Unit 17 - Understanding and Leading Change: Management Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of understanding and leading change within organizations, using Aldi as a primary case study. It begins by comparing the impacts of technological and structural changes on Aldi and Tesco, highlighting how these changes affect their strategies and operations. The report then evaluates the ways in which internal and external drivers of change, such as financial management, resources, culture, political factors, economic conditions, social trends, and technological advancements, influence leadership, team, and individual behaviors. It examines measures to minimize the negative impacts of change, including addressing employee resistance and weak industry influence. Furthermore, the report delves into different barriers to change and their influence on leadership decision-making, employing force field analysis to understand driving and resisting forces. The report concludes with recommendations for effectively planning for change and applying change impact analysis, offering valuable insights for managing organizational transformations.

UNDERSTANDING
AND LEADING
CHANGE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1: Compare different organisational examples where there has been an impact of change on
an organisation’s strategy and operations...................................................................................1
P2: Evaluate the ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team
and individual behaviours within an organisation......................................................................3
P3: Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on
organisational behaviour.............................................................................................................5
M1: Different drivers for change in each of the given examples and the types of organisational
change they have affected...........................................................................................................7
M2: Apply appropriate theories and models to critically evaluate organisational response to
change.........................................................................................................................................7
D1: Draw conclusions and recommendations with valid justifications for planning effectively
for change and applying change impact analysis........................................................................8
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................9
P4: Explain different barriers for change and determine how they influence leadership
decision making in a given organisational context.....................................................................9
M3: Use force field analysis to analyse the driving and resisting forces and show how they
influence decision-making........................................................................................................10
D2: Critically evaluate the use of force field analysis in the context of meeting organisational
objectives...................................................................................................................................11
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
Covered in ppt...........................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Understanding change is very essential for the management of organisations in order to
determine its impact on the operations and activities of the firm. The change can both positively
and negatively impact the organisation depend upon the internal and external factors of business.
This change is very necessary for employees to enhance their skills and abilities for adapting
with the change in order to achieve the desired objectives and goals of firm. The taken
organisation in this report is Aldi which is a supermarket chain based in Essen, Germany. The
report is divided in two parts i.e. report and presentation. This report will assess the various
drivers of change using examples along with the comparison of organisations in responding to
the drivers for change. This report will also discuss the affect of change on leadership, team and
individual behaviours along with the measures which can be used for minimising the negative
impacts of change on an organisation. Further different barriers for change and their influence on
leadership decision making will be discussed in this report. In the presentation, different
leadership approaches for dealing with change from the organisational context will be provided.
TASK 1
P1: Compare different organisational examples where there has been an impact of change on an
organisation’s strategy and operations
Change is the most important part for the growth and success of businesses which effects
on the productivity and performance of the firm. These change are mostly found in strategies,
policies, culture, technologies etc. for achieving the predetermined goals of organisation in the
specified time. Different organisations implements the change for enhancing their organisational
culture and working environment. By enhancing the culture, organisations can improve their
profitability and productivity (Alkahtani And et. al., 2011). Change also plays a important role in
achieving a higher competitive edge and competitive benefits from the rivals present in the
industry. Updated technology is the most common change faced by the organisations which
directly effects the both strategies and operations of firms. With the help of change, organisations
can increase their customer base and can accomplish better results in terms of performance and
productivity. Both Tesco and Aldi faces such type of change which is beneficial for them to
become successful in their industry and market.
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Change Aldi Tesco
Technology Technological change in Aldi is based
on the social media marketing for
promoting the products. It is
necessary for Aldi to improve the
efficiency of their operations and
products. It is also effecting the
strategies and operations of the firm.
By adapting to this change, Aldi can
increase their customers and market
share by delivering the products at
low prices.
Tesco is a retail sector firm which
are using their own mobile app for
attracting huge number of customers
to accomplish improved results.
Technology is common change in
Tesco and it usually effects the
operations of company in delivering
their products and services to their
end users. Change also effects the
pricing strategy as the consumers of
retail sector tends to buy products
and services by online portals and
websites.
Structure Structure change in Aldi is associated
with the change in procedures of
command and administrative. In Aldi,
higher level managers provide the
guidance to the medium level
managers and these medium level
mangers provide the guidance to the
lower level employees. It is a proper
chain of command which directly
effects the working of employees in
order to attract more customers and to
do their work with full efficiency and
capabilities.
Structure change in Tesco is
associated with the hierarchical
structure and job structure. Both of
these effects the strategies and
operations of the business directly.
So, it can also effects the
performance and productivity of the
Tesco in market. Job structure of
Tesco is very effective due to the
provision of giving suitable salary to
the workers by the managers based
on the performance and knowledge
which is highly impacting the
operations of firm.
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From the above discussed information it can concluded that change is very essential for
the both organisations for improving their efficiency and performance. By adapting to the
technological change, both company can enhance their customer as well as can gain the
sustainability in the market (Anderson, 2016). Some of the recommendation are given below to
both organisation for dealing with changes in a proper manner.
 Both organisations should needs to provide technical training sessions to their workforce
for improving their technical skills in order to use the updated technology properly and
to follow it for attracting more customers.
 Both organisation should tackle the changes successfully for retaining their customers
and to maintain a healthy relationship among the workers and customers.
P2: Evaluate the ways in which internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team
and individual behaviours within an organisation
Various internal and external drivers of change effects the leadership and behaviour of
team and individuals directly. Aldi is a supermarket of Germany and has various type of
employees who are performing their job effectively for the betterment of organisation to achieve
the desired organisational objectives. The ways for effecting the leadership and behaviour of
team and individuals are discussed below:
Internal Drivers: These drivers includes cultural differences, morale of workers and the
various situations which are present in the organisation. Some of these internal drivers are
discussed below:
Financial management: Funds are essential requirement of the organisations for
properly carrying out their activities and operations (Bevan, Plsek and Winstanley, 2013). Lack
of funds directly effects the team and individuals for executing their assigned work on the pre
specified period of time. By enhancing the operational leadership, Aldi can improve their
productivity and performance in doing their activities in a proper manner.
Resources: Resources directly effects the performance of leadership, individual and
team. Leader provide the required support and guidance to the members for achieving the long
term objectives and goals. So, these can also effect the performance of Aldi directly. Beside this,
teams are formed for doing a specific task based on the objectives which are set by the leaders.
Resources also effects the individuals of company in performing their assigned work and
responsibilities.
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Culture: It includes values, behaviour, belief of employees and vision of firm. All these
factors directly effects the performance of team members. Improper behaviour among the team
member can negatively effect the performance of the team in executing their assigned work on
time. This will also reduce the performance and productivity of the Aldi. This will also impact on
decision-making of leaders for handling the team effectively (Brown, 2012).
External drivers: These drivers are another aspect of change which can directly effect the
performance and productivity of the firm. These drivers can be determined by the PEST analysis.
Political: The change in political factors can effect the public funding and their priorities.
Aldi must follow the rules and regulations which are implemented by the government for smooth
functioning. Leaders of Aldi needs to determine the changes in laws as changes in laws can
effect the policies and strategies of business operations. These rules and regulation directly
effects the leaders for dealing with the change in laws. These factors also impacts the team and
individuals performance as they needs to decide the ideas and way for properly executing the
task in the changing structure of business.
Economical: These factor includes employment factors, customer behaviour, interest rate
etc. which can directly effects the leadership, team and an individual. The behaviour of leader is
effected when the buying power of customers is low and company needs to implement improved
strategies by reducing the prices of their products. Due to change in policy, the performance of
team will also be effected. If such changes occurs frequently then management of Aldi needs to
terminate the workers for cutting the costs.
Social: These factors effects the demands and needs of products in the market. These
factors highly impact the leadership. When the demands of products changes regularly then
leaders needs to modify their strategies accordingly. By this, the bearing power and performance
of the leaders can be increased (Doppelt, 2017). These factors also impacts the team performance
as these factors provide the opportunity to team to prove themselves in time of high demand. It
will improve their performance efficiently and effectively. Whereas, the increase in demand will
increase the performance of the employees individually.
Technological: These factors are associated with the changes in technology for
increasing the productivity of organisation. Change in technology provides the flexibility to the
leaders of Aldi for providing guidance and support to the employees for adopting the technology
in their operations. With the help of technology, performance of team and individuals can also be
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increased as they can work easily for executing their work and can enhance their skills for
achieving the goals in the predetermined period of time.
P3: Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimise negative impacts of change on
organisational behaviour
The measures which needs to be taken for minimising the negative impacts of change on
the behaviour of organisation are as follows:
Employee resistance: It is considered as a emotional factors which is because of change
in the organisation. Employees who are working in the organisation from a long period of time
are comfortable with the all processes of organisation. But due to the change, their lacks the
interest in their work due to stress, loyalty loss in organisation, changes in their personal life and
increased time of the work (Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano, 2018). The resistance of
employees is not good for the Aldi as it leads to decreased profit and performance of the
organisation.
For reducing the resistance of employees, Management of Aldi must provide rewards and
benefits at a fixed intervals of time to the workers according to their performance. This will
motivate them to work properly for receiving these performance based rewards. Management
must also hear their problems and should provide suitable solution to them. Also management
can provide them necessary training for adapting to the change and do their work for the
betterment of firm.
Weak industry influence: Weak industry influence happens when any organisation reject
the change, then it results in reduced brand image of the firm both internally and externally.
Other competitors or rivals then see the company as weak due to lost reputation and brand
image. This can lead to reduced productivity of the organisation and also the firm can lost their
investors and customers. Negative image of firm among the various stakeholders can results in
low performance of the Aldi. These are some of the impacts which occurs when the organisation
fails to accept change.
For reducing weak industry influence, Aldi needs to implement new strategies and also
needs to prepare new working schedule. Management can eliminate the employees for cutting
the costs and can manage the financial condition of the company. Image is also very essential
element of an organisation and for maintaining the image, Aldi is organising conferences and
seminars for telling the various stakeholders that the negative effect of change can be converted
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into positive effects by getting the new ideas from every person in order to solve the problems
effectively (Espedal, 2017). By lowering the prices and increasing the quality of products, Aldi
can sell them effectively to the customers which is beneficial for the company to retain them for
a long period of time.
Inefficient processes: Inefficient processes also negatively impacts the organisation.
When an organisation recruit new talented individuals according to the change and tries to get rid
off negative impact then the efficiency of the organisation can be hindered for performing the
operations effectively (Foltin and Keller, 2012). If the new recruits wants to use updated and new
tools and technology, then it can leads to loss of organisation as the updated tools and technology
is expensive and company can face problems in providing sufficient resources to the employees.
This leads to inefficiency in the operations and process of the organisation due to the lack of
resources.
For solving this problem, Aldi can use trial and error method for achieving the new
objectives along with the new challenges. Through this method, management of the Aldi can
determine whether the available solutions are profitable or not for the firm. The management can
suggest the utilisation of new techniques and available resources to the employees for carrying
out their work efficiently.
PDCA Model: It is a useful model which is used by Aldi to overcome the negative
impact of change on the organisation. This model comes with four steps i.e. plan, do, check, act.
These 4 steps are helpful for managers to determine the different issues of change (Hallinger,
2011). With the help of such model Aldi can improve the level of their administration by
maintaining their external and internal operations. This model is also helpful for standardizing
the information and to eliminate the errors in decision-making process of change.
Planning: In this , managers of organisation determine the issues for errors and plans a
systematic structure for the change.
Do: In this, managers develops and implements the suitable solutions for overcoming the
impacts effectively in an efficient manner.
Check: In this, managers confirms the obtained results and compare them with the
expected results.
Act: In this last phase, effective suggestions and ideas are addressed for different types of
problems.
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M1: Different drivers for change in each of the given examples and the types of organisational
change they have affected
Both of the companies are providing their products at low prices and good quality. These
both above mentioned organisations are focused on enhancing the quality of their products by
using the latest machinery and technology for attracting more customers towards their products.
The external drivers which influenced the company to change are the customers. Customers are
helpful for both organisations to increase their productivity (Fyke and Buzzanell, 2013). They
also adapt to change as they know the importance of happiness among the employees which is
helpful in solving the problems face by the companies. Through this, Both of the companies can
increase their profitability in the market.
Types of organisational change they have affected
Transformational change: In this, organisations adopt the strategy which is suitable for
the company as well as which is suitable for the change. In this type of change, organisations do
what they think is good for them. In this, Aldi terminated their employees and implemented new
strategies which are to be followed by the employees for managing their work.
Organisational wide change: In this, the organisations change internally on a large scale.
In this, policies, strategies and leadership along with the many other things are changed
according to the change (Gupta, 2011). Aldi management terminated their employees across the
various branches for saving the costs and to use the saved cost in implementing new strategies.
The company is using these saved costs in buying new and updated tools and machinery.
M2: Apply appropriate theories and models to critically evaluate organisational response to
change
For reducing the negative impact, Aldi has applied some models which are discussed
below:
System theory: It is a most important theory for overcoming the impact of change in a
systematic order. This theory is used by the Aldi for managing the various workplace situations
which are faced by the workers. According to this model, Aldi relies on the factor such as
consumers, laws of government etc. for obtaining necessary resources required for change. So,
this theory is very useful for the company to solve the various issues of workers which arise due
to the change for accomplishing the long term objectives of organisation in the predetermined
period of time (Hrebiniak, 2013).
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D1: Draw conclusions and recommendations with valid justifications for planning effectively for
change and applying change impact analysis
From the above discussed information, it can be concluded that both the internal and
external factor plays a very important part in the growth and success of the Aldi. These factors
highly effect the operations and activities of the firm. With the help of internal factors,
management of Aldi can easily maintain their resources, funds and culture for enhancing the
productivity of firm and for decreasing the effect of the internal factors on the leadership, team
and individual behaviours. Whereas in case of External factors, various factors like political,
technological, social and economic helps the organisation for determining the situation of
country in an effective manner (Hughes, 2016). Through these external factors, Aldi can manage
their various resources such as financial, man power, raw materials etc. which can assist the
company in achieving improved and better results in the predetermined period of time.
From the above mentioned information, it is recommended to Aldi to use updated and
latest tools, technology and machinery in their business operations. With the use of these latest
machinery and technology, Aldi can improve the quality of their products as well as can improve
the efficiency of their business operations and employees for delivering the quality improved
products and services in the market to the customers.
Impact analysis is used for determining the impact of change on the organisation.
Change analysis does not change structure of companies but it has the ability to change the way
of running the organisation properly.
Procedure of impact analysis
1. Determine the implications of adapting to change.
2. Determine all the files, models and documents which can change while incorporating the
teams.
3. Determine the task which are needed for the change and put maximum efforts in
executing the task.
In this, management needs to determine the task and the way to perform it. The
management needs to understand the impact of change on the people and the manner in which it
will effect them as without knowing the impact of change on them, nothing can be done (Kotter,
2012). Management must evaluate the quality of change i.e. the manner in which the change is
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performed. In the last, management convey the impact of change to the employees for their
knowledge regarding whether the change is accepted or rejected.
Steps for ensuring that the change is successful
 Determine what can be improved with the change.
 Provide a good business case study to the leaders of the organisation.
 Gather the information an resources for evaluation.
 Build good communication with employees.
 Regularly take feedbacks and reviews for continuous improvements.
TASK 2
P4: Explain different barriers for change and determine how they influence leadership decision
making in a given organisational context
Barriers for change are the constraints which arose in the organisation during the change
process. These barriers directly effect the organisation and the decision making process of
leaders and managers. These barriers also negatively influence the decision making skills of
management.
Poor employee participation: Participation of workforce is very essential for any
organisation for implementing the change properly. Without employees participation, unwanted
delay in working can lead to increase in the employees turnover. Management of Aldi needs to
provide proper and reliable information regarding the change to the employees for encouraging
and motivating them to adapt according to the change (Miller and Rollnick, 2012). Through this
the workers are more likely to feel homely and accept the change in the organisation and in their
working style. For overcoming such type of change, management of Aldi needs to include their
employees in the process of decision making for implementing new policies and strategies in
organisation.
Rules and regulations of government: This barrier also impacts the productivity and
performance of the firm directly. Such type of barriers are mainly external barriers which
impacts the productivity and profit of the company. It is necessary to follow the various rules and
regulations of government when a company enters into new market for achieving growth and
success. Aldi can capture high market share when the policies and laws of government are
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