OL 663 Transcript for Driving Forces

[00:00:00.350] John Mitchell: Hi, everyone, it’s John Mitchell. And in today’s video, we’re going to look
at driving forces. So if you remember from our previous video, we looked at Lewin’s Force Field Analysis,
which identifies and analyzes both the driving and restraining forces. And in our study design, it then
specifies a number of driving forces that you need to know and can be asked specifically about.

[00:00:19.520] So driving forces are those that either initiate or support a change within a business.
They help push the business towards their new desired state. As I mentioned, there are specific forces
listed in the study design, and we’re going to go through each one in this video. One thing I wanted to
point out before we begin is that as we go through each driving force, we’ll look at how each can
actually be a driving force within a business, but keep in mind, these are examples only, not the only
possible ways that they that each force can actually be a driving force for change. So with that in mind,
let’s begin and get into the first one.

[00:00:55.010] So our first driving force is managers. Managers being those that make decisions within
the business, and senior managers make decisions about the future direction of the business. So one
way that managers can act as a driving force is when they review key performance indicator data or
analyze the business in any way. That data or that analysis may show that the business is facing some
issues, and the managers may then initiate changes in response.

[00:01:17.790] So managers can also look at ways to improve the business, which can then drive change
within the business. So another way that managers can be a driving force is if they are really strong
leaders and can support the business or the employees and the whole business through change.

[00:01:33.300] So it could be that they’ve got lots of experience in leading a business through change or
that they have the required skills to overcome resistance from employees and other stakeholders and
lead the business through change towards the new desired state. That’s another way that they can act
as a driving force.

[00:01:47.850] Now, employees can often drive change when they invent new ways of doing things or
new products. There’s been many examples of, you know, especially in the tech giants such as Google or
Alphabet, Apple, Amazon. They’ve all had employees that have either invented new products or
products or found new innovative ways to do something within the business that’s driven the business
to actually implement those changes.

[00:02:09.630] But employees can also place demands on a business to improve their conditions, their
policies, or change their processes to improve the way that they actually operate or improve the
conditions that the employees are actually working in. And that can drive business to change also to try
and meet those employee demands.

[00:02:25.410] Now, it’s important for businesses to monitor what their competitors are doing as they
are constantly competing for market share. And as a result, they can be a real driving force for business
change. And so a competitor can drive a business to make changes in order to either maintain or gain a
competitive advantage as they compete for customers.
[00:02:42.540] Could be that a competitor is releasing a new product, launches a new marketing
campaign, or something like that. Or it could be even that a new competitor has entered the market, or
a competitor has even implemented new technology with that will greatly improve their efficiency and
how they operate. So all these things can help drive a business to make changes themselves in order to
keep up or even possibly stay ahead of their competitors as they fight for market share. And next driving
force is legislation.

[00:03:09.120] So any changes in laws can force a business to implement changes to ensure that they’re
meeting all their legal requirements and not having to deal with fines and other legal matters. So I’ve
got the example there of when the Australian government brought in legislation that forced companies
such as Google or Facebook to pay for news content.

[00:03:25.860] So that’s forced them to make their own changes in response to those new laws and
legislation and can act as a driving force as it can impact the business and change the way that they
need to operate, forcing them to make changes to ensure that they are really meeting those legal
requirements.

[00:03:42.000] So a very common driving force is the pursuit of profit. So we’re talking about businesses
here that are aiming to actually increase their profits. We know that that’s one of their main aims for
most businesses. So a business can increase their profits by either increasing their revenues or by
reducing their costs or by being able to do both.

[00:03:59.640] So businesses will often implement changes in order to try and pursue those profits or
increase those profits. It could be that they introduce a new marketing campaign or a new product to
attract new customers. It could be that they change their processes to improve efficiency by
implementing new technologies, for example, or they may decide to restructure or implement any other
range of strategies or changes that will either increase their revenues or reduce their cost. So they’re
just some examples of how the pursuit of profit can actually drive a business towards change.

[00:04:34.800] Now a driving force that’s closely linked to the pursuit of profits is the reduction of cost.
So all areas of a business will result in cost, which obviously impacts the amount of profit a business can
actually produce. A change that will result in reduced cost can be a driving force because it supports a
particular change. However, the managers may also identify areas within the business that have
significant cost and may initiate changes in order to try and reduce those cost. So businesses or
managers can look at all areas of the business with the aim of reducing their cost, and that can be one of
the key driving forces.

[00:05:07.720] Now, globalization is where economic boundaries are removed, and a business can begin
operating on a large scale in different locations. So globalization increases competition as international
companies can now compete in Australia. This can drive a business to implement changes so they can
remain competitive against those global competitors. However, globalization also allows Australian
businesses to take advantage of global markets and sell their products to international customers so
that can drive a business to implement change and alter the way that they sell or even produce their
products.

[00:05:39.670] Globalization allows Australian businesses to use overseas suppliers to actually move
overseas and manufacture overseas or to actually sell their goods overseas. So there’s a whole range of
strategies that businesses can implement or changes that businesses can implement as a result of
globalization.

[00:05:57.040] Technology is forever changing and probably changing at an increasing rate. So

technologies can be a real key driving force for businesses to actually implement change because it can
improve the way that they operate. So if a technology becomes available and can improve the processes
within a business or alter the way that customers interact with that business, then it can drive that
business to implement change and implement those technologies.

[00:06:19.000] For example, artificial intelligence increase as it increases in its capabilities may drive a
business to implement AI in order to take advantage of its efficiencies or its ability to solve complex
problems. Another example, the increase of cloud computing. It’s had a dramatic it’s dramatically
changed the way that businesses operate and store their data. Businesses no longer need to spend
money on having their own large servers on site.

[00:06:42.730] They can now use companies such as Amazon Web Services to store their data at a
reduced cost and therefore work from the cloud, which enables them to collaborate and work remotely
and those types of things. And as technology changes, it can drive businesses to implement changes in
order to keep up with that technology and gain a competitive advantage.

[00:07:01.180] A second last driving force is innovation, which is the adoption of something new or
improving what already exists. So innovations can drive a business to change their processes or their
products. For example, the innovation of self-driving car systems has driven car manufacturers, along
with other businesses such as Apple and Alphabet, to make changes to their product ranges, which
obviously changes supply chains and other production processes. So innovations can lead change within
a business as they look to improve their processes or their products.

[00:07:33.100] And our final driving force within our study design is that of societal attitudes, which are
constantly changing. So as attitudes of society changes, it can drive businesses to change with those
attitudes to ensure that they remain relevant within society and within the community and their
customers that they’re trying to sell to.

[00:07:49.960] For example, society is far more aware of the impact that businesses can have on the
environment and on the community in which they’re living and therefore are often looking for
businesses to be more socially responsible. And that can drive change within a business to increase their
social responsibility practice practices in order to remain relevant with their customers. So as a as
society changes, it can drive change within a business in order to keep up with those societal attitudes.

[00:08:17.380] So that was a long one, I know. There’s lots of driving forces that are listed in our study
design that you need to know. So just to recap, the driving forces are those that initiate or support
change within a business and the driving forces that you need to know and need to be able to
demonstrate how they can be driving forces within a business, managers, employees, competitors,
legislation, pursuit of profit, and then reduction of costs, globalization, technology, innovation, and
societal attitudes. So for questions, activities, and more, then come on over to TeachingBubble.com.