Understanding and Leading Change: Impacts on Organizational Strategy

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This report provides a comprehensive analysis of understanding and leading change within organizations, focusing on the clothing sector with case studies of H&M and Primark. It examines the drivers and impacts of change, both internal and external, and how they affect organizational strategy and operations. The report includes a PEST/SWOT analysis for each case study to identify drivers of change, evaluates the impact of change on leadership, individuals, and team behavior, and assesses how the impact of change was minimized using appropriate models. Furthermore, it applies force field analysis to determine opposition and support for change, explains barriers to change and their influence on decision making, and evaluates the success of change implementation. The report also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different leadership approaches in dealing with change, illustrated with various examples, providing a thorough understanding of change management in a business context. Desklib provides access to solved assignments and study resources for students.
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Understanding and Leading
Change
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
......................................................................................................................................1
Assignment 1
................................................................................................................................... 2
An introduction to the drivers and impacts of change and how it affects organizational strategy

.....................................................................................................................................................
2
An overview of the organisation case studies
..............................................................................2
A PEST/SWOT analysis to be undertaken for each case study to identify drivers of change
....3
Analysis for each organization on the impact of change and the effects it has upon the

organization’s strategy and operations.
....................................................................................... 4
Evaluation of how change will have affected leadership, individuals and team behavior
..........5
Evaluate how the impact of change was minimized and the application of appropriate models

to process change efficiently.
...................................................................................................... 6
Assignment 2
................................................................................................................................... 7
Application of force field analysis to determine opposition and support for change
..................7
An explanation of the different barriers to change and how they influenced decision making

and leadership
.............................................................................................................................. 8
How was change accomplished and how successful was it
........................................................8
Advantages and disadvantages of different leadership approaches to dealing with change

Illustrated by application to a range of examples
......................................................................10
Conclusion
..................................................................................................................................... 13
References
......................................................................................................................................14
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Force field analysis
.......................................................................................................... 7
Figure 2: Lewin’s Change Model
.................................................................................................. 10
Figure 3: Situational leadership theory
..........................................................................................11
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Introduction
Leading change can be defined as the introduction of new plan as well as identification of new

opportunities so that business can be expanded in much better manner. It has been identified that

changes affects each and every individual in day to day life and majorly it puts positive impact in

terms of growth and development. The current report will therefore compare organizational

changes within clothing sector organizations such as Primark and H&M. It will assess both

internal and external drivers of change that in turn influence organizational strategy and

operations. In addition to this, it will also highlight the barriers to change that influence decision

making of leaders. Range of leadership theories will also be illustrated in the following report.

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Assignment 1
An introduction to the drivers and impacts of change and how it affects organizational strategy

Organizational change can be referred to as modification and alterations to current business

process so that overall productivity and profitability of the organization can be improved. It is

therefore essential for the business to invest in adopting the changes because of internal and

external driving forces. For major of the business organizations there exist two types of forces

that include internal and external driving forces of change (
Hornstein, 2015).
External Forces
: Such type of forces is difficult to manage as it includes economies,
technologies, competition as well as legislations and politics. For an example, changing in

economic conditions might affect the business to decrease its supply and in such scenario

business is unable is to fulfil the demand of customers in the market. This result into decreasing

customer satisfaction and might restrict them in future to prefer the products or services from

similar organization. In addition to this, technology and competition are also important external

forces. New Business organizations adopt innovative technology so that something new can be

produced for the consumers. In this context, it is important to existing business to adopt changes

so that customers can be retained effectively.

Internal Forces
: Such type of changes is also difficult to undertake however business can have
better control over internal forces of changes. It includes organizational restructuring or

implementation of new management (
Harmon, P., 2019). Hiring of new employees can
successfully influence the existing strategies and culture of the organization. Organizational

restructuring might influence corporate policies and this will help the organization to conduct

business within the budget constraints.

An overview of the organisation case studies

The report will compare organizational changes in both H&M and Primark that deals within

clothing industry. As per internal and external forces of change, both the organizations are

seeking to implement changes so that competitive position can be gained. Both the organizations

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are experiencing stiff competition along with risks and in such scenarios it is essential for both
organization to bring some changes in its strategies and planning so that barriers in terms of its

revenue generation can be improved.

In this context,
H&M is planning to bring changes in its existing E commerce portal that support
selling of clothes online. This can be considered as external forces of change in terms of

technology that will support the business to increase customer satisfaction. Changes are related

to the use of data analytics as well as Artificial intelligence to enhance the efficiency of the

business and this will contribute towards customer satisfaction.
Primark on the other hand aims
at retention of employees and to fulfil the purpose the organization will bring changes in its HR

practices such as reward system, training and development, flexibility practices, etc (
Doppelt,
2017)
. Such changes are internal forces that will help the business to increase the efficiency of
employees and overall productivity and revenue generation.

A PEST/SWOT analysis to be undertaken for each case study to identify drivers of change

PEST Analysis of H&M

Political
: H&M operates at global level with number of physical stores across the globe and
therefore monitoring of political instability is important. The organization has franchised its

stored in countries that are politically unstable. Therefore it is important for H&M to develop

contingency plans for dealing with political unstable situations.

Economic:
Inspite of negative impacts on economy because of Brexit, H&M managed to raise
its sales. There has been identified rise in sales from year 2016 to 2017 (H&M Pestle Analysis,

2019).

Socio cultural
: Consumers now days are inclined towards transparency in terms of what they are
paying to business for. H&M pays attention towards demands of customers and in therefore the

organization has decided to release quarterly updates along with online CSR reports. With the

changing lifestyle and income level of consumer, H&M is experiencing increasing sales by

providing designer but expensive clothing products.

Technological
: H&M has continuously evolved in terms of technology which can be observed
with the advancement of mobile applications, use of club function for collecting reward points,

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third-party logistics provider with the help of supply chain technology, etc. However there is
need of automating some of the process with the use of AI for gaining global recognition.

PEST Analysis of Primark

Political:
Primark operates as a clothing retailer and it was largely influence with the negative
condition of Brexit. In such situation its parent organization ABF took the decision of leaving

EU and this has influenced the financial markets along with business environment.

Economical:
Inspite of turnaround conditions because of Brexit that puts negative impact on
economical conditions of the country, Primark with the help of skilled force was able to maintain

the consistency of increasing revenue (Charlotte Austin, 2019).

Social:
With the increasing population and inappropriate eating habits have encouraged the
Primark to design clothes with plus sizes and this has helped the organization to gain competitive

position over brand like Zara.

Technological:
As per the changes in retail sector, Primark still lacks behind in terms of
adoption of technologies. The major reason identified was because of increasing turnover of

employees and this has restricted the business to implement new ideas for business profitability.

Analysis for each organization on the impact of change and the effects it has upon the

organization’s strategy and operations.

Organizational changes undertaken by both H&M and Primark have experienced both positive

and negative impact on various aspects of business.

Positive impact on H&M
: For an example, adoption of technology in terms of data analytics as
well as artificial intelligence will help the business to seek the attention of consumers in the

market. Data analytics will help H&M to collect the information related to consumer preferences

and can appropriately fulfil their demand (
Hayes, 2018). The use of artificial intelligence will
help the business organization to automate business operations and this will further help business

to save money that is being spent on recruitment and selection, training and development, etc.

Development of products as per the expectation of consumers will help the business to

experience customer satisfaction, brand recognition as well as competitive advantage.

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Positive impact on Primark: With the changes in HR practices, Primark has successfully
resolved the issues of employee turnover. For an example, the organization has set targets for

employees in terms of bringing new technologies by the end of financial year and has promised

for outrageous rewards. This has helped the employees to show interest towards the job and

issues of employee turnover has been reduced. In addition to this, the organization has changed

the procedures of training and development of employees and this has helped to raise the

efficiency of employees.

Therefore compatibility with industry trends, new business opportunities, improved efficiency,

and business innovation are some of the positive impacts on both the organization.

Negative impact on both Primark and H&M
: Changes related to technology and HR practices
and policies has put negative impact on business organization in terms of increased investment

and employee morale. All the employees within the organization do not accept to changes in

readily manner and therefore business has to spend lot on their training and development

(
Cameron and Green, 2015).
Organizational changes will also affect organizational strategy and operations. For an example

adoption of technology by H&M forces the organization to change its training and development

procedures so that employees can adopt the technology in an effective manner. In addition to

this, changes in HR practices will force the organization to change its HR strategies and the ways

of handling employees such that business can gain overall productivity.

Evaluation of how change will have affected leadership, individuals and team behavior

Leadership plays an important role in encouraging employees to work as per the organizational

changes. Leader is responsible for emphasizing on actions such that changes can be adopted by

employees in an easier and smooth manner. For an example, adoption of technology is resisted

by few employees and in this context leaders must deal directly with resistances. Leader is

responsible for setting of definite goals and objectives in clear and transparent manner so that

changes can be easily adopted by the employees. On the other hand adoption of technology in

H&M will reduce the work pressure of employees and changes in HR practices will help the

employees to raise their performance on the individual basis. Team behavior contributes largely

towards the organizational change and in this context managers must focus on involving team

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members while making decisions. For an example, changes in HR practices will motivate
employees and will encourage team working such that changes can be implemented in an

effective manner (
Hornstein, 2015).
Evaluate how the impact of change was minimized and the application of appropriate models to

process change efficiently.

Negative impact of organizational changes was minimized by both H&M and Primark by

bringing changes in leadership skills, setting of realistic targets, as well as by developing

transparent organizational culture. This can be further explained with the application of Burke

Litwin's change management model:

Factors required changes
Changes for minimizing negative impact
External environment
Manager must focus on conducting marketing
research so that improvements can be implemented.

Leadership
Leadership skills must be changed so that
employee resistance can be minimized while

adopting changes

Mission and strategy
Setting of clear mission and strategy helps the
business to overcome employee retention

Organization culture
Positive culture helps in improving learning
experience of employees

Structure
Organizational structure must be changed such that
managers and employees can contribute effectively

towards adoption of changes

Individual values
Ethical values and positive behavior support
influencing employee behavior while adopting

organizational changes.

Employee motivation
This is essential for adopting the changes and in
this context leaders and manager plays an

important role.

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Assignment 2
Application of force field analysis to determine opposition and support for change

Force field analysis is a tool for analysis of various factors associated with complex issues. There

are two types of forces such as restraining factors that restrict the implementation of change as

well as driving forces that encourage changes in expected direction.

Figure
1: Force field analysis
The tool will be used by H&M to identify the factors that are in support or in opposition for the

changes related to technology.
Forces for change (driving forces) in this context are related to
fulfilment of need of customers
. Use of data analytics will help to identify the expectation of
customers in terms of design of clothes. In addition to this, use of technology in terms of

Artificial Intelligence will improve the
overall speed of production process which in turn raises
the volume of overall output.
On the other hand, there are several forces against change
(restraining factors) that restrict H&M to implement changes within the organization (Force

Field Analysis, 2019).

Forces against change (restraining factors)
while implementing technology are resistance of
employees because of fear of decreased overtime. In addition to this, staff members are often

afraid of learning new technology because of its complexity. M&S in this context must focus on

training of employees so that learning related to new technology can be improved.

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Environmental influence of new techniques, cost as well as disruption is some other factors that
limit the implementation of new technology.

An explanation of the different barriers to change and how they influenced decision making and

leadership

There are several barriers to organizational change and they largely influence leadership and

decision making within H&M while implementing data analytics and AI technology. One of the

major barriers is related to
lack of involvement of employee. Employees often exhibit fear of
change because they are involved in the process of change (Christopher Smith, 2015). In addition

to this,
inappropriate communication strategies are considered as forceful resistance to the
change. For an example, if higher authorities of H&M assume that announcement about changes

will lead to people to adopt the changes is one of the major mistakes. In this context leader plays

an important role while making decisions related to strategies. Leader pro actively must focus on

explaining on how the current change will affect the business and employees and how employees

must adapt it.

Inappropriate planning puts negative impact on organizational culture
. Planning team involved
in change management only focuses on work area responsibilities, planning administrative

structure, as well as job responsibilities
and do not care about intuitions and feelings of
employees.
This resists employees to adopt the changes. Leaders in this context must aims at
considering the thoughts and issues of employees and encourage them by providing satisfactory

solution so that they can readily adopt the organizational changes. All such barriers largely affect

the decision making while implementing essential organizational changes and therefore

leadership is being affected.

How was change accomplished and how successful was it

The change was accomplished by H&M by
appropriate allocation of resources. Change
management process can be completed in a successful manner if resources are assigned the task

based on their capabilities. In addition to this, leaders provided adequate support as well as

incentives such that employees remain motivated towards putting their extra efforts towards

change management. It is the known fact that every project begins with some scope and with the

purpose of aligning the process of data analytics with business goals and objectives, leaders

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worked hard to re examine the existing sources and made adjustments as per the change in new
scope.
This has reduced the risk while undertaking the process of change management.
Leaders within H&M also focused on
actual goals of the organization. For adopting the changes
in terms of technology, leaders and managers used success metrics for identifying the status of

the process when success has not been attained (
David, 2015). Training and development along
with appropriate communication strategies
has helped the organization to accomplish the
changes.

Accomplished change was successful and it was identified in terms of increasing efforts of

employees to adapt the changes. Successful change management has helped he M&S to attain

business goals and objectives in terms of customer satisfaction.

Accomplishment of change can be further illustrated with the help of
Lewin’s change
management model
. It includes stages such as unfreeze, change and refreeze. Unfreeze stage has
helped H&M to identify the current trend of the industry. It has also helped the organization on why

that change is essential to take place. For an example, H&M recognizes the need of data analytics

and for this senior management was in great support. In addition to this, leaders and managers

focused on communicating the related strategies so that changes can be implemented in an effective

manner.

The ‘change’ stage is related to adequate communication that includes planning of changes,

explaining about the benefits, and influence of technology by H&M on employees as well as

customers. At this stage, Leaders and managers of H&M has also appropriately contributed towards

involvement of employees in the decision making process (
Toves et.al.2016). At the refreeze stage,
adoption of technology was inhibited into the culture, and number of ways was developed for

successful sustainable change. For an example, appropriate leadership, reward system, training and

development and feedback system are the crucial aspects of refreeze stage that contributes towards

accomplishment of change.

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