directly effect the working efficiency of leaders. Without support from leaders, team and
individuals of Dwell cannot execute their assigned work which will impact the productivity of
the firm.
External drivers: These drivers effect the team and individuals working from outside of
organisation. These drivers can be determined by Pest analysis.
Political: The change in political factors can also impact the team, individuals and the
leaders of Dwell company. Leaders are responsible for determining the change in laws and
regulation of government for smoothly running their operations (Fyke and Buzzanell, 2013). If
these changes are not determined then it can effect the implemented strategies of leaders and
business operations. When the leaders get effected by these changes in laws, then employees and
team also get effected as they needs to decide the way and ideas for executing their work
according to the change in laws and simultaneously in strategies.
Economical: These factor can also impact the leadership, team and individual behaviour.
Organisation get effected when the buying power of customers is low and the firm needs to adopt
new strategies which are implemented by the leaders. Due to the change in strategies, leaders as
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well as team and its members will get effected because of which their behaviour and
performance will also gets hampered.
Social: Such factors can effects the demands of products in the market which will
ultimately impact the leadership behaviour. The continuous change in demand of products leads
to change in policies and strategies accordingly (Glass and Cook, 2016). Through this, the power
of leaders along with the performance can be increased. Such change also impact the team and
individuals performance as such change will offer them the opportunity to prove their talent and
skills. When the demand is high, then the performance and efficiency of team and its members
can also increase.
Technological: These factors are related with the technological changes to improve the
productivity. Such change enables the flexibility in the leaders of Dwell company for providing
their guidance to employees for adopting such changes in their working. Using improved
technology, team and employees can work with the required efficiency for executing their work
efficiently.
External impact on individual, leadership and the team
Leadership Team Individual
When the laws and regulations
of a country regarding the tax,
employment laws,
environmental laws changes,
then leaders needs to
determine the changes in such
laws. When such changes are
determined, then leaders can
change their strategies and
policies accordingly. However,
if such changes are ignored,
then it can heavily impact the
decision making and working
of leaders.
When the leaders make
changes in their strategies and
policies, then team also needs
to make some changes in their
working and plans. Through
such change, their activities
and performance can be
impacted adversely which will
hamper their productivity. So
the team won't be able to finish
their work in time. Through
this, the team working can be
impacted as the course of
action and strategies needs to
When the leaders and teams
changes their working manner
and strategies, then the team
members also needs to do
some modifications in their
working. They needs time to
adapt to changed policies and
strategies which are
implemented by the leaders.
This will impact their working
and performance in negative
manner which will also affect
the firm's productivity.
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be modified.
P3:
The organisations like Dwell and Wooden furniture store needs to take several measures
for minimising the negative effect of change on the organisational behaviour. Such measures are
discussed below:
 When the employees of an organisation resist to change it means thatthey are comfortable
with their current processes and operations. The workers are not ready to accept the
change and hence tends to try their political influence or aggressive behaviour to resist to
change (Hintz and Bahia, 2013). For eliminating their resistance, management of Dwell
needs to provide them rewards and incentives according to their performance and
productivity for increasing their performance. Through these rewards, employees feels
motivated and encouraged in their working and becomes ready to accept the change.
 When the implemented change is complex and hard in nature,then employees find it hard
to adapt with and faces problems in their working. For eliminating such complexity,
management of Dwell needs to provide the training sessions to their workforce in order
to cope up with the change for performing better at work place.
PDCA Model: Dwell company is using PDCA model for overcoming the negative effect
of change on behaviour of organisation. This model consist of 4 steps which are plan , do, check,
act. These 4 steps are very helpful in determining the various issues of change for taking suitable
decision to improve the performance. Planning: In this phase, leaders and managers of the firm identifies the problems of
change and to plan the suitable strategies and policies for implementing the change
accordingly. organisation determines the issues or the problems regarding the change and
plans appropriate strategy to implement the change (Kendall, 2012). The dwell company
is planning to implement new technology in their business functions for eliminating the
mistakes in their production processes. Do: In this phase, leaders and managers produce and implement proper solutions for
overcoming the problems of change effectively. For this, the management of Dwell is
thinking to provide efficient training sessions to their workforce for enhancing their
knowledge and skills to work on the new and updated technical machinery.
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 Check: In this phase, managers and leaders compare the acquired output with the
standard outputs to determine the impact of change on company. Leaders and managers
of Dwell company needs to measure the change whether it is beneficial or not. After
analysis of the impact, they prepares plan and strategies according to the requirements.
 Act- In this last phase, Ideas and opinions are taken from the employees for addressing
the various problems. When the change is not beneficial for the organisation than several
measure will be taken by conducting market analysis. From this analysis, problem can be
solved for taking better decisions for managing the change accordingly.
From this model, management of Dwell company can resolve the issue of negative
impact by conducting proper analysis and by checking the impact of change on the different
business operations (Lawrence, 2015). Through the check, managers can determine whether the
change is beneficial or not. Through the act, management can provide effective solutions for the
problems related to the change.
TASK 2
P4:
Barriers for change are the constraints which restricts the organisations to change. These
barriers can directly impact the decision making process of leaders in organisation. Such barriers
can also adversely effect the decision making skills of managers and leaders. Some of the
barriers of change in Dwell company are discussed below:
Internal barriers
For employees
Poor employee participation: Employees participation is very important aspect of
organisation to implement the change in a proper manner (MacKian and Simons, 2013). Without
proper participation of employees, assigned work can be delayed which can leads to increased
labour turnover. Managers and leaders of Dwell company needs to provide clear information of
the change to the workforce for their motivation and encouragement to adapt to change in their
working. Through this, a sense of belongingness can arise in the employees for accepting the
change. Management of Dwell company needs to involve their employees in the decision making
process when implementing new policies and strategies in the firm.
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Insufficient skills in employees: When the employees of a organisation does not have
proper skills and knowledge, then it can adversely impact the business and employees
performance due to not having the skills which are required for the change. These insufficient
skills can hamper the working efficiency of the employees which will ultimately leads to low
productivity of the firm. Management of Dwell needs to ensure that they hire the skilful and
talented staff during the recruitment and selection process. If the employees needs improvements
in their working, then management needs to provide the training for improving the skills and
knowledge of such employees. Through the training, such employees can work hard and can
adapt the change properly in their working.
Lack of resources
Lack of technology: When proper and updated technology is not used in business
functions and operations, then it effects the working efficiency and productivity of the firm and
its employees. With updated technology, the change can effectively implemented in the business
operations. Due to the lack of technology, the efficiency of employees also gets impacted which
will leads to dissatisfaction among the employees. The leaders of Dwell needs to ensure that
updated technology is used in the business operations. Also they needs to ensure that the
employees are accepting the technology in their working which will improve the organisational
output and productivity.
Lack of financial resources: The managers needs to determine the required funds and
budget for their work so that any issue related with the budget will not arise during the working.
Due to the lack of resources, managers and employees could not bring the expected outcomes
from their working and their efficiency and performance get decreased. The manager of Dwell
company needs to have proper required funds for performing their work effectively. They needs
to determine the required amount of funds in the initial stage of their work, so that money
problesm would not arise which can effect their decision making.
Management
Lack of communication: Management of organisations needs to communicate the
information related to the change to the employees. Lack of communication regarding the change
can act as barrier which can influence the decision making of leaders. The managers and leaders
of Dwell company needs to provide clear information of the change to their workers for
increasing their productivity and efficiency using the implemented change.
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Lack of Support: Managers of an organisation needs to provide necessary support and
guidance to the employees for providing solution and ideas regarding the problems and issues.
When the management does not provide their support and guidance to the employees, then
workers cannot work with the required efficiency as problems and issues can arise in the
working and with out the support from managers, they could not resolve the issues properly
which can effect their work. Due to this issue, the performance of managers in taking the proper
decision can be impacted which can also impact their working. The managers of Dwell needs to
provide their proper support and guidance to the employees when they face any issue in their
working.
External Barriers
Technology: Technology is a important aspect which can impact the working of
managers and employees and even it can act as external barriers for change. The managers of
Dwell company needs to determine the technology which needs to be implemented in the
business operations. Through this technology, managers and employees can work with the
required efficiency. When the technology is not updated in the business operations, then it can
negatively impact the decision making skills of managers and can restricts them to adapt to
change.
Legal: The managers of Dwell company needs to determine whether the firm is
following the various employment and legal laws while working or not. If any change is done in
these laws, then managers needs to determine such changes and needs to implement the modified
or new policies accordingly. If the managers implement the policies without acknowledging the
changes then it can impact their decision making skills and working efficiency.
Force field Model:
Force field analysis was proposed by the Kurt Lewin in 1940s (Miller and et. al., 2013).
This model is used for taking important decisions regarding the change by evaluating the
favourable and against forces. This model is also used for conveying the reason for taking the
decision. The purpose for creating this model is to maintain the equilibrium between the driving
and resisting forces of change. Management of Dwell can use this model in their decision
making process using the favourable and against forces. Through this model, management of
Dwell can convey the reason behind the taken decisions. There are 5 phase of using this model as
discussed below:
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Change Proposal: In this phase, leaders and managers define the goals for implementing
the change. Through these goals, managers of Dwell company can determine whether the
implemented technological change is aligned with organisational goals or is varying with the
goals.
Change Force Identification: In this phase, manager and leaders determine the various
internal such as outdated machinery, declining team morale, need to increase profitability and
external types of forces such as disruptive technologies, changing demographic trends which can
drive the change (Ryan, 2013). Through this, the managers of Dwell can determine the drivers
and restraining forces for getting the positive outcomes from the implemented change.
Force against alternation Identification: In this phase, various internal forces such as
fears of the unknown, existing organizational structures and external forces such as existing
commitments to partner organizations, government legislation are determined by the managers
which can restrict the change.
Score Assign: In this phase, managers and leaders of Dwell company assign the scores to
the identified forces according to the degree of influence that each one of them has on the
change. The score is given from 1 to 5 where 1 is for weak and 5 is for strong.
Evaluate and Execute: In this phase, managers and leaders of Dwell company decide
whether to continue with the taken decision of change or not. Managers of taken firm can
determine the driving forces which can be strengthen by the organisation or can weaken the
resisting forces in order to make the change successful.
Driving and restraining forces
Driving forces: These forces assist the change and promote it positive impact. Driving
forces for Dwell are the demand of customers for new products and updated technology which
are forcing the organisation to change. It effect the decision making as the leaders needs to
modify or plan a new strategy and communicate it to the workers regarding the advantages of
change.
Restraining forces: The restraining forces are the barriers which can restrict the
organisation to adapt to change. The restraining forces for Dwell are high cost and lack of
support from employees which can effects the decision making of leaders (Salmela, Eriksson and
Fagerström, 2012). Lack of support from employees can leads to inefficiency in the working of
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managers as the manager won't get the support in the taken decision from the employees.
Because of which the managers won't get the desired output from the decision.
TASK 3
Covered in PPT
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that the understanding change is very
necessary for the organisations. This change can negatively impact the firm and its operations.
The organisation needs to adopt models like force field analysis etc. for overcoming the negative
impact on organisational behaviour.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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