A Comparative Analysis of Marks and Spencer, Tesco, and Nike

Overview of Organisations

The two organizations that have been selected for this comparative analysis report are Marks and Spencer and Tesco. Marks and Spencer are one of the leading clothing retailers established in the UK in the year, which was founded in the year 1884. Some of the prominent products manufactured and marketed by the organization include clothes, furniture, food, gifts and many more (Mueni, 2014). The study indicates that there are more than 1400 retail outlets and store of Marks and Spencer in the UK, which make it one of the largest companies in the retail industry of the company. As far as several employees in Marks and Spencer are considered, the study indicates that the organization in employer to more than 80000 employees.

Similar to that of Mark and Spencer, Nike is another organization in the retail industry of the USA. The organization was established in the year 1964 and is known worldwide for its sports products, accessories, apparel, footwear and many others (Knight, 2016). The organization serves in multinational business markets and has launched several stores in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and many other places. In comparison to Marks and Spencer, the employee size of Nike is much similar, which is nearly 73000 employees worldwide.

It can be analysed from the above descriptions of the two companies that both have a supreme brand image in their business markets as well as adopts remarkable approaches for international expansion.

M1 Assess the different drivers for change in each of the given examples and the types of organizational change they have affected.

PEST analysis

P2 Evaluate how internal and external drivers of change affect leadership, team, and individual behaviours within an organization.

For exploring the external drivers to change for Tesco and Marks and Spencer, PEST analysis can be considered.

SWOT analysis

Change Drivers in Organizations and Their Impacts

There are many change drivers in Marks and Spencer and Nike, whose impacts are analysed in the following manner.

Change drivers in Nike: Leadership styles, which can be seen in Nike is democratic leadership style in which employees’ perceptions are considered by the leaders and managers while establishing growth strategies (Knight, 2016). The organization establishes a culture of great attention towards the emerging trends in the markets. These activities result in a change of strategies and approaches in Nike.

Change drivers in Marks and Spencer: Similar to Nike, Leadership style in Marks and Spencer is also democratic. The bottom-up approach is considered by the leaders in the organization while developing new strategies and implementing changes (Mueni, 2014). These approaches help make effective change management decisions, resulting into high productivity and profitability.

Critical evaluation of long-term implications of the drivers of change

Different drivers of change in Nike and Marks and Spencer have significant long-term effects, which are analysed below.

Democratic leadership style in Nike allows the leaders in the company to make effective decisions, which may result in long term productivity and provide business opportunities. It can be analysed that decisions taken through consultation with employees reduce the workplace resistance in the organization and allow the leaders to enhance operational efficiency (Pasmore et al., 2013). Change driver of organizational behaviour also pushes Nike to enhance the satisfaction of stakeholders, which lay the pathways for growth and development in different business markets.

Similar to that of Nike, the democratic leadership style also benefits the business of Marks and Spencer positively. The study indicates that due to this leadership style, leaders in the organization effectively manage the occurring changes. Not even this, but, they can also prepare the workforce to remain motivated and contribute maximum in vulnerable business conditions. The leaders in Marks and Spencer keenly focus on the long-term policies and productivity even by compensating short term gains (Barbara and Swailes, 2010). In addition to this, the study also indicates that changes, which are observed by the organization due to BREXIT, such as economic vulnerabilities, changes in regulation, and many more, are managed effectively due to efficient leadership. Behaviour of Marks and Spencer in its business markets is managed through several strategies and policies, which result in stakeholder satisfaction and growth.

D1 Draw conclusions and recommendations with valid justifications for planning effectively for change and applying change impact analysis

It can be concluded from the above report that there are many change drivers in internal as well as external business markets of the Nike and Marks and Spencer. The drivers corresponding to the external environment include political factors, economic factors, technological factors and many more. These change drivers have different effects on the productivity and business of Nike and Marks and Spencer. Further, upon making a comparative evaluation, it is found that the two organizations follow democratic leadership styles in which the leaders make decisions and formulate the strategies only after acquiring the perspectives of the employees. These change drivers have significant impacts on the productivity and excellence of both organisations.

P3 Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimize the negative impacts of change on organizational behaviour.

Recommendations

To manage the changes, models of change impact analysis can be considered by Nike and Marks and Spencer, which is explained below.

Change Impact Analysis

Under change impact analysis, the leaders in the both the company needs to evaluate the nature and cause of the changes. For example, the cause of the change for Marks and Spencer can be the BREXIT referendum. Similarly, there can be different causes of change for Nike. In addition to this, the leaders are also required to evaluate the potential areas and strategies of the organizations, which are likely to get affected (Cawsey et al., 2011). Further, based on these evaluations, new strategies can be formulated, or existing strategies could be improvised. There should be a keen focus of the leaders in Nike and Marks and Spencer to analyse the areas likely to get impacted by the emerging changes, which may help in analysing the ways to manage them tactfully.

The case study organization in this assignment is Marks and Spencer, which is a major clothing retailer in the UK. The organization has a vast range of products and operates in the UK as well as international business markets. It was found in part 1 of this assignment that there is the number of drivers in internal as well as external environment of Marks and Spencer, which are accountable for bringing changes in its strategies and policies. In addition to this, it was also found that change impact analysis can be greatly helpful for the organization in meeting the emerging changes and operating excellently in the business markets.

This part of the assignment is exploring other aspects of the change management and change leadership for Marks and Spencer. The assignment includes information on the barriers to the change management corresponding to the organization. Along with this, there is also a focus on evaluating the influences of these barriers on decision making. Further, there is force field analysis in the assignment which is followed by the course of actions to meet organizational objectives and some change management models.

P4 Explain different barriers to change and determine how they influence leadership decision-making in a given organizational context.

Barriers to change management

Some of the prominent barriers likely to be faced by the leaders in Marks and Spencer are analysed below.

It can be said that change implementation is highly affected by the attitudes of the employees and workers in Marks and Spencer. Approaches of non-coordination among tasks and operations by the employees may require the leaders to understand the perspectives of the team members and improvise their decision making as per the attitudes of the employees and teams (Achua and Lussier, 2015).

Compliance with the strategies is also a noticeable barrier that can be faced by Marks and Spencer while implementing the change. The study reveals that strategies and policies that are developed in an organization are required to meet the expectation and skill sets of the employees, failing which there can be situations of non-collaboration and many others. Such barriers can allow the leaders to develop plans as per the roles and skills of the available human workforce or hire new employees.

Resistance from the employees towards change in Marks and Spencer highly depends upon the differences in practices. If employees are made to exhibit entirely new practices, then the leaders in Marks and Spencer may face extreme resistance (Cameron and Green, 2015). For this reason, leaders may also be required to develop strategies for training and development of the employees for implementing new practices.

Influences on decision making for leaders

The barriers found above may influence the decision making of leaders in Marks and Spencer in the following way.

1. Different attitudes of the employees in Marks and Spencer may allow the leaders to restructure the organizational policies and strategies. It is found in several studies that employees are the functional unit of the organizations, Therefore, leaders in Marks and Spencer need to consider the attitude of the employees towards the strategies of change management before their implementation (Erdogan et al., 2015).

2. Strategies for managing the changes may bring differences in the scope of the objectives and operations in Marks and Spencer. Therefore, leaders may be required to take necessary actions to comply with the strategies with set objectives.

3. Employee resistance is one of the significant factors affecting decision making for change implementation. Positive outcomes and results of the change strategies entirely depend upon the working and affirmative behaviour of employees.

M3 Use force field analysis to analyse the driving and resisting forces and show how they influence decision-making

Force Field Analysis

Force field analysis can be carried out for analysing the changes in Marks and Spencer and influences in decision making.

Driving forces: these are the forces, which allow an organization to implement the changes easily at the workplace. For Marks and Spencer, some of the driving changes are innovative approaches for product development, consideration of employees’ perspective in strategy formulation and many others (Humphrey, 2013). It can be analysed that such approaches considered by the organization can allow it to change the practices with less hindrance from the employees’ end.

Restraining forces: These are certain forces, which make it difficult for organisations such as Marks and Spencer and many others to implement the changes in the workplace. Attitudes of the employees towards the new practices, compliance of the practices with values and core principles and many others are some of the prominent restraining forces for Marks and Spencer (Northouse, 2015).

This way, it can be analysed that there are certain restraining forces in Marks and Spencer which hamper with the implementation of changes. On the other hand, driving forces are accountable for favouring the implementation.

D2 Critically evaluate the use of force field analysis in the context of meeting organizational objectives.

The Course of Action Meeting Organizational Objectives

It can be analysed that leaders in Marks and Spencer are required to focus on managing changes for meeting the objectives. Since there are several barriers as well as restraining forces; therefore, the course of action for the organization can be the use of suitable change implementation and management models. There are several change models, which can be used for meeting the organizational objectives in Marks and Spencer (Barbara and Swailes, 2010). These change models may focus on describing the need to change, un-practicing the existing activities, implementing the changes and developing new habits for the employees. Some of the considerable change models for Marks and Spencer are explained below.

D3 Critically evaluate the effectiveness of leadership approaches and models of change management.

Leadership approaches and models of change management

Kurt Lewin model of change management

It is a change model that is helpful for the leaders in Marks and Spencer to implement the emerging changes and depict new practices at the workplace. Some of the prominent steps in the implementation of changes are:

Unfreezing: during this phase, leaders in Marks and Spencer may describe the benefits that can be acquired by employees, which change in practices. Along with this, leaders are required to prepare the employees by providing information regarding upcoming changes to reduce the issues and conflicts (Pasmore et al., 2013).

Change: this is the phase in which new practices are implemented, and strategies for change can be incorporated in Marks and Spencer.

Refreezing: During this phase of change implementation, new practices are required to be considered in the normal functioning of the employees (Humphrey, 2013).

M4 Evaluate the extent to which leadership approaches can deliver organizational change effectively, applying appropriate models and frameworks

Kotter’s 8 step model

Leaders in Marks and Spencer need to focus on 8 crucial steps of this model, which are explained below for implementing the changes.

Creation of urgency: Leaders in Marks and Spencer are required to identify the potential threats that may arise in the new future and create urgency for new practices and approaches. For example, a leader may identify the challenges that are currently being faced in the organization due to outdated policies (Northouse, 2015).

Building guiding teams: In this step of change implementation, leaders in Marks and Spencer are required to find the team heads, targeted stakeholders, and many other entities in the organizations that are susceptible to implementation of the emerging changes.

Development of vision: Leaders in Marks and Spencer need to determine the values and vision that can be achieved with the new approaches and practices. It should be focused that visions created for the change are clear and understandable.

Communicate for buy-in: During this step, change leaders in Marks and Spencer are required to communicate with the employees and convince them to adopt new approaches. Change leaders should also notice the acceptance and hindrance of the employees in the organization (Sørensen et al., 2011).

Empower actions: This step in the change model is comprised of removing the obstacles and empowering the actions. In Marks and Spencer, it can be done by developing the provisions for rewards and recognition for adopting the new approaches.

Creation of short-term wins: this is a crucial step in the implementation of changes in Marks and Spencer. Short term wins can be the immediate results after the depiction of the new approaches. Leaders are required to appraise the efforts made by the team and must create short term wins.

Don’t let up: This is the process of practicing in which the same approaches are required to be exhibited by the teams in Marks and Spencer. Leaders need to make the employees practice regularly the new approaches (Erdogan et al., 2015).

Stick to changes: At this stage, change can be implemented successfully in Marks and Spencer. Leaders should instruct the employees to stick to the new approaches and practice them every time in the future.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the above assignment that there are several barriers for the leaders in Marks and Spencer in implementing the changes. Some of these barriers may include resistive behaviours of the employees, their attitude, compliance of the new strategies and many more. As perforce field analysis, driving and restraining forces may allow the leaders in the organization to undergo a change process. For this purpose, Kurt Lewin’s change model and Kotter’s 8 step change model are considerable for Marks and Spencer.

References

Achua, C. and Lussier, R. (2015). Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development. United Kingdom: Cengage Learning.

Barbara, S. and Swailes, S. (2010) Organizational change. UK: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

Cameron, E. and Green, M. (2015) Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. United Kingdom: Kogan Page.

Cawsey, T.F., Deszca, G. and Ingols, C.A. (2011) Organizational change: An action-oriented Toolkit. United States: Sage Publications.

Erdogan, B., Bauer, T. and Truxillo, D. (2015).Psychology and work: Perspectives on industrial and organizational psychology. USA: Routledge.

Humphrey, R. (2013). Effective leadership: Theory, cases, and applications. Los Angeles, CA, United States: Sage Publications (CA).

Knight, P. (2016). Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike. USA: Simon and Schuster

Mueni, A. (2014). Internationalization strategy for Marks & Spencer. USA: GRIN Verlag

Northouse, P. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. United Kingdom: Sage Publications.

Pasmore, W.A., Woodman, R.W. and Shani, A.R.B. (2013) Research in organizational change and development. United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing.

Sørensen, O.H., Pejtersen, J.H. and Hasle, P. (2011) ‘Trust relations in management of change’, Scandinavian Journal of Management, 27(4), pp. 405–417.

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