MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE IN SELECTED RETAIL ORGANIZATIONS ___________

Research Proposal for PhD - By Ms. VANAJA VEERABATHINI MBA. Introduction All over the world day by day changes are taking place rapidly, it will posed new problems, opportunities and challenges to Indian Organizations. The word Retailing refers to any activity that involves the direct sale to an individual customer or end user.The Indian Retail industry one of the fastest growing industries in the country over the past couple of years. By the turn of 21 st Century the face of the Indian Retail Industry had changed significantly. India s retail growth was largely driven by increasing disposable incomes, favourable demographics, changing lifestyles, growth of the middle class segment and a high potential for penetration into urban and rural markets. Retailing is evolving into a global, high-tech business, because they need to survive in an huge competition .Obiviously dynamic Retail companies are acting very fast and redesigninig their systems and reformulating their policies and strategies. The recent years have witnessed rapid transformation and vigorous profits in Indian retail stores across various categories. This can be contemplated as a result of the changing attitude of Indian consumers and their overwhelming acceptance to modern retail formats. Asian markets witness a shift in trend from traditional retailing to organized retailing driven by the liberalizations on Foreign Direct Investments.

Many Indian companies are entering the Indian retail market which is giving Indian organized retail market a boost. One such company is the Reliance Industries Limited. In the past few years indias retail journey seemed picture perfect with the most attractive stops still unexploited and under penetrated.Favourable demographics steady economic growth ,easy availability of credit and large scale real estate developments were fueling the growth. As the pace of change in the retail business world has accelerated, it is apparent that yesterdays accomplishments and even todays success are no guarantees of tomorrows success.So, it is very important for every retail company has to learnt something from these changes. The India Retail Industry is the largest among all the industries, accounting for over 10 per cent of the countrys GDP and around 8 per cent of the employment. The Retail Industry in India has come forth as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with several players entering the market. The total concept and idea of shopping has undergone an attention drawing change in terms of format and consumer buying behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retailing has entered into the Retail market in India as is observed in the form of bustling shopping centers, multi-storied malls and the huge complexes that offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. The change that organized retail has brought about is evident from how it has transformed the neighborhood grocery or kirana store. Gone are the dust-coated shelves and cluttered displays and in place are neat rows of the latest products and spruced up appearance and attentive staff. Management of change Change management is a structured and strategic approach to initiate and manage the change process in the organization structure and culture as well as the individuals/teams behavior and

attitude towards the change transition in the field of the business processes, technology implementation or any other policies of an enterprise. Need for the study Retail Business Environment is always undergoing a change, which is the very essence of every business, it is inevitable and unavoidable. Retail Business organizations always have to be prepared to tackle these changes by anticipating them. Technolgy has brought enormous changes in the retail industry, Managing these techonological changes efficiently is the need for evey Retail Industry. The competence of the Retail business organizations needs to change with the change in the business scenario would result in a need for change in the employee skill sets. This research intends to refine existing knowledge of the area of change management in retailing Industry. Objectives of the study The Objective of the study can be defined broadly, Development of retailing present perspective and directions for future research. To describe the change management in retailing industry To examine Retail industry strengths and weaknesses in the areas of people, attitudes and culture relevant to managing change. To identify the intra- industry differentials in respect of the Change Management in Retail industry. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Change Management in retail industry based on 1. Comparative study on public, private and NGO

 To identify measures to improve the effectiveness of the Change Management practices in retail industry. Research Methodology Research design The research will be based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. Data Sources Secondary data, pre existing data not gathered for purposes of the current research( not new, back up data), previous research articles and published information is used to understand implemented of change management practices,procedures and systems in business organizations Primary data never gathered before, gathered through surveys, focus groups, panels,observation methods in selected retail industries to understand how business organizations are preparing to manage change and to suggest a road map for business organizations to continuously prepare for change. This will include strategic change management issues as well as managing change at all levels in the organization.

Data Collection Data are collected with the help of questionnaires, beside the questionnaires; unstructured interviews are used as a data collection method. Sample Size 3 to 5 organizations related to retail sector which include public, private, and NGOs retail organizations. Data Analysis Data will be presented in the form of flow charts and tables. Simple statistical tools like ratios, percentages, means, standard deviations and appropriate statistical methods will be used.

Literature Review The prime forces of change in the business world, including changing economic and political structures, globalization, higher degrees of complexity, new technology increased competition, changing client demands (Martensson, 2000), global competition, leaner work forces, and more knowledge able customers (Larsen & Mclenerney, 2002 ) have all had firms scrambling to provide better services and high quality. Workers are going away from their traditional offices to get closer to where the customers are. Managing now involves overseeing projects where workers might be located any where, they work in teams that undergo a constant change. At the root of these changes has been the dynamic nature of environment to which the organizations are required to act quickly and constantly. Many books have been published about Change management addressing the individual. A few books are Sumathra Ghosals managing Radical Change managing change effectively etc. has been written addressing the business organization. Many of the books suggest strategies to manage change in organizations. Earlier studies on change management was mostly carried out in developed countries like US and UK the studies focused on organization structures, Technology changes, people changes [Herbert. V. Prochnow 1951, Manrie Hillson & Ronalld T. Hymon 1965 & 1971. Robert. T Golenbiwski 1972, Iswan Dayal 1976, Peter F. Ducker 1982 & 1909, Clayton M Chrisensen 1997, Frederick Herzberg 1982 , colon Bainbridge 1988 & 1996, Michael Colenson 2000 and joseph W. weirs 2001]. In India research on change management is still at a nascent stage. Few researchers like [ Sumathra Ghosals 2002, PN Rasthogi 1999. Aparnaraj 2000, S. Ramnarayan 2003, Vipin Malik 2003 and Devashis Rath 2004] studied change management in Indian organizations. A comprehensive research on change management is yet to take place. The available literature comprises mostly conceptual explorations and journalistic descriptions of change management. As such there is a need to undertake a systematic study on the status, process and effectiveness of change management.

In order to set the stage for the treatment of literature pertaining to modern retailing, a definition of modern change is provided. Websters Encyclopedic Dictionary defines modern change as follows: pertaining to present and recent time in contrast to ancient or remote.Sometimes has the connotation of up-to-date and, thus, good modern ideas. Recent may be separated from present when it is new, fresh and novel. There are number of elements which may intuitively be claimed to characterize Managing change in retailing, for example self-service, store formats, wideness of assortment, technology and equipment, or the general degree of sophistication in running the business. However, the literature has neglected defining of the phenomenon unambiguously. The existence of modern retailing is dependent on the wider and complex business system including many aspects, like local legislation, distribution structures, consumer base, branding, internationalisation of retailing and manufacturers. In some practitioner oriented reports, modern retail is in emerging markets even a synonym for the share of aggregate hypermarket sales. Often, on the contrary, traditional retailing is more clearly described. In Attachment A, a summary of interpretative definitions of modern change retail in chronological order is provided. The earliest literature was typically linked with selfservice, wideness of assortment and store-merchandising (Hollander, 1960; Regan, 1961; Cundiff, 1965). In 1970s and 1980s focus was on cultural (Goldman, 1974) and evolutionary aspects focusing on gradual development and modernization management of change of retailing(Kaynak, 1982; Savitt, 1984). In 1990s distribution with connection to supply chain management (SCM) and formats (Tordjman, 1994; Feeny, 1996; Meyrs, 1997) has dominated the literature on modern change in retailing. SCM was seen to facilitate more advanced and systematic retailing.

Research Model

This study attempts to understand the concept of effectiveness and application of different models for evaluating the Change Management in Retailing Industry. An analysis of the existing models, being used for measuring the effectiveness of Change management will also be made. An analytical model will be suggested that comprehends effectiveness of organizational Change Management system with represent technical evaluation, economic valuation, and operational evaluation representing Change Management effectiveness. The findings will be provide a basic material for furthering the research in this area and also would provide the right directions for the corporate to carry out the evaluation process of their Change Management. Feasibility Study Feasibility study is compressed capsule version of entire systems analysis and design process. An initial investigation culminates in a proposal that determines whether an alternative system is feasible. The feasibility study provides for the selection of the best system that meets the organization requirements. The purpose of the feasibility study is to determine if the problem is worth solving considering the time, money, technology, users and other authorities of the organizations as it is important to stay with in limits. To do a feasibility study we need to consider the following factors in a system development. They are Operational evaluation Technical evaluation Financial evaluation

Propositions The study examines the following propositions: Design / Technological effectiveness of Retail Industry The Change Management of Retailing-+ represents the state of the art technology Functional effectiveness of Retail Industry The Change Management of Retailing is effective in serving the functional needs of Retail Business organization. Change effectiveness of Retailing Industry The Change Management systems in Retailing are change oriented. Use effectiveness in Retailing Industry The Change Management in Retailing are user friendly Cost effectiveness of Retailing Industry The Change Management in Retailing are cost effective. System management effectiveness of Retailing Industry The Change Management in Retailing have effective leadership, plans, security and Controls.

Scope of the Study A Comparative study focuses on change management in selected retail organizations of public, private and NGO. Significance of the study In this we will discuss the significance of change management and how it is beneficial for Retail Industry In perspectives of

1) Aademics: there is a depth of literature on change management and retailing, it bridges the gap, stimulates in trest for further research in this area. 2) Executives: An Audit of change management in retailing helps executives identify the inadequacies, if any, and improve the change management system. 3) Organizations: The organizations will have an opportunity to improve change management system effectiveness.

Limitations

The limitations to the study are: 1. This study will undertake only select organizations in India. However, due care is to taken to select respondents 2. Financial and Time constraints also will be there to spend much time in research sites and expenses incurred to be stayed over there. Despite these limitations, the researcher will made an attempt to do this study with her strong research interest.

Plan of the Research Chapter 1: presents a conceptual framework of change management in retail industry and identifies the research problem. Chapter 2: makes a survey of literature and establishes objectives and methodology for the present study. Chapter 3: explores the change management drivers in retail industry. Chapter 4, 5, 6, 7: Describes and evaluates the change management in selected retail organizations in public, private, NGO. And a comparative study.

Chapter 8: Summarizes the findings and highlights the suggestions for the successful change management practices in retail industry