HOW THE COVID-19

PANDEMIC WAS
MANAGED IN
SAINSBURY’S

Word count: 2516

Table of Contents

Introduction.......................................................................................................................2
Organisation change in general.........................................................................................3
Why is change needed?................................................................................................................3
Issues in the change management process...................................................................................4
How did Covid-19 pandemic was managed in Sainsbury’s..................................................5
Diagnosis of the Sainsbury’s.........................................................................................................7
How did the change processes influence staff?............................................................................8
More changes...............................................................................................................................9
Competition...............................................................................................................................10
Evaluation........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion........................................................................................................................11
References.......................................................................................................................12
Appendices......................................................................................................................14

1
Introduction
This report is about organisational changes, that Sainsbury’s had to implement due to Covid-
19 pandemic. The first part contains valid and general information about organisational
data, the needs of change in organisation and possible issues that can occur, while
implementing change in the organisation. The second part describes the specific analysis
and diagnosis of Sainsbury’s as organisation, the timeframe of changes. To support and
identify these topics, appropriate methods and frameworks were implemented. Afterwards,
I described more changes that were introduced to the public. At the end of this report, I
evaluated these changes and tried to compare Sainsbury’s performance with their last
year’s data.

2
Organisation change in general

Moran and Brightman (2001) defined organisational change or change management as the
process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure and capabilities to
serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers. Burnes (2004) stated that
’’Change is an ever-present feature of organisational life, both at an operational and strategic
level. Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importance to any organisation of its
ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how to manage the changes required
getting there. Consequently, organisational change cannot be separated from organisational
strategy, or vice versa’’.

For business in order to be successful, it needs to balance and support different elements such
as people, culture, critical tasks, strategy, etc. In preparation to create the environment for
effective change, organisations have to address five fundamental sets of questions. (Etzold,
Mueller, 2014)

1. Why do we want to change?

2. Should we focus on individual, group or system change?
3. Will there be resistance? How can we gain employee commitment? Are we ready for
change?
4. Who will manage the change process? Do we have a suitable set of skills?
5. What are the frequency and scale of these changes required in order for us to
survive?

Why is change needed?

There are many factors of organisational change. This last decade was heavily influenced by
technological development. Which gives many to many industries opportunities to grow and
become more efficient. In order to adapt, organisations have to change their core processes.
Another great driver would be government legislations and restrictions. For example, the
automotive industry has to change their strategic objectives, as the sale of purely internal
combustion engines vehicles are being banned from 2030 in the UK. Another reason would

3
be pressure from competitors, new entrants and acquisitions. In order to gain competitive
advantage, organisations need to undertake effective changes, which would increase or
maintain their power in the market.

Issues in the change management process

‘’Research shows that most change initiatives fail to get their intended outcomes and may
even limit an organisation’s potential and its people. The effects of not managing change
effectively can be devastating and long lasting, so it’s important that people professionals
understand the issues and equip themselves with techniques to support change
management initiatives’’. (Souza, 2020)

Effectiveness of any change initiative can be influenced by lack of training experience and
skills in planning management. Poor level leadership is also a known factor.

As stated previously, individual and group resistance is also a possibility, while introducing
change in organisation. This term can be defined as individual or group engage to interrupt
or sabotage the change itself. There are two types of resistance.

There can be resistance against the content of the change. This means that staff is against
the specific objective or goal. And the second type is resistance against the process of
change. The source of the resilience is not the outcome of the change, but the actual
strategy and planning of the change.

However, resistance is not always negative. As it can signalize to the management or

employer that strategy, which will be used for change needs to be re-evaluated before the
process starts. Management should identify the core nature of the resistance, as this will
improve their framework and structure of change.

4
How did Covid-19 pandemic was managed in Sainsbury’s

‘’The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our business since early March.
We have had three clear priorities throughout: keeping our customers and colleagues safe;
helping to feed the nation; and supporting our communities and the most vulnerable in
society’’ (Sainsbury’s, 2020). COVID-19 resulted in £485 millions of direct incremental retail
costs.

Sainsbury’s reacted rapidly to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. To identify the
timeframe and structure of changes, the ‘’Eight-Stage Process of creating Major Change’’
method is used.

The Eight-Stage Process of creating Major Change was developed by Kotler (1995). It
contains 8 major steps, towards successful change. In order to be effective, the method
designed to alter strategies, reengineer processes, or improve quality must address these
barriers and address them well.

1. Stage is to establish a sense of urgency. Sainsbury’s identified Covid-19 crisis in late

February, after analysing the results of measures put in place in other countries to
deal with the threat.
2. Stage is creating the guiding coalition. Sainsbury’s mobilised their Incident Response
team, and Senior Director was promoted to the leading position.

3. Stage is developing a vision and strategy. The main goal for the Incident Response
team was simple. To keep customers and employees safe and keep track of new
government regulations. For example, the Incident Response team created a
shopping hour exclusively for the elderly and vulnerable.

4. Stage contains communication of the change vision. Communication was the key
aspect to respond to this crisis. Daily calls were made between internal and external

5
 affairs teams, health and safety department, Human Resources, and legal advisers.
The main reason for this wide spectre of communication between these
departments was to ensure that the decision-making was well-organised and timed
appropriately. Customers were also updated regularly by emails, updating them
about changes connected with shopping practices in stores and online. Response
team also engaged with Government and industry bodies on a regular basis and
helped to lead, develop and coordinate the grocery industry’s response to the crisis.

5. Stage is set to empower broad-based action. The frequent communication with

Operating Board, was ensuring fast decision-making and generating and evaluating
strategies that were undertaken. Sainsbury’s also maintained a disciplined approach
to governance and decision-making. Also continued to adhere to their crisis
management protocols and ensured that they can respond and adapt to the
changing needs of customers.

6. Stage acknowledges short-term wins. Sainsbury’s recognised the short-term actions

and shifted from the respond phase to the recovery stage. This recovery stage was
set to create a new plan that would influence and change all areas of their
organisation. One of the main concerns of the recovery stage is the supply chain. As
the restrictions and disruption of many European countries are set and influenced by
local governments. Also, the UK suppliers faced the decrease in the labour market. In
order to support their suppliers, Sainsbury’s offered to pay small suppliers
immediately and helped them with their cash-flow.

7. Stage consolidates gains and produces more change. The Human Resource
department redeployed employees from other areas of the business and recruited
additional temporary and permanent staff to address labour shortage in various
locations.

8. Stage anchoring new approaches in the culture. When the Covid-19 pandemic
passes, the economy and retail industry in general will shift to the ‘normal’ phase.
This will bring new challenges and opportunities, as the customer’s approach to

6
 access products is uncertain. Sainsbury’s investments over the past five years are
supposed to make them the multi brand and by increasing integrated operation
model, gives them platforms to serve their customers now and in the future.

Diagnosis of the Sainsbury’s

Before implementing any changes, managers have to diagnose the organisation. To analyse
Sainsbury’s internal alignment, I used Pascale and Atho’s (1981) 7S model.

This model focuses on seven elements of organisations that are seen to make a significant
role in organisational effectiveness. The strategy does not make obvious references to final
results or to an external environment. The 7S framework points to variety of useful
diagnostic questions: (Hayes, 2018)

Strategy. The purpose of Sainsbury’s is to be the most trusted retailer, where people love to
work and shop. Their goal is to make their customer’s lives easier every day by offering great
quality and service at a fair price.
1) Structure. Sainsbury’s main activity is selling groceries, however they expanded their
portfolio and created multi-brand and multi-channel. Offering various products and
services and creating sub-brands such as Sainsbury’s Bank, Sainsbury’s Home, Argos,
etc.

2) Systems. Sainsbury’s developed many technical systems, which are not only helpful
to their customers however, also to increase overall performance and improve time
management and processes. One of the most recent innovations is a virtual queuing
app.

3) Staff. At the end of 2020, Sainsbury’s had around 171 400 employees. Employing
various types of staff members. Low-skilled workers, who are for example working in
warehouses, mid-skilled workers, such as cashiers and high skilled workers, such as
logistics department. The Human Resource department also created specific

7
 departments, which are focusing on the skill gaps and other possible new roles
within specific locations. To insure, that full potential of that location is fulfilled.

4) Style. Sainsbury’s uses mostly leadership style and is able to include and engage its
staff members in decision-making processes and managerial decisions. Due to
regular surveys, the feedback that is collecting serves to improve the working
environment. Sainsbury’s have teams, which are dedicated to achieving strategic
objectives, complete tasks, support people within organisation, predict and solve
threats.

5) Shared Values. ‘’Our values are integral to how we do business, and they enable us
to help our customers to live well, and drive lasting, positive change in communities
across the UK and overseas. They help us grow trust with our stakeholders, as we
work closely with our partners to build a more sustainable future” (CEO Couple,
2019). Other values that Sainsbury’s include are trust, heritage, quality, creativity,
honesty, transparency and accountability.

6) Skills. Sainsbury’s selection process includes high standards, as candidates are

chosen their merit, qualifications, and also potential of career growth. The training
and development are always available for any employee, as management attention
to the skills and capabilities of its staff members. The focus is not just at the
professional growth of their employees, but also at their personal growth. Tasks are
being divided between staff members according to their skills, capabilities and
training.

How did the change processes influence staff?

The biggest change created due to Covid-19 pandemic that influenced staff members was the
labour shortage. There was a new policy, which decreased the work hour for employees, who
are vulnerable or live with extremely vulnerable people. Offering them up to 12 week’s paid
leave. Policies were changed, to support employees such as paid leave also for staff members,
who were feeling sick or isolating. Major changes were implemented and added into the

8
recognition programmes, to acknowledge the effort. Management also focused on supporting
the physical and mental well-being of employees, including remote working guides, webinars
tips and guides. To gain more staff insights, Sainsbury’s invested into ‘Yammer’, an online
colleague survey, to receive valuable feedback and improve future changes and policies.
To ensure that employees understand changes, management communicated frequently
transparently. Also, additional resources and guidance were available.

More changes

One of the most significant changes for Sainsbury’s financial growth and competitive
advantage was the delay of store investments, which were scheduled for 2020/2021. These
changes were supposed to drive sales and profit by providing new propositions, new ranges
and improved shopping experience. Another delay included a large programme of systematic
and digital development, which were expected to deliver a greater customer experience and
efficiency benefits. The crucial decision and change were also closing all 420 Argos outlets.

Online deliveries are a new trend of the Covid-19 shopping ‘’experience’’ and Sainsbury’s
quickly offered this type of service to their customers. Giving priority to all vulnerable people
and NHS workers.

Sainsbury’s dedicated a special shopping hour for elderly, disabled customers, their carers
and vulnerable people in all of their stores. Also, Sainsbury’s allowed all NHS and social
workers to shop 30 minutes before the official opening of the store.

As the first wave of the pandemic hit the UK, one of the most noticeable issues that everyday
person faced, was shortage of some essential products. To solve this problem, Sainsbury’s
limited the number of groceries that customers could purchase. More specifically, customers
could only purchase a maximum of three of any grocery products and a maximum of two
popular products, such as toilet paper.

In order to create more space in warehouses and use lorry capacity more effectively,
Sainsbury’s decided to close all of the cafes, pizza, fish and meat counters. In all of the

9
stores. This change also created more space in stores, and more essential products could be
purchased by customers.

Introduction of the new volunteering gift cards and online vouchers were meant to help
people to shop for others.

In September, Sainsbury’s created a partnership with Uber Eats and Deliveroo, to support
their deliveries and boost their brand awareness.

Competition

Competitor benchmarking survey by Lettuce Know revealed that Sainsbury’s are leading the
customer’s satisfaction survey, compared with Tesco, Asda and Morrison. See appendix 1.

Nielsen panel data showed that Sainsbury’s are second in online market share. See appendix
2.

Evaluation

To evaluate if Sainsbury’s adapted to Covid-19 successfully, the first thing I would like to
show are their new financial statement, which include the 52 weeks, ended 6 th March 2021
and compare it to the last year’s performance.

Firstly, the Group’s revenue (excluding VAT) increased by 0,2% since 2019/20, however it is
not the biggest change. Clearly, the best change that Sainsbury’s could implement that early
is online shopping and delivery service. Their digital sales are estimated at £12.1bn, which is
a 102% increase, compared to 2019/20.
One of the issues that were reported by BBC (2020), is that Sainsbury’s did cut more than
3500 jobs. Later, after this announcement, Sainsbury’s started to recruit new part-time and
full-time employees, to fill the gaps. As there is no more information available, they could
possibly offer these roles to their (ex)current employees, even if that meant re-location or
additional training.

10
Conclusion

Sainsbury’s as organisation performed well, mostly because they were able to continue their
business operations and compared to other industries, the government regulations and
restrictions did not affect them as much. Such as the travel industry. Another strength was a
customer base and high demand for their products and services. They were able to identify
Covid as a threat before it hit the UK. This gave them time to form a Response group, which
were managing all of the changes and communication between all parts of the business.
However, as the pandemic is still not over, it is difficult to estimate the final impact and
performance of any business. Another limitation is a literature and overall material that can
support the change practises, as the most recent crisis that is kind of similar to Covid-19
pandemic was the 2007 financial crisis.

11
References

- Burnes, B., 2004. Managing change: A strategic approach to organisational

dynamics. Pearson Education.

- Burnes, B., 2004. Managing change: A strategic approach to organisational

dynamics. Pearson Education.

- By, R.T., 2005. Organisational change management: A critical review. Journal of

change management, 5(4), pp.369-380.

- Fusch, G.E., Ness, L.R., Booker, J.M. and Fusch, P., 2020. People and Process:
Successful Change Management Initiatives. Journal of Social Change, 12(1), p.13.

- Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.

- Hughes, M., 2010. Managing change: A critical perspective. Kogan Page Publishers.

- J Sainsbury plc, (2020) Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020. London: J
Sainsbury plc

- J Sainsbury plc, (2021) Preliminary Results Announcement 2020-21. London: J

Sainsbury plc

- Kotter, J.P., 2012. Leading change. Harvard business press.

- Moran, J.W. and Brightman, B.K., 2001. Leading organizational change. Career

development international, 6(2), pp.111-119.

12
 - Müller, Urs and Veit Etzold (2014). “Minimal change can be best option: Why Berlin
snack bar resisted change.“ In Managing change, 6th ed. ed. Bernard Burnes, 301–
302. Harlow: Pearson Education. 

- Müller, Urs and Veit Etzold (2014). “Minimal change can be best option: Why Berlin
snack bar resisted change.“ In Managing change, 6th ed. ed. Bernard Burnes, 301–
302. Harlow: Pearson Education.

- Pascale, R.T. and Athos, A.G., 1981. The Art of Japanese Manage-rent.

- Shepherd, D. (2020) 14 major Sainsbury's changes and what else to expect in

lockdown, SomersetLive. Available at: https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/uk-
world-news/sainsburys-changes-shopping-lockdown-coronavirus-4042381
(Accessed: 20 May 2021).

- Simpson, E. 2020 Sainsbury's to cut 3,500 jobs and close 420 Argos stores. Available
at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54818644 (Accessed: 19 May 2021).

- Souza, D., 2020 Change management, CIPD. Available at:

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/change/management-factsheet
(Accessed: 25 May 2021).

13
Appendices
Appendix 1.

(Lettuce Know, 2021)

14
Appendix 2.

(Nielsen panel data, 2021)

15