Strategic Change Management Aspects

Understand the Background to Organisational Strategic Change

Discuss Models of Strategic Change

Nowadays, the world of international business is changing fast. To stay competitive and successful, organisations should take into consideration a number of factors such as live values, political relations, system security, sustainable development, the worth of the Internet, etc. (Reiss 2012). Change management models are used to describe the steps any company should be aware of to succeed in the chosen sphere of business. There are many models developed by different researchers at different periods of time. In this project, three models that are frequently used by international organisations will be discussed: Lewin’s model, Kotter’s model, and ADKAR (Gupta & Trusko 2013).

Kurt Lewin introduced his model in 1951 on the basis of the organism metaphor (Cameron & Green 2015). He explained that there were certain driving and resisting forces that could promote change in any organisation. The only requirement that should be considered is the identification of three steps managers must take. First, it is necessary to unfreeze the current state of affairs and define the forces that could influence a project (Cameron & Green 2015).

Then, it is important to move to a new state by participating and involving people and their skills. Finally, it is expected to refreeze the state and stabilise the situation by introducing new policies and standards and rewarding stakeholders. The model is simple and does not require much time to be implemented.

In 1995, Kotter developed the model consisting of eight main steps that could not be ignored by managers, who wanted to succeed in change management (Cameron & Green 2015):

1. The establishment of the urgency of change in an organisation;
2. The creation of a coalition that could guide change;
3. The introduction of a vision that could be used to prove change;
4. The communication of the vision that helped to explain the worth of change management;
5. The empowerment of stakeholders who should define and destroy all possible challenges;
6. The explanation of short-term goals and possible improvement;
7. The promotion of improvements that could develop more change; and
8. The evaluation and explanation of new approaches that should be used by all team members.

In comparison to Lewin’s model, Kotter’s model includes more steps and clear explanations of what should be done and when changes are required.

Finally, there is also the ADKAR model that promotes effective change management in international organisations. In comparison to the previous models, the peculiar feature of the ADKAR model is the attention to each person in a team and the necessity to develop the skills that could help to understand and survive any organisational change. According to Gupta and Trusko (2013), ADKAR stands for five main points that are:

1. Awareness (the importance to know why change is needed in an organisation);
2. Desire (the necessity to accept and support the change that is offered to team members);
3. Knowledge (the presence of information on how to organise change);
4. Ability (the development of the skills that could be used during the implementation process);
5. Reinforcement (the powers that could help to sustain the change offered).

The main differences in these three models include the approaches chosen by their developers: Lewin wanted to explain the impact of change on an organisation as a whole, Kotter tried to analyse the steps that should be taken, and the authors of the ADKAR model underlined the importance of personal involvement in a changing process and the identification of personal traits that could be used to accept, develop, and benefit from the change.

Evaluate the Relevance of Models of Strategic Change to Organisations in the Current Economy

All three models of strategic change are relevant to the current economy in a variety of ways. It is necessary to understand that people cannot avoid the importance of constant changes and improvements that are caused by the development of international relations, the change of customers’ needs, and the increase of human expectations.

The current world of the economy is in a mess that cannot be neglected (Temin & Vines 2013). The process of globalisation, the current technological progress, and the possibilities to exchange information in a short period of time make people think about some changes all the time. Second, the models of change management show that any change is a process that should be organised in a number of steps and analysed in regards to the abilities of people, who have to be involved in the change. Everyone in a company where some change occurs undergoes certain changes. Changes cannot be ignored because there are crucial events in every organisation.

For example, Emirates Airline is a well-known international company that has already introduced the aviation policy in the most effective way and proved that airline travels could be comfortable and available to people. The open sky is the core of the company’s business (About Emirates 2016) that could be the main challenge for this company because anyone could interfere with the sky and create a certain portion of the competition for the company.

Therefore, Emirates Airlines should think about some changes and improvements all the time. But not to make a mistake, the steps have to be taken, and the analysis of the current state of affairs should be performed. The company should understand what people want to get from international airlines. The employees of the company have to organise their activities in order to gather enough information required for changes and explanations. The models of change management could be applied to the current state of affairs of the company in order to clarify what can be done more to stay competitive.

Another example of the international company that is also in need of some changes is ADNOC (the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company). ADNOC’s vision is about the possibility to be the energy that could power the nation and becomes its prosperity key to the door where natural and human resources are stored (About ADNOC 2016). Change management within this company can help to discover new opportunities and identify new achievements that should be considered by all its team members.

Assess the Value of Using Strategic Intervention Techniques in Organisations

Strategic planning and change management include the identification of long-term goals. In many organisations, people do not want to make forecasts and accept the changes in the results of which could be observed in several years. Nowadays, companies want to implement changes and observe the results in a short period of time and try to choose appropriate intervention techniques that could strengthen the company.

To achieve the required results, companies should choose what kind of change is appropriate for them and what intervention technique could be used. For example, transformational change includes such techniques as the creation of a plan, the identification of time frames, the identification of internal and external sources that could be used, team development during which the establishment of goals and duties occurs, etc. The continuous change is observed when the necessity of a new product or the establishment of new standards is required in a short period of time with a number of long-term goals.

Not many companies are able to succeed in continuous change management, and they try to substitute its interventions with some transformative or trains organisational change interventions including self-design and new constructions that could be used on the basis of past achievements and notions (Cummings & Worley 2014). For example, Emirates Airline, as the company chosen for the analysis in the report, could benefit from such intervention techniques as role-playing (the company should comprehend its place in society) or team development (the company has to examine its people and their abilities to cooperate).

Understanding the Issues Related to Strategic Change in an Organisation

Examine the Need for Strategic Change in an Organisation

Emirates Airline, also known as Emirates, is obviously one of the most famous airline companies in the Middle East. Besides, it has already gained popularity in a number of European countries and in the USA. Still, it faces a number of challenges when it tries to occupy the US market the way it has already occupied the Middle East market.

It does not have many opportunities for middle and budget travellers and cannot cope with diversification offered by other airline companies available worldwide. The company is in need of some changes because of the existing international economic crisis and the necessity to deal with threats coming from rising costs on fuel. In other words, Emirates should identify its opportunities in regards to the global needs and organise its services in the way they could be available to all people worldwide.

The need of strategic change in Emirates is evident because the company should analyse its current state of affairs and identify the costs that should be spent to provide customers with middle and low incomes with the services available to the regulars of the company. According to the Kotter’s model, change management is the possibility to change a vision of the company and the explanation of such need. Nowadays, it is hard for Emirates to change its vision, missions, and goals. Still, it is possible to make some improvements that could help to attract the attention of people.

Assess the Factors that Are Driving the Need for Strategic Change in an Organisation

There are several types of factors that could drive the need for strategic change in Emirates. For example, the PEST analysis of the company could help to underline the main factors that explain the importance of change. Political factors are important for the company because the airline industry depends on such issues as wars, terrorism, and unstable political relations between different countries. Emirates is an international company that tries to introduce its services worldwide. Political instability could make the spreading of services impossible in some European and African countries.

Economic factors also promote the importance of change because they include such issues as the level of wages, inflation, and interest rates. The impossibility of all people to earn a lot and use the services of Emirates could make the company think about some changes in its economics and the introduction of more budgeting and economic class opportunities for people.

Social factors such as population boom (in the UAE, more than 9 million of people live today) (United Arab Emirates population 2016), an increased number of tourists and educated people, who appreciate comfort and quality of services, and frequent immigration promote the establishment of new goals and opportunities for people.

Finally, there are certain technological factors including e-booking, the importance of Wi-Fi, and the presence of modern technologies on board could increase the number of passengers. Emirates should also understand that technological development could decrease the number of passengers because of the possibilities to communicate online from different parts of the world. Emirates should use its technologies to attract more passengers.

Assess the Resource Implications of the Organisation not Responding to Strategic Change

Three types of resource implications could not respond to strategic change in the situation under analysis: human, physical, and financial. These resources are crucial because they are not expected to cost the implications for Emirates. For example, human resources include all activities and ideas that could inspire and motivate people and increase their satisfaction.

People should realise that change of vision is not an ordinary change, but it is an implication for a safe and better future (Kotter Intenational 2011). They have to use their best skills and capacities to implement the required strategy and introduce a new vision for their company that could attract the attention of many people at the same time. Financial implications consider the funding that is required to implement the offered strategy and promote change.

Emirates should investigate what types of stakeholders could be interested in the change and make them believe that their finding is a crucial aspect of the work. Finally, there are some physical resources that include raw materials, some office facilities, and equipment that could be used in a change process (Griffin 2012). Emirates could introduce some shirts for people at affordable prices and cooperate with international companies to buy several planes that could be used for transportation of budgeting passengers with a number of services offered at the luxury level. In general, all these implications could make the process of change management easy for the company’s employees and effective for the company’s customers.

Be Able to Lead Stakeholders in Developing a Strategy for Change

Develop Systems to Involve Stakeholders in the Planning of Change

One of the main issues in change management is the understanding of the thing that not only the direct representatives of the company but all stakeholders could undergo some changes and effects of the process (Jones & Recardo 2013). To succeed in change management, it is important for the company to involve organisational stakeholders in planning strategic changes. The level of involvement usually depends on the level of stakeholders’ importance, influence, and possible effects of change on them.

First, it is necessary to identify crucial stakeholders and their impact that could influence the company after a change is implemented. Second, it is important to clarify their interests and the circumstances under which they could ask for additional explanations and evaluations. Finally, it is obligatory to focus on stakeholders and their attitudes to the company and possible changes. A number of questions could be posed to stakeholders as a part of the involvement strategy including the description of their experiences, benefits, intentions, and resources available.

“Customers” is a group of stakeholders, who could be attracted by the development of simple and beneficial financial services. “Employees” are the stakeholders, who could be involved with the improvement of workforce development and the explanations. “Suppliers” is the group of people, who could benefit from the changes because of the necessity to search for new materials and offer new opportunities for a company with a good reputation and many financial advantages. The systems of telling, selling, and consulting could be offered to Emirates to involve stakeholders in the planning of change.

Develop a Change Management Strategy with Stakeholders

Strategies in change management play an important role because they help to reduce resistance and understand the goals that should be achieved. All strategies should be communicated to employees so that they could realise what is expected from them, what roles they should perform, and how much time is required to complete the required portion of work (Dievernich, Tokarski & Gong 2014). Burke (2013) introduces several types of strategies including empirical-rational, normative-reeducative, and power-coercive.

Emirates is suggested to pay attention to normative-reeducative strategies with the help of which people are identified as rational and intelligent social beings who have to live in regards to certain cultural norms and values. The goal of the chosen strategy is to improve the problem-solving capabilities of a system on the basis of Lewin’s model of change (Burke 2013). Stakeholders have to clarify what they think about their world, how they treat other people, and how they understand their roles in the chosen industry.

The main steps that should be taken include the evaluation of the current state of affairs, the communication of the opportunities available to Emirates, and the involvement stakeholders in all decisions and improvements that could be offered to Emirates (in this project, the possibility to offer budgeting travels to Emirates’ customers is discussed). Stakeholders have to investigate if the risk and challenges of taking a budgeting line could be justified with the help of benefits and reputation of the organisation).

Evaluate the Systems Used to Involve Stakeholders in the Planning of Change

The offered system and change management strategy for Emirates to involve stakeholders in change planning is effective indeed. The choice made helps to identify stakeholders and their roles in the process. Besides, the change is based on a number of human factors such as their personal interests, intentions, and abilities to explain the importance of change. A certain attention is paid to the effects of the change on ordinary people and the benefits the company could gain. It is not enough to sell new products. It is also important to train people and communicate all changes and improvements that could be available to the company.

Create a Strategy for Managing Resistance to Change

Resistance turns out to be a crucial element of organisational change. It is hard for people to lose something known and use new opportunities under some new conditions. Therefore, the majority of change stakeholders are tired and feel anxious about the necessity to accept changes (Burke 2013). Besides, many people feel uncomfortable because they do not have choices and have to follow the rules and standards imposed by their leaders.

Taking into consideration a variety of human discontents, resistance may be psychological, behavioural, cognitive, emotional, etc. Burke (2013) also identifies such types as blind resistance, political resistance, and ideological resistance. Anyways, Emirates should be ready to identify the possible sources of resistance and create an appropriate strategy for managing resistance to change. The following steps could become a powerful strategy for Emirates to minimise resistance to change:

• Change should not be a surprise and should be fair;
• The explanation that change is necessary for the company;
• The identification of benefits for stakeholders;
• High level of commitment is required; and
• Stakeholders have rights to discuss change any time.

Be Able to Plan to Implement Modules for Ensuring Ongoing Change

Develop Appropriate Models for Change

Organisational change is the process when a company moves from one state to another state and implements new ideas and standards. Emirates introduces itself as a powerful company with a number of clearly identified goals and vision. Still, it is recommended to the company to pay its attention to people of the middle class who are eager to use Emirates’ services but cannot allow this happening because of high prices. Emirates should think about the possibility to reduce its prices and provide people with an opportunity to travel with comfort when they choose a budgeting class. The following model based on the Kotter’s ideas could be developed (Cameron & Green 2015):

• The necessity to change price policy is urgent because Emirates should touch the hearts of millions of people regardless their incomes and salaries;
• A coalition should include people who believe that all people have equal rights and opportunities;
• The vision of open and comfortable sky for everyone should be introduced;
• The vision should be communicated with customers, employees and leaders to discuss the benefits and possible risks of changes;
• Customers should understand their role in change, and employees should view themselves as saviours for middle-income people who want to enjoy comfortable travelling;
• The main goal is to think about the ways of how Emirates could reduce its prices and introduce comfortable planes for people who consider their budgets;
• The improvement that is expected is the possibility to penetrate the markets in many European countries and become competitive due to the exclusiveness and comfort offered; and
• New approaches could create a real competitive challenge for other airline companies the leaders of which do not believe that comfort and quality could have affordable prices.

Plan to Implement a Model for Change

There are three main stages in the implementation process that are similar to the model developed by Lewin (Cameron & Green 2015). First, the company should inform its stakeholders about the intentions to change its price policy and make comfortable travelling available to all people. Then, Emirates should take the steps identified in the model above.

Finally, the company has to analyse the achievements and evaluate if the benefits prevail over the shortages. The plan should be focused on such issues as the purposes of change, a number of people who could be involved in changing process, the principles that should be followed, the process that has its beginning and its end, and the performance that has to be at a high level.

Develop Appropriate Measures to Monitor Progress

Monitoring is the final phase of the management process that helps to compare the organisational goals with its achievements (Griffin 2012). The measurements should be workable and informative so that the company could identify its achievement and calculate the worth of the offered change. The following aspects should be taken into consideration:

• Goals and objectives: Emirates should open sky to all people. Still, do all people need that open sky?
• Training: employees should learn how to offer high-quality services at affordable prices. Training is also beneficial for companies and its people.
• Communication: all stakeholders are involved in discussing change importance. People get a chance to learn each other better and understand what unite them and what differences make them unique.
• Standards: the performance should meet the standards of the company. Employees learn or repeat the company’s vision and mission and think about possible improvements.

Reference List

About ADNOC. 2016.

About Emirates. 2016.

Burke, WW 2013, Organisation change: theory and practice, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks.

Cameron, E & Green, M 2015, Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the methods, tools and techniques of organisational change, Kogan Page Publishers, London.

Cummings, TG & Worley, CG 2014, Organisation development and change, Cengage Learning, Stamford.

Dievernich, FEP, Tokarski, KO & Gon, J 2014, Change management and the human factor: advances, challenges and contradictions in organisational development, Springer, New York.

Griffin, RW 2012, Management, Cengage Learning, Mason.

Gupta, P & Trusko, BE 2013, Global innovation science handbook, McGraw Hill Professional, New York.

Jones, DJ & Recardo, RJ 2013, Leading and implementing business change management: making change stick in the contemporary organisation, Routledge, New York.

Kotter International 2011, ‘How to create a powerful vision for change’. Forbes. Web.

Reiss, M 2012, Change management, Books on Demand, Nordestedt.

Temin, P & Vines, D 2013, The leadersless economy: why the world economic system fell apart and how to fix it, Princeton University Press, Princeton.

United Arab Emirates population. 2016. Web.