A.S.

Watson 1

A.S. Watson

Name

Institution

Course

Instructor

Date of Submission
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Introduction

Theories Related to Organizational Change and Leadership

For an organization to achieve its long term objectives it is required to take some practical steps.

Organizational change in a firm is very important for it to realize its business and long term-term

success. It has an important role in the achievement of the success of the organization (Chumg,

Seaton, Cooke and Ding, 2016). On the other hand, leadership refers to the act of influencing a

group of people or organizations to achieve a certain objective. Leadership has a critical role in

the achievement of the success of the organization by helping the firm to take the practical step

required for the success of the firm. Leadership helps to develop the desired form of the

organization and steps to be taken to achieve those objectives (Chumg, Seaton, Cooke and Ding,

2016). The biggest inquiry is the sought of leadership that is required to achieve organizational

change. The following is a summary of some of the theories in organizational change and

leadership.

Theories of Organizational Change

Lewis Theory of Change

The theory defines behavior as the balance of factors that operate in different directions. There

are three elements to change that include restraint forces, equilibrium, and driving force. The

driving change is that element that leads to the occurrence of change (Storesletten, Zhao and

Zilibotti, 2019). Those forces enhance change because they push the organization in a wanted

direction. They lead to alternation from the equilibrium point. The restraining factors are those

elements that prevent driving power. Those factors prevent change because of their push the

organization in a different direction (Storesletten, Zhao and Zilibotti, 2019). Those elements lead
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to a shift in equilibrium that causes change. The equilibrium in a situation where the driving

element is equal to restraining elements.

According to the theory, there are three stages in organizational change that include unfreezing,

change and refreezing (Storesletten, Zhao and Zilibotti, 2019). The unfreezing is the point when

the organization manages to make people let go of the old pattern that was ineffective. The

change stage involves a change in the thoughts, behavior, and feelings of the people in the

organization. In the refreezing stage, the change is developed as the new habit now it is the

standard way of operation. For the firm to effectively implement the organizational change it

needs to have an equilibrium point.

System Theory

The system theory is an interdisciplinary theory that gives the association between various

systems in science, society, and nature (Liu, Yang, Xie and Forrest, 2016). It is applied in the

description of a group of objects that are integrated together to achieve a certain objective. In

system, the theory is applied to explain how different departments and stakeholders work

together to achieve organizational change that leads to success in the firm.

Organization Development

Organizational development refers to the process of enabling an enterprise to grow by an

improvement in power, leadership, job design and control (Burke and Noumair, 2015). The three

main subsections of organization development include organizational climate, organizational

culture, and organizational strategy. Organizational culture refers to the mode of enterprises due

to the beliefs and attitudes of the organization (Burke and Noumair, 2015). The mood of the

workers has a huge effect on their motivation, satisfaction, and output. Organizational culture
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refers to the values, norms, and conduct of the workers while organizational strategies refer to

the core of the development process that enhances change. For a firm to achieve organizational

change it needs to balance each subsection of organizational development.

Complexity Theory

Complexity theory is an interdisciplinary theory that is derived from system theory. According to

the theory, enterprises are complex adaptive system systems that have the principle of CAS that

comprises of emergence, self-organization, complexity, chaos, independence, self-similarity and

co-evolution (Battiston et al. 2016). It has two constraining elements that include a chaotic

system and order. In the ordered system the agents are limited by the rules of the system while in

the chaotic system the agents are limited by other factors. The agent and system co-evolve with

each other, the system affects the behavior of the agent but the agent fixed the system. The self-

organizing is important to explain the adaption of firms (Battiston et al. 2016). In organization

change, the complex theory can be applied to explain the adaption of firms to change.

Leadership Theory

Great Man Theory

The great man theory indicates that leaders are born with the right characteristics to lead. Those

characteristics include confidence, intellect, charisma, social skills and communication skills

(Meuser, 2016). The theory indicates that leadership ability is inherited. Theory indicates that

best leaders are born and not made.

Trait Theory
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Trait theory is similar to leadership theory, it is created on the feature of various leaders. It is

applied in the prediction of effective leadership (Meuser, 2016). There is a comparison of the

characteristics of the possible leaders to determine their chances to lead.

Contingency Theory

The contingency theory outlines the various variables in a place that determines the kind of

leadership that is most effective for the given situation (Meuser, 2016). It works on the idea that

not a single leadership style that is suited for all events. It is believed that the best kind of

leadership is the one that gets the balance between needs, context and conduct. Good leadership

have the right quality and are able to determine the needs of their followers.

Situational Theory

The situation theory of leadership indicates that they are no single style of leadership that

supersede others (Meuser, 2016). The theory indicates that leadership is dependent on the present

situation. The leader should always correspond to their leadership in a particular situation.

The objective of the Assignment

A.S Watson Group is the first retail enterprise to realize the importance of middle class and

developed products to fit their needs. However, that move cannot be sustainable because its

rivals are able to copy them. The advantage of the enterprise is dependent on its ability to

continuously develop innovative products and services that respond to the market needs of the

customers. For the firm to effectively change it has to develop an effective organizational change

that will respond to the needs of the market. The objective of the current analysis is to evaluate

the organizational behavior models that have been empowered by A.S Watson Group. It will also
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identify the factors that have led to market changes in the firm and their impact on the output of

the organization.

Content and Analysis

The Factors that have Triggered Change for A.S Watson Group

There are various factors that have led to change at A.S Watson Group. The first factor that has

led to change is the increased use of the internet by consumers. It is estimated that about 70% of

the consumer get information about the product they wish to purchase from the internet. In

addition, there is a high proportion of online shopping by consumers mostly due to convincing

brought by that method of shopping. Consumers are able to make an order for the products they

like and are delivered to their doorstep. Increase use of the internet by consumers has led to a rise

in the online presence by A.S Watson group. The group has employed various online advertising

methods that target online users.

The second factor that has made A.S Watson change is due to the regulatory environment. The

regulation that affects the group includes the restriction on the use of plastic bags. Compliance

with labor law and regulations on financial reporting and audit. The group has put in various

measures to ensure that it complies with various regulations. There is a high need for sustainable

environmental practices. Those practices determine the supplier and the product the firm

procurers. The sustainable environmental practice has also made the firm change its relationship

with customers as it tries to make increase awareness.

The third factor that has led to change in A.S Watson is the change of customer preference. In

the recent past, it has been observed that there was a rise in demand for beauty-related products.

The change is mostly attributed to changes in the lifestyle of the consumers that make them more
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sensitive to their looks. That change led to a partnership with beauty companies and the

establishment of the perfume shop in the UK, the move aims at servicing the customer’s needs.

The firm has also established other items like catering services as the need for ready-made food

increases. It is safe to say that about 70% of the changes in A.S Watson have been led by the

demand of the consumers.

The fourth factor that led to changes in A.S Watson is globalization. The group has established

its presence in almost every part of the world mostly in Asia and Europe. It has been possible

due to increase internet access that makes it easy to coordinate activities. Globalization is now a

common trend by many firms as they try to gain a competitive advantage and a higher market

share. It has also led to competition that have increase innovation by the multinational

corporations.

Change Implement by A.S Watson Group

A.s Watson group has put in place various changes on its system, operations, and relationship

with its stakeholders. The group has increased the digital market to increase connectivity with

customers in the world. The enterprise has committed to invest HKD1 billion from 2012 to 2020

to transform the enterprise digitally. The group hopes to link the offline with the online market.

The firm has been able to build connectivity of customers that enable it to deliver on its promise.

The firm has now grown its potential to serve 2.4 billion people across the globe from its stores

that are 32% of the global population. Those number indicates that the firm is successful in its

digital marketing efforts.

They have observed that connection between online and offline customers helps to increase sales

volume. It observes that those customers spend two to three times higher than online-only or
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store-only customers. The customer that makes order online and picks it in a store there is a

possibility of 20% to 30 % of that customer picking something extra in the store. Currently, the

customers of the group can pick their orders from 10500 outlets within half an hour in some

markets and the firm is still working to increase this capacity. The firm has also transformed

from just offering products to its customers to giving them a good time, good moments and fun

using integrated offline and online platforms.

The firm has also invested in innovative advancements to help invest in the experience of the

customers. The technologies are suited to the needs of the customers. Initially, the firm depended

on manufacture to tell them about the current trends. However, currently, the firm uses its social

media platform that connects to more than 80 million users to determine needs in the market.

Those measures seem to be successful because the firm has accumulated 4300 terabytes of data

within the last three years. The data gives the group a wealth of information to use as it tries to

predict customer behavior.

A.S. Watson, Yonghui Tencent, and a technology company have joined to restructure the sale of

groceries in Guangdong, China. The firm will join to have a network of more than 70 stores and

2.2 million loyal clients. The main aim of the partnership to combine the complementary ability

of each firm and enable growth. The combination of Tencent in the partnership will ensure the

use of technology and big data analysis. It is hoped that the partnership will make the enterprises

the biggest grocery retailer in the region. The group has also organized for an event that aims at

raising money for the vulnerable like the event was organized by Watson Thailand to raise

money for women. Such an event increases the popularity and acceptance of the firm in the

industry which is evident by the 500th branch of Watson Thailand.

Two Changes and Two Leadership Theories to use

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Organizational change is very important for the firm to respond to changes in the market for it to

remain competitive. The two changes that are required in the firm is its customer's relation and

relationship with its supplier. Customer relation is important for the firm to ensure that it remains

competitive in the market. Responding to the needs of the customer helps to ensure that they are

satisfied with the services offered by the firm. The group will retain more customers that will

lead to higher sales volume for the enterprise.

The other change that is required by the enterprise is a change in the relationship with its

supplier. For the firm, it requires its cost of operation it will need to employ a just in time method

of delivering its inventory. The model will ensure that the firm does not incur handling costs. In

addition, the firm will not have the issue with an expired product because everything that is

delivery will be sold. For such a model to work effectively good relationships with the suppliers

will be needed. The firm should ensure that they pay suppliers on time to ensure that they are

happy to supply to them.

The theories that will be used in the firm are the contingency theory and the situational theory.

The contingency theory indicates that there is no leadership style that is suited for a particular

event. The firm will determine the leadership style to use according to the situation and the needs

at hand. The situation theory is also similar to the contingency theory that there is no leadership

style that is better than the other. The situation determines the leadership style to use. The firm

will not use any particular leadership but all combine the leadership that works for them to

implement the purposed changes in the operations of the enterprise.

Communication Strategy to be used

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In an organizational change is inventible for the firm to remain competitive in the market. The

firm may be required for new marketing methods, new product brands or a new method of

production. However, the method of communication is very important to ensure that there is

effective communication. When change is inevitable the best communication strategy is to create

momentum. Creating momentum as a communication strategy is when one wants to overcome

resistance. The team should realize that change is no choice. It should be made known to them

that they are the ones to determine how to react to the change. Once the team has momentum

adjusting them to change is now easy.

The main advantage of creating momentum is overcoming resistance. It is because the workers

are made aware of the change first. The involvement of the workers in the decision-making

process makes them support the decisions made by the organization. The advantage of using the

momentum creation method is to rise and convince of the strategy. The method is straight

forward and directly indicates its objective to the workers without any hidden agent. Due to the

straight forward characteristics of the strategy, the workers trust the process and the firm.

The main shortcoming of using creating momentum as a communication strategy is because the

method is timely communication. The organization will have to explain to the workers about the

change and will want the ideas to sink in the heads of the worker. For this to take place it will

take time. The second disadvantage is the cost associated with the process management will have

to spend on awareness creation. It will also incur the cost of a trainer if it was to use outsiders to

create momentum.

Conclusion
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Organizational change is very important for a firm to remain competitive in the market. It is

because it helps to respond to changes in the market. Responding to changes in the market

ensures that the firm is sensitive to the needs of the customers. Leadership is important because it

helps to drive organizational change to the most effective way in the market. There are various

theories of organizational change that include Lewis theory, development theory, complex

theory, and system theory. The main theme of the theories is that change is part of the

development of an organization. Therefore the organization that wants to develop and remain in

the market must embrace change. On the other hand, the leadership theory that was evaluated

includes contingency theory, great man theory, trait theory, and situation theory. The leadership

theories are helpful in finding a guiding organizational change for the firm.

The main objective of the assignment was to determine the organizational change at A.S Watson

and the factors that influence them. The main driving factor for change at A.S Watson was

increased internet use, change in customer needs, changes in the regulatory environment and

changes in the relationship with customers. A.S Watson has implemented various changes, it has

increased its digital marketing, it has increased its social responsibility initiative and has also

increased the allocation of resources into customer reach. The two changes that be implemented

in the organization is an improvement in customer relation and supplier. Customer relationships

will ensure their satisfaction that will give the firm a competitive advantage. The supplier

relation will give the firm the ability to reduce costs by using the just in time method of

production. The two leadership theories that will be used to implement that change are the

contingency theory and situational theory. Creating momentum will be the communication

strategy that will be employed in the organization. The communication strategy helps to ensure

that there is no resistance from the workers of the firm.

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References

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