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Coursework Report Submitted to

Oxbridge College of Information Technology and Management


Course Name: DMS/MBA(2009)

Unit: Managing Change in Organisations


Title: Managing Change in Organisations

By

Contents
Contents.........................................................................................................................2 Change Management in Kebabish Takeaway..............................................................4
Triggers of change .............................................................................................................4
Competition in the Market and Globalization: ................................................................................4 Technology:......................................................................................................................................5 Changes in the attitudes of customers: ............................................................................................5 Legislation: ......................................................................................................................................6

Internal triggers of change ................................................................................................6


Business Process Reengineering: ....................................................................................................6 Introduction of New Technology: ...................................................................................................6 The need to change attitudes of employees: ....................................................................................6 The need to improve performance: .................................................................................................7

OD interventions adapted by Kebabish........................................................................7


Improved management:....................................................................................................................7 Training of Staff:..............................................................................................................................8 Down Sizing:....................................................................................................................................8 New Products:..................................................................................................................................8 New Look Stores and Staff:.............................................................................................................8

Benefits and Limitation of Change Management Process..........................................9 How Kebabish involved its stakeholders in change process......................................10 How Kebabish involved its stakeholders in change process......................................11 Advantages and limitations of participative methods of change management .......11
Benefits of Training..........................................................................................................11
Increased Productivity: ..................................................................................................................11 Improved Quality: .........................................................................................................................12 Increased Efficiency: .....................................................................................................................12 Increased Confidence:....................................................................................................................12 Motivation: ....................................................................................................................................12 Compliance with Legislation:........................................................................................................12

Limitations of Training....................................................................................................12
Different attitudes: .........................................................................................................................12 Company Budgets: ........................................................................................................................12

Benefits of New Equipments............................................................................................13


Better Products: .............................................................................................................................13 Healthier Products: ........................................................................................................................13

Limitations of New Equipments......................................................................................13 Benefits of New Products.................................................................................................13


Change for Customers: ..................................................................................................................13

Limitations of New Products...........................................................................................13 Benefits of Closing Stores.................................................................................................14


Better investment options: .............................................................................................................14

Limitations of Closing stores...........................................................................................14


Shattered confidence in employees: ..............................................................................................14 Might be a wrong Decision: ..........................................................................................................14

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References...................................................................................................................15

Change Management in Kebabish Takeaway


Kebabish Original was established nearly 20 years ago. Currently, they have branches in 60 cities of UK and looking to expand their business in Europe. Last year, Kebabish made some changes in their existing business across all of their branches in the UK. These changes included change of equipments, change of management, change of menus and change of displays. (Source: Kebabish Website, www.kebabishorginal.co.uk). The following factors demanded changes in Kebabish Greater Competition Consumers change of choice Health relate issues Evidence of cause of obesity Involvement of media to aware people about obesity-fast food relation

Having a look at these problems, Kebabish looked at improve management style, down sizing the training the staff, closure of few stores and introduction of new products. All this will be explained in the later parts of the essay. To get a good understanding of changes happening in Kebabish in particular and other Restaurants in general, I will explain the external and internal triggers that forced the change in Kebabish Takeaway.

Triggers of change
Competition in the Market and Globalization: Since every organization exports its outputs to the environment, an organization has to face competition in the market. There may be two types of forces which may affect the competitive position of an organization other organizations supplying the same products and, buyers who are not buying the product. Any changes in these forces may require suitable changes in the organization. With liberated economy in UK, more and more foreign changes

of fast food enter the UK market. This forces many UK organizations to realign themselves with the new situations. The result in that there have been many cases of divesting the business and concentrating on the core business, acquiring core business, and developing competitive competence to face competitive threats. Similarly, there may be changes in buyers in terms of their needs, liking disliking and income disposal for a product. Such changes by the organizations force them to bring those products which meet buyers requirement. With more and more fast food restaurants opening in the market. Kebabish had to prove its customers that they are the best in the Asian Takeaway market. The competitors were using the latest technology, better trained staff and better outlook stores. The prices of mostly new fast food stores such as Lahore Lahore hai, New Dixy etc are lower than Kebabish that forced Kebabish to develop new strategies to compete with its competitors. Technology: When there is a change in technology in the organizational environment and other organizations adopt the new technology, the organizations under focus become less cost effective and its competitive position weakens. Therefore, it has to adopt new technology, its work structure is affected and a new equilibrium has to be established. Same was the case with Kebabish that had to adapt to new technology to stay alive in the market. Changes in the attitudes of customers: Social changes reflect in terms of peoples aspirations, the needs, and their ways of working. Social changes have taken place because of the several forces like level of education, urbanization, feeling of autonomy, and international impact due to new information sources. These social changes affect the behaviour of people in the organization. Therefore, it is required to make adjustment in its working so that it matches with people. Customers attitudes carry on changing all the times and they keep on trying different types of foods in the market. Change in customer attitudes in the selection of fast food products also forced Kebabish to change.
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Legislation: Political and legal factors broadly define the activities which an organisation can undertake and the methods which will be followed by it in accomplishing those activities. Any changes in these political and legal factors may affect the organization operation. UK law about the hygienic and safety factors in the fast food industry also forced the Kebabish to introduce the changes in its existing business.

Internal triggers of change


Business Process Reengineering: With this OD intervention, Kebabish could change all its process of cooking and record system. This way they could improve the performance by elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the processes existing within the organisation. They considered the different aspects to implement the BPR in their business (Ullah 2001, pp 62-63). A detailed mission of the company might have played an important role in developing the new future vision of Kebabish. (Source: Business Process Reengineering, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ processreengineering, Last Modified 20th July 09, Last Accesses 31st July 09) Introduction of New Technology: With every fast food restaurant using the latest equipments and technology, Kebabish realised the need to introduce them as well. New technology helps to prepare a better quality food and the staffs in the company feels comfortable as well when they are used to it. The need to change attitudes of employees: Employee attitude surveys can be a useful tool not only in measuring and improving employee satisfaction, but also in improving organizational productivity and a companys bottom line. The employees attitudes towards the job were not very satisfactory. The introduction of new changes in the company could help Kebabish to change the attitudes significantly.

The need to improve performance: The use of old equipments, techniques and designs, some times causes severe damages to the company. Their performance levels keep on falling down and it ultimately results in the decline of the company. The performance of Kebabish was very poor and it was one of the reasons that they realised the need of new changes.

OD interventions adapted by Kebabish


To understand the OD interventions used by Kebabish, it will be a better idea to briefly discuss the problems which caused the change. As mentioned earlier, the following factors demanded changes in Kebabish Original Greater Competition Consumers change of choice Health relate issues Evidence of cause of obesity Involvement of media to aware people about obesity-fast food relation

Having a look at these problems, Kebabish looked at improved management style, down sizing the training the staff, closure of few stores and introduction of new products. Improved management: With this intervention, they could train their managers in the best possible way. This could help the management in learning the latest skills from ordering the raw materials to after sales services. The mangers could have been trained either in workshops or by attending refresher courses or training seminars. (Source: Petersen 2003, pp 281-282)

Training of Staff: With the introduction of new equipments, it was necessary for management to train all the staff working in stores. Though the staff gets training when they start their job but to make them familiar with the new changes, the management might have considered arranging workshops, seminars and refresher courses for them. All this could improve the basic skills of the staff in dealing with the customers in the best possible way and improve the customer services standards as well. Down Sizing: It was one of the major aspects of bringing in changes in Kebabish. As discussed earlier, the increasing competition in the big cities and opening of more fast food restaurants could force Kebabish to close down some of the stores in big cities and open few more stores in small towns and cities. They might have considered in cutting down the number of employees in different stores and bringing in more full time staff rather than part time staff. New Products: Introducing new products could improve the company sales. This intervention helped them in introducing the Salad Plus in Kebabish. Customers want change all the times and if the companies keep on selling the same products all the times, it causes them a significant decrease in their sales. New Look Stores and Staff: People get attracted by a new and colorful venue. They management might have considered the improvement of their outlets and color schemes in the stores. The compulsory uniform for employees gives the company a team look and customers can easily understand who is who in the store.

Benefits and Limitation of Change Management Process


Change management process has both benefits and limitations. It would be a better idea to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Kebabish and then we can easily identify which changes will be required and are they beneficial and what are their limitations. Strengths Continuous advertising of products maintain customer interest. Employing ambitious people. Technology advancement Number of Outlet- Rapid outlet expansion in every town. Product development- New menu development such as Salad Plus and breakfast menu. Attractive toys for children in happy meals. Environmental friendly packing. Weaknesses Health concerns. The research on causes of obesity suggests that burgers and fried chips are not very healthy foods. lacks in meeting the communal demands of food suitability No menu options for patients such as no healthy foods for heart, hyper tension and diabetics patients.

The weaknesses suggest some compulsory changes in the way Kebabish works. The Changes brought into place were closing down of stores, use of new menu, Training of staff and use of new equipments. Introducing all these changes was a proactive action as well and bureaucratic action as well. Kebabish did not just respond to the changes but all these changes were well planned by the top level management. Most of the changes proved to be beneficial for Kebabish in a lot of ways but there are few limitations of these changes as well. The following benefits were seen by these changes.

Better confidence levels in staff and better productivity capability. Better customer satisfaction by training staff. Increased motivation levels in staff More choices for customers Healthier products for customers Better sales leading to better profits. Better investment options by closing low sales stores Better efficiency of stores.

There are few limitations of these changes as well Shattered confidence of staff due to close down of stores Learning levels of all staff are different Improper use of new equipments may result in poor quality food Lack of proper training levels may result in negative results New products may not necessarily gain customer attraction Closing down stores may not be the best decision

How Kebabish involved its stakeholders in change process


It would be a better idea to discuss briefly the problems existing with Kebabish that forced change there. The problems were as follows Greater Competition Consumers change of choice Health relate issues Evidence of cause of obesity Involvement of media to aware people about obesity-fast food relation

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Before starting any strategy we need to concentrate on the stakeholders in Kebabish and how any change strategy will affect them or how they can help in developing in any change strategy.

How Kebabish involved its stakeholders in change process


It would be a better idea to discuss briefly the problems existing with Kebabish that forced change there. The problems were as follows Greater Competition Consumers change of choice Health relate issues Evidence of cause of obesity Involvement of media to aware people about obesity-fast food relation

Before starting any strategy we need to concentrate on the stakeholders in Kebabish and how any change strategy will affect them or how they can help in developing in any change strategy.

Advantages and limitations of participative methods of change management


I will discuss the advantages and limitations of the participative methods of change management. The changes brought into place were training the staff, use of new equipments, introduction of new menu and closing down of stores. I will discuss their benefits and limitations one by one.

Benefits of Training
Increased Productivity: The staff training at Kebabish could help them in increasing their productivity. To start on the new equipments, they needed to train on them otherwise they could end up in spending more time. Hence training productivity and ultimately more profit. staff results in better

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Improved Quality: Kebabish could get an improved quality of products by training the staff. The better understanding of the environment and company goals is developed in the staff by training them so they become able to improve the quality of the products. Increased Efficiency: The staffs become efficient with training as their skills are improved. Increased Confidence: Given the knowledge to perform to their highest abilities, staff could gain in confidence, decreasing their reliance on others. Motivation: Investment in training is proved to increase motivation and confidence, leading to greater staff retention and lower recruitment costs. Compliance with Legislation: There are legal requirements covering health and safety, discrimination, etc which staff could be trained to meet.

Limitations of Training
Different attitudes: Every memebr has different attitude towards training. Some will consider it very important and some will think it waste of time. Hence 100% objectives of training the staff can not be achieved.

Company Budgets: Some times all the staff can not be trained due to training costs. If companies do not afford to train all the staff, the objectives of developing a team can not be achieved.

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Benefits of New Equipments


Better Products: The use of new equipments could help Kebabish in making better products in a quick time. It leads to better service times and better sales and customer satisfaction.

Healthier Products: Kebabish aimed to sell healthier products to its customers. The use of new equipments could help them in making low fat food which has healthier in nature.

Limitations of New Equipments


The desired results through the use of new equipments can not always be achieved as some times, they dont prove to be upto the desired standards. Some times the employees are unable to understand the use of such equipments fully and the efforts of producing better results go in vain.

Benefits of New Products


Change for Customers: The introduction of new food in the menu some times attracts the attention of customers and they get more choice in the selection of their food. Earliar the customers could go to other restaurants to buy the salads but with the introduction of new menu, the customers loyalty factor increases.

Limitations of New Products


The introduction of new menu demands a full training to the staff to cook it. If staff is unable to cook the food in the way it should be cooked, they desired

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results will not be achieved and there will be a risk of loosing the regular customers.

Benefits of Closing Stores


Better investment options: The close down of those Kebabish stores which were not giving better results helps them in investing their money at the better venues and give more attentioon to better stores. The management becomes able to manage the lesser number of stores in a better way. Lesser burden on management results in better results.

Limitations of Closing stores


Shattered confidence in employees: Closing down of stores may result in shattered confidence of employees in other stores. They may get under stress of loosing their jobs if the store shuts down. The best way to deal with this sort of situation could be offering jobs to the employees of those stores which were closed in other stores.

Might be a wrong Decision: Closing down a store can not always be a right decision at the first instance. The only situation in which it is appropriate is when other fast food stores in the areas are not doing good business as well. If other stores are doing better business then problems exist within the management stayle of that store and staff attitudes. The best idea in such situation is to change the management and bring in the better managers in place to run the outlets in an efficient way. Secondly, they could think to franchise the stores for some time. This way they can improve the performance of the stores and get better reults.

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References
A Practical Guide to Business Process Re-Engineering by Mike Robson, Philip Ullah Handbook of Organizational Culture & Climate by Neal M. Ashkanasy, Celeste Wilderom, Mark F. Peterson Restructuring the Professional Organisation by David Brock, Michael Powell, Christopher Robin Hinings Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam by Michael W. Newell The Winning Manager by Julius E. Eitington Handbook of Organizational Culture & Climate by A. Kilborn Organization Change by Wyatt Warner Burke Making Sense of Change Management by Esther Cameron, Mike Green Semper-Fi - Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way by Dan Carrison, Rod Walsh http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article2880.html last visited 15-07-09 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering last visited 2507-09

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