CHAPTER-4

STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
&
Change Management

Prof. Kishor Chandra Meher

Professor(Management)

Prof. Kishor Chandra Meher 1

 5.1 Marketing Strategies—Competition Based

Marketers have to evolve strategies to fight competition, to

gain and retain market shares. The right tool for analyzing
market situation is SWOT analysis. Based on the SWOT
analysis competitors can be classified as follows:
•1. Based on the ability to engage and sustain warfare—
strong and weak
•2. Based on the percentage of market share—close and
distant held by a competitor

Prof. Kishor Chandra Meher 2

 Expansion strategy
FOLLOW ANSOFF GROWTH MATRIX:CH-3

• Market penetration strategy

o Increase use of the product
o Find new uses for the product

• Market development strategy

o Convert non-users to users
o Find new markets in other places

• Product development strategies

o Create new products/services
o Modify existing products

Prof. Kishor Chandra Meher 3

 Designing a Promotion Strategy

There are many successful companies which proved

professional with faster growth due to high power promotion.
Choosing Pull or Push Strategy for sales promotion:
(a) Push strategy – A promotion strategy mainly aimed at
channels of distribution is called a push strategy. Marketers
promote their products heavily among distributors wholesalers
and retailers.
(b) Pull Strategy – Here promotion is directed towards ultimate
consumers. Manufacture tries to stimulate demand and attracts
consumers to buy his product.

Prof. Kishor Chandra Meher 4

 Tools of Sales Promotion:

The most commonly used sales promotion tools in are

•(i) Prize schemes: A prize scheme is designed for both the public and the
dealers. Sales competition is arranged, prizes are announced or special offers are
made.
•(ii) Trade Fairs and Exhibitions: These exhibitions attract a lot of people
especially from rural areas who find them as a very convenient place to make
their purchases of consumer goods. Many state Governments announce relief or
concession in sales Tax.
•(iii) Free Samples: Free samples are generally used to introduce a new product
and as a sales tool to attract the attention of prospects, not only much time is
saved, but it also eliminates the need for inspection or testing of goods by the
buyer.

Prof. Kishor Chandra Meher 5

 STRATEGIES TO AVOID

Follow the Leader: Imitating a leading competitor’s strategy might seem to be a

good idea, but it ignores a firm’s particular strengths and weaknesses and the
possibility that the leader may be wrong.
Hit another Home Run: If a company is successful because it pioneered an
extremely successful product, it tends to search for another super product that will
ensure growth and prosperity. Like betting on long shots at the horse races, the
probability of finding a second winner is slight.
Arms Race: Entering into a spirited battle with another firm for increased market
share might increase sales revenue, but that increase will probably be more than
offset by increases in advertising, promotion, R&D, and manufacturing costs.
Do Everything: When faced with several interesting opportunities, management
might tend to lead at all of them. At first, a corporation might have enough
resources to develop each idea into a project, but money, time, and energy are soon
exhausted as the many projects demand large infusions of resources. Ex:- Walt
Disney Prof. Kishor Chandra Meher 6
 SELECTING THE BEST STRATEGY

•Perhaps the most important criterion is the ability of the proposed

strategy to deal with the specific strategic factors developed earlier in
the SWOT analysis. IF the alternative doesn’t take advantage of
environmental opportunities and corporate strengths / competencies,
and lead away from environmental threats and corporate weaknesses, it
will probably fail.
•Another important consideration in the selection of a strategy is the
ability of each alternative to satisfy a least resources and the fewest
negative side effects. It is, therefore, important to develop a tentative
implementation plan so that the difficulties that management is likely
to face are addressed.

Prof. Kishor Chandra Meher 7

 Change Management

• What is change? Change could be something that takes us by surprise

and pushes us out of our comfort zone, to achieve something we
never thought possible… it may also be something as simple as a
change in working hours or as complex as an entirely new strategy! In
summary, change is anything that is done differently in the
organisation however large or small.
• Whenever there is a change that change needs to be managed
effectively and controlled – what is known as change management?
What might seem like a simple change in working hours for staff could
result in disruption to people’s travelling plans and home lives and
cause discontent amongst staff and low motivation. It could change
supplier delivery schedules, times when customers can contact the
organisation and affect production schedules. If it’s not managed
properly there could be serious consequences for the organisation.
 Triggers for change

• The reasons for changes are varied and can be external or internal.
• Internal Triggers
• New strategies, e.g. diversification into a new area of business – a new strategy
for drone production for instance.
• New products, e.g. if Henry requiring new production facilities for making
drones.
• Merger/acquisition, e.g. if Henry were to buy a drone-making company for
instance.
• Rationalisation of the business, e.g. closing down parts of the business – the
doll making department.
• New structure, e.g. changing to an online-only virtual organisation with distance
workers.
• Business expansion, e.g. high sales growth requires new capacity and processes.
 External Triggers

• The external triggers could be environmental triggers, such as those in a

PESTEL analysis. This could include:
• Government changes, e.g. new laws or new govt. regulations which must be
complied with.
• Technological changes, e.g. new machines make it possible to automate costly
manual processes.
• Competitor developments, e.g. new entrants or a rival develops a new
advantage requiring us to act.
• Consumer demand, or social change, e.g. no one wants or a rival develops a
new advantage requiring us to act.
• Currency changes, e.g. country joins the Euro, or govt. devalues currency to
boost exports.
• In henry’s case, he change seems to be primarily driven by changing consumer
demand, so there is a fundamental external trigger for change.
 Problems when organisations change

• Organisational change can result in a number of problems. These can

include:
• Resistance from employees – The skills required to make drones will be
completely different from making dolls and Henry may need to make some
people redundant, retrain staff or change working methods – none of which
are likely to go down well with existing staff. He will need to ensure he
manages staff issues effectively if the change is going to work.
• High risk – With any change there is always a risk that the change will fall. In
Henry’s case the market and manufacturing methods for drones are
completely different and there is a significant risk this change will fail.
• Cost of change are significant and more than expected – In Henry’s case it is
likely that new technology will be required in manufacturing and this may be
very expensive. If he underestimates costs he could find himself without
funds to bring the new strategy to fruition and the company could fail.
• The change takes longer than expected – A very common
issue in the real world as it’s always easy to underestimate
time-scales on projects. In Henry’s case he has to ask himself
how long the business could survive without additional cash
flows should the change take longer than planned.
• Culture clashes – For instance during structural change ot
during mergers or acquisitions. It is possible that a move to a
more technically focused product may introduce new staff
with different values from those who used to work on doll
production. Managing changes in culture is something Henry
may need to watch out for therefore.
 3 Types of Change
• So to help manage the change process, Henry needs to sit down and
analyse what kind of change he is hoping to make. Does he need to change
just the production side or the whole corporate structure? Well according
to Balogun and Hope-Hailey, organisational change can be categorised
into four different types revolving around two key factors:
• Scope of Change
• This is concerned with the degree of change required.
• Realignment represents a small change to the organisation as a whole and
its direction; Henry moving from making dolls to soft toys might come into
this heading.
• A transformation represents a significant change in strategy and approach,
which a move to drone production for Henry would include, due to the
massive change in both production and marketing activity required.
• Nature of Change
• The nature of change is the way in which the
change will happen. Incremental represents
change over the long-term, in small steady
steps, while big bang represents rapid change.
• Each change can therefore be categorised into
one of the following four types:
• Adaptation
• This is an incremental realignment and the least risky type of change. It can be
accommodated within the current strategy, approach and culture, using clear plans,
ongoing feedback and controls, as the change proceeds over the long term.
• For example, had Henry decided to go for a gradual move from producing dolls to soft
toys over 2-3 year period as demand changes, this would be adaptation? Risks are much
lower and change is steady and controlled.
• Reconstruction
• This is a rapid, or “big-bang”, realignment. While the change is small, it is happening
quickly. This type of change must be well managed and controlled with clear project
management and leadership to ensure it achieves its goals as lessons cannot be learned
incrementally with this type of change.
• In Henry’s case a change from doll to soft toy production required due to a sudden loss of
a contract for dolls would be deemed a reconstruction. The sheer speed of change will
require a lot of immediate planning over the short term to change the production
approach and create new designs.
• Evolution
• Evolution is a significant change over a long period of time. It may involve a change in
strategy, brought in gradually in a step by step fashion, managed over the long term. If we
imagine that Henry continued to produce dolls, but combined this with a gradual move
into drone production over a long period of time, then we’d have an evolutionary change.
• Cultural issues may come to the fore due to the size of the change and staff resistance to
them, but lessons can be learnt as the change progresses; in Henry’s case, as he gradually
re-skills the workforce, changes production methods and enters new markets.
• The steady nature of the change ensures this type of change is lower risk than
revolutionary change (see below) as businesses can learn as they progress. They can even
abandon the change without having last too much too. If drone sales don’t take off then
Henry can move onto something else without having risked the whole business on this
decision.
• Cash flows can also be spread over a longer period of time reducing the need to raise
larger amounts of finance at once and reducing overall financial risk.
• Revolution
• A rapid, “big-bang”, transformation. This is a major change in strategy
and culture undertaken quickly, representing the highest risk type of
change. It may be necessary where the organisation is in serious
difficulty and needs turning around in a quick way. If the market for
dolls quickly disappears and the move to drone production is needed in
the short term then a revolution would be needed at Henry’s factory.
• Revolutionary change will need clear project management and
leadership from directors. It will involve potentially difficult decisions
about the firm and how it is run, often involving a change in structure,
approach and possible staff redundancies. Henry’s in for a tough time
if he finds that he’s in this position!
•  
• Use of the model
• When a change is planned, identifying the type of change
which is necessary or most appropriate for the particular
circumstances enables that change to then be managed in
the optimum way.
• As we’ve seen in Henry’s situation each of the 4 scenarios a
slightly different approach and being aware of that can help
him manage it in the best way; going from the minor step by
step approach of a slow change towards soft toy production
through to the major cultural and structural change he’d need
to make for an immediate move into producing drones.
4 Effective management to change
• “Things don’t just happen,” John F. Kennedy once said, “They are
made to happen.” So if Henry wants to implement change at his
company, he must take ultimate responsibility. There are a
number of models and approaches which can facilitate the
change process and aim to avoid some of the problems that
could come up for Henry.
• Management style
• There are a range of possible management styles that can be
used when managing change, according to Kotter and
Schlesinger. Each is appropriate in different circumstances,
depending on the speed of change needed, the amount of
power the initiator holds over others and the likely resistance:
• Education/communication – Informing staff of the change, and educating them on the
benefits of change, helps staff to buy-in to the process. This is useful for incremental
changes (i.e. adaption or evolution) where the change will happen steadily over the
longer term and staff buy-in and support are required throughout.

• Participation – Involvement in the change by asking for ideas and staff being part of
the process. It is useful for incremental changes (i.e. adaption or evolution) where the
change will happen steadily over the longer term and staff buy-in and support are
required throughout.

• Coercion – Forced change, using management’s power to make compliance

compulsory. Can be necessary for rapid changes, such as revolution and reconstruction,
particularly where there is likely to be significant resistance (e.g. from unions). Forcing
people to change against their will is likely to be effective for longer term slower
changes as staff may internalise resistance and become angry and demotivated.
• Facilitation and support – Management counsel and support staff through the change process, to help
them overcome anxieties, helping to develop individual awareness of the driving forces for change, if
needed. The downside is the time and resources needed and there is no guarantee of success.

• Manipulation and co-optation – Management employs convert methods to side-step resistance, using
selective or distorted communication so staff cannot see the big picture or foresee downsides. Key staff
members may be co-opted into the decision-making process. While inexpensive, it risks a lack of staff
buy-in and may create significant resistance if staff feel manipulated. It’s also worth noting that this
type of change is not consistent with the CIMA code of ethics, since distorting the facts to present an
incomplete picture would breach the requirement for integrity and professional behaviour.

• Negotiation – Change is actively negotiated with all parties bargaining until an agreement is reached.
This is more likely in unionised workplace. While an agreed solution will tent to overcome resistance,
the process can be expensive.
• Henry has decided that he’s going to make an immediate change in approach to produce drones. He’s
going to have a lot of staff resistance as it is a major change and may well involve unpopular decisions
such as making some staff redundant and so decides that he will primarily use coercion as his
management style.
Understanding change Issues – Lewin’s Force Field Analysis

• To understand the issues around change, Henry’s been

reading up on force fields. This isn’t a futuristic
protective shield, but a technique which helps to
understand and map out the key issues impacting the
change.
• Kurt Lewin outlined two key forces:
• Driving forces – The reason why the change should be
undertaken.
• Resisting forces – Anything preventing the change
moving forward.
• The driving forces (reasons for the change) and resisting
forces (things that will prevent the change) are identified
and mapped out. The current position is an equilibrium
between the driving and resisting forces – each pushing
equally hard for and against the change.
• Lewin suggested that addressing the resisting forces
would allow the driving forces to push the change
forward and it would do so more effectively. It would so
more effectively. The driving force can also use as part of
the communication process to help people understand the
reasons why the change should go ahead.
 EXAMPLE

• Henry wants to change from making dolls to making drones. He identifies the
driving forces as the decline of doll sales and rapid market growth in drones.
Henry then identifies the resisting forces as the traditional culture at his doll
factory, which makes a virtue of producing time-honoured traditional toys. There
are also limited funds which are holding back making the change happen.
• Using force field analysis is Henry should communicate the driving forces to staff.
He explains that staying in the doll market would mean laying off staff and
scaling down production, whereas moving to drones might entail a learning
curve it will mean everyone keeps their jobs. This convinces people to accept the
change and starts to change the culture – hence overcoming the resisting force.
• Henry approaches his shareholders, explains the need for change and convinces
them to invest in the new project. That’s another resisting force removed, and
the change process can proceed.
 Lewin’s 3-step model of change
Lewin outlined three key stages to ensure the change is successful.
• Unfreeze
• This stage aims to get staff ready and motivated to
avoid resistance to change.
• It can be achieved through:
• Consultation – Asking people what the problems are
and how they feel the change should proceed.
• Communication – Focusing on the reasons for the
change, so people understand and accept it.
• Counselling – Dealing with issues for the change, so
people understand and accept it.
• Move
• This stage involves making the change happen. This can be
facilitated through:
• Project management – organising, managing and controlling
the whole process so it is well managed and coordinated.
• Appoint change agents – Responsible for making the change
successful and gaining people’s support for the change process.
• Communication of what’s changing – How it will change, when
it changes and each individual’s roles.
• Setting up new procedures and rules – How will we operate
after the change?
• Re-freeze
• Re-freezing is about closing the fluid “move” period where elements of
the business can be questioned and shifted and literally freezing them
in a new unmovable snapshot. It involves ensuring the new behaviours,
approaches and procedures are allowed. This might be done using:
• Individual rewards for operating in the new (pay, rewards, promotion).
• Disciplinary procedures for not following new approaches.
• Communication of benefits achieved in practice.
• Controlling resources (e.g. budgets reduced where not following
procedures).
• The aim of this process is to ensure a smooth transaction, focusing on
the compliance of staff.
• Example
• Henry decides to ask his friend Penny hoe she managed change at her business. Henry
listens as Penny explains her story and evaluates her change using Lewin’s 3 stage
process. Try to identify elements of the change as you read the following.
• Penny owns a restaurant in the centre of an up and coming area of the city and due to
the influx of investment and home owners in the area, has decided to give her
restaurant a new, professional look in order to attract more customers.
• Part of Penny’s plan is to implement a new dress code for all waiting and kitchen staff.
The dress code so far had been very causal, and she had noticed that certain
employees were looking a little more untidy every day. Penny’s husband, Mike,
suggested that Penny should be more strict with her staff and order them to clean
themselves up. However, penny felt that this would be met with confrontation and
might lead to both resentment from her workforce as well as de-motivation.
• Instead, Penny though she would try to use a different approach. On Monday,
Penny called her usual staff meeting in the area and her visions for the future
of the restaurant. She next asked for feedback on the issue and stated her
plans for a new style with regards to the dress code. After an enthusiastic
discussion with ideas taken from all members of staff, a vote was taken and the
new (smarter) uniform was agreed upon.
• That afternoon Penny ordered the new uniform and it was delivered the
following week. In order to manage the allocation of uniform, Penny decided to
put the head waitress Diana in charge of the uniform coordination. Diana
would be in charge of allocating the new uniform to the rest of the staff, as well
as reporting back to Penny about any comments, or any new orders that would
need to be placed for uniform that is worn out over time or that doesn’t fit.
Penny instructed Diana to report back to her by the end of the week in order
for the uniform to be worn for the first time by the next Monday.
• A final responsibility was allocated to all staff, which included details on
how the uniform should not be worn. In order to encourage this, Penny
introduced a new prize, which was to be awarded to the best dressed
employee after the first month following the uniform’s introduction.
• So how well did Penny manage her change according to Lewin’s Model?
• In terms of Unfreezing, despite her husband’s best efforts, Penny
decided to take a more democratic approach to the introduction of the
new dress code. By consulting her employees, Penny was able to gather
their ideas, which not only provided her with feedback and possible
ideas for the specifics of the new dress code, but it also gave her
employees a degree of employee voice, which has led to greater
motivation.
• The next move stage was handled by Penny by delegating tasks to both her
change agent Diana (with her individual responsibilities) and the rest of her
employees (by setting rules and procedures relating to the change).
• Penny final step was to Re-freeze the change by creating a further form of
motivation regarding the change, with the introduction of the “best dressed”
award. This acted as a communicating what change is needed and why.
• People are less likely to resist change if they can see, understand and buy into
the reasons for it.
• Acting as a figurehead for the process
• This provides a focus to others and a known place to go for information and help.
• Resolving conflicts and barriers
• Because change doesn’t just happen. It is made to happen. The resisting forces
will win unless someone takes responsibility for addressing and resolving the
barriers to change.
 Kotter’s step in leading change
According to Kotter there are eight steps in a successful change
process:
• Create a sense of urgency – Helps gain momentum, and established buy-in from key staff.
• Build a guiding coalition – Ensure all key stakeholders are bought into the process and
involved in the senior team leading the change.
• Form a change vision and a strategy for the change – To give the change direction and
focus and to guide planning.
• Enlist staff – Communicate vision and strategy to achieve buy-in amongst all staff.
• Enable action by removing barriers – Through participation and involvement in the
change, and removing barriers to change such as organisational structures, lack of skills,
restrictive procedures and systems and managers not willing to change.
• Generate short term wins – Retain momentum by achieving quick easy wins.
• Sustain acceleration – Communicate the achievements being made, and continue to plan
and manage the next areas to be changed.
• Institute change – Changes must be cemented (or re-frozen) in the culture through
disciplining old behaviour, communicating successes, using performance measures based
on the new approach, removing people who continue to resist the change.
• You can see that Kotter’s eight steps are like a
detailed reinterpretation of Lewin’s Unfreeze,
Move and Refreeze. If Lewin’s gives you the
big picture, Kotter shows you how to get each
part done.
 Example

• Let’s take a look at how Henry might use this cycle to implement his dolls-to-
drone change:
• Sense of urgency – Make it clear that dolls are no longer profitable and that the
business is at risk of collapsing if they do not change soon.
• Guiding coalition – inform all suppliers/buyers and stakeholders/stakeholders of
the need to change and how successful the new line of drones will be. Agree
new funding plans with shareholders and the bank.
• Form a change vision – Design a new strategy and mission statement. Something
along the lines of being a large supplier and producer of quality drone products.
• Enlist staff – staff are essential to production so Henry will need to be sure they
are on board. He could do this by emphasising how important this change is to
their continued employment or by illustrating the cutting edge nature of the new
business model. Making them feel like they are part of something new and
exciting.
• Enable change – Many staff may have made dolls all their life and will not
know how to make the drones. Training and education will be required if
employees are to help enable the change.
• Generate short term wins – Set small targets representing each step in the
overall change so that workforce doesn’t get bogged down at attempting to
reach this far off seemingly unattainable end goal.
• Sustain acceleration – Henry could host regular meetings to staff illustrating
the changes made so far and what still needs to be done. He could also hang
a large progress tracker in the factory so that everyone could see it.
• Institute change – Henry may have to be strict here and remove any
employees who do not want to produce drones. He may need to state that
this is where the business is going and you can either be a part of it or you
can leave.
• Project management of the change
• Henry knows that unless he manages the process carefully it will end in
chaos, with various stakeholders confused or alienated. So the change
needs to be clearly and effectively project-managed and coordinated.
According to the project management institute there are nine key areas
that need to be managed for every change.
• Integration – Developing plans and controlling and managing the
project.
• Scope – Defining, planning and controlling the scope. Setting objectives.
• Time – Defining activities and their duration and then sequencing
activities to develop clear time schedules.
• Cost – Budgeting, variance analysis, financing, cost management and
control.
• Quality – developing a quality plan, quality assurance
and control.
• Resources – Acquisition and effective management of
staff, materials, buildings and equipment.
• Communication – Communicating to all stakeholders,
including progress reporting.
• Risk - Identifying and quantifying risk, risk reduction
and management.
• Procurement – Selecting suppliers, negotiating and
contracting and monitoring supplier performance.
• Henry creates a project plan taking into account
all these key project management areas. He
manages the change using the key change models
and leads the change with charisma and control.
He has challenges – new markets, new customers,
new production processes and some unhappy
staff, but he comes through the other side with a
successful new business in a growing market.
Well, we had to have a happy ending didn’t we!