Introduction
The change occurred in Pepsi and Dubai Refreshments when implementing their partnership. Pepsi wanted Dubai Refreshments to help with the distribution of its products in Dubai (Zahi and Adnan 97-100). The challenge, however, lies in a number of things: the effect on employees of Dubai Refreshments, the expected change, and organizational culture. For instance, Pepsi adopts the Western culture in its management and Dubai Refreshments espouses Eastern cultures.
The two cultures are totally different in terms of positioning and operating businesses (Zahi and Adnan 104-105). Prior to their agreement, there was a clash in culture as some of the things introduced by Pepsi were the culture of individualism, treating employees according to their individual commitment and not the group commitment, elevation of women into managerial positions, and centralization in management.
Successful Change Variables
Successful Variables
The top-five contributors to the success of change included the following: exceptional team, effective executive sponsorship, targeted communication.
Analysis of Successful Change Variables
Managers from both companies showed visible and active support both professionally and privately. They also ensured that the change remained a priority. When it came to agreeing with front-line employees and managers, they highlighted the significance of support from the affected workers (Todnem and Macleod 10-13). Communication was effective, open, honest, and consistent. In addition, the communication was targeted directly at the concerned persons. Organization and planning also contributed to the successful implementation of such projects as the use of a specific plan, helping with the initiation of activities linked to change management, anticipating resistance to change, and a logical approach to the change.
Importance of the Change Factors
Executive sponsorship is basically receiving support from the top management of the company. The main objective of executive sponsorship was to reinforce with team members that they were not merely changing the face of the company but also helping to deliver unique systems that would solve the distribution problem of their partner. The management also invested in an exceptional change team. The expertise, skills, experience, and dedication of the change team were vital in achieving the desired results.
An exceptional team is a group of workers who have a common agenda. In this case, the teams were to convey the new course to success to the existing workers, which is orientated towards the values of the organization at the moment, the kind of results and the kind of behaviors it needs, as well as the way the new results will be measured.
Communication is a process of exchanging information between individuals or groups of people. During the change process, communication served as a channel through which change ideas were shared both between team members and the top management. It helped in making each individual updated about the change necessary corrections during the change process.
Unsuccessful Change Variables
Resistance to Change Variables
Resistance to change variables included manifestation of bitterness as well as sarcastic outbursts. The highly resistant team members showed their resistance physically or emotionally by withdrawing from the change teams.
The Description of Critical Factors that Hindered Change
The major factor affecting the process of change was employee resistance. In this case, many workers were scared of the unknown, and a good number of them resisted being moved outside their areas of operation (Todnem and Macleod 35-40). In fact, the discussions during tea breaks or side conversations between workers contributed to resisting change. Some people accepted change from the beginning, whilst others felt that they needed more time before adopting the anticipated change.
Another critical factor was the middle-management resistance. That is, middle-level managers in Dubai Refreshments posed some challenges since they interact directly with front-line workers. In this case, resistance was a result of the perceived loss of authority or power. This is because some of their positions were likely to be scrapped or merged.
The other critical factor was poor executive sponsorship. The entire change process relied on the sponsorship from top executives but, in the course of the project, managers did not actually play a noticeable role in supporting the change process particularly. In fact, other line managers shifted their support immediately when the project started. In general, there was some surface ‘buy-in’ from middle managers but it lacked visible support as well as proper leadership modeling of the anticipated change (Zahi and Adnan 102-104).
Lack of funds and resources also contributed to the resistance of change within the two companies. The change teams were not provided with enough time to complete the process fully. In other words, they were given a period of three months to complete the entire process. This led to resistance from many employees who felt they were likely to lose their jobs in just three months.
Moreover, daily responsibilities and activities within the organization hindered the change process (Todnem and Macleod 40-45). In other words, the process of change was concurrently being undertaken with normal organizational functions. Last but not least, corporate inertia and politics contributed to change problems.
Conclusion
In general, the main issue underlying the change factors was the differences in organizational cultures. The differences between the two organizations affected the change initiative negatively. That is, the strong centralization policy of Pepsi seemed to hold back the partnership in Dubai. According to the research, the UAE to some extent is less homogeneous compared to the United States where Pepsi is headquartered (Zahi and Adnan 103-105).
That, therefore, calls for the decentralization process, where power is conferred to managers at local levels (Todnem and Macleod 23-26). This process also involves entering into franchises with people at local or remote levels. However, American companies do not accept or adopt power distances in managing their organizations. These are just some of the key challenges that the two companies confronted when initiating change.
Works Cited
Todnem, Rune, and Calum Macleod. Managing Organizational Change in Public Services: International Issues, Challenges and Cases. New York, NY: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Zahi, Yazeen and Okour Adnan. “Managing organizational change: Decision’s maker perceptions in the UAE manufacturing industry.” International Journal of Research Studies in Manage 1.2 (2012): 97-108. Print.