Change Management - Free Essay Sample

Introduction

The General Nutrition Centres (GNC) is an American based company. The company is known to sell health and nutrition products, for example, minerals, diet, vitamins, and energy products (Alqatawenah, 2018). The company used an old business model, causing it to undergo significant losses (Alqatawenah, 2018). However, with the implementation of change strategies like Kotter's 8 step process, the company will embrace these changes and develop strategies to strengthen its operations.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Change Initiative Description

The GNC Incorporation is a sports nutrition retailer business. The company's business model was defined as broken, and that it had to embrace and implement some changes to rebrand itself for the business (Alqatawenah, 2018). It caused the GNC to close around thousands of its stores and rebrand itself by training its associates, changing the way it handled its business model to attract new clients and boost its current sales. To rebrand itself, the company focused on how it can improve its client's experience (Alqatawenah, 2018). The type of change that will be implemented is recreating, which is under Kotter's 8 step process of organizational change. This model will help embrace a new business model, improve on the customers, create a new pricing strategy, and embrace a digitized marketing strategy to improve how the GNC operates its business.

Change Diagnosis

The reason for embracing change in the GNC is that it will improve the customer experience and improve their checkout experience (Alqatawenah, 2018). The GNC point of sale system was outdated, and thus it took a long time to conduct the transaction, which frustrated the clients who believed in the GNC.

The other reason why the GNC had to embrace change is that it had a low pricing strategy: The Gold Card Program, which confused its clients (Chacon Vega et al., 2020). The GNC company's pricing strategy was complicated and did not drive its clients' desires. It led to the company embracing change by adapting and launching a new seven-market pilot program made up of two models made up of a single-tier pricing model and the free loyalty card, which allows the consumer to participate without incurring any significant losses (Chacon Vega et al., 2020). The GNC changed into a more digital approach to target its consumers in various segments, other than mass outlet marketing, which caused the company to incur massive losses in each business store. By providing its clients with more digitalized shopping experiences in its stores.

In its old supply chain, the company's stock had many out of stock, which is unacceptable, and that the company will lose many of its clients (Chacon Vega et al., 2020). The GNC company established a new supply chain known as the GNC – veteran, which will improve the company's restocking ordering and reordering processes that can be used in the GNC stores.

Consequences of Not Changing

The consequence of the organization not embracing change are that the company will lose significant company profits. Through its outdated business models, the clients' services may not satisfy them, and thus they will be forced to choose another company (Chacon Vega et al., 2020). Another consequence is that if the company does not embrace change, such as changing its supply chain management, the company will lose its clients, which will make the company destroy its good reputation (Chacon Vega et al., 2020). However, by the company not changing its business models, it will lead to low morale among the employees, directly affecting the business, leading to poor performance (Herbes et al., 2017). The low morale is caused when the employees are not trained to develop better skill sets, and due to the work pressure, the employees may not be able to interact willingly with their clients and force them to seek opportunities outside.

Create Urgency

For change to be significant, it needs to benefit the whole company. Thus, one has to develop a sense of urgency to embrace change. Like in the GNC company, an old retailer business, it used an old business model that caused the business to undergo losses (Herbes et al., 2017). It forced the GNC company to rebrand its businesses, for example, identifying threats that face the company, for example, the decrease in the number of customers. These old supply chains cause the company to undergo significant losses and poor customer experience (Herbes et al., 2017). The business will have to develop new customer experience strategies and develop new supply chains like the GNC- veteran to manage this.

Forming Powerful Guiding Coalitions

In this step, the GNC company's business leaders will have to convince its partners and employees that it is necessary for change (Park et al., 2017). To be effective, it requires the business individuals to have strong leadership to embrace change and seek support from the GNC company's key individuals. To lead in embracing change, the leaders need to create a coalition or even a team of influential individuals whose power comes from different sources, such as their areas of expertise, job title, and political importance (Park et al., 2017). Once one has created a coalition of the GNC company, one will identify the key leaders and critical stakeholders in the business and ask for an emotional commitment from these key individuals. The next step will be building the right team who will change the coalition and also run it. After forming the GNC team, one will have to conduct an assessment, identify the team's weak areas of weaknesses, and strengthen it (Park et al., 2017). One will have to choose individuals from different departments and levels since their difference in areas of expertise. They can strengthen the coalition and develop concrete goals and strategies, for example, how best the company can attract new clients, improve on its business models, and prevent it from incurring significant losses.

Customer Experience

Another strategy will entail improving the customer's experience. It will be successful since the strategy will improve the checkout experience (Park et al., 2017). Also, the GNC company will change its outdated point of sale systems, which prolongs the transaction processes, thus causing the customers to be frustrated, and this forces the customers to seek experience from another company, which will provide them with the same services with a more stable point of sale systems.

Pricing Strategy and the Loyalty Program

The GNC will develop the loyalty program and the pricing strategy to help the company attract its clients and resurrect its struggling store (Radwan, 2020). With the new pricing strategy, the company created a seven-market pilot program to enable the clients' to purchase products at appropriate channels and only through digital channels.

Branded Product Innovation

Another strategy is that the GNC needs to embrace a private brand so that it can be able to attract new clients and drive its business forward (Radwan, 2020). With the new brand, the business will be easily noted with other investors who will willingly want to start a business. Also, with the GNC private brand, the company will explore different types of innovations, which will allow the business to strive in a forward direction.

Digitalized Marketing Strategy

The strategy will involve moving from a mass outlet marketing plan to a more focused digital approach that will enable the GNC to target more customer segments and improve its business metrics (Radwan, 2020). Providing its clients with a more digitalized shopping experience will enable the company to satisfy its clients through its services and differentiate itself from its competitors (Radwan, 2020). To achieve this, the GNC will have to provide its employees with tablets and mobile equipment which have good internet services to better their services.

Communicating of the Visions

After positively creating the company's visions, one will have to communicate the GNC's company vision frequently and powerfully, and also, one will ensure that the company's vision is embedded within everything it does (Radwan, 2020). As the GNC leader and manager, one will have to communicate the vision to the employees and use the vision daily to solve its challenges. By implementing this strategy, one will keep it fresh on the employee's minds. One will urge the company's leaders and managers to communicate its visions through various channels, such as newsletters, boards, presentations, and meetings (Radwan, 2020). One can also apply the company's visions through various aspects of its operations.

Removing of Obstacles

However, with the implementation of change and embracing the vision, some employers or individuals who support it may want to resist change (Alqatawenah, 2018). Also, there will be processes that may act as barriers as one wants to embrace change into the company, for example, lack of sufficient funds to implement these changes. To remove the barriers, one may have to check how these barriers affect change and remove them (Alqatawenah, 2018). Also, one will have to empower the individuals working in the business to embrace the change. To remove the GNC company's obstacles, one will have to identify change leaders whose main work will deliver change (Alqatawenah, 2018). One will have to analyze the company's organizational structure, job descriptions, and performance to ensure that it aligns with its vision. To effectively remove obstacles to change, one will recognize and reward the employees that made change happen (Alqatawenah, 2018). The next step will be to provide the employees with customer-based training, and also, one will have to focus mainly on customer engagement and goals other than competing with the company's co-workers. It will aid in removing obstacles and ensure that every worker in the company embraces change.

Conclusion

Thus, after the company's projects and visions have been a success, one will roll in the company's new business model and re-open its stores, which were closed because the company had incurred significant losses (Park et al., 2017). The new business model that one will use is a multi-channel type of business model, which through it, the company will be able to generate more revenue from the company's products sales, stores, e-commerce, and company's international franchise activity.