Leadership in Organizational Change: The Case of Tesco Assignment Sample

Pages: 17 Words: 4360

The Role of Leadership in Organizational Change Management: A Case Study of Tesco

Get free samples written by our Top-Notch subject experts for taking online assignment help services in Australia.

In the competitive business world the organisations are facing different issues while operating in an effective manner. Due to these challenges and issues the businesses are required to focus on making several changes in the organisation. Changes are required in every sector for adapting the changes and working in accordance with the latest market trends. In the present study the reader would be explaining the different types of factors which are having an impact on changes (Hayes, 2018). The leaders are having an major role to play in change management in the organisations. This report will explain that how leaders are affecting the change management in detail.

For explaining the change management the researcher would be focusing on Tesco as the case company. Tesco is being selected because during the pandemic they have made major changes in their working processes. Tesco is one of the leading international grocery retailers which is offering wide range of products and services to the customers across the globe. During the pandemic the company had faced worst negative impact of covid-19 on their business operations and profitability. For managing the effect of the pandemic and running the businesses in an appropriate manner the company had made several changes which would be discussed in this report.

Impact of Change on an Organization's Strategy and Operations

In the fast changing world it is important for the businesses to focus on bringing positive changes in the company which can help them in getting positive results. The change is having an major impact on the way in which the company is operating. There can be different factors or the situations which are responsible for change but the change is having an major impact on the organisation's strategies and operations. The change is having an influence on the organisations processes and procedures due to which it become important for the company to modify their strategies as well.

Bringing a change is not easy as it brings complete transformation in the organisations system and processes. Due to this reason the company needs to make changes in their organisational strategies so that they can adapt the change and bring positive impact on the company's performance. Due to the pandemic the businesses are undergoing major changes but they have to change their strategies as well. When the strategies align well with the change then only the company would be able to implement the change and transform the business operations accordingly (Doppelt and McDonough, 2017).

Examples for explaining the impact of change on organisation’s strategy and operations

When the companies are operating in the same industry then it became difficult for them to survive and due to this reason change is required. Change helps the company on continuous improvement and it helps them in running the business successfully (Rosenbaum, et. al. 2018). For example retail sector is one of the highly competitive industries and the firms operating in it undergoes major changes. Amazon one of the top most e-commerce retailers of the world had made major changes in their working patterns and processes which lead them towards great success in the industry. In the beginning Amazon was only the online bookseller and now they are top most retailer and offering huge range of products and services to the customers across the globe. The company has undergone to great technological transformation and they led the entire world towards a new way of shopping. While undergoing these changes the company had to adapt the new strategy and made major changes in the way they operate. Especially they have to develop global supply chain network and had to expand their business to global level. So it can be said that the company’s operations had changed significantly.

Similarly Walmart one of the top international retailers had also made major changes in their working pattern. Walmart is having huge number of stores across the globe and operates in different nations. In the last decade Walmart had made major changes in their leadership and had focused on digitalisation with this they have focused on e-commerce and delivery. Amazon and Walmart are top competitors due to which Walmart had also started focusing on investing more on the boosting the e-commerce. When Walmart focused on offering products through e-commerce website then their strategies and especially the business operations are being changed to a greater extent. From this it can be said that both Amazon and Walmart had undergone to major changes but the changes had affected their business operations in an different manner.

Different drives of change and organisational change they are affected

There are different factors of the internal and external business environment which act as the drives of change for the organisation change. Due to this these factors only the need for bringing the change is developed. SWOT and PESTLE analysis are the effective models which can be used for understanding that how the different drives of change had bought a change in the organisation.

The different drives of change as per the Pestle analysis are the political, social, economic, technological, legal and environmental factors. If the political environment changes or the government policies and rules and regulations changes then the companies operating in that nation also needs to make changes so that they can operate properly in the business environment. The economic factors are also having an major influence on the company. For example in the times of Covid-19 the world’s economy had hit worstly and due to this reason all the businesses facing different issues and had gone through great financial loss. Due to this reason all the companies are focusing on cutting the unnecessary cost and making major changes in their business processes for saving the cost and overcoming from this situation. Similarly the technological development also generates the need for the companies to use latest technologies and bring organisational changes for being more effective in the market (Rampersad and Ittea, 2019).

For Amazon the factors of the external business environment are being considered as the drives of change that had led the company towards such a great transformation. The technological factor of the external business environment is the major drive for change for Amazon. Due to increasing use of internet and significantly increasing growth of e-commerce had created great opportunity for Amazon to become the global retailer and offer the product and service through e-commerce website.

Along with this the social factor can also be considered as an drive for change in the case of Amazon. The growing interest of the customer and their pReferences of buying products through online mode is also an significant factor which had created the need for Amazon to bring change in the organizations. Similarly in the case of Walmart also there are different drives of change which had created the need for change. The increasing threat due to the better use of e-commerce and online selling by the top competitors had created a need for Walmart also to bring changes in their working process then only they would be able to survive in the competitive market. Whenever the change is implemented then it affect all the individuals of the firm different. Moreover the changes are having an higher influence on the business operations. Along with this the management also need to bring major changes in their strategies, leadership and need to use an effective change management strategy for implementing the change successfully.

Impact of internal and external drives of change leadership, team and individual behaviour

When the company undergoes to any of the change then it affect the different factors significantly. The leaders of the company are having an major role to play in management and success of the firm. During the change the leader of the company is having an major role to play in it. The leader of the company is responsible for adapting the change and developing the strategies that can help them in implementing the change effectively. When the company focus on internal and external drives and implements the change then it affects all the different teams and the departments to a greater extent.

When the organisation undergoes through organisational changes then the overall culture of the firm changes which is having an major impact on the behaviour of the employees and affects the overall organisational behaviour. While implementing the change the work for the employees is increased and this create unnecessary pressure on them which affects their behaviour in the firm. Some changes bring changes to the roles and responsibilities of all the teams and the employees as well which affects the individual behaviour and the teams as well. The leader needs to analyse the different internal and external drives of change in an effective manner and then need to apply effective model for implementing the change (Arieli et. al. 2020).

Measures that can minimise the negative impact of change on organisational behaviour

At the time of change it is essential for the company to focus on understanding the impact of change on the organisational behaviour. The organisational behaviour is having an major impact on the business performance and profitability. Change is having an ability to affect the employees, leaders and the teams in negative manner (Tang, 2019). For reducing it this is very important for the firms to focus on developing an effective plan for change management that can help them in smooth transformation. If the leaders use effective leadership style and implements effective change management model then it became easy for the employees to accept the changes. The company needs to make sure that they get better support from the employees and they should have positive attitude and behaviour towards the change then only the organisation can get success. Also the leader needs to make all the things clear to the entire team especially the reason for the change and need for change. Along with this the different benefits related to the change also needs to be well explained to the employees and all the team members. This would help the organisations in minimising the negative impacts of change on the organisation behaviour.

Theories and models to evaluate the companies response to change

Form the above mentioned discussion it can be said that while bringing the change the company needs to focus on different factors (Holten et. al. 2019). The businesses are operating in fast changing business environment. Due to this reason it is important for them to focus on remaining effective in understanding the need for change and bringing effective change in the firm. Continuous process improvement is an effective model which is being widely used by the businesses for identifying the opportunity and plan for change. In the case of Tesco the company had experienced great increase in the online sales during the pandemic. This had created great opportunity for the company to expand their online operations. In response to this the company had started focusing on online sales more and in response to this they were planning several changes in the organizations.

Conclusion and recommendations for planning effective change

From the above mentioned explanation it can be concluded that the businesses have to focus on different factors while making any of the change to the company. Along with this they needs to do effective planning and use an effective model for change management then only they can implement the changes successfully (Jayatilleke and Lai, 2018). It can be said that Tesco should focus on understanding the situation and the drives of change appropriately. Then they should get better support with all the employees and should apply effective change management model then they should make changes in the firm. If Tesco would implement the changes in an systematic manner then only they would be able to make appropriate changes and managing the business operations properly in the pandemic.

Different Barriers for change and its impact on leadership decision making

Implementing the changes is never being an easy task for the businesses. There are different factors which create barriers for the company in implementing the changes and successfully transforming the company strategies and operations. From this it can be said that it is important for the companies to identify all the possible barriers to change. These barriers are also having an major impact on the effectiveness of the leadership decision making. So it can be said that it is important to understand these barriers and use effective strategies and plans for reducing these barriers (Rocha and Hean, 2021). The leaders should also make the decision as per these barriers so that they should not face many issues in implementing the changes. This can help them in taking the measures which can help them in limiting the influence of these barriers in change management. With respect of Tesco the different possible barriers in executing the technological and operational changes are briefly explained below such as:

Lack of proper leadership: while implementing the changes it is essential for the company to have effective leader and appropriate leadership style. If Tesco would apply effective leadership style then it would help them in getting better support from the employees and this will also motivate the employees to accept the changes in the organisation as per the situations (Al-Ali et. al. 2017).
Lack of employee involvement: this is one of the most common barriers which is generally being faced by the businesses while implementing the changes. If the employee are not on involved then it wouldn't help the company in implementing the changes. For this Tesco needs to provide all the information related to the proposed changes so that it can help them in better execution of the changes.
Lack of communication: this can also be an important issue or the barrier for change management. For this it can be said that the leaders should try to connect well with their employees. Also the company should focus on developing an effective communication and information sharing among the managers and the employees. Effective communication in the entire company would help them in implementing the changes more successfully.
Lack of management support: while making the changes it is important for the company that the management system of the company should support the change. All the employees, managers and the entire firm needs to work with better cooperation and collaboration then only they would be able to implement the changes.
Organisational culture: sometimes the culture of the company does not support the changes and then this creates great issues in change implementation. For this Tesco should focus on having an co-operate culture which support the organisational changes as this makes easy for the company to manage the organisational changes.

Force Field Analysis for analysing driving and resisting forces

Force field analysis is an effective model which is being used by the businesses while implementing the changes. This analysis helps the companies in change management and decision making. This analysis helps the company in understanding that what are the different drives of changes and what are the resistances forces in the change management. In this analysis firstly the vision for change is being developed (Heinert and Galindo-Gonzalez, 2020). For Tesco the vision is to offer better services to the customers even in the pandemic. The vision of the company is to make better use of technology and using all the safety measures in such a way that they should offer safe and secure services to the customers. In the next stage the company needs to identify the different drives of changes. The external drives of changes are the economic factors and the social factors. The customer demands and their buying preference are highly changed during the pandemic. Along with this the online sales of the company had boost up during the pandemic. Tesco had also faced some of the economic issues which had made it important for them to respond to the pandemic and bring appropriate changes. Moreover the operational issues and new rules and regulations related to covid-19 guidelines are also the drive of change for the case company.

Apart from this due to the internal drives such as reduced organisational efficiency and different issues faced related to demand and supply the company needs to make the changes. From this it can be said that both the internal and external drives of change are playing an major role in case of Tesco. Now there are different forces such as the internal environment of the company that can restrict the change but during the pandemic it had become essential for the company to make the changes. Thus it can be said that the influence of the driving forces is more due to which the company is undergoing to major technological and operational changes in the firm.

Evaluating the use of force field analysis for organisational objectives

The force field analysis is one of the effective models which is required to be used in the change management. With the help of this model the company can identify the need for change in more appropriate manner. Along with this it also helps them in identifying the drives of change which is important for understanding the need for change and also this model help the company in evaluating the different factors that can restrict them for making the change (Mahmud et. al. 2019). It can be said that this model had helped them in understanding Tesco that as per the objectives of the company to remain competitive and offer best products it is significant to make the organisational changes.

Different leadership approaches to deal with change

Leadership is having an major role to play in the growth and success of the company. Effective leadership is very important for managing the day to day business operations and keeping the employees motivated to deliver high quality work to the firm. There are different types of leadership styles which can be used by the case company for implementing the change in an effective manner. Some of the leadership styles that can be used by the Tesco for implementing the changes in an effective manner are mentioned below such as:

Democratic leadership: In this leadership the leader focuses on involving all the team members in the decision making process. If Tesco would be applying the model then it would help them in increasing employee’s engagement in the change management process and making the changes successful for the company.
Autocratic leadership: this is also an effective leadership style which is generally being used by the businesses while implementing the change. In this leadership style the leader itself make all the decisions related to the desired changes in the organisation. This leadership style helps the businesses in making immediate changes in the firm and bringing positive outcomes to the firm. But this leadership style sometimes has negative impact on the organisational culture and employee behaviour as well.
Situational leadership: In the situational leadership the leader focuses on using the combination of leadership styles on the basis of the situation. These theories suggest that no particular leadership style can fit well to all the situation due to which the leader needs to use combination of different leadership style (Thompson and Glasø, 2018). With the help of this leadership model the leaders of Tesco can use the leadership style that suits well with the problems and situation.

Extent to which leadership approaches can deliver organisational change effectively

If the leader of the company implements an effective leadership style then it would help them in motivating the employees to bring an positive change. The leader needs to focus on creating an urgency and then applying appropriate leadership style. Along with this the leader should emphasis more on the communication and a motivated work environment which is important for making the change more effective. If the leader would support the employees then it became easy for them to accept the change and have an positive attitude towards the on-going changes in the firm. Thus it can be said that the leadership approaches are very useful for delivering the organisational changes effectively.

Critically evaluate the effectiveness of leadership models and change management

For implementing the change in an effective manner it is important for the company to focus on using a model for change management or theories. This is required for involving the employees and motivating the entire team to accept the change in work accordingly (Galli, 2018). Although there are different models related to change management but the Tesco should focus on using McKinsey 7S model or the Lewis change management model for implementing the changes in the firm. Undergoing major changes in operation management would not be easy for Tesco.

Applying McKinsey 7’s model on Tesco for change management

Strategy: Tesco needs to make an effective strategy and the goals related to the change. In this stage the company needs to make an systematic plan and step to step procedure for implementing the change.
Structure: in this stage the case company needs to make changes in their organisational structure and the changes in the roles and responsibilities of the managers and employees as per the change.
Style: this refers to the leadership style of the leader which is having an major role to play in change management. The leader needs to implement an effective leadership that can help them in making the change successful.
Staff: in this stage Tesco have to include all the staff members and will get support from them to implement the changes within the organisation.
Skills: for this the company needs to focus on offering an effective training to the employees which can help them in developing the skills which are required to work effectively with the changes implemented by the company.
Shared Values: in this stage the company needs to make changes in their core values and should create the shared value for all so that the change can be implemented properly.
System: in this stage the company needs to apply the changes in the day to day activities of the company which can help them in effective implementation of change.

Applying Lewis change management model on Tesco

This is an effective change management model that is widely used by the businesses. In this model there are three different stages on which the company needs to focus such as:

Unfreezing: this is the first stage in which the company need to improve the willingness of the employees to come out of the comfort zone and accept the change for the organisation. If Tesco uses this model then they need to focus on effective communication and better information sharing in this stage (Hussain et. al. 2018).
Change: in this stage the company undergoes through the change. In this stage systematic planning and great involvement of all the team members is required.
Freeze: this is the last stage in which they accept the changes and starts working with the new ways of working.

Both the above mentioned models are being used by the businesses for making the change successful. It can be said that if the leader use better skills, effective leadership and a appropriate change management model then it can help them in making the changes easier for the company (Dzwigol et. al. 2019).

Conclusion

In the above mentioned report the researcher had explained the detailed knowledge related to change management. All the companies undergoes through different types of changes to survive in the competition business world. On the basis of the above mentioned report it can be concluded that the Tesco needs to focus on all the drives of change and have to develop effective strategy for implementing the changes. Leadership is having a crucial role to play and due to this reason it is important for the leader to use effective leadership style and skills while bringing the change in the company. thus it can be said that the companies needs to focus on all the different factors which are having an impact on change management so that they can bring positive changes in the firm and led the company towards success.

Refrences

Al-Ali, A.A., Singh, S.K., Al-Nahyan, M. and Sohal, A.S., 2017. Change management through leadership: the mediating role of organizational culture. International Journal of Organizational Analysis.
Arieli, S., Sagiv, L. and Roccas, S., 2020. Values at work: The impact of personal values in organisations. Applied Psychology, 69(2), pp.230-275.
Doppelt, B. and McDonough, W., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Dzwigol, H., Shcherbak, S., Semikina, M., Vinichenko, O. and Vasiuta, V., 2019. Formation of Strategic Change Management System at an Enterprise. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18, pp.1-8.
Galli, B.J., 2018. Change management models: A comparative analysis and concerns. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 46(3), pp.124-132.
Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Heinert, S. and Galindo-Gonzalez, S., 2020. Making Decisions Using Force Field Analysis: AEC562/WC224, 8/2015. EDIS, 2016(1), pp.4-4.
Holten, A.L., Hancock, G.R. and Bøllingtoft, A., 2019. Studying the importance of change leadership and change management in layoffs, mergers, and closures. Management Decision.
Hussain, S.T., Lei, S., Akram, T., Haider, M.J., Hussain, S.H. and Ali, M., 2018. Kurt Lewin's change model: A critical review of the role of leadership and employee involvement in organizational change. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(3), pp.123-127.
Jayatilleke, S. and Lai, R., 2018. A systematic review of requirements change management. Information and Software Technology, 93, pp.163-185.
Mahmud, S.N.D., Mohd Nasri, N. and Syed-Abdullah, S.I.S., 2019. A whole-of-university approach towards sustainability in a research institute: A force-field analysis. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity, and Change, 7(11), pp.120-134.
Rampersad, R.D. and Ittea, R., 2019. Accreditation of Prior Learning within the Lifelong Learning Discourse: Exploring the Drivers for Change at the University of Mauritius.
Rocha, P. and Hean, S., 2021. Tracing the historical development of a service model for interagency collaboration: contradictions as barriers and potential drivers for change. In Improving Interagency Collaboration, Innovation and Learning in Criminal Justice Systems (pp. 141-164). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Rosenbaum, D., More, E. and Steane, P., 2018. Planned organisational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Tang, K.N., 2019. Leadership and Change management. Springer Singapore.
Thompson, G. and Glasø, L., 2018. Situational leadership theory: a test from a leader-follower congruence approach. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.