Key Change Issues For Blue Marina’s New Business Strategy

Analysis of the Change Context

The main purpose of this study is to cover a discussion on the change process which is being planned for the “Blue Marina Restaurant” to help it overcome the recent failure. ‘Blue Marina’ is a family-owned restaurant which seats around 100 people and offers the different varieties of food stuff at affordable prices. The quality of foods is good and the restaurant looks like more a fast-food center. Until recently, it was doing well; however, for the first time in a generation the restaurant went on to loss. Few reasons have been identified to have majorly impacted the performance. Those are ineffective co-ordination between waiting & kitchen staff, longer turnaround times, and lack of good quality customer service. The manager has identified a few other reasons to be responsible for the loss. Those are the economic crisis, increased competition, the opening of new pub & restaurants and increasing cluster of similar businesses near to ‘Blue Marina’. The manager has decided to give way to his son who has recently finished his Masters in Business Administration. Despite knowing that these are difficult times for the restaurant, the newly crowned manager has decided to go with the change process. New business strategies have been made which will not just cover a make-over of the existing restaurant but also the opening of two new chain restaurants. The newly planned strategies will require a huge sum of the amount which is why few existing staffs despite being acknowledged the concept are worried of the outcomes. Therefore, the ex-manager has suggested the newly deployed manager approach a consultant, so that, the change process is effectively guided by its vision and prevented from any potential loss. 

1.Internal drivers: ‘Blue Marina Restaurant’ has some operations related issues such as long turn-around time, ineffective coordination between different departments and an average customer service. On the other side, competition in the nearby areas of the restaurant has increased. The inability of ‘Blue Marina’ to enhance its customer base and a relatively increasing competition are the internal drivers of change.  

Strengths	· Quality foods at affordable prices · Easy to access Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper · All varieties of foods from startups to appetizer and to dessert
Weaknesses	· Long turnaround time · Wait time is longer · Ineffective co-ordination between departments · Average customer service
Opportunities	· Growing food culture · Increasingly growing demands for quality foods at competitive prices · Change process to undergo
Threats	· Increased competition · Incrementing numbers of new openings of restaurants within a radius of Blue Marina · Change process could also fail to lead to a huge loss · Increasingly growing trends towards healthy eating

Table 1: SWOT of Blue Marina Restaurant

External drivers: There are few customers who book the seats in restaurants by logging to the restaurant’s official website. However, ‘Blue Marina’ does not have such system at the moment. Economic crisis is also a threat which requires effective strategy making from restaurants. On the other hand, ‘Blue Marina’ is losing its competency for numerous reasons as mentioned earlier. It also means a reduced capability to fight the economic odds. Hence, these facts are the drivers of change.

Political	· Political barriers to entry in the food industry are manageable · Government policies relating to the food industry keeps on changing
Economic	· Economically  crunch situations can be a test for profitability · Economic fluctuation can cause job attrition. Hence, there will be the shortage of staffs. · Cost of materials if raised will hamper its cost-effectiveness
Socio-cultural	· Many people are employed in part-time and full-time based works. Such people usually rely on restaurant food which is good for Blue Marina Restaurant. · Growing food culture in the region
Technology	· Online booking and feedback system · The requirement to have an effective co-ordination with suppliers · Joint promotional alliances

Table 2: PEST of Blue Marina Restaurant

(Source: Lee, Hallak & Sardeshmukh, 2016)

2.Nature of change: Changes can take the variety of forms depending on the decisions being taken by the management team. Those varieties of forms can be classified into a number of change natures recognized in academic studies. Hence, a change process can be broadly classified into two natures such as incremental and transformational. An incremental type of change is about a minimal change which is being done to make an impact on the outcomes (Lozano, Ceulemans & Seatter, 2015). For example, implementing software to enhance the capability of accounting works is a kind of incremental change (Van der Voet, 2014). On the other hand, making a huge change comprising of all organizational departments is known as transformational change (Lozano, Ceulemans & Seatter, 2015). For example, the change being occurred in General Electric (GE) is a transformational change process (Van der Voet, 2014).  

Analysis of the Nature of Change

Nature of change in the case-study restaurant: It is transformational as it is undergoing change along the entire departments of it.

Type of organizational change:

Based on the nature of change, the change process can be further classified into different types such as the follows (Kansal & Chandani, 2014):

Fine tuning: This will fall under the incremental nature of change. This process is used when improvements are needed; however, those will not be based on any immediate problem.

Adaptation: This is also an incremental change made in the response to external events. External events such as increased competition and technological advancements require a counter attack; however, this does not account for a change throughout the organization.

Re-orientation: The kind of change falls under the transformational nature of change. Such changes are done after identifying the external events compelling for it. This creates a necessity for making the huge changes while also valuing the past.

Re-creation: This is another kind of transformational change being brought in response to the external threats. This is considered when external events become a threat to the very existence of the firm. Such changes involve a radical departure from the past by introducing changes to the entire organizational departments.  

Type of change in the ‘Blue Marina Restaurant’: The Blue Marina Restaurant is set for a ‘Re-creation’ as the increased competition has threatened its existence. The profitability is decreasing whereas there has been the constant opening of the number of better restaurants.

3.Possible reactions in reference to Kirkpatrick Theory of Change Management:

The theory is divided into three elements such as empathy, participation and communication. The theory assumes that different staffs can have views which are different from others. In the case study organization, there are different departments and the types of staffs such as waiting for staff, cooks and kitchen staff. Waiting staffs used to have interactions with customers while cooks are responsible for cooking. Hence, both represent a different level of understanding. Quite naturally, they will also have different mind-sets (Hornstein, 2015). Hence, it is important to understand the situation from relevant theories. This is why ‘Kirkpatrick theory’ has been chosen to understand the varying reactions of staffs in Blue Marina Restaurant.

‘Elements of ‘Kirkpatrick theory’ (Hornstein, 2015):

Empathy: The theory suggests that staffs who are unanswered on the change process should be given a much-needed empathy. The newly deployed manager of the case-study restaurant must take time to interact with its staffs in the different departments. The manager needs to find where the problem is. The manager can do it in the number of ways such as by looking into the personal files and by personally discussing with them. The discussion would allow the manager asking a set of questions which will create a much-needed data set for him. Moreover, the manager can position its action accordingly.

Potential Employee Reactions

Participation: This is the second level of the ‘Kirkpatrick theory’ which suggests that employees must be encouraged to participate in the change process. The manager of the case-study firm needs to motivate its employees and encourage for the participation. The newly deployed manager can do this by working on the data generated at the first level of the theory. The manager can also divide the groups into buzz groups of 4 or 5 people, so that, each staff has the opportunity to participate.

Communication: This is very important during the entire-change process. The manager must be engaged in a two-way communication with its staffs. Staffs can lose their motivation at any point during the change; however, the manager has the responsibility to keep them attached to the change process.

Ways to cope with reference to the coping cycle:

Colin Carnall’s Coping Cycle is a good way to reduce the resistance from employees. However, effective communication will have its importance at the different stage of the coping cycle. Most importantly, the case-study manager needs to keep its every staff attached to the change process. Following is how coping cycle moves along the different stages and how the manager can answer to its staffs’ queries (Bringselius, 2014):

 Stage 1 (Denial): Some staffs can deny the change. The manager at this point in time as according to the ‘Coping Cycle’ needs to maintain an effective communication with them. Some staffs can easily travel into the nest stage while others cannot. The case manager needs to ensure that each of staffs is traveled into the next stage.  

Stage 2 (Defence): If required the model suggests to hire or recruit from outside to support the change process and thereby, overcoming the resistance.

Stage 3 (Frustration & Anger): It suggests investing in employees such as to recruit them from outside. Few of the existing employees who are resisting the change need to put into counseling. The data generated from there will help the manager to motivate those selected staffs.  

Stage 4 (Adaptation): Training & career advice needs to be given to the newly recruited staffs. Here again, communication will hold a key managerial role.

Stage 5 (Internalisation): Once the adaptation with the change is attained, there will be the need to manage the continuity of operations and the changed emotions. The case manager will then be needed to communicate the closure of the plan and continuation with the changed operational image. 

Recommendations for Successful Execution

4.Recommendation based on Lewin’s Model of Change Management:

Kurt Lewin model is considered as one of the very effective change management models. The model is divided into three stages such as ‘Unfreezing’, ‘Change’ and ‘Freezing’ (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016). The case manager can use the Lewin’s change management model to effectively conduct the entire change process.

Stage 1: Unfreezing

The first stage highlights the importance of unfreezing from the existing state. However, before that it is important to conduct the ‘Force Field Analysis’, so that, factors ‘for’ change and ‘against’ change are identified (Hossan, 2015). Hence, the manager of ‘Blue Marina’ needs to first conduct the force field analysis as this will let the manager know both the factors ‘for’ and ‘against’. The manager can move with the change process if factors ‘for’ outweigh the factors ‘against’. If factors ‘for’ is outweighed by factors ‘against’ then there is low motivation for change. In such case, moving ahead with the change process may also cause the change process to suffer. The case-study manager must provide the information to the consultant.  

Stage 2: Change

This is the second stage of the Lewin’s model which governs the entire process. This is more of a transition from one old system to the new. During the entire stage, the case manager needs to maintain an effective communication with members of the transition. Apart from this, training and coaching can also be the handful as the newly recruited staffs will get to know the role they are supposed to play. The manager must also allow each staff to have their own solution and contribute to the cause. Effective communication will again be very crucial as this will keep staffs attached with the transition (Bakari, Hunjra & Niazi, 2017).

Stage 3: Freezing

Freezing was practically never there which also brought criticism to the model. However, it means stabilizing with the changes state. Once the two more restaurant chains are ready to operate and the renovation of the existing branch is complete, the manager must implement the new business strategies. The implementation is itself a long process which will consume a good amount of time. This will require a set of skills such as continuous strategy-making, managerial skills to communicate, performance monitoring and strict adherence to the human resource policies (Endrejat, Baumgarten & Kauffeld, 2017).

In summary, it can be said that ‘Blue Marina Restaurant’ needs to follow the strategic guidance of relevant theories and concepts as mentioned & suggested in this study in order to effectively conduct the change process. The case-study restaurant is undergoing a transformational change which offers challenges at its different stages. A proper identification of the varied challenges and an understanding of its appropriate counter will help to keep up the transition despite the change barriers.

References 

Bakari, H., Hunjra, A. I., & Niazi, G. S. K. (2017). How Does Authentic Leadership Influence Planned Organizational Change? The Role of Employees’ Perceptions: Integration of Theory of Planned Behavior and Lewin’s Three Step Model. Journal of Change Management, 17(2), 155-187.

Bringselius, L. (2014). Employee objections to organizational change: a framework for addressing management responses. Organization development journal, 32(1), 41-54.

Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. human relations, 69(1), 33-60.

Endrejat, P. C., Baumgarten, F., & Kauffeld, S. (2017). When Theory Meets Practice: Combining Lewin’s Ideas about Change with Motivational Interviewing to Increase Energy-Saving Behaviours Within Organizations. Journal of Change Management, 17(2), 101-120.

Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 291-298.

Hossan, C. (2015). Applicability of Lewin’s change management theory in Australian local government. International Journal of business and Management, 10(6), 53.

Kansal, S., & Chandani, A. (2014). Effective management of change during merger and acquisition. Procedia Economics and Finance, 11, 208-217.

Lee, C., Hallak, R., & Sardeshmukh, S. R. (2016). Innovation, entrepreneurship, and restaurant performance: A higher-order structural model. Tourism Management, 53, 215-228.

Lozano, R., Ceulemans, K., & Seatter, C. S. (2015). Teaching organizational change management for sustainability: designing and delivering a course at the University of Leeds to better prepare future sustainability change agents. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106, 205-215.

Van der Voet, J. (2014). The effectiveness and specificity of change management in a public organization: Transformational leadership and a bureaucratic organizational structure. European Management Journal, 32(3), 373-382.