The LEGO Group: Leading Organizational Change in Marketing Department

Overview of the Change Need 

The LEGO Group, arguably the most successful and profitable toy company in the world is in need of a critical change process in its marketing approach. As per modern entrepreneurial practice, marketing is expansive and involve several levels of the production process including development, manufacturing, supply chain management, and advertising. The change process necessary within LEGO revolves around its manufacturing processes, supply chain management, and also its advertising approach. According to Handley (2018), LEGO suffered reduced profits in the financial year 2017 because of a product glut that had to be cleared through a competitive pricing strategy. Normally, such a massive product glut can only be caused by a conjunction of bearing factors affecting mainly the manufacturing, supply chain, and advertising strategies (Anderson, Adams, & Adams, 2015) . The manufacturing strategy would be flawed in that it was overproduced, a fact that can also be attributed to a faulty supply chain strategy. On the other hand, the advertising strategy is not creating enough market to move the product that has been created. It is to solve the instant problem that LEGO needs to undergo a change process in its marketing department. 

Overview of the Change Process 

The change process necessary to solve the marketing need outlined above will require three different perspectives, which are closely related and to some extent intertwined. The first process involves the improvement of the supply chain management process to eliminate any propensity of a product glut. The improvement process will begin from the strategic planning level in establishing how much product is necessary at any particular moment in time (Anderson, Adams & Adams, 2015) . With LEGO being a global company, planning on how much to produce at what time is a complex balancing act that will require a lot of research. For example in America, demand may be higher at a time when demand is low in a place like India or Australia. 

After changes in strategy, the second area of change is manufacturing to ensure that enough product is manufactured at any moment in time, to prevent both gluts and scarcities. The supply chain management perspective still plays a role in this because of the availability of raw materials (Cummings & Worley, 2014) . The final component of change involves the promotional part of marketing and entails focusing on advertising and promotion of children, more than the parents and also focusing more on fun rather than utility. The instant change is based on the fact that children are currently playing a larger role in the king of toys that their parents and guardians get to buy for them. Focusing on attracting children is bound to attract more sales for the company. The combination of the three changes within the instant change process will eliminate the product glut problem as aforesaid. 

Organizational Change Action Plan 

Analysis of Individual Leader Actions 

Change process on any organization is extremely sensitive, complex, complicated and with a potential of either immense success or catastrophic failure. It is on this basis that self-awareness on the one hand and situational awareness on the other are critical during the change process. The self-awareness part is critical as the leader needs to evaluate the personal characteristics that would either positively or negatively affect the change process (Tjan, 2015). For example, almost all change processes will encounter resistance both inside and outside the organization. A lot of the resistance may not even be based on valid reasons, just the fear of the unknown. If the leader has a lot of charisma, it can be an effective tool in overcoming effective tool on fending off resistance, more so when it is not based on a factual basis. A leader who lacks charisma, for example, can make up for it with exceptional communication skills (Cummings & Worley, 2014) . Conversely, situational awareness entails having a good understanding of the organizational dynamics and how they will be affected by the change process as well as the outcomes of the change process. Whereas change is always inevitable, the timing of the change process and how it is carried out is critical to the change outcome. For example, December would be the worst possible year to commence a change process in a toy company whose primary market is the European Union and the USA. Such considerations are rampant in the internal and external environment of the organization hence demanding a refined and apt situational awareness. 

The management components of leadership are also critical during the change process, key among them being system awareness. In the instant change process, system awareness includes having an understanding of the elastic limit of the organization. Change processes entails applying a lot of pressure on the organization’s processes, and also its internal and external stakeholders (Cummings & Worley, 2014) . A good leader must understand at what point the pressure placed in the system would be too much hence leading to adverse ramifications. Of key concern in the instant change-process is how much pressure the members of staff can take and also how much pressure the supply chain system can take. A careful balancing act between enforcing change and avoiding the elastic limit of the organization must be maintained. 

Organizational Leadership Actions 

Communication 

Communication is the most important action in any change process and combines the content of the communication and the strategy of communication. Getting the right message for the change process is critical to the success of the change process. Among the key components of the change-message is ensuring that every stakeholder can see some benefit in the change process (Anderson, Adams, & Adams, 2015) . The communication strategy is also critical. A good communication strategy begins with a free-flow of information in both directions. The followers should never need to look for information during the change process as it should always be availed by the leader. Similarly, the followers should also be freely able to communicate what they feel to the leadership. 

Orientation and Training 

Orientation and Training is another critical component during the change process. As indicated above, change applies a lot of pressure on the workforce. Training enables the members of staff to develop the competence to deal with the obligations that come with the change process (Holten & Brenner, 2015) . Orientation, on the other hand, makes the members of staff an integral component to the change process thus enabling them to bear with the vagaries that come with the change process. The success of the monumental change process at LEGO will depend mainly on how effective training and orientation for the same will be. 

Monitoring and Evaluation 

Contingencies are an integral part of any massive project more so when it is as dynamic as a change process in a global corporation like LEGO, hence the need for proper and effective monitoring and evaluation. The most effective monitoring and evaluation process is the one that begins as early as the strategic planning phase. The change project planners must create allowances for evaluation and also for the necessary changes that might come as a consequence of the evaluation process (Holten & Brenner, 2015) . 

References 

Anderson, R. J., Adams, W. A., & Adams, B. (2015). Mastering leadership: An integrated framework for breakthrough performance and extraordinary business results . Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. 

Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014).  Organization development and change . Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning 

Handley, L. (2018, August 21). How marketing built Lego into the world's favorite toy brand. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/27/lego-marketing-strategy-made-it-world-favorite-toy-brand.html 

Holten, A. L., & Brenner, S. O. (2015). Leadership style and the process of organizational change.  Leadership & Organization Development Journal ,  36 (1), 2-16 

Tjan, A. (2015, February 11). 5 Ways to become more self-aware. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/02/5-ways-to-become-more-self-aware