Question

Q3. Explain the benefits and disadvantages of resistance to change that Rose as a CEO may encounter as he launches his new organizational change management. (25 marks) answer in words

MARKS AND SPENCER

Stuart Rose, the CEO of Marks & Spencer, started with emphasising the critical need for change – by emphasising that the current state was untenable. Rose noted that inventory was not being managed effectively, decision making was being delegated without accountability or senior management sign-off, and customers were being attracted to newer, dynamic competitors. Change was imperative.

Rose started the change process with a core team of trusted people he had worked with – and he knew their strengths. Rose brought with him the Executive Director of IT, Supply Chain, and Property, and the Executive Director of Marketing and Store Design. With this core team, Rose was “able to hit the ground running.” Rose described the period prior to his leadership unflatteringly as the “consultant years, which were awash in numbers and surveys and complexity.” Rose reviewed the current use of consultants, and eliminated all but 10 of the consultants’ 31 existing “strategic projects.” For Rose, the change was simple: “improve the product, improve the stores, and improve the service.” Rose provided a simple, accessible and operational guiding vision.

In addition, he reinforced the communication of the message symbolically to reinforce the point, and focus energy around the core direction. Rose drove the change down into the “DNA” of the organisation not only by putting everyone through training on the basics, but sat in on operational day to day meetings to the “level of micromanagement” to focus the conversation in detail on the key points. Incentive structures were realigned to reward service performance instead of seniority, redefining the career progression path. The entire 56,000 strong workforce was put through motivational training sessions focused around teamwork and customer service.

Rose encountered an environment where “people within Marks & Spencer were already lobbying for different plans, different strategies.” However, because “the Christmas season is the key to the entire retail year and how industry analysts gauge a company’s health”. There were clear timelines to achieve results. There was no time to try one direction and perhaps change to a different course if that didn’t work. Rose committed to the direction he had selected, and “there was no Plan B.” That is, Rose committed to letting go of alternative ideas and the status quo, and committed the organisation to the new path.

Answer 1

Answer 3= The various benefits of having the resistance to the change are stated below=

• The management can revisit the change plan in order to remove any possible negative effect both on the employees and the organization
• The management can try to find out a more efficient way or method of implementing the change
• The management will get the opportunity to understand the underlying concerns of the employees and others and try to facilitate these concerns
• With the help of resistance to change the manpower can also voice and communicate some possible modifications in the original plan and it may yield better results
• Resistance to change can enable the management to consider the different untouched aspects of the change process

The negatives of resistance to change are as below=

• It can derail the entire process of change and it can have some serious consequence to the firm
• It can result in the conflict between the management and the other stakeholders
• It can result in wastage of resources and time