Proposal For Change In Supply Chain Management Of Coles

Description of the project

i. Description of the project

The project that will be undertaken is the change in the supply chain management. Supply chain management is important for an organisation as it helps in the systematic flow of goods and products from the organisation to its customers (Hayes 2014). In order to remain competitive in the retail sector, Coles need to make certain changes in the supply chain management. Reduction in the distribution channels and maintenance of a more focused delivery chain can help Coles to move ahead of Woolworths in the business market.

The scope of the project will be to maintain the changes that need to take place in Coles that consist of over 100,000 employees. The logistics division of the company needs to change owing to remain competitive in the business market. The focus will be to plan ways to reduce the distribution channels from 40 to 20 and ensure that a systematic approach is maintained in the supply chain of the organisation.

In order to progress successfully in the completion of the project in an effective manner, it is necessary to develop certain objectives that can help to remain focused on the project. The key objectives of the project include:

• To identify the changes that need to take place in Coles
• To develop proper change tactics in the supply chain management of Coles
• To recommend ways to improve in distributing goods and services

In order to ensure that the change management concept is understood properly, it is necessary to implement strategies that correspond to the topic. The implementation strategy can be in the form of maintaining a systematic change in the process of work. The strategic approach is that the company need to use change management theories that can help in maintaining the changes required in the organisation. Hence, the approach to change in the supply chain management is based on a theoretical implementation of change management tactics.

The project needs to be completed in a certain time in order to focus on the other changes that are to be implemented in the company. Hence, it is necessary to maintain proper timeline identifying key areas that need to be covered for completing the project.

Table: Timeline

(Source: Created by author)

The project is based on the changes that are needed to be applied in Coles. The focus is on the changes that are needed to be applied in the supply chain management of the company. The project can help Coles to identify the flaws that exist in the logistics department and determine methods that can help the company gain a competitive advantage. This is an important part of the project as the company is undergoing changes in various departments and it is necessary to identify the changes required in each department in a systematic manner.

According to Cameron and Green (2015) stated that change management is a term that is required for preparing and supporting employees in lieu of the changes made in an organisation. The changes can be in the form of workforce, materials and techniques that may hamper the work process in an organisation. Change management considers the structure of the organisation and the changes required in order to maintain stability in the workplace. Goetsch and Davis (2014) stated that organisation change is mostly associated with the resources that exist in an organisation. However, at times, the policies, procedures, discipline and values of an organisation also need to be changed in order to maintain the stability of workforce and gain a competitive advantage in the market. Several reasons exist for maintaining changes in an organisation. The reasons include:

Scope of work

Gaining a competitive advantage: Matos and Esposito (2014) stated that competitive advantage is needed in order to maintain dominance in the business market. In the modern world, businesses that have the ability to adapt to the change in society have thrived. Hence, changes to match the abilities of these successful organisations are required.

Increase the likelihood of success: Change management can increase the chances of gaining success. This is because change management helps in attaining the objectives of an organisation. However, Worley and Mohrman (2014) criticised that continuous changes can hamper the progress of an organisation. Hence, it is necessary to maintain short-term goals so that organisations do not have to cope up with the changing mentality that is required among the employees.

Despite the reasons behind maintaining changes, employees tend to put up a resistance in the organisational change. The resistance occurs due to the fear that exists about job security and the ways to cope up with the changes (Ashkenas 2013). Hence, in order to manage the employees and implement changes in an organisation, models can be used to understand the process in a broader manner.

Samuel, Found and Williams (2015) stated that Lewin’s change management model is one of the most important models that can be related to the concept of change in an organisation. It is said that the theory consists of a detailed and systematic process that needs to be followed while maintaining changes in an organisation. The three-step model was created in 1950 and since then have been the most widely used model in the field of change management. The focus of Lewin’s model was to find out the fear of the people and the reason behind the resistance to change (Hechanova and Cementina-Olpoc 2013). The three steps include:

Unfreeze: Most people attempt to shun away from the changes and accept the current work position in an organisation. The fear is due to the loss of jobs and the adoption of a new mentality in working. In order to counter the resistance of the people, it is necessary for an organisation to spend time in motivating and preparing the employees for the upcoming change (Rajan and Ganesan 2017). The preparation needs to be done in a manner in order to give time to the employees to accept the changes. This can be done by conducting meetings and explaining to the employees the mission of the organisation and the results that the current policies, practises and workforce are bringing to the organisation. Doppelt (2017) stated that the initial stage is the most difficult for managers as employees may start to revolt upon the hint that is provided by the change that needs to take place. Hence, it is important to approach cautiously and maintain a strategy in order to incorporate the changes in the employees. Hence, the core changes of the organisation need to be analysed in order to display the need for change to the employees. This step is followed by the change that a company needs to make in order to attain the objectives and goals.

Key objective of the project

Change: According to Hornstein (2015), the second stage consists of the phrase in which the organisation undergoes the changes from its initial phase. The change in the organisation can come at a rapid pace or at a slow pace. The change-taking place in the organisation may hamper the work progress and sometimes bring about the complete stoppage of work. Guérin et al. (2015) observed that the change curve could be used to determine the level of which the state of the mind of an employee exists during a change.

Figure 1: Change curve

(Source: Lewin 2013)

Form the curve it can be seen that employees suffer various emotions while dealing with the changes in an organisation. As long as an employee remains at level 2 of the change curve, the change in an organisation is considered to be unsuccessful. Thus, proper motivation and leadership are required in order to encourage the employees in adopting the change. According to Cummings, Bridgman and Brown (2016), people need to understand the change and the reason behind the change-taking place. This is the only way in which the change in the organisation can be successful. After the completion of the second stage, the implementation of the change is done that can help an organisation to continue its daily productivity.

Refreeze: After accepting the changes, it is necessary for an organisation to implement the changes. The changes implemented can make the organisation successful and it becomes stable. The workforce continues under new guidelines and policies. Burke (2017) stated that the results of the changes occur in the productivity of an organisation, job role and the policies. However, it is important to maintain the changes as the fruitful work that is being done may be compromised due to the negligence from the managers. Hence, it is important to maintain the changes by proper monitoring and effective leadership techniques. Support and training are required to be provided in order to encourage the employees in accepting the changes.

Figure 2: Lewin’s three-step model

(Source: Lewin 2013)

Lewin’s three-step change model is used internationally in order to maintain consistent change in an organisation. The model is easy to understand and major changes can be implemented by the use of this model. However, Hickman and Ojo (2014) countered this model saying that the model provides a vague analysis about the changes that need to be implemented in the mission and vision statement of a company. In this regard, an 8-step change management model suggested by Kotter can be used effectively in order to determine the changes required in an organisation.

The change model proposed by Kotter encourages leaders to create a sense of urgency among the employees in order to accept changes. The change in an organisation needs to undergo eight steps in order to be successful.

Increase urgency of change: In order to execute successful change, it is necessary to ensure that every member of an organisation wants it to happen (Kempster, Higgs and Wuerz 2014). Hence, motivation needs to be provided in order to implement changes and ensure that the urgency of the requirement is understood.

Implementation approach and strategy

Built a coalition: This needs to be done by implementing effective strategies. The goal is to convince people about the changes that are required in an organisation. Leaders need to provide an example of the process and policies that need to be followed in order to implement changes in the organisation.

Create a vision to change: According to Mitchell (2013), organisational change needs to be implemented keeping in mind the objectives and vision. While formulating changes and implementing it, it is necessary for an organisation to keep its focus on the vision. A clear vision can help in understanding the need for change and encourage employees to follow the new vision of the organisation.

Communicate the change needed: The requirement for change needs to be communicated to the employees. This may lead to resistance in the early phase, however; proper motivation and evidence of the change required may help in to gain the trust of the employees. The communication needs to be done at every opportunity that is provided in order to implement changes.

Remove obstacles: Shirey (2013) stated that one of the effective strategies to remove any obstacles to change is the empowerment of the employees. Employees need to be given the power to make decisions required for changes. The involvement of the employees can motivate them and remove any resistance that may be shown concerning the changes.

Create short-term goals: This is an important aspect of change, as the goals of an organisation tend to fluctuate with the implementation of changes. Short-term goals can help in the continuous implementation of changes and bring about proper vision in the organisation. This helps in fulfilling the objectives of an organisation in a slow yet effective manner.

Build on the change: Burnes and Cooke (2013) observed that the changes in an organisation fail because of the negligence of the managers. It is important to build on the changes that an organisation has implemented and ensured that the goals of an organisation are achieved. Every success of an organisation provides an opportunity for improvement.

Make the changes permanent: The changes in an organisation need to be permanent in order to avoid disruption in the work. Continuous changes can bring about problems in work patterns and give rise to another change that needs to be implemented. This needs to be controlled by continuous monitoring of the changes implemented.

Figure 3: Kotter’s 8-step change model

(Source: Burnes and Cooke 2013)   

The proposal was conducted based on the changes required in the supply chain management in Coles. The proposal was conducted detailing the problems in Coles and the application of theories for maintaining changes in the organisation. Hence, the evaluation of the proposal is done based on the strength, weakness and limitations of the researcher.

Strength- The proposal consisted of a detailed analysis of the case study in order to identify the problems that exist in Coles. The case study related to the project is based on the changes that are required in Coles in order to maintain a competitive advantage in the retail business market. The strength of the research lay in the fact that the proposal was conducted keeping in mind the problems that have been identified in the case study. Based on the problems, change tactics have been implemented in order that is applicable to the situation. The proposal also consists of identifying relevant sources that shed light to the theories and concept of change.

Overview of a timeline

Weakness- Despite conducting the proposal in an efficient manner, certain weakness still existed. One such weakness is the fact that the proposal did not have an overview about the employees of Coles. The viewpoint of the employees in relation to the changes taking place in the organisation needed to be provided in order to identify the ways to implement the changes. Apart from this, the proposal did not consist of a proper hypothesis, which can be used in order to complete the project. The proposal could have been better if the researcher had developed a conceptual framework that highlighted the essential points of the proposal.

Limitations- The proposal had certain limitations that caused hindrance for the researcher. The proposal could not be conducted in a detailed manner due to lack of time. The researcher had to balance the time required for conducting the proposal and carrying out other tasks. Moreover, a proper analysis of the concept related to change management and supply chain in Coles required extensive research. The research required access to websites that were protected due to data protection of the company. Hence, a proper guideline about the employees and managerial structure of Coles could not be obtained. Apart from this, the research was also conducted using secondary sources, which required obtaining information from various sources. The researcher had to visit libraries, which at times became difficult for the researcher.

References

Ashkenas, Ron. “Change management needs to change.” Harvard Business Review 16 (2013).

Burke, W. Warner. Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications, 2017.

Burnes, Bernard, and Bill Cooke. “Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory: A Review and Re?evaluation.” International journal of management reviews 15, no. 4 (2013): 408-425.

Cameron, Esther, and Mike Green. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers, 2015.

Cummings, Stephen, Todd Bridgman, and Kenneth G. Brown. “Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management.” human relations 69, no. 1 (2016): 33-60.

Doppelt, Bob. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge, 2017.

Goetsch, David L., and Stanley B. Davis. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2014.

Guérin, Aurélie, Denis Lebel, Kevin Hall, and Jean?François Bussières. “Change management in pharmacy: a simulation game and pharmacy leaders’ rating of 35 barriers to change.” International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 23, no. 6 (2015): 439-446.

Hayes, John. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Hechanova, Regina M., and Raquel Cementina-Olpoc. “Transformational leadership, change management, and commitment to change: A comparison of academic and business organizations.” The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher 22, no. 1 (2013): 11-19.

Hickman, Sally, and Omorogieva Ojo. “Implementing Early supported discharge, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Community, Primary care, Multidisciplinary team, Change management, Kotter’s 8-step Model.” GSTF Journal of Nursing and Health Care (JNHC) 1, no. 1 (2014).

Hornstein, Henry A. “The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity.” International Journal of Project Management 33, no. 2 (2015): 291-298.

Kempster, Steve, Malcolm Higgs, and Tobias Wuerz. “Pilots for change: exploring organisational change through distributed leadership.” Leadership & Organization Development Journal 35, no. 2 (2014): 152-167.

Lewin, Kurt. A dynamic theory of personality-selected papers. Read Books Ltd, 2013.

Matos Marques Simoes, Paula, and Mark Esposito. “Improving change management: How communication nature influences resistance to change.” Journal of Management Development 33, no. 4 (2014): 324-341.

Mitchell, Gary. “Selecting the best theory to implement planned change.” Nursing Management-UK 20, no. 1 (2013).

Rajan, R., and R. Ganesan. “A critical analysis of John P. Kotter’s change management framework.” Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management 7, no. 7 (2017): 181-203.

Samuel, Donna, Pauline Found, and Sharon J. Williams. “How did the publication of the book The Machine That Changed The World change management thinking? Exploring 25 years of lean literature.” International Journal of Operations & Production Management 35, no. 10 (2015): 1386-1407.

Shirey, Maria R. “Lewin’s theory of planned change as a strategic resource.” Journal of Nursing Administration 43, no. 2 (2013): 69-72.

Worley, Christopher G., and Susan A. Mohrman. “Is change management obsolete?.” Organizational Dynamics 43, no. 3 (2014): 214-224.

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