Assignment Sample on Case for Change
Introduction
Organizational change is a movement of transformation from one process to another (Rosenbaum et. al. 2018). It is an inseparable part of the business enterprise. The report is concerned with the digital transformation of a British multinational retailer, Marks and Spencer that deals in home products, food products, and clothing. The assessment comprises reflective writing in the change process within Marks and Spencer and recommendations that the company can consider.
Reflection on the change process
Marks and Spencer are undergoing a digital transformation in its operations and mainly in the supply chain process. In order to gain a competitive advantage in the industry, the cited company decided to adopt this change and as I was a part of the company while it was going through this digital modification. I experienced a lot of things and some challenges too. I identified that implementing such a drastic change in a big organization is not an easy task as it requires the involvement of numerous people.
One of the critical stakeholders affected by this digital transformation is the employees and workers who were comfortable with the manual processing, and adopting advanced technologies for work is quite difficult for them (Al-Ali et. al. 2017). The cited company’s key objectives are to deliver superior quality products to its customers and attain their loyalty by satisfying them. Therefore, Marks and Spencer decided to achieve the goals and combating threats by adopting this change. In this process, I learned various things such as identifying the difference, its implementation, acquiring talent and retaining them, creating a digital-ready culture, responsibilities of formal and informal leaders and the significance of collaborating work culture.
Further, to explain the change process and experience, Gibbs reflective cycle can be adopted.
Description
The description is the first stage of the model, and it describes the overall situation and activity (Brones et. al. 2017). In the context of the selected company, it can be defined that the change process or digital transformation has become the need of the hour and the supermarket executed this in a planned manner. It happened in the overall company’s operations and functions, and every single individual of the company got affected by it. I carefully analyzed the process and its impacts.
Feelings
As per the next stage of this model, feelings; I feel that this change was necessary for the success and growth of the organization. This was a challenging task for Marks and Spencer, but this will lead to a well developed and managed organization. Further, I also analyzed that some employees were not happy and satisfied with these transformations and as they did not want to get out of their comfort zone. The reason is that they were working with the company for many years and the sudden transformation in the work activities disappointed them.
Evaluation
Moreover, I evaluated that the implications of several technologies, including artificial intelligence, and robotics went well in the company. This happened because of the skill set of the IT head of the company (Imran et. al. 2016). Marks and Spencer’s IT head possesses every attribute required in a formal leader to cultivate a digital-ready culture.
However, I further analyzed that some things that didn’t go well are the employee’s resistance and lack of engagement in the change process. I also contributed to the process by assisting the formal leader in several aspects as I have a good knowledge of data analytics and computer skills.
Analysis
I have learned many aspects from this change process that happened in Marks and Spencer. Also, because of this experience, I will be able to implement an effective change process in the future. I experienced both negative and positive aspects of the change model.
Conclusion
In a summarized form, it can be said that change is required in Marks and Spencer, and the digital transformation will be beneficial for the company at every stage. For instance, it will enhance the work efficiency and effectiveness of the work, attract the customers, ease the employees’ work, and facilities management to keep a check on the work productivity and quality.
Action plan
With this experience, I will keep various things in mind to help future change implications. I will determine the need for change within time to formulate a planned process. My focus will be on making everyone aware of the necessity of this transformation to contribute to it.
Recommendations
- In order to facilitate the change process of Marks and Spencer, it is recommended that the company adopt the use of SMART goals. SMART refers to specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (Bradley, 2016). It can be said that the change process and its requirements should be detailed and precise, and it must be appropriately stated to the employees not to make them resist the transformation. The goal of change should be measurable, and it must be shown to the employees so that they can get a better idea. Apart from this, the transformation should be achievable. This is possible in Marks and Spencer by involving everyone in this process, and without their cooperation and support, it is pretty hard to achieve (Baddah, 2017). Concerned with reality, the management should convey to its employees that this transformation is relevant for customers and employees. The last yet most important component is timeliness. The change process can be effective when implemented within a particular time.
- Besides, to effectively execute the change process in the future, it is crucial to communicate with the employees in the first place. Their contribution to this process is highly appreciated and required. Resistance of employees to adopt the change can hinder the whole process, and hence they should be well communicated regarding the process and its need. Further, management must speak to employees face-to-face to respond to their queries and receiving their feedbacks (Luo al. 2016). As it has been identified from the digital transformation of Marks and Spencer that some employees were not satisfied with the change that is taking place in the company, and due to lack of communication, they are resisting it.
- Based on the previous lessons, it can be recommended that the development of collaborative and cohesive work culture is also very significant in establishing a digital-ready culture. This is the role of the company leader to build a work environment of support and coordination.
- In addition to these, it can be said that before implementing the change process within organization, a strategic analysis of the change process must be considered. The sequential steps are diagnosing the need for change, identifying the stakeholders, assessing the impact of this change on these stakeholders, and igniting change (Ján and Veronika, 2017). After this, the organization can create a change network, build teams, formulate a change management plan, and examine the resistance and manage it effectively. This has been identified that in the change implementation process, the step of managing resistance to change is the most crucial one, and it should be dealt with carefully.
A critical review of theories and paradigms
The ability of the team to adopt change creates a direct impact on the business’s performance. Therefore, change management models, and theories are designed to embrace change.
Kotter’s change management model
It is one of the most popular and widely used theories of change by business organizations. This model has eight dimensions, and every dimension focuses on the employee’s response.
In order to motivate and engage the employees in the change process, the management can create a sense of urgency (Lin et. al. 2017). Further, the right set of skills and capabilities required to perform the change must be developed by training them and growing. Transparency and clarity is the key of effective communication and an essential aspect of the cited model. Marks and Spencer must remove the roadblocks and collect the workers’ feedback to ensure the smooth functioning of the process. Apart from this, never giving up is the most significant rule of change, and hence the management of the supermarket must deal with these challenges in an effective manner.
Lewin’s change management model
This framework can prove helpful for Marks and Spencer in developing a better change process as it is organized and structured. The three steps of the theory are unfreeze, change and refreeze.
Unfreeze is the preparation stage in which employers of the company must prepare for the transformation. This stage aims to overcome employee’s resistance by facilitating open communication and explaining the vision (Rosenbaum et. al. 2018). The next phase is to execute change with good leadership skills and an open communication process. The end-stage of the model is concerned with refreezing. In this step, evolution is accepted by the organization’s people, and employees adopt the new routine.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the comprehensive study, it can be articulated that implementing the change is the need of the companies operating in the complex business environment. In this change process, everyone has to perform some roles and responsibilities, including leaders, managers and employees. Resistance to change by the employees is a widespread response developed from implementing change, and with the help of change management theories, this issue can be dealt better.
References
Baddah, A., (2017). THE INFLUENCING FACTORS OF ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT: A LITERATURE REVIEW. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 1(1), pp.42-58.
Bradley, G., (2016). Benefit Realization Management: A practical guide to achieving benefits through change. CRC Press.
Brones, F.A., de Carvalho, M.M. and de Senzi Zancul, E., (2017). Reviews, action and learning on change management for ecodesign transition. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, pp.8-22.
Imran, M.K., Rehman, C.A., Aslam, U. and Bilal, A.R., (2016). What’s organization knowledge management strategy for successful change implementation?. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Ján, D. and Veronika, T., (2017). Examination of factors affecting the implementation of organizational changes. Journal of Competitiveness, 9(4), p.5.
Lin, H., Chen, M. and Su, J., (2017). How management innovations are successfully implemented? An organizational routines’ perspective. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Luo, W., Song, L.J., Gebert, D.R., Zhang, K. and Feng, Y., (2016). How does leader communication style promote employees’ commitment at times of change?. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Rosenbaum, D., More, E. and Steane, P., (2018). Planned organizational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
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