Leading Organizational Change

Leading Organizational Change

University of Phoenix

LDR/531Organizational Leadership

Leading Organizational Change

Organizational change can be very difficult for some organizations. The change process in an organization can involve many steps and procedures that will guide the organization through the change. “The leadership of complex systemic change requires leadership of a matching complexity of mind.” (Anderson and Adam, 2016). With Walmart, their leadership and management team seem to have adjusted well and was effective to any changes that may occur within the organization. Walmart have performed many changes throughout its existent that focused on its organization, employees, communities, and customers.

Walmart Organizational Change

There are many reasons why organizations need to implement organizational changes within their organizations. For Walmart, it was to keep up with all the changes that was going on in the retail market. Garcia (2017) states that Walmart “is changing the way individual stores report up through the business structure in or to keep up with the face pace of change in retail sector.” To stay in the streamline of the retail market, the leadership of Walmart knew that they must revamp its organization from the inside to help improve the communication within the organization. The leaders of Walmart knew that the entire business structure of Walmart organization had to be restructured to keep up with the many changes in retail. There were two areas that the leaders of Walmart knew needed to be restructured.

Walmart leadership knew that it needed help with keeping up with the retail business industry and took control of the situation and made the necessary changes for the organization. “Walmart said in a statement. The structure we are putting in place will help improve communication and execution, streamline decision-making and help us accelerate our pace of change.” (Garcia, 2017). For organizations to compete well in its industry, leaders must be ready and willing to change to meet the need for the organization, its employees, and its customers. Walmart so the need for restructuring amongst its divisional and regional groups and did just that. The leadership of Walmart knew that the functions of the groups need to be consolidated a little to help with communication and execution within the organization that will allow the company to better compete with retailers like Amazon.com and Target.

• Divisional groups-there six divisional groups, which were now trimmed to be four.
• Regional groups-44 regional groups are being cut to 36. (Garcia, 2017)

Walmart have come a long way from when it started, but its focus is still the same, making a different in the lives of its customer and making shopping fast, easy and convenient. (Walmart.com, 2018). Many changes have taken place in the organization that was focus on meeting the needs of its customers. This organization looks at what is best for the organization, its employees, communities, and customers even if it must go through some major changes. One of the major change that Walmart made effective as of February 1, 2018 was the change in its name. Walmart changed the company legal name from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to Walmart Inc. This name change demonstrates the company’s growing emphasis on serving customers seamlessly however they want to shop: in stores, online, mobile device or through pickup and delivery. (Walmart.com, 2018). Walmart leadership good leadership skill lead them to know that changing the name to just Walmart would be a success, because its customers know the store as just Walmart and that how the identified the store.

Individual Leadership Actions for Organizational Change

Individual leadership actions for organizational is also very important to the organizational change process. For me, understanding the reason for the organizational change is a must. If you do not know why an organization need to change, then you cannot be helpful in the change process. According to Anderson and Adams (2016). “There is no organizational transformation without first transforming the consciousness of the leadership. The process of cultural evolution first happens in the awareness of individuals. These individuals exert influence on the system and change it.” I will get involved and try to learn everything possible about the changes that are about to take place so that I will be able to participate effectively in the organization with the changes. Every person has their own way to lead and how they process the change in an organization, what works for me may not work for the next person. Many companies use The Leadership Circle Profile to assess their employees. The Leadership Circle Profile is the most comprehensive leadership assessment system available because it is the first competency tool that measure both the inner and outer aspects of leadership and it is organized into a powerful system for understanding human behavior and development. Every organization should have a Leadership Circle Self-Assessment available for their employees. This will help the organization and the employees because it will show employees strengths and weaknesses. When I took the Leadership Circle Self-Assessment in this class, I learned some very important information about my style of leadership which will help me improve being a leader. Evaluating the results for my leadership circle self-assessment, I found some area that I was weak and some areas that I was strong. Learning this information will help me as a leader and prepare me for whatever changes that I may come across as a leader. Individual leadership effectiveness to organizational change will help the organization to make that change successfully.

Conclusion

Organizational changes have taken place in many organization to help that organization be able to compete within its markets, keep up with changes in its business sector, meet the needs of its employees, customers, and communities. Walmart have proven that they are willing and able to change for the overall success of the company. From cutting down the size of its regional and divisional groups to changes its legal name from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to Walmart Inc. “When asked, leaders always agree that the effectiveness of leadership (both individual and collective) is a primary contributor to business performance and success.” (Anderson and Adams, 2016). Walmart leadership have shown the effectiveness of its organization by success as being a retailer and its ability to stay in the forefront of its competitors.

References

Adams, W. A., Anderson, J. J. (2016). Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for

Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business

Results, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley

& Sons

Garcia, T. (2017). Wal-Mart shifting organizational structure to keep up with rapid changes in retail. Retrieved from http://marketwatch.com

Walmart (2018). Retrieved from Walmart.com 2018