Managing Change in the Workplace - Essay Example

Managing change in the workplace AFFILIATION: Introduction The success of an organisation is extensively dependent on three core elements i.e. management leadership, culture and organisational structure. One of the imperative aspects of running a business is to make sure that all activities are well-synchronised and aligned with the company’s corporate strategy (Al-Zubi, 2011). It is evident from the successful performance of leading corporations such as Ford, Tesco, Procter and Gamble, Marks and Spencer (M&S), Gillette and others that they have to cultivate an organisational culture which supports them in excelling within their markets (Yesil & Kaya, 2012). With the advent of time, the companies have realised that they need to bring reforms within their operations so that they can meet their customers’ expectations (Mohammed & Bardai, 2012). It is mandatory requirement for the firms to give leverage to their employees in terms of decision making and experimenting with unique ideas (Zain, Ihsak & Ghani, 2009). Hence, the organisations have to refine their organisational cultures by changing their policies, procedures, rules and related business aspects to thrive in such competitive corporate environment. Organisational Culture and organisational change When a change takes place in the organisation, there is a potential of triggering both optimistic and pessimistic moods and emotions in the employee and they are dependent on a wide range of factors (Smollan & Sayers, 2009). Some of the aspects which are the determinants of such emotions are the expected outcomes’ valence, change processes which are being used, time, speed and frequency of the changes, emotional intelligence, personality of employees and leadership styles (Zajac, 2009). Hence, the organisational culture is the main determinant for generating the emotions during the change process. According to Schein (2010), the organisational culture is described as “a collection of values, customs, traditions, rules, norms, beliefs, artefacts, assumptions and structures.” By some scholars, the term ‘organisational culture’ is interchangeably used with ‘organisational climate’; but there is a difference between the two terminologies as climate is the perception of an employee about the firm’s culture (Ahmadi et al., 2012). In order to understand the organisational culture, a culture is regarded as ‘the way things are carried out in a setting’ and it basically sculpts the members’ behaviours in both covert and overt means (Valencia, Valle & Jimenez, 2010). In other words, culture is the system of shared meaning held by the group of people and there are even sub-cultures within each set of culture (Latta, 2009). For instance, the sub-cultures can exist in an organisation on the basis of various categories such as department, gender, ethnicity, hierarchy and position (Desson & Clouthier, 2010). Furthermore, it is stated by Janicijevic (2012) that culture of an organisation is to a great extent about its values which are also known as ‘code of conduct’, ‘implanted codes’ and ‘entrenched values’. The values can evolve and even be revealed and conveyed deliberately in the company’s mission statement, website, core values and training endeavours (Koutroumanis & Alexakis, 2009). For instance, Virgin Brand has mentioned in its core philosophy “if staff is kept happy, then the customers will be delighted and when customers are happy, then the shareholders will be delighted.” Likewise, Disney’s mission is stated as “Entertainment is all about aspiration, hope along with optimistic resolutions” (Smollan & Sayers, 2009). Such statements give a snapshot about the crucial aspects of an organisational culture. However, it is mentioned by Schein (2010) that culture is an aspect which is learnt by a group with time and experience because the members have to deal with the problems and make sure that they can survive in the challenging environment. There should be alignment between the organisation’s values and an individual’s personal values so that an enterprise can excel in the business environment. In order to respond to the changing market and economic conditions, the organisational culture has to be revamped by implementing a change management model. When the organisational culture is being changed, the management team has to gain the confidence and support of the employees because they have to understand the importance and implication of the cultural change being implemented (Naranjo-Valencia, Jimenez-Jimenez & Sanz-Valle, 2011). General Electric’s structural reform example is a proof of alienating the employees from the entire process as the remaining staff members reeled from cultural blow and even the managers were exhausted from being unsuccessful in achieving the targeted outcomes (Ann, 2005). In addition to making changes in the structures, processes, policies and people, there is a need of replacing the leaders or their leadership styles so that the alterations are in alignment with the modernisation process endeavour (Bolman & Deal, 2013). When changes are implemented within the organisation, the major issue is related to the employee’s emotions in addition to the possible resistance from top management, resources accessibility, and cost of revolutionising the procedures and structures and limited time availability (Al-Zubi, 2011). Hence, it is imperative for the firms to comprehend the dynamics of organisational culture and techniques for enhancing it so that they can make sure that the new strategy will be prosperous. Moreover, modifying the organisation’s culture is a time taking task and it requires a lot of patience and clear vision about the future (Yesil & Kaya, 2012). Brief background of M&S Scenario M&S is the leading retailer which is recognised globally as the British Multinational company with headquarters in Westminster in London. Presently, it has 766 outlets in UK along with 418 stores across the globe in almost 40 countries (Your M&S, 2014a). It has specialty in selling a range of luxury clothing and food related products. The company was established by Michael Marks along with Thomas Spencer in 1884 in Leeds. Beforehand, it was founded by Michael Marks and run as a small store (Your M&S, 2014b). In the year 1998, M&S gained recognition as the foremost retailer for making a profit of more than £1 Billion but the next year it had gone into a calamity. In order to respond to the drastic situation, many changes were made in the management and in 2000, Luc Vandevelde was hired as the chairman who took various bold steps for bringing productive changes within the firm (Gyekye, 2010). It is believed that the time period when M&S was the leader have vanished as the sales of clothing line are hit by Asda and Next while food sector is impacted by Tesco’s growing appreciation by the customers (Ann, 2005). M&S has experienced a chain of modifications in the culture and management after the robust decline in its sales in 1990s. It is even stated by experts that the retailer which was well-known for being the international brand of superior quality clothing and food is now outdated and uncompetitive (Mohammed & Bardai, 2012). The primary reason for such poor performance of the brand is misalignment between the organisational culture and changing market demands. As the economic and market conditions are changing at a fast pace, only those companies can survive which develop an innovative, proficient and active organisational culture (Zain, Ihsak & Ghani, 2009). In the organisation, major changes known as quantum reforms have been implemented but they lack developmental approach due to which the results were below the target level. Some of the initiatives undertaken by the retailer incorporate redefining the marketing mix, divesting and addition of differentiated products and services, downsizing and redundancy of employees. It is evident that the change management strategy has not followed a proper or strategic framework which is an indication of developing and implementing a change management model in M&S. Moreover, there is ample space for changes as there are avenues not addressed by the management and employees of the company. There is even need of creating a system which promotes the culture of learning and effective knowledge management so that the worthwhile information can be productively utilised. Analysis of Strategy and Organisational culture of M&S A detailed analysis of M&S’s strategy will reveal majority of the elements of its organisational culture. The company’s culture at the beginning can be described as having the family like atmosphere, power of management residing with the family members and sensation of fellowship. Basically, there was an inward form of culture which promoted the notion “growing the tree of your own” (Ann, 2005). In the top management, everyone came from the organisational lines and there was no induction of chairman outside the company. As a result, the ideas of the retailer were traditional and outdated. However, in 2000, Luc Vandevelde was employed as the company’s chairman and he revolutionised the vision and strategy of M&S. He made sure that every aspect of the organisation was changed both from interior and exterior sides so that it can regain its lost market share (Gyekye, 2010). Initially, it followed the top down approach of management and all stores had the same architecture which was misaligned with the respective market’s preferences. The main drawback of the strategy was that the customer tastes were not taken into account and all clothes in every market were same with little importance given to the customer’s demands. Another issue was present in the supply chain as the company believed in relying on few, traditional suppliers who were loyal to the store and provided only excellent quality goods. Due to this mind set, M&S was too late in realising the competitor’s strategy of switching to low cost countries for creating a value supply chain. It even continued with the risk adverse strategy as it paid less attention to the developments happening in the market (Gyekye, 2010). In 1990s, Greenbury was running the enterprise and declining sales were evident during this tenure as the company focused on managing day-to-day operations rather than developing and implementing a long-term strategy. Since the company failed to tailor its offerings in accordance to the market tastes, it had to incur huge amount of loss. In order to move ahead with international expansion, it faced challenges as it did not realise that the customers in Canada, America and Europe were quite different from those in England (Ann, 2005). Since the clothes of M&S were designed on the basic elements of apparel without considering the fashion, it encountered declining market share as competitors such as Asda, Next, Oasis, GAP and others were attracting its customers. Likewise, Sainsbury and Tesco became its rivals in the food category (Ann, 2005). In 2001, the company took designers in its production team and introduced a new collection of clothes for women. In the early days, the culture of M&S was based on four core values i.e. honesty, fast turnover, no frills and extremely hard work; all of these aspects indicate that it had a paternalistic approach of leadership which is commonly found in the family-oriented companies (Gyekye, 2010). On the other side, it is believed that if a person is not a family member, then the individual cannot move to the top position and this effect ran throughout the organisation in M&S. Due to rapid growth in the environment and changes in the market demands, M&S’s family-oriented culture was a downside for the retailers and it became susceptible to the hostile takeover coupled with declining prices of share and even low margins of profit. The two main reasons for such downward performance of the company were inner related culture and lack of resilient leadership. Although the company made bold decisions of changing the management whenever it was mandatory but major reforms were impossible due to presence of five major cultural elements: 1. The offerings have to be offered with excellent quality and at affordable price ranges. 2. The top-down management approach has to be followed. 3. All employees will get promotion within the firm. 4. It is imperative to have one-to-one basis relationship with the suppliers. 5. There should be internal growth and reputation can be maintained with the help of traditional beliefs. However, after induction of Stuart Rose as the CEO of M&S in 2004, the company has been able to make productive changes in its culture as the person simplified the confused values which were flourishing in the business. He introduced the ‘customer-driven culture’ so that the primary focus was on the consumers in every market. With the help of this culture, M&S was able to enhance the customer service and undertake market study for developing the appropriate marketing mix. Moreover, the HR policies were revised to make sure that the competent people were hired and training sessions were organised in accordance to the business needs. The latest change made by the company is the development of an E-commerce website but it has been facing few problems due to lack of integrated and latest technology within the firm. Recently, the company has made large scale changes in its business activities along with processes and policies so that it can satisfy all the stakeholders i.e. management, employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders. Even the employees are given opportunities for suggesting innovative ideas so that the retailer can excel in the market. The company has developed an Ethical Code of Conduct so that it can give evidence of professional and socially responsible business activities. In order to make sure that the company is able to implement an appropriate change management model, it should incorporate the following guidelines in the entire modification process as depicted by Al-Zubi (2011): 1. Establishment of a process for identifying the problem and anticipating the challenges in the external environment 2. Creation of a coalition for guidance 3. Development of a well-defined vision and long-term strategy 4. Communication of the unique and prospering vision 5. Giving empowerment to people for undertaking required actions 6. Conception of milestones for evaluating the effectiveness of change 7. Consolidation of the achievements and incorporating more productive changes 8. Embedding innovative solutions in the modern culture Conclusion and Recommendations As there are few negative incidents encountered by M&S due to imperfect organisational culture, the company should include the following elements in its business operations: 1. Emphasise the importance of creating and implementing changes within the firm so that it can excel in its market. It will even promote the culture of responding proactively to the ever changing market and economic conditions. 2. Development of a change management committee which will encompass the executives of all departments. The professionals will be required to meet on monthly basis so that they can make strategic decisions for improving the firm’s performance and addressing the declining market share dilemma. 3. Create a working environment in which employees are empowered and engaged in the change process so that they feel valued. Also, it will originate optimistic work behaviour as they will develop a sense of belongingness and loyalty. 4. Seek help from expert consultants available in the industry for developing effective plans for managing the changes. These specialists can provide assistance in undertaking the complete procedures for making sure that the desired results are successfully attained. 5. Lastly, the management will have to allocate sufficient resources for revolutionising the organisational culture. Moreover, when employee-management relationship will be strong and there will be alignment between the organisation’s vision and employees’ goals, the firm will be able to survive competitively within the industry. References Ahmadi, S.A.A., Salamzadeh, Y., Daraei, M. and Akbari, J., 2012. Relationship between organizational culture and strategy implementation: Typologies and dimensions. Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal, 4(3&4), pp. 286-299. Al-Zubi, H.A., 2011. Investigating the relationship between corporate culture and organizational change: An empirical investigation. Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences, 2(2), pp. 111-116. Ann, R., 2005. 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