Change Strategy within a Specific Structural Frame - Term Paper Example

Change Strategy within a Structural Frame CHANGE STRATEGY WITHIN A STRUCTURAL FRAME Introduction In any organization, management’srole is to set goals and objectives for a firm, as well as to ensure that these goals and objectives are achieved. One of the manager’s most critical tasks is to make decisions on change and to implement it by planning change, as well as setting targets, goals, and limits of resources (Anderson, 2010). In this case, managers guide the process of change and get the employees on-board, ensuring that the organization operates systematically, instead of as discrete business departments or teams. This paper will seek to investigate the need for change interventions at Tesco Supermarkets. It was revealed in 2013 that Tesco’s beef burgers had at least 30% of horse meat, which led the organization to make a statement to the effect that its customers had been betrayed by the company’s suppliers, promising to get to the bottom of the scandal (bbc.com, 2013). In effect, the company promised to uncover what had happened, to get back to its customers with an explanation, and to work harder to ensure that such a problem never occurred again (Meikle & Lawrence, 2013). Moreover, Tesco also promised to refund customers who still had the contaminated food in their houses in full. In relation to Tesco’s current threatening issue, an urgent change is required. To begin with, all the products from the identified supplier must be withdrawn from sale immediately, which requires the company’s staff to be urgently involved in the process of elimination. In addition, the company has to rescue its reputation with consumers in the market place, which requires a long term strategy of change to influence consumers. For instance, Tesco could entirely stop selling meat products before bringing back their meat sales gradually with highly regarded suppliers (Morris, 2014). The Organization’s Predominant Frame There are four main frames under which an organization’s change can be framed, which are structural, political, human resources, and symbolic. Pollack and Pollack (2014) note that organizations operate simultaneously at all times on the four levels, and that addressing a problem in the organization may require an organization to pay special attention to one frame, while the other frames remain strong and functional. In Tesco’s case, the structural frame will be the main frame used, specifically because of its image of the organization as a rational machine system. In addition, this frame also reinforces the critical nature of creating structural forms that are aligned to the goals, environment, technology, and task of the organization. The differentiation of tasks and roles in the organization enables for clarity of contribution and purpose, as well as the need for appropriate mechanisms of integration and coordination. The emphasis of the structural frame is on formal relationships and roles and rationality. In this case, controls and coordination ensures that the efforts of the group and individuals are integrated, while problems are viewed as resulting from structural deficiencies, which requires restructuring (Pollack & Pollack, 2014). Moreover, this frame also holds that organizations are more likely to work well when rationality is allowed to prevail. In Tesco’s case, the internal stakeholders that include workers, managers, and staff, external stakeholders that include society, consumers, and the government, and connected stakeholders that include suppliers and shareholders should be involved in restructuring the company’s operations (Bolman & Deal, 2013). The managers and employees, for example, as the major stakeholders, should be involved at the co-creating level of the change planning process. On the other hand, involvement of consumers as external stakeholders should be limited to testing of the change’s effects, while the shareholders and suppliers should be involved in selling the change. In addition, the company’s decision makers could mandate market research and market surveys in order to perceive the claims of emergent groups of stakeholders early. Therefore, the organization should be tailored in order to meet the individual needs of these stakeholders, while also training the individual stakeholders in the skills required to meet the needs of the organization (Bolman & Deal, 2013). Justification for the Implementation Strategy For Tesco, the proposed change intervention strategy that involves the stakeholders in planning the change is an efficient method, especially because it contributes to efficient implementation of the change and in the development of an effective plan of change (Shani et al, 2011). This strategy proposes that managers and employees should be involved in the process of planning at the co-creation level, which involves their engagement in wide-ranging dialogue, as well as developing a joint-scenario evaluation. The fact that these stakeholders are familiar with the organization’s issues is the rationale underlying the high level of involvement for this group of stakeholders. For the main external stakeholders at Tesco, in this case the consumers, their degree of involvement in the change should be limited to testing, specifically in relation to pilot interventions and simulations. This is because consumers tend to approach such issues from a narrow perspective, which means that they expect to receive increased value from the organization with little consideration of required resources (Gallos, 2011). A change management strategy that primarily involves the stakeholders is dependent on power level of each of their division, along with the extent of their interest in the change strategy to be implemented. Using the structural frame, stakeholders with high interest level and power, such as shareholders and employees, will be managed closely in relation to the strategy for change. On the other hand, Tesco’s management should keep stakeholders with high interest levels and low power levels, such as the consumer, satisfied. Suppliers, who have high levels of interest but low power in the change strategy, should remain informed about how the strategy is progressing through the channels of communication available to the company (Caluwé & Vermaak, 2013). The general public as a stakeholder with low levels of interest and power in the change strategy at Tesco should be monitored with less resources and efforts. As a result, regarding this interest/power grid, Tesco can effectively manage any resistance to the change, specifically by restructuring the organization to keep all their stakeholders involved in the change interventions. The strategy to handle change as a result of the horsemeat scandal, thus, could be strictly designed to involve employees in mitigating the implications of the condemned brand, as well as to keep its consumers, who have a low level of power but a high level of interest, satisfied (Galbraith, 2014). Finally, the strategy should act to ban the supplier responsible for the contamination of their products with horsemeat. Project Plan Project Plan for Tesco Desired Outcomes Priority Inputs Activities Outputs Mitigate the scandal to make it vanish 2 Suppliers, staff, and consumer’s perceptions Communicate why the change is needed, in this case by communicating to The questionable products will be removed from sale the supplier that the level of sensitivity towards them has increased Empower the employees with ability to change by stressing the importance of product quality The identified supplier is to be banned Tesco will use social media to apologize to the consumers Compensate all relevant costs resulting from the scandal 3 Shareholder dividends and sales’ rate Train Tesco’s staff to achieve better bottom line results At least 60% of the staff at Tesco are to be fully trained in selling the company’s change Satisfy the stakeholders affected by the scandal 1 The Government, shareholders, and consumers Institute an investigation team to track the scandal and its subsequent issues legally Increase Tesco’s share price Allocate all refund facilities Allocate one technical team to ensure the quality of Tesco’s food quality Increase Tesco’s share price Decrease the rate of dividend for the next years Decision-making protocol in the intervention The change intervention’s protocol in this case is based on Kotter’s 8 step change model, which causes change to take on the perspective of a campaign. As a result, the company’s staff buy into the management’s strategy for change after they are convinced by management and leaders about the urgency required for the change to take root (Steven et al, 2012). This model describes eight steps in a process aimed at fostering a lasting transformation on the organization’s structure. This is because useful changes are more likely to be associated with a process consisting of multiple steps, which creates sufficient motivation and power that can overwhelm all inertia sources. The first step of creating major change under this model is the establishment of a sense of urgency, which involves an examination of the current realities, as well as discussing and identifying the crises to be mitigated (Steven et al, 2012). In addition, this step also identifies any potential crises and opportunities that could be exploited, as well as requesting for support from outside stakeholders, consumers, and industry players. The second step involves the formation of a powerful coalition, which Tesco could use to convince stakeholders that it is necessary to change. This requires the organization to put a group together that has sufficient power to enable change, while taking relevant steps to ensure that the group is able to work in collaboration as a team (processpolicy.com, 2014). The third step involves the creation of a vision for the change, which will help the stakeholders to understand the reasons for the change and why they are being asked to do something. Development of a strategy and a vision will help in directing the effort for change, as well as strategies for the attainment of the organization’s vision. Step four in this protocol is the communication of the vision, in which case Tesco should demonstrate the behaviour needed from its stakeholders. The organization, therefore, should use all channels available to communicate the new strategy and vision constantly, while also enhancing the guiding coalition’s status as a role model for expected change (processpolicy.com, 2014). In the fifth step, the organization is required to empower broad-based action by removing obstacles that prevent realization of the required change. In this case, Tesco will seek to change present structures or systems that undermine the vision for change, while also encouraging the stakeholders to take risks and other non-traditional actions, activities, and ideas (Daft et al, 2010). The sixth step involves the generation of wins in the short term, in which the organization is required to plan for visible performance improvements, as well as identify “sure-fire” projects that are implementable without significant criticism to change. Moreover, the organization also recognizes and rewards visibly those who make it possible to achieve these wins. The seventh stage of Kotter’s model is the consolidation of gains and the production of more change, specifically through the use of credibility to alter the current policies, structures, and systems that do not fit with the company’s future vision, as well as the transformation vision (Floyd, 2012). In addition, the hiring and development of staff who can implement the vision of change is important in this stage (Potočan & Mulej, 2011). Also, this stage should also include the reinvigoration of the process with new change agents, themes, and projects. The final step in this protocol involves the anchorage of new strategies and approaches into the organization’s culture, particularly to create enhanced performance via productivity and customer-oriented actions. The organization also articulates associations between organizational success and the new behaviour, as well as developing strategies for development and succession of leadership. This model as adapted for the protocol of change at Tesco, and the sustained improvement it seeks to bring, should be based on applying and understanding the multi-stage process, as well as leadership (Fischbach, 2011). Conclusion By increasing urgency with regards to the need for organizational change for the staff, coupled with the creation of a technical team meant to empower staff and create appropriate visions for the acceptance of change and its persistence in the company. The Kotter model is especially useful for organizations like Tesco that are in need of critical change. Tesco’s reputation as one of the UK’s leading retailer is sensitive to consumer perceptions and the horsemeat scandal portended great risks to how consumers perceive Tesco’s food products. To mitigate the present scandal and the subsequent crisis, Tesco needs an appropriate intervention for change in response to their declining reputation and loss of sales and credibility. 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