Models of Change Management
Discuss about the Experiments In Practice To Research And Leadership.
Every organization is prone and subject to go through changes if it has long term goals of operating and functioning and increasing its consumer base which is in fact the most sought after objective of every firm. Any change in an organization that causes a change in the structure, in the job design of the employees and the processes and chains of responsibility and accountability is referred to as an organizational change (Stensaker, Välimaa and Sarrico 2012). In fact any successful company needs to keep changing according to the changes in needs and demands of its customers (Millar, Hind and Magala 2012). Seven Eleven too in the face of some market changes revolutionized its structure and functioning in order to face the existing competition in the market and propel its way up the corporate ladder.
There are various models of change management in organizations out of which an amalgamation of the Lewis Model, McKinsey 7-S model and Kotter’s Model can be used to implement changes and bring about an effective structural shift in order to ensure better working and propelling of the growth of Seven Eleven in the market.
The first is the Lewis Model wherein the existing structure and functioning is altered by introducing changes slowly and unfreezing the structure (Lozano 2013). This is followed by introduction of a series of well informed and decided changes and then the structure is frozen such that it then operates with the new regulations and structure in place.
The second model is the McKinsey 7-S model where the major components of change used are strategy, systems, structure, shared values, styles, skills and staff. In this model of change management, the entire structure of the organization is first studied and then the systems installed in place are analyzed (Lozano 2013). After this the core values and visions of the company are critically studied followed by study of the skills and culture that the staff implicitly carries with them. The various positions filled by the staff and the need for more staff if any is scrutinized. After this the required changes in the different components are introduced and dealt with.
Kotter’s Model deals with changes by creating a state and need through urgency, strategizing so that the change is brought about by greater efforts of coalition and unity, addressing the board and the stakeholders efficiently so that they are aware and know how to manage the consequences of those changes and sustaining the changes through acceleration while making sure that the average rate of growth is not hampered due to the changes introduced (Pollack and Pollack 2015).
Seven Eleven’s Need for Change
Seven Eleven is an organization that has always been exposed to a lot of opportunities in terms of expansion and penetration into regions where it has not operated before and at the same time like all other firms, it is also exposed to threats by competitors and also internal weaknesses like the business models it uses for functioning and operations of various stores and franchisees all over Australia (Sparks 2013). On top of this internal weakness, there is another important factor that contributes to the overall inefficiency of the functioning of the firm internally. This factor is the inefficiency of the staff in catering to the customers in a proper manner and solving their issues on time and with care. If a careful look is taken into the management process and operations of the franchisees of Seven Eleven, it is found that these systems were inefficient and in fact there are a lot of reports that assert that this retail chain has suffered from charges of non-compliance to the wage laws as the franchisees have not paid workers at the rate that they should be compensated with (7eleven.com.au. 2018).
To evaluate the structure and ensure that the new structure woks efficiently, the features of Kotter’s model, McKinsey 7-S model and Lewis Model should be applied and evaluated (7eleven.com.au. 2018). The firm should in effect frame a new business model according to the features of all these models and make sure that the franchisee model is replaced with a business model that will ensure automation of the operations across all the franchisees so that the wages and payrolls and timing of work of all the workers and monitored and regulated. In terms of skills management, the firm should ensure that the employees and staff working at the stores and at the headquarters at various levels of hierarchy are the best fit for the organization and are now satisfied with their jobs and roles (Terry-Armstrong, 2016). It might also be important for the firm to provide training and capacity development trainings to the employees so that the internal weaknesses related to the underperformance of the employees are done away with. These will in turn automatically address the external threats in terms of increasing consumer base and hence reducing risks related to competition and rivalry. The firm might also have to take up the step of acquiring some other firm or firms and hence introducing a series of changes related to the management of both firms together so that the potential threats and competition risks are reduced.
Intervention Techniques
In an attempt to bring about a change in the structure and functioning of the firm, Seven Eleven should impose certain interventions that will help bring about a new outlook at how operations and systems are managed in order to overcome the internal and external weaknesses and threats and also cater to the changing patterns and trends existing in the market. An intervention is any change that essentially highlights and reflects a particular framework and plan of activities and initiatives taken and implemented by the firm in order to facilitate and bring about the changes required in the existing situation and firm structure. Interventions are essentially meant to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the new structure or system that is being built to address the changes in the market (Vuori, Toppinen-Tanner and Mutanen, 2012). The intervention can either be brought about by an external group of consultants or a consultant or internally within the firm with a group of managers specifically appointed with this responsibility according to the existing crisis or situations. This intervention is usually brought about in a system, task or process at different levels.
In this particular the first type of intervention that should be introduced most importantly includes the Personal, interpersonal and group process intervention. In this process effectively the help and advice of a third party is taken in order to solve interpersonal issues and sensitivity issues. As the firm needs to solve interpersonal issues related to the working and functioning of its franchisees, the firm needs to bring about this type of intervention. A third party in the form of regulatory and monitoring firm which will in effect take up the roles and responsibilities of catering to the compliance requirements of the different wage structures and work hours of the employees and workers at the different franchisee stores. It will also be responsible for carrying out effective and efficient sensitive training of all the workers employed at the different posts and at different levels of hierarchy at the different stores so that the goals of better customer servicing are met. The goal of this intervention primarily is to introduce informed changes through rigorous decision making so that the firm’s position in the target market is improved.
This intervention is in line with the objectives of the model of Kotter’s Model of change management and it will help to address both the issues of better internal structuring and compliance to the regulatory laws and also help in providing training to the workers in both a formal and an informal way so that their product knowledge and knowledge about the company is increased which will in turn help in increasing customer satisfaction with the process of servicing (Darsø, 2015). This will in turn automatically help in catering to the changing needs of the customers in the market and also in monitoring how the performance of the employees has changed over time.
Holistic Diagnostic Approach of Organizational Change and Behavior
The next intervention theory is that of Structural Intervention wherein the firms aims to bring about changes in the technological levels and infrastructure and also the business model that effectively try to promote and implement changes in terms of existing job designs for people employed across various departments and levels of hierarchy. It helps in maintaining the flow of information across the organization, reporting relationships and spatial arrangements of people and equipment. To do away with the problem of miscommunication and improper distribution of work that causes a lot of ambiguity and pressure on the part of the workers hired at the franchisee stores, the firm has to apply this intervention technique. This will be made easier as the Seven Eleven firm has now decided to do away with the franchisee model of business and ensure that they themselves ensure proper working of all the franchisee stores and manage the operations of those stores in primarily an automated manner. The principles of job design should be reframed and then maintained with the help of this type of intervention. This intervention will help to address the goals of proper maintenance and restructuring of positions held by the workers more than addressing the needs of operations management related to the outside threats and rivalry competition. The goal of this intervention is mainly to cater to organizational systems, power structures and control systems integral within the organization so that any friction or resistance to the changes introduced can be dealt with smoothly and with a good amount of precautionary measures that will ensure stability.
A Holistic Diagnostic Approach of Organizational Change and Behavior aims to address changes with respect to the entire organization so that the entire organization including the culture, structure as well as the management of the entire operations (7eleven.com.au. 2018). To address the challenges facing the organization only decisions taken by the top tier of management and authoritative body will not be able to combat and bring about efficient functioning of the changes. The views and ideas of the employees working at all levels of the organization should be considered and respected. The amount of control and authority exercised in this case should essentially be less as compared to all other cases in which the decisions taken by the higher authorities are binding on all levels of employees. The supportive model of organizational behavior will thus be used and applied to address the changes in this case (Duffield and Whitty 2015). This will help in providing motivation and recognition to the workers at the various franchisee stores who till now have not received enough compensation and recognition for their efforts and have in fact been mistreated till now. This model will also help the firm to adhere to the Corporate Social Responsibilities that it has in terms of the workers and also the customers and the community as a whole. Beyond their day to day role the workers will also now be engaged in the activities that will help the firm reach the long term objectives and goals planned.
This model has the following major components which are to be worked upon and enhanced in order to keep the level of growth stable while ensuring that the changes are introduced effectively:
Basis of the model: The basis of the model lies integrally within the leadership and they are responsible for making sure that all the workers are engaged and feel like they are a part of the organization and are paid sufficiently after implementation of the changes (Carlström and Ekman 2012). In this case the management and leadership should hold sessions with each of the workers and maintain account of their needs and views regarding the problems and benefits that they are happy or sad about. This data can also help the managers and the leadership in turn to understand the customer demand changes and monitor marketing and sales generation changes in turn.
Management Orientation: The management orientation in this model is supportive that is all the workers are provided all the necessary equipments and trainings that will fasten their work and help enhance their productivities. In this particular case, the workers at the Seven Eleven will be working under a new management as the firm has decided to move out of the franchisee business and introducing a new body of people that will manage and operate multiple stores together (7eleven.com.au. 2018). The orientation of this new management has to be such that the workers do not feel out of place and lose job satisfaction like before. They should instead be provided with proper training pertaining to the changes introduced in the system.
Employee Orientation: This part of the model helps in ensuring that the performance of the employees are regulated and monitored in order to keep a track of the productivity changes in relation to the changes in the sales or revenue generation after the implementation of the changes. The performance records should also be used for rewarding the employees at regular intervals (7eleven.com.au. 2018). This will help ensure that the change has also instilled job satisfaction among the employees.
Employee Psychological Result: The psychological result of the employees should essentially be monitored in this case as the biggest underlying weakness of the firm is in the field of unsatisfied employees who were not paid or compensated enough for the past few years. These results should in turn be tallied with the change n productivities and revenue generation and also the new manager employee relationship status.
Employee Needs: The needs of not only the workers of the different stores of Seven Eleven but also the new management and the existing authorities and other co-workers and employees should be addressed and looked after with respect to the new line of changes introduced.
Performance Result: The results of the performance of the company as a whole should be analyzed and monitored and a change in the amount of transparency in the operations should also be brought about as this will help all the workers to both know the amount of success that the firm could achieved, the intensity of success that could be achieved and the contribution of the different employees in the growth and success of the firm as a whole in the market. This is important and crucial in this case as it will help Seven Eleven to increase its network and impetus among the customers like before (7eleven.com.au. 2018).
The planning and implementation of the new system and values will take place with the help of the supportive model as explained above. The planning of this program of change will be executed over a period of a year in a slow process so that the stability of growth is maintained and the workers find it easier to adapt and adhere to the new set of rules. A brief of the various steps of organizational change implementation are enlisted as follows:
- Firstly, as Seven Eleven is looking to stop the entire process of franchisee business and partner with other firms who will be buying the series of stores (most of them if not all), the firm will have to revise its values and rules governing its systems so that the views of both the firms are respected and taken account of.
- Apart from the franchisee scandal, the other performance gap areas of the firm are to be identified and proper training sessions should be planned and workshops should be conducted
- The workers performance in the training should be evaluated and monitored and they should effectively be placed in the department where their skills form the best fit
- The managers and higher authorities should regularly hold sessions so that the views about the operations and the objectives of the firm are discussed and a transparency is maintained.
- Changes will also be brought about in the context of automation so that division of work and roles and responsibilities become easier and less as compared to the scenario that existed before
Conclusion:
Thus, to conclude it can be said that for any organization to survive in the long run and maintain a high rank in the target market it is necessary to implement and address changes in the organization both in terms of systems and structure so that the challenges facing the firm can be redressed with precaution and confidence. In case of Seven eleven the major issues and challenges were in the field of organization structure, systems and the skills of the workers. The most important change that had to be brought about in this case was that the employees were needed to be made felt needed and the values and structures of the other firms operating the stores of Seven Eleven were to be brought together. Thus, the models of Lewis, McKinsey and Kotter have to be used in a combined manner so that all the important components of the organization are restructured and changed and so that the workers are able to cope up with the change and able to maintain and improve their productivities.
In order to enhance the system existing and the business model being used, the firm should in fact take up the process of performance gap identification and then work on the restructuring of the area or department or individual rules that lead to this gap and ensure that this gap reduced. In this case the gap is in the area of strategy used for monitoring and evaluating the performance and pa of the employees across the different stores which is in turn leading to a downfall of the total sales causing a rise in the risk of competition. Thus, the firm should take up a supportive model of change and bring about the organizational changes through the well known models of organization behavior.
References:
7eleven.com.au. 2018. Avaialable online at https://www.7eleven.com.au/about-us
7eleven.com.au. 2018. Avaialable online at: https://www.7eleven.com.au/
Carlström, E.D. and Ekman, I., 2012. Organisational culture and change: implementing person-centred care. Journal of health organization and management, 26(2), pp.175-191.
Darsø, L., 2015. Arts-in-business from 2004 to 2014: From experiments in practice to research and leadership development. In Artistic Interventions in Organizations (pp. 40-56). Routledge.
Duffield, S. and Whitty, S.J., 2015. Developing a systemic lessons learned knowledge model for organisational learning through projects. International journal of project management, 33(2), pp.311-324.
Lozano, R., 2013. Are companies planning their organisational changes for corporate sustainability? An analysis of three case studies on resistance to change and their strategies to overcome it. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 20(5), pp.275-295.
Millar, C., Hind, P. and Magala, S., 2012. Sustainability and the need for change: organisational change and transformational vision. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 25(4), pp.489-500.
Pollack, J. and Pollack, R., 2015. Using Kotter’s eight stage process to manage an organisational change program: Presentation and practice. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 28(1), pp.51-66.
Sparks, L., 2013. Reciprocal retail internationalisation: the Southland Corporation, Ito-Yokado and 7-Eleven convenience stores. In The internationalisation of retailing (pp. 63-102). Routledge.
Stensaker, B., Välimaa, J. and Sarrico, C. eds., 2012. Managing reform in universities: The dynamics of culture, identity and organisational change. Palgrave Macmillan.
Terry-Armstrong, N., 2016. 7-Eleven: A case study of a flawed franchise model. Busidate, 24(2), p.8.
Vuori, J., Toppinen-Tanner, S. and Mutanen, P., 2012. Effects of resource-building group intervention on career management and mental health in work organizations: randomized controlled field trial. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(2), p.273.
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