Unit 17: Leading Change: Strategies and Operational Impacts Report

This report delves into the crucial aspects of understanding and leading change within business organizations, using Charbonnel and Walker as a primary case study. It begins with a comparison of strategic and operational changes implemented by Charbonnel and Walker and Whitaker's to adapt to evolving consumer preferences, specifically the growing demand for health-conscious chocolate products. The report then examines the internal and external drivers of change, analyzing their impact on individuals, teams, and leadership. Internal drivers such as financial management, employee morale, and organizational culture are discussed, alongside external factors including political and economic influences. Furthermore, the report explores the influence of these drivers on individual mindsets, team dynamics, and leadership styles, highlighting the importance of collaborative and democratic approaches in navigating these changes. Finally, it addresses the application of different leadership approaches to manage change effectively within the organization.

Unit 17
Understanding And Leading Change
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INTRODUCTION
Understanding and leading change is one the most important aspect in the business
organisation. Business environment is highly dynamic and this needs to adopt various changes in
the changing business world. Without adopting changes, no business can operate successfully in
the changing environment (Alavi and Gill, 2017). Organisation undertaken in this report is
Charbonnel and walker was founded in 1875 which was one of the oldest and first British
chocolate making company. This report will explain the comparison of different organisational
examples which will have crucial impact on the changes in organisations strategy and operation.
It will have an influence on the organisational behaviour on drivers of change. It will influence
obstacles of change which influences leadership decision making. And last part of the report will
apply different leadership approaches to deal with changes.
TASK1
P1. Comparison of different organisational instances where it will have impact of change on
strategy and operations.
Changes are unavoidable and every organisation needs to adopt themselves with those
changes in this dynamic business world. These changes can be of varied types and in order to
attain business objectives and sustain in this highly competitive world, changes are needed to be
adopted. Organisation must focus on understanding the importance and value of accepting and
implementing changes within the company (Anderson, 2016). Change is considered to be the
most crucial aspect in present business atmosphere where the population, their taste and
preferences, needs and requirements, etc. everything is changing continuously.
For better understanding the importance of change, the two organisations will be
considered namely, Charbonnel and walker and Whitaker's which deals in producing chocolates.
Both the companies are UK based and entirely concerned with manufacturing of different and
assorted chocolates. These companies commenced their operations nearly more than 120 years
ago and are still sustaining in the organisation. It is not an easy task to stay in the market for so
long specially when there are many competitors. But this has been possible for both the
companies because they were keen on accepting changes each day. In the present business world,
the change which has been adopted by the companies is based on social values and according to
the needs of customers. For this, they will produce new product ranges and offerings with
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different flavours. But the speciality of these products will be that they will be entirely sugar free
and gluten free because people in UK are becoming health conscious day by day and also the
growing diabetes, obesity and other health effects has made people more conservative regarding
their health and they are quitting chocolates (Argyris, 2017). For this purpose, the Charbonnel
and walker and Whitaker's are emphasising on producing such chocolates which will not harm
the health of the people rather it will be health conscious with various nutrients that are good for
health like almond and walnut. For adopting such changes, the companies will adopt different
operational and strategic changes in their company. Such changes are discussed below :
Companies Charbonnier and walker Whitaker's
Strategic changes The company has adopted
various strategic changes for
adopting the change of
producing and selling new
produce range which will
provide various health benefits
to the people. For such
changes, the company will
adopt different pricing and
promotional strategies. In
pricing strategies, the
company will adopt the price
bundling and market
penetration. In price bundling
the company will combine the
new product with old ones
which when purchased in a
bundle than will be priced at
lower compared to purchasing
the same individually. This
will enable the company in
The company has initiated
several changes which are
strategic in nature and for
implementing such changes
the company will use various
pricing and promotional
strategies. The pricing
strategies which will be use
by the company is economic
pricing and psychology pricing
(Bosse and. et. al., 2017).
Customers are very price
centric and purchases products
by comparing the prices with
the competitors so therefore, it
minimises the cost which are
related to the marketing and
manufacturing in order to
maintain the prices of the
product down. The psychology
pricing strategies will also use
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attracting the customer and
clearing the stock of old
chocolates with new ones.
While in market penetration,
the company will sail the
chocolates by offering lesser
prices for the products which
will develop attention in minds
of the customers and will take
them away from the
competitors (Arora, Tockner
and Venohr, 2016).
The promotional strategies
which will be used by the
company is concerned with the
advertisements in the
newspaper, radio, television,
etc. They will also use social
media platform for the purpose
of promoting the brands and
new products like Facebook,
Instagram, you tube, etc.
by the company in order to
attract the customers. This will
take into consideration the
customer base by inspiring
them to react on emotional
terms rather than logical terms.
It has been assumed that
customers are concerned about
the first digit of the price on
the tag rather than last. For
instance, they will buy the
product if it is priced at £99
rather than £100.
In promotional strategies the
company will use several
promotional tools which will
make people aware about the
new products of the company
and this can be done by
sampling, discounts,
advertisements near hospitals
or dental cares. It will also use
internet marketing which will
directly communicate with the
customers by sending them an
Email.
Operational changes Operational changes are those
which are concerned with the
company’s internal changes.
The company will adopt
different technological
Operational changes are every
important before the company
implements changes in the
company. For this, the
company will put more
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equipment’s and will also hire
the trained and expertise
individual who will have the
ability and knowledge to adopt
the changes and make people
aware about the new products
and offerings of the company
so that they will work in
accordance with.
emphasis on research and
development department. It
will hire more expertise
workforce for properly
analysing the materials and
ingredients which will be
needed to produce diabetic free
and gluten free chocolates
which will not harm the health
of the people.
TASK2
P2. Drivers of change on individuals, team and leadership.
Drivers of changes are those factors which are concerned with the whole of the change in
an industry (Doppelt, 2017). These drivers help in developing an organisation which are
concerned with enhancing learning and regularly expanding the potential to develop the future.
These drivers for changes are concerned with the internal and external business environment
which have a strong influence on teams, individuals and leadership behaviour of the Charbonnel
and walker. The internal drivers for changes are related to the variations and fluctuations in the
interior atmosphere of the company. Whereas, external business environment is concerned with
the changes in the exterior business world which have a crucial impact on the organisation’s
operations.
Internal drivers for changes
 Financial management : Finance is one of the most crucial aspect in the business
organisation. Every business can commence its operation only when it will have enough
funds and money which will be required in order to fulfil the needs and requirements of
the business and meeting everyday expenses as well of the Charbonnel and walker.
 Employee morale : Morale of the employees is as one of the most crucial aspect.
Employees are treated as one of the most important aspect of the company. It is essential
that the Charbonnel and walker must focus regularly on improving the morale of the
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employees which can be done by providing them financial and non-financial incentives,
assuring them job safety and security at workplace, rendering training, etc. which will
inspire them to work with full confidence and zeal for the attainment of business
objectives and goals (Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano, 2018).
 Organisational culture : The culture of the company plays an important role in the
accomplishment of business goals and objectives. This organisational culture must be
such that it will minimise the employee turnover rate, enhances coordination among
employees, etc.
External drivers for change
 Political factors : Politics is related to the stability and intervention of government in the
country. It includes various factors like import, export, taxation policy, etc. For
Charbonnel and walker, if rate of taxation increases than it will further increases the cost
of production and minimises the profit for the company. For this purpose, the company
will be required to raise the prices of its products as well.
 Economic factors : Economic is denoted with the terms financial worth or value, thus, it
is linked with financial stability and profitability of the Charbonnel and walker (Espedal,
2017). It includes factors like inflation, deflation, etc. For instance, in case of inflation
when the prices of the products increase than customer will cut off their spending on such
products and will prefer to spend the income on essential offerings.
 Social factors : They are related to the social belief, tastes, preferences, attitude,
behaviour, etc. This will have positive impact on Charbonnel and walker, as the
customers are becoming health conscious day by day and they will going to love the new
gluten free and diabetic free range of chocolates.
Influence of drivers for change on individuals, teams and leadership
Driver of change Individuals Teams Leadership
Internal Internal environment
will have positive and
negative impact on an
individual mindset.
When there is
effective
Effective internal
environment will help
the team in delegating
the task among
different team
members as per their
Leadership is the act
of influencing other. In
internal business
environment, the
leader will follow
democratic leadership
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encouragement of the
employee morale than
this will have
favourable impact on
them and they will
work in accordance of
business objectives
and goals. While at the
same time poor
organisational culture
like lack of employee
safety, unethical
activities, etc. will
increase the labour
turnover rate and
absenteeism.
skills, knowledge and
capabilities which will
help in accomplishing
business goals within
the specified time
frame (Friedrich and
Wüstenhagen, 2017).
style as this will
involve the employees
and other sub ordinates
in the decision-making
process which will
make them attentive
and they will also feel
motivated by being the
part of decision
making in the
organisation.
External In fluctuations of
external business
environment,
individual alone
cannot cope with such
changes because they
are uncontrollable. If
individual is left to
deal with such changes
alone than this can
create burden, anxiety,
depression, etc. on the
mind of individuals.
Collaborative working,
in a team can be very
effective if the
organisation has to
deal with external
changes in the
business environment.
Team will be able to
properly identify and
analyse the factors and
their impact and will
generate productive
results.
In this, leader will
adopt autocratic
leadership style
because the decision is
required to be taken
rapidly without
consulting or taking
suggestions from the
sub ordinates. Thus,
entire decision is taken
by leader and other
employees are not
involved in this.
Burke-Litwin model
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The model of Burke-Litwin model is linked with providing 12 organizational attributes
which are regarded as an important elements for the business in establishing cause and effect
relationships. The following are factors which influences the behavior of people and they are
discussed below :
 External environment : This environment is concerned with all those factors which have
significant impact on the operations of Charbonnel and walker from outside and such
factors are generally uncontrollable in nature.
 Mission and strategy : Every company has different set of mission and strategies which
are designed by the top management of the company so that employees will be aware of
all the task which is required to be done.
 Leadership : It is the act of influencing people and motivating them to work in
accordance with the change which is prevailing in the market. It helps in providing
people with effective training and guidance so that they work with full attainment and
Charbonnel and walker objectives.
 Organizational culture : The culture of the Charbonnel and walker has a strong impact
on adopting changes. There must be flexibility so that people will understand the value
and importance of accepting changes and business can accomplish the goals and
objectives.
 Structure : This is concerned with such kind of structure which will help the employees
in understanding their roles and responsibilities. The Charbonnel and walker will adopt
function based structure where they will focus on communication, controlling actions of
people, authority, etc.
 System : When the change is to be implemented then there will be numerous types of
policies and procedures in relation to the people and operations within the Charbonnel
and walker.
 Management practice : It is related to the manner in which the management of the
company behaves with the employees. Therefore, Charbonnel and walker must have
ethical code of conduct which will protect the employees.
 Work unit climate : This is related to the relationship between the team and employees.
Charbonnel and walker will establish effective and friendly relations with the employees
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so that by working in team they will contribute their best and also realizes the importance
of working in team which generates better and more productive results.
 Task and skills : It is concerned with the relevant work and skills which are owned by
the employees to perform a particular task.
 Individual values and needs : This helps in examining the quality of the work which is
performed by individual in Charbonnel and walker . This helps in taking the opinion and
view point of the employees so that to insure proper job satisfaction and enrichment can
be enhanced.
 Motivational level : It is very important to regularly motivate an employee within an
Charbonnel and walker which will make them work with full potential and confidence in
order to accomplish business goals.
 Individual and overall performance : This helps in evaluating the performance of the
individual within the organization which determine the level of individual like quality,
productivity, performance, etc.
Six box model
This model is designed by the Marvin Weisbord which aims to represent the purpose of
the organization in specific manner. It is related to the various issues within an organization like
incentives, rewards, planning, etc. This model has six approaches or elements namely, purpose,
structure, relationship, rewards, leadership, helpful mechanisms. This model is very beneficial in
adopting various changes.
P3. Measure that will be taken to minimise negative impact of changes.
In Charbonnel and walker, people resisted to accept the changes. This is because they feel
difficulty and have a fear in mind regarding the changes. Individuals working in the organisation
has various threats which makes them resistance to changes. People think, that changes will
require new and more skilled workforce which can create threat on their jobs, the adaptation of
capital intensive techniques will make majority of the labour unemployed, if proper training will
not be given to the employees then they may not be able to work with new technical instruments,
etc. All this required to be minimised which can be in the following manner :
 Communication : It is very important to regularly communicate with the people within
the organisation. Before implementing the change of producing new diabetic and gluten
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free food products in Charbonnel and walker , the organisation must communicate with
the entire staff and team members regarding the type of changes, importance, of
accepting changes, benefit of changes for individuals as their learning power will be
enhanced, etc. When people will be aware about these things prior to the changes only,
then this will help them in preparing themselves to accept and work in accordance of
changes (Glass and Cook, 2016).
 Training programs : When the organisation plans to adopt changes of producing new
gluten free and diabetic free products in Charbonnel and walker , then it must organise
effective training and development programs for the employees so that they will be able
to deal with the changes in an effective and efficient manner. For this, the organisation
must provide coaching, presentation, guidance, etc. which will make people aware of
their abilities.
 Effective listening : Apart from effective communicator, the organisation must focus on
effectively listening which is another important part of the organisation. It is very
important to listen to the employees patiently, understand their problems or issues which
they are facing and taking relevant solutions and actions which will make them satisfied.
This will help Charbonnel and walker in proper implementation of social changes within
the organisation as employees will work with full motivation and zeal for the attainment
of business goals.
TASK3
P4. Different barriers for change and their influence on leadership decision making.
Lewin force field model
Force field model was developed by Kurt Lewin and is used globally for the intention of
influencing decision making. Changes are tough in nature because people do not want to accept
the changes. By adopting this model, Charbonnel and walker, will focus on two important
aspects namely, the forces which are driving change and which are restraining the changes
(Medland, 2016). For the implementation of the changes, it is very crucial that driving force must
exceed the restraining forces. The following are the description of the forces and they are :
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Forces for change : There will be various forces which will initiate the changes in the
organisation. These factors can be internal or external in nature (Lewin's Force Field Model,
2018). For Charbonnel and walker, the internal factors which will have a favourable influence on
decision making are desire to maximise profitability, evaluation of performances, requirement of
re organisation in order to maximise efficiency and competitiveness, conflict between
departments, structure of organisation demands more flexibility, higher level of competition,
technological variations, globalisation, etc. And the external forces which influences the decision
making involves various fluctuations in the government polices which encourages the
organisation to attain business objectives.
Force restrain changes : These forces are the factors which creates hurdles for
implementing changes. No matter how much productive and efficient the change is for the
Charbonnel and walker, it will face issues and troubles (Meier, 2016). Some of the factors which
restricts the implementation of changes are habits of people as they became comfortable with
their style of working, lack of communication, problem of insecurity, creation of fear and anxiety
among people regarding the change, etc. The social change which the organisation is planning to
adopt can face problem of higher cost of raw materials, poor and unskilled workforce, lack of
effective space to produce the products, etc.
Lewin change management model
Kurt Lewin has developed the change model in 1947. It is three step procedure which is
concerned with providing assurance of higher level of approach to the change. The following are
the three steps which will be considered by Charbonnel and walker :
Unfreeze : This is the first step of change model in which the change which is required to
be initiated must first pass through the unfreezing stage. In this, people are made aware about the
changes and they are inspired and motivated to leave their comfort area and enhances flexibility
in them. In Charbonnel and walker, the implementation of changes in products from normal to
health-conscious chocolates will make people aware about the increasing health consciousness
among people which has proven to be reduced the sale of normal chocolates. This will help the
employees and people of the organisation to understand the importance of accepting changes
because of growing internal problems among people.
Change : The second stage of change model is concerned with actual initiation and
execution of change. Therefore, Charbonnel and walker will implement the change of new
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products which are diabetic and gluten free (Tombetti and Mason, 2018). For this change, the
company will make proper plans, initiate effective communication, regularly motivate people so
that they will involve themselves for accomplishing the objectives of change.
Refreeze : This is the last stage in change model where people accept the changes and
accepts flexibility. Therefore, Charbonnel and walker will now work as per the new standards
and structures of the company and this will also modify the new behaviour and working. By
accepting the new changes in the company, skills and abilities of the employees will be enhanced
and several development and training sessions will be organised by the company on daily basis
to accomplish business goals and objectives.
TASK4
P5. Different leadership approaches.
Situational leadership : This kind of leadership style is concerned with an adaptive
leadership styles which is highly flexible in nature and can easily adopt themselves with the
dynamic needs and requirements of the organisation (Obolensky, 2017). According to this
leadership style in Charbonnel and walker, the leaders must be able to move from one single
leadership style to another leadership style. Furthermore, it is a quotable structure for leaders
which will enhance them to compare and match the needs and evaluation of performances with
the individuals and teams which will influence change.
Hersey and Blanchard’s Leadership Styles
This approach of leadership is concerned with the two important aspects namely, the style
of leadership used by leader and level of maturity of followers. There are four main leadership
approaches which will be adopted by Charbonnel and walker is discussed below :
 Telling : In this approach, the leader tells the entire staff members about the work which
is required to be performed by them and they perform it accordingly. Thus, it can be
regarded as directive approach where direct order is given to the people.
 Selling : In this approach also, the decision is taken by leader only but they communicate
and persuades the people to understand and work in accordance with the business goals
and objectives.
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 Participating : This approach is quite democratic in nature where leader takes the final
decision but involves entire team and staff members. The decision is taken by considering
the viewpoints of other people of the organisation.
 Delegating : In this approach, the leader does not take any decision and entire decisions
are taken by the employees and other team members (Rahim,2017). But at the same time,
leader is involved in overlooking the work performed by team members.
Advantages Disadvantages
In this , there is no single leadership styles will
be used because leader can use various styles
depending upon the needs and requirements of
the situation. For accepting the social changes
in Charbonnel and walker the company will
require to make people understand the
importance of changes and for this they will
make them free and comfortable. Thus, it
enhances, flexibility.
This leadership styles lacks the demographic
differences. Men and women have been
discovered to react differently in drastic
business situations. In Charbonnel and walker,
for accepting changes there is a gender
discrimination where women are not given
much involvement.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that every organisation is required to have
flexibility in its operation because business world is highly fluctuated and this will have
significant impact on the company. Companies which sustain in the market for longer duration,
is only because of the fact that they regularly focus on improving their methods of working and
adopting the changing needs of the people. Due to greater competition in the market, it is
important to keep reviewing and modifying the policies of the company.
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REFERENCE
Books and Journals
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