Sources For Change Flashcards
Sources for change
The dynamic nature of the business environments means organisations need to adapt and change to stay competitive. Both the internal and external environments can put pressure on an organisation to change.
two pressures for change from the internal environment
Employees
Management
two pressures for change from the external operating environment
Suppliers
Interest groups
two pressures for change from the macro environment
Economic
Legislative
Management
Management have the responsibility of running a pro table or successful organ- isation. The poor nancial performance of a business would result in management reviewing processes, staff and systems. Organisations sometimes face a crisis. For example, a product sold by the organ- isation may be found to be unsafe or dangerous. Responding to such unplanned changes will require responsive decision making from management in order to reduce the disruption to the organisation.
Employees
Employees working for an organisation expect to be paid fairly, trained properly and treated ethically in return for their vital contribution to production. Employees working in an innovative environment, where ideas are shared and acted on, are likely to recommend changes to policies, production processes or products. Companies such as Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba have bene ted from employee creativity, enabling them to develop innovative technologies. The development of innovative products within a business can create a need for change in everything from operations to marketing.
Interest groups
Some groups seek to directly in uence the
behaviour of organisations. Trade unions represent employees in the workplace and may exert pressure for changes in a workplace in areas such as occupational health and safety, pay rates, and working conditions. Consumer and conservation action groups may attempt to modify an organisation’s behaviour with regard to its products, marketing tech- niques and operational procedures.
Suppliers
Organisations should constantly be on the lookout for new or backup suppliers, even when their needs are being met by their present suppliers. This makes them less vul- nerable to supply dif culties. Factors that affect a suppliers ability to provide inputs can be a pressure for change as required in order to remain competitive.
Economic
The state of the economy will affect a business and may necessitate change: for example, during an economic downturn a business may decide to reduce staff numbers: higher inflation will put pressure on costs and may cause a business to reduce costs: higher interest rates may cause a business to introduce ways of reducing its costs: and a high Australian dollar has put pressure on export businesses, some of which have had to make changes such as moving production offshore where costs are lower.
Legislative
Changes in laws and government policy can be a pressure for change: for example, changes to industrial relations legislation. such as the Fair Work Act 2009, which resulted in the adoption of changes by organisations to meet minimum legislated employee entitlements; and the introduction of new privacy laws requiring organisations to establish a privacy policy detailing how they will handle personal information and when it can be used for direct marketing.
Go Travel Australia (GTA) is a large-scale organisation with headquarters in Melbourne and offices in Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart. It employs more than 250 staff in a variety of roles. The company offers a range of half-days full-day and week-long sightseeing coach tours to different parts of Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, catering for both local and international tourists. The CEO, Robbie Wilson, is keen to expand the business. As part of the company’s long-term lanning, the management team at GTA has identified the Possibility of expanding its operations into Asia offering day trips and short tours to key tourist locations. The company is also cOnSidering offering customised tours. These expansion plans could require GTA to expand its long-established business which has a reputation for outstanding customer servicE. b. Identify and explain two pressures from the external environment that could have influenced Robbie Wilson’s decision to expand Go Travel Australia’s operations and range of tours offered.
One pressure from the external environment that could have influenced Robbie Wilson’s decision to expand GTAs operations and range of tours offered are its customers. Customers are from the external operating environment and customer demand can be a catalyst for business change. Customers of GTA might have been very satisfied with its Australian tours and asked if they had tours available in Asia. If the business had received a large amount of these questions they may have decided to expand into Asia to meet customer demand and contribute to profit. Another pressure for change from the external environment are employees. Employees are often a strong pressure of change, they might work more productively if the business makes certain changes which can encourage the business to do so. Employees at GTA might have been excited about the chance to work in Asia and if the business did expand there would be increased job security as the employees would realise that if the business is expanding and profits are rising the chances of redundancies are slimmer.
Explain how two factors from the external environment, other than economic factors, could impact on Grantley Mining.
One factor from the external environment thaat could have impacted on Grantley Mining is competitors. A new competitor may have opened up and sold minerals at a cheaper price which could have decreased the number of sales of Grantley and been one of the factors contributing to its falling profits.
Another factor from the external environment that could have impacted on Grantley Mining is customers. As the mining boom has slowed down and the demand for minerals has declined many customers who bought minerals from Grantley Mining may no longer demand those minerals. Grantley wouldn’t be able to generate a profit without customers buying their products and they will need to increase business competitiveness (perhaps by offering a new product range) to attract more customers and possibly regain old customers
Explain one internal and one external pressure on luxury transport that may be affecting organisational performance.
Luxury Transport is a large-scale organisation that specialises in the transportation of business executives and elite sportspeople in both Victoria and New South Wales. The organisation has built a strong reputation and has a number of regular customers. During the past two years a competitor, VIP Cars, has established itself, and has taken some of Luxury Transport’s market share. Feedback from Luxury Transport customers focused on a decrease in the reliability and quality of the service, and the new computerised booking system which has caused a number of issues. The organisation is also in the process of negotiating a new collective agreement with two of the main trade unions that currently represent most employees of Luxury Transport.
One external pressure that could be affecting performance is competitors. Competitors who offer rival services can often take customers away from other businesses. As ‘Luxury Transport’ has a new competition ‘VIP Cars’ who have taken some of luxury transports market share, luxury transport is probably losing customers to VIP cars which would decrease luxury transports number of sales thus negatively affect performance.
One internal presses that may be affecting performance is employees. As the business is currently in the middle of negotiating agreements with employees and the unions, the employees may be worried that the new agreements may not satisfy them which would lower morale and motivation thus decreasing performance as the employees are not working as hard. Alternatively if negotiations are going well and the employees are receiving any bonuses in the new agreement they might be happier thus increasing morale and motivation which would affect performance as they would be working more productively.
Discuss how factors of the internal and external environments of a large scale organisation may act as sorrces of change. Refer to a significant issue or organisation that you have studied the year.
The dynamic nature of the business environments means organisations need to adapt and change to stay competitive. Both the internal and external environments can put pressure on an organisation to change.
One source for change from the internal environment is management. Management have the responsibility of running a profitable or successful organisation. The poor financial performance of a business would result in management reviewing processes, staff and systems.At Australia Post poor financial performance that resulted in them running at a loss encouraged them to think of ways to make changes and return to being competitive. Because of a significantly poor performance in the letters department they decided to move focus away from letters and onto technology where they thought they would attract more customers and become more competitive again.
One source for change from the external operating environment is customers. Customers can act as a powerful source for change. Customers are constantly demanding different types of products and their wants constantly change. Business’s have to endure that they are always offering products that meet their customer’s needs and wants. At Australia Post, as part of their move to a technological focus they considered implementing drone technology to deliver letters however a survey showed them that their customers didn’t really want this as an option and the drone technology is yet to be implemented. They responded to their customers demand and ensured that they are only offering services that their customers want.
One source for change from the external environment is technology. Modern developments in technology have made a significant impact on the way business’s operate and the access to information that consumers have. As technology increased in prominence so did emails and other forms of messaging using technology, this decreased the letter usage and Australia Post realised that they would have to make changes to keep competitive. They now offer a securepay service that allows business’s to sell produces online to their consumers safely.
`Newbank International’ is a large multinational organisation which was started in Germany. It has recently established one hundred branches across the rural areas and large country towns of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. The bank has begun an aggressive marketing campaign to win customers and has undercut the interest rates on home and personal loans of most of its competitors. As part of the expansion, 180 senior managers from Germany have come to Australia to assist in the running of the bank. In addition, 8500 employees have been recruited locally. While the bank’s entry into the Australian market was seen as a success, the results of a recent staff satisfaction survey raised a number of concerns. Employees feel they are not supported and there are limited opportunities for further promotion. The survey also found that staff morale is low and that staff in the branches feel isolated. Senior management is viewed as supportive, but having very little understanding of life in a rural Australian town.
b. identify and describe two pressures from the internal and/or external environment on `Nem bank International’.
One pressure for change from the internal environment are employees. Employees are the people that are paid to work for an organisation. They expect that they will have opportunities for promotion, be supported by management and work in an environment where they are happy. At Newbank there is low staff morale and employees feel that they aren’t being supported and their are limited opportunities for promotion. This would be applying pressure on Newbank to make changes to satisfy their employees so that there is high morale and the employees are motivated to work productively.
Another pressure for change is management. Management have the responsibility of running a pro table or successful organisation. Many managers are constantly looking for new ways to improve profit. At Newbank, management have a strong desire to increase sales and this has led to various changes including an aggressive marketing campaign and lower interest rates on loans. They have done this to hopefully increase sales and thus increase profit,
