Introduction
Change is necessary for organizational success and survival. The rapid changes in the external and internal environment force organizations to be flexible ad adaptable. Cummings & Worley (2013) define the concept of organizational development (OD) as the changes in strategy, structure, and or processes of an entire system. Businesses engage in different forms of OD to remain competitive. Like organizational development, change management is also concerned with the effective implementation of planned change. Organizations have to evaluate their processes, methods, structure, strategy, and attitudes for survival. Organizations that fail to implement the necessary changes in time are more likely to go out of market or existence. Chapter 6 of the course textbook explores the importance of diagnostic information in the change process. The quality of information will influence the organizational development process; thus, organizations have to invest in collecting and analyzing diagnostic data.
Problem Identity
The organization in question is Darcy Apparel*. The organization specializes in high-end ladies’ clothing. The organization was formed in 2003, and it became an instant success among working ladies. Consequently, three other branches were opened in other locations in the city. The company has been enjoying good revenue and profits since it was formed. However, the last two years have been challenging. Sales have declined, and the two branches are doing poorly such that the company is on the verge of closing down one of the branches. Many competitors have entered the market, offering cheaper and trendy options through traditional and online stores.
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The organization has to change its approach to become adaptive to the changes in the retail industry. The company is not attracting new clients, especially young clients who prefer shopping in the comfort of their homes rather than going to traditional stores. The CEO is considering closing down the two poorly performing branches and venturing into online retail to support sales in the remaining branches. He is suggesting that the company should market an affordable and trendy product line in the online store to attract younger customers.
According to Cummings & Worley (2013), information technology is redefining the traditional business model. It is changing work processes, how knowledge is used, and the cost of doing business. Information technology is the heart of emerging e-commerce strategies. Traditional retail companies are now utilizing information technology to simplify the sale processes, attract young customers, and as a response to increasing competition from traditional and online retailers. In chapter 5, Cummings & Worley (2013, p.89) introduce the concept of diagnosis as understanding how an organization is currently functioning to provide the necessary information to facilitate the change process. The diagnosis involves collecting internal and external data to conclude the current performance and potential for change. The organization was struggling with decreasing revenue in two stores, and a diagnosis will unearth the real causes of the problem.
A diagnostic model that was used by the organization to identify the causes of the decreasing revenue is the open system’s model. The open systems acknowledge that businesses exist in the context of a broader environment that affects how organizations operate. The general environment is made up of all the external forces that directly or indirectly affect an organization, such as the social, technological, economic, and political factors (Cummings & Worley, 2013 p. 98). The external forces present challenges and opportunities. For example, increasing competition is a sign that the economy is growing, and it supports the development of new businesses. Alternatively, technological innovations are opportunities for businesses to reach out to customers in an effective way while reducing the cost of operations. The open systems model explains the state of the organization and presents solutions.
Change Process
In chapter 2, Cummings & Worley (2013, p. 3) explore the three different models of planned change. The three models show that change occurs in sequential stages. Lewin’s three-step model is made up of the three steps of unfreezing, movement, and refreezing. The three-step model is often used to explain the adoption of information technologies ( Piotrowicz & Cuthbertson, 2014 ). However, the action research model is made up of 8 steps showing that planned change is a cyclical process whereby the initial research about the organization will provide the information to guide subsequent action. The action-research model is detailed, and it encourages collaboration among organization members. The model places a lot of emphasis on data gathering and diagnosis before action planning.
Therefore, before a traditional retail organization can adopt new technologies, it is crucial to gather all the information about how the technology will affect processes, employees, and sales. Inman & Nikolova (2017) state that continual innovation and new technology are essential in creating a sustainable competitive advantage in retail. Shopper-facing technology increase revenues while decreasing costs. Inman & Nikolova (2017) analyze the importance of new shopper-facing technology to identify their benefits. They conclude that technologies help retailers attract new shoppers, increase share volume from existing customers and extract greater consumer surplus or decrease costs by offloading labor to shoppers (Inman & Nikolova, 2017 p. 23).
The change process, or rather, the implementation of retail technology in an organization, occurs in a complex environment. According to Pantano & Viassone (2015), implementing retail technology requires financial investment, staff training, and proper communication with the customers to bring them on board. The organization requires an action plan for implementing retail technology.
Cummings & Worley (2013) summarize the change process into the four steps of identification, convention, organization, and evaluation. Therefore, when implementing retail technology, the organization has to identify the relevant groups of people who need to be involved in the change program. Pantano & Viassone (2015) propose proper training of staff and bringing everyone on board with the change process. The organization has to take time to engage with all the stakeholders that will be involved in the change process. The organization has to address issues of disconnection between departments such that everyone will approach the problem-solving process positively. The second stage of the convention is about bringing together people or departments to organize the change process. In implementing the retail technology, managers have to come together with sales, accounting, and human resource and production teams to identify how to implement the change. Managers have to discuss the issues of coordination, division of labor, and the introduction of new products. The second stage requires adequate communication and training to ensure that everyone is aware of their role.
The third step of the organization entails the creation of new mechanisms within the structure to sustain newly acquired interactions among employees and departments. Organizational changes such as the adoption of new retail technology require new communication channels, appropriate plans and policies, and new processes. The third step ensures that all the newly acquired required interactions and processes are maintained to sustain change. The last step in the planned change process is evaluation. Evaluation is the final step where the organization assesses the outcomes of the change. The organization evaluates change against the set objectives to analyze whether it solved the problem or whether the organization should make adjustments to the change process.
Force Field Analysis
Force field analysis a method of quantitative data analysis derived from Kurt Lewin’s three-step model of change. The model organizes information about organizational change into two categories of forces for change and forces resisting change. The data collected from interviews and unobtrusive measures can be used to create a list of the forces that promote change and forces that resist change. The organization has to identify the forces that are against change so that it can address these forces to facilitate change.
The adoption of retail technology is a significant change in traditional stores. Online retail technology will bring significant changes to the organizational structure and processes within the organization (Alford & Page, 2015). Employees are used to clients walking into the stores while online retail implies that clients will shop at the comfort of their homes while employees will process and send the orders.
The forces that support the adoption of retail technology include: cost savings, response to competition, need to streamline processes through automation, and a response to the changes in the external environment. The company revenue has reduced drastically in the last two years among the two branches. By closing down the branches in favor of an online retail store, the company will save on cost. Another force for change is that the adoption of retail technology is a response to competition (Atkin et al., 2014). The organization is facing stiff competition from traditional and online retail stores. Online retail stores are popular among young customers that prefer to shop in the comfort of their homes. Online retail stores reach out to many consumers regardless of their location, and this will give the business a competitive advantage. Online retail is a response to the change in the external environment. Modern consumers are accustomed to modern technology, and businesses have to incorporate these changes too.
The adoption of retail technology is a challenge to traditional retailers. While retail technology is beneficial to a business, it changes the processes and systems in place. New technology comes with the need for training, and sometimes staff members might not be on board with technology. Employees might resent change because it changes how things are done, while others might be worried that technology is taking over their jobs. Retail technology is also costly, and this is a force against change.
References
Alford, P., & Page, S. J. (2015). Marketing technology for adoption by small business. The Service Industries Journal , 35 (11-12), 655-669.
Atkin, D., Chaudhry, A., Chaudry, S., Khandelwal, A. K., & Verhoogen, E. (2017). Organizational barriers to technology adoption: Evidence from soccer-ball producers in Pakistan. The Quarterly Journal of Economics , 132 (3), 1101-1164.
Cummings, T., & Worley, C. (2013). Organizational Development & Change. Cengage Learning.
Inman, J. J., & Nikolova, H. (2017). Shopper-facing retail technology: a retailer adoption decision framework incorporating shopper attitudes and privacy concerns. Journal of Retailing , 93 (1), 7-28.
Pantano, E., & Viassone, M. (2015). Engaging consumers on new integrated multichannel retail settings: Challenges for retailers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services , 25 , 106- 114.
Piotrowicz, W., & Cuthbertson, R. (2014). Introduction to the special issue information technology in retail: Toward omnichannel retailing. International Journal of Electronic Commerce , 18 (4), 5-16.
