3.6 : Managing Change

Flashcards covering the causes, effects, and management of change, including scenario, business continuity, and succession planning based on the Edexcel A Level Business curriculum.

Divestment

The process by which a business becomes smaller, often involving the sale of assets or making redundancies as a result of market pressures.

Frank Lampard

The manager of Everton Football Club who was sacked in early 2023 after 11 defeats in 14 games, illustrating change following poor performance.

Transformational leadership

A style of leadership where a leader introduces a new strategic direction and vision, making extensive changes to aims, objectives, structure, and culture.

Frasers Group plc

A company that took over struggling brands like Debenhams and Missguided, implementing significant restructuring to reduce functional duplications and costs.

PESTLE factors

External factors (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) that businesses monitor to plan for and respond to external change.

Social change

Long-term changes to consumption habits, such as the UK’s increasingly diverse population requiring retailers to sell a wider range of global foods.

Economic change

Fluctuations in economic growth or contraction, such as high inflation in the UK squeezing households’ disposable income and changing purchasing priorities.

2007 indoor smoking ban

A legal change that required hospitality businesses like pubs and restaurants to adapt their premises with all-weather outdoor facilities.

Bag tax (2015)

An environmental policy introduced by the UK government that led to a $97\%$ reduction in the use of single-use plastics.

Productivity dip

A short-term reduction in output as change is implemented and employees adjust to new processes, surroundings, or leadership.

Organisational culture

The shared values and behaviors in a business that influence how effectively change is communicated and embraced by employees.

Hierarchical culture

An organisational structure where communication may be limited and information is not easily accessible to all employees.

Pace of change

The speed at which change is implemented; if too fast, it can overwhelm workers; if too slow, it can lead to a loss of momentum.

Employee resistance

Opposition to change often caused by worries about job security, lack of understanding, or reluctance to learn new skills.

Owner resistance

Reluctance to change due to fears of disruption to daily operations, high financial costs, or a preference for the status quo.

Scenario planning

The process of anticipating possible changes in a business’s situation and devising ways of dealing with them.

Risk assessment

A process where a business identifies, evaluates, and prioritises risks and the precautions taken to protect against them.

Storm Eunice (2022)

An example of a natural disaster hazard that caused significant transport disruption and commercial property damage across England.

Phishing

A cyberattack method where criminals trick employees into giving away sensitive information like login or financial details.

Downtime

A period when a system or application is unavailable due to hardware/software failures, power outages, or cyberattacks.

Insider threats

Risks from within an organisation, such as employees intentionally or unintentionally causing harm to IT systems or stealing sensitive information.

Business continuity plan

A document setting out how a business will operate during a serious incident or disaster and return to normal as soon as possible.

Impact analysis

The stage in a business continuity plan that involves assessing the potential financial and operational impact of disruptions.

Succession planning

The process of identifying and developing current employees who have the potential to move into key roles in the future.

Strategy development

A stage in business continuity planning that involves formulating approaches to respond to disruption, such as identifying alternate work locations.